At first, when watching this video, I grimaced. How does a teacher get to the point where they have to use such terse language for a student who’s less than 1/2 his age? For that matter, it almost seems excessive when we hear the n-word used like a pronoun in our schools and we question the effectiveness of such a speech because the kids around him are laughing a bit.
Then again, I’ve personally had to give “that” speech every so often, once with full curses! (I acknowledge the risk of probably getting fired. It happens.) At some points, it was because the n-word was used, but other times, it came as a result of the constant of some student (usually a girl) getting a chauvinist comment thrown at them or after a physical brawl. As a male of my upbringing, it almost becomes incumbent upon me to set my students straight when it comes to certain ideas they have. Too many of my students come from an environment, whether that environment’s home or the streets they peruse, that doesn’t have a successful male willing to tell them when they’re wrong. So they act up with no remorse.
And I probably could have lost my job, but after that, I got the respect I deserved on a deeper level. On nights when I laid up in my crib on Saturday nights sobbing after watching Malcolm X, or feeling the soul rip from Martin Luther King’s chest when he spoke on his view from the mountaintop, I thought about easily seduced and devalued my boys and girls feel in this world. When watching this video, I empathized with Mr. Charlie Martin in his message, but I wondered if he followed that up with a little reflection later on for those boys who feel that they only have their sexual organs to contribute to the general society.
That’s one thing I never left out with any student if I saw any means: the love and care from which you speak. And anytime I wanted to succeed with getting that student to become a better person, I had that follow-through. After all, it’s the same technique many of these children use the n-word and devalue themselves. If they keep getting told they’re nothing but the n-word and treat themselves as such, then it’s easy for them to use it.
And that understanding is where the reprogramming begins … and it takes a certain type of speech and a certain type of person to do it. It doesn’t have to be racial, because I’ve heard this type of diatribe from many types of people. In my case, I know I’m coming in with a similar message to Mr. Martin:
I am a man. Let me show you how …
Mr. V, whose probably got a few students reading who can attest to this …
Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame speech (and his career, for that matter) read like a diatribe against wrong decision-making … and our fundamental ideas about sportsmanship. For those that have lived under the sea for the last 30 years, Michael Jordan’s arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, surpassing records and racking up a highlight reel the size of any big-budget movie. Words used to describe MJ during his tenure as the most dominant shooting guard to play the game: “cold-blooded,” “merciless,” “exacting,” “superlative,” and “focused.” 6 NBA Champions and the Most Valuable Player in each, 5 NBA Regular-Season MVPs, 31.6 career scoring average (tops in this category), and those accomplishments came right after taking over the throne for both Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who both alternated the crown for greatest players in their era.
His ascension into absolute reign signified a bit of a revolution for the league and sports as a whole. For all the moments, measurable and immeasurable, he chose a ceremony that ultimately cements the greatest and finest basketball coaches, broadcasters, writers, and players alike with a scribe that addressed his most vital dissenters. While he also found time to laud a few people along the way, he innovated the idea of revenge in sports and using the vitriol and slights directed at him to fuel his next performance. His trash talk on the court was about as legendary as the actions he put to those words, and what he’d do after a mind-boggling play ushered in a new showmanship that tied Jordan to the bravado we see displayed all over sports as a whole. Indeed his truths were self-evident.
I’ve contemplated a bit on this tremendous speech, and wondered how I should feel about it. It almost seems petty for Michael to use that stage to show disrespect to the decisions and perceived slights of people who didn’t have a post-trip rear view mirror from which to point their decisions. Dean Smith can’t be blamed for not letting him on the national magazine covers nor can Buzz Peterson be blamed for starting ahead of him. It revealed a sort of arrogance and pettiness that always rubbed anti-Jordan sports fans the wrong way. An assassin in the figurative form of the word, he couldn’t just win; he had to kick everyone in the teeth in and crush any spirit they had in thinking they’d actually beat him.
Then I sat there and thought how that sort of mentality applied to my life and others who I’ve seen succeed around me. For all the times many of us laud those who remain humble, we gravitate towards those who’ve put their money where their mouth is. They’ve put in the long hours behind the scenes, perfecting their shots, reflecting on their practice, saying less about what they’re going to do and trading those points in for points in the field of their choosing. They have a sharp attention to detail and debunk risks in the face of actual personal progress.
Detractors seem to serve a greater purpose than most of us never pay attention to: they help redefine and sharpen who we are as people. Those of us who do great work in our fields always need a reminder of the obstacles facing them in their journey. I understand why people may not like him as a man after that speech, but the hubris and self-idolatry made Michael the man he is today.
I call this the Michael Jordan Principle: if we want success, address the haters, don’t ignore them. The minute we do, it shows that anyone can test our mettle. The best way to respond to the denigration doesn’t necessarily come in verbal form, but in one’s actions after. Do we prove people right by not doing anything about what was said or wrong by becoming passionate about reaching our goals?
This is, of course, within reason, because sometimes a detractor is really a friend in disguise. For instance, Phil Jackson pushed Michael Jordan to give up the ball more in favor of letting the whole team grow, and thus winning championships instead of scoring titles. Overall, the Michael Jordan Principle shows how, many times, the best approach to personal growth is using the negative energy thrown at you to grow and not letting it weigh you down.
Jose, who only liked Michael Jordan only after he retired for the 3rd time …
I won’t say blogging’s taken a backseat to actual teaching, but I will say that becoming a more effective teaching requires that I put more of my energies into the classroom. This is not a “I quit blogging” speech. This is just a “My schedule’s going to switch up every so often” speech. It’ll still be 3-4 posts a week most weeks nonetheless. Have a good weekend and a great Yom Kippur to my homies.
Jose, who’d just like to see the Yankees keep winning …
This is one of 2009’s most censored stories. I know race is such a touchy subject for some of the readers of my blog, but … just read:
According to a new Civil Rights report published at the University of California, Los Angeles, schools in the US are 44 percent non-white, and minorities are rapidly emerging as the majority of public school students in the US. Latinos and blacks, the two largest minority groups, attend schools more segregated today than during the civil rights movement forty years ago. In Latino and African American populations, two of every five students attend intensely segregated schools. For Latinos this increase in segregation reflects growing residential segregation. For blacks a significant part of the reversal reflects the ending of desegregation plans in public schools throughout the nation. In the 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, the US Supreme Court concluded that the Southern standard of “separate but equal” was “inherently unequal,” and did “irreversible” harm to black students. It later extended that ruling to Latinos.
Today, Plaxico Burress, former wide receiver of the New York Giants, was sentenced to 2 years in jail (with good behavior, it’ll be brought down to 20 months or less). My stance on the matter hasn’t changed much since the last time I’ve ruminated on the topic. I agree that bringing a gun to the club without a holster and without a licensed bodyguard spells danger for anyone, especially a young, rich, Super-Bowl winning Black man. I also agree that he could have hurt anyone there, and if not for his celebrity status, he may have been treated like “any other Black man” who’s faced similar charges.
Then, I looked at the case and didn’t look at the things that might have happened, but did happen. The night before, according to reports, he and his partners were robbed. He’s got a family to feed, and a life to live. He probably didn’t grow up trusting the police. Plus, he shot himself and not anyone else. He had erratic behavior with his team; though his teammates love him, his management had a hard time pinning him down psychologically. With that, I don’t see any real reason to keep him in jail longer than a year, if that. I believe in a combination of counseling, community service, and alternative interventions with prison time for the gun charge based on what actually happened and the evidence laid on the table.
Some of my readers / friends believe I’m too soft on crime, which can’t be further from the truth. People often mistake a zero-tolerance policy for good judgment, and I can’t agree with that. I charge those who have this view haven’t looked at the actual statistics. One of my friends from Facebook showed me a wonderful Wired mini-article entitled: “Nils Christie: Empty the Prisons“, one of the 12 Shocking Ideas That Could Change the World, especially as it pertains to American culture. It’s rather obvious that we as Americans are complicit in the denigration of human beings as a whole. Race notwithstanding, the US has more prisoners than any other country in the world, has more prisoner per capita, and spends more taxpayer money in prisoners than any other country. The number of prisoners since the 1980s has risen over 400%, and while it’s not necessarily true that 3rd graders’ literacy scores determine the number of prisons built, the link between the education complex and prison is almost undeniable.
Plus, as the Wired article mentions, most of these prisoners go to jail for non-violent crimes, and many of the criminals who’ve gone in jail once go right back in (many of them would rather stay IN jail because it’s easier to live in there). Also of note is that, in general, crime rates have gone down as a whole. As a result, have we become a better society for having all these (mostly Black and Latino) men and women isolated? Have marriage rates risen? Have wars ended or corruption stopped within corporations? Have drug lords stopped proliferating (or has their supplier stopped pushing)? Have our politicians become more honest and have our ethics / morals become more solid as a result of dumping grounds for these law trespassers? Does jail help criminals become better citizens in our society (as some movies may lead you to believe) or make them stronger and better equipped, and even more able to carry out their crimes?
For that matter, have we thought about how many of those prisoners are actually innocent? How many of them may not have been good citizens or been great examples in other venues, but were decent human beings? We neglect to think about the difference between what’s illegal and what’s immoral, what’s unlawful and what’s wrong. I also understand that the prison industrial complex provides jobs. I get all of this and I wish I didn’t because the rationale is far too capitalist for my blood.
More importantly, I wish the best for Elijah Burress, Plaxico’s son, who’s a prisoner for the sin of his father. His father is a prisoner of this system. And we are prisoners to the thought that prison is the ultimate solution.
Jose, who’s in a Tupacian mood …
For more, please visit: http://www.criticalresistance.org/
On Twitter a few hours ago, I asked a simple question:
Here’s a good question: who’s the person you quote the most? Why?
I got a myriad of responses, all of which I’d like to share with you:
Dr. King. He’s timeless and relatable. – @missprofe
Emerson. Radical (for his time), individualist, remained true to self when other belittled or failed to understand. Churchill is 2nd, though, only as it pertains to politics & acumen. I’ve found a few of his beliefs to be offensive. – @reinadenyc
musicians of various genres. cuz, well. i love music. – @O_riginal_sin
Bazoume’s Dad. Funny. – @chneux [Ed. Note: my brother means our father.]
Oscar Wilde. Everything that needs to be said in a humorous package. – @problemchylde
Jack Handey! Dude was wise! Very wise. – @tamarapagan
Bob Marley. I learned many important truths at a young age from his music. They spring to mind like well loved verses, maxims. – @nezua
Thoreau b/c he went to the woods to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. & Twain b/c golf is a good walk ruined! So so true! – @kdawg1313
A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled. –James Baldwin (ALL DAY) @elprofe316
I quote many enjoy Oscar Wilde, Socrates, George Burns, DaVinci cant pick a fav. Actually I can’t lie my mother is the one I enjoy quoting the most though growing up it meant little to me but as an adult she rite. Charles M. Schulz – don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia. – @mciscart
Anyone notice a theme? My personal favorite people to quote are Robert Burns, Carter G. Woodson, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, The Beatles, and Kanye. That’s a pretty diverse crowd of gentlemen. What do all these people have in common?
Well, my first thought came in the form of Sonia Sanchez, who visited Syracuse University sometime in 2002-2003, and she said something to the effect of “Stop quoting everyone. Make up your own words. We already had a Malcolm and a Martin. We need new words.” For a good 1/2 a decade, I stopped quoting people more, especially as quotes became more accessible through the World Wide Web. This conflicted with (I believe) American History X, where Danny says, “end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can’t top it, steal from them and go out strong.”
Then it occurred to me that I do quote all the time, even when I don’t mean to, and it usually comes from someone whose successes I either admire or pique my interest in some fashion. Lots of people have quotes, and make themselves out to be the swamis and avatars of the present generation of thinkers, when their actions haven’t reflected the words that come out of their mouths.
Thus, I look at the lives that many of the people mentioned led (or probably led) and it says lots about a person who quotes someone who’s done a lot in their own lives. It says plenty about their ambitions, their desires, and their intelligence. While I feel too many people quote everyone to death to substitute for their lack of personal creativity, I also see how just having a person who’s succeeded and lived to document their history in a single blurb can mobilize many an individual.
So what do you think? Do you quote people too much? What’s your favorite quote and does it apply to my quote theory? What say you?
Tonight, Tara Betts had her first official Arc and Hue party at the Bowery Poetry Cafe. This free event showcased a few prominent and up-and-coming women poets, all of whom had their different styles and embraced their womanhood in their own ways. The queen of the hour also graced us with a little less than a dozen poems from her awesome book (and one I recommend every and anyone to get, and not just because I designer her website). In her writing, she extracts meaning off every word she speaks, and that may be a big key as to why people favor her work over, say, others who prefer a pretty metaphor every 5-6 lines for point garnering or money making. She’s an artist.
One poem she did that struck me is “For Those Who Need a True Story.” On the surface, one may assume she’s just telling a story about a kid who, at his mother’s behest, kills as many rats as possible so the landlord would decrease their rent. In my experience, such a tale hits at my very core. While I live a little better now, when I lived on Clinton St. (the one no one wanted to live in), rats were as natural as breathing, and roaches cleaned up crumbs like poor folks did, so killing roaches almost became a reminder of the natural food chain.
When I was maybe 4-5 years old, I walked into the bathroom, and saw a rat in my bathtub. I had no experience with killing rats ever, even though I’ve smelled the hint of rat blood and certainly had the pleasure of having rats in my walls and close to my bed. I tried to wash it into the drain so it’d run down the drain like the roaches would, but it stood its ground. This little rat stood there, no bigger than an inch, alive and shivering from its own nervousness and cold, eyes glowing and arms closed to its sides. I stared at it, talking to it for no less than 3 minutes.
I thought I’d befriend it, but the wiser part of me retracted my finger before the rat bit it. Thus, we just stayed there, wondering whether we’d break out of each others’ nature to defend or offend each others’ species. I called my Mom because I didn’t know what to do with my silent friend. She walked me out of the bathroom, and within a few minutes, the rat was “gone.” I’m not sure what actually happened to the rat, but I know I never saw it again. Even to this day, I’m too nervous to ask my mom.
The idea that boys living in these impoverished neighborhoods actually have so much in common with a rat hasn’t escaped me. Actually, it’s one of the many reasons I write the way I do. Because educators need to tell true stories, too.
a) That Kanye Meme (“I’m happy for you and I’ma let you finish, but ____ had the ___ ____ of ____ time!”) will never die, and its variations get more uproarious every time I hear them. I declared Kanye jokes dead … until I saw the meme. Long live the Interrupters of America.
b) This blog posting about the 16 Things I learned is now college level material. :: nods ::
c) This blog as a whole has been mentioned as one of the top 20 blogs to follow by Scholastic’s Instructor. :: insert gasp here ::
Honest to goodness, I haven’t shagged anyone in their offices, nor did I beg for any sort of favor with the mail room. Therefore, I’m honestly humbled. I don’t have a million and one readers nor do I have the notoriety or the comments my fellow die-hard bloggers do. I just hope through this blog, I’m able to make some sense of my own musings on education and everything else that comes into my line of vision.
Yes, I have a fan page, and a page on most major venues, but I’ve maintained the shred of humility I hold dear because of my indebtedness to the people who’ve helped me along the way and the kids. Frankly, my students keep me working harder than ever. Due to some of my other duties, it can be easy to neglect the students I’m teaching, but now my job has me thinking of all the students in the building. It’s a heavy load I care as much about (if not more) than even the energies I disseminate through this very blog.
Until someone finds a solution that works for every child and our society, I’ll try to keep my size 8 from getting to a size 13. Thanks.
Mr. Vilson, who takes time crafting these, spell check or not …
I‘m going to pull a Dan Meyer here and quote someone, then tell you to replace every web tech word with an edu-jargon word, then tell you that I’m in concurrence with that statement. Check the brilliance that is Aaron Halford (on 5am unrest and too much caffeine):
….Jose might be kind to you on this front. I won’t be. Web design takes time, skill, and effort just like any other professional, technical level job. Should a skilled worker work for free? Ever? Jose is not opening up photoshop and playing around with joy and glee for 15 minutes to design you a web site.
Web design is HOURS of HARD work, not half an hour of OSX play.
Should I point you at a 500 page CSS manual? Should I point you at all the complexity of WordPress? Should I break out the Jquery, Blueprint, 960gs, Ruby, and PHP notebooks? Do you want a crash course in box model hacks, IE6 shenanigans, or jquery validation?
No, of course not. Web designer’s obviously conjure magical powers that somehow arrange a pixel perfect web page with minimal effort.
….Aaron might be kind to you on this front. I won’t be. Real teaching takes time, skill, and effort just like any other professional, technical level job. Should a skilled worker work for free? Ever? Mr. Vilson is not opening up his classroom and playing around with joy and glee for 15 minutes to get your kids an education.
Teaching is HOURS of HARD work, not half an hour of child’s play.
Should I point you at a 500 page book on pedagogy? Should I point you at all the complexity of differentiation? Should I break out the Marzanno, Delpit, Understanding by Design, math history, and quasi-inspirational notebooks? Do you want a crash course in algebra 1, workshop model shenanigans, or test prep validation?
No, of course not. Teachers obviously conjure magical powers that somehow arrange a low performing student into a great student with minimal effort.
After this week, I have to say I’ve raised my level of teaching to a whole new echelon. Maybe it’s because I have less classes or because I’m exposed to more (and more meticulous) teachers, but I’ve pushed myself harder than ever to walk the talk. I’ve always worked hard, so Aaron’s quote is apropos to my thinking. A lot of web designers get off doing their wack websites settling for second-rate WordArt from Word, or using a template from Microsoft. Those of us who know better get into a website and crank up the visuals just a bit to match a vision, and go back to the tutorials and books to find the best means of achieving our goals. Even when we’re just modifying a template, we take our best shot at looking at every detail of the site, making sure it works to our specifications.
How’s that for an analogy?
Mr. V, who recently got the news that one of his blog postings is being used in a college class wiki. Nice.
As many of you heard by now, sources have confirmed Patrick Wayne Swayze’s death a few minutes ago, to the shock and chagrin to many of the people who follow my writings in various information sources. While I find myself semi-numb to the idea that famous people have died left and right, I grow rather irritated with the idea that Patrick Swayze died. It’s not because it feels like some of my childhood’s prominent idols started to die this past year, or because I had a certain affinity for Ghost, Dirty Dancing, or his random appearances of Saturday Night Live. What irks me the most is that people already called him a dead man walking and he almost seems like he beat the cancer. Even at 120 lbs. dripping, the life sucked from his skin, and the roles dwindling to shows like The Beast, he still had that signature smile and demeanor that said, “I don’t plan on dying.”
But he did. For some, it won’t matter anyways since to them he was dead already. He fought to prove them wrong. G-d bless; may he find a partner to dance with to a sand castle in the sky …
I'm Jose Vilson of TheJoseVilson.com. Educator, blogger, writer, poet, NYCer, Black / Latino, political polemicist, and everything in between. Love me. hate me. Read me.
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