My friend and favorite songwriter, Monica Pasqual, gave me permission to post this song here. Please listen to “Give A Damn” either before or after you read and close your eyes and take in what it means to “Give A Damn”.
I finally have a moment to let my mind roam free for a few thoughts amidst sips of the dark brew. Ahhh, java. I love the morning in a cup of kava. Holy hell in a handbasket.
My colleagues and I are enwrapped in a cloak of reform AKA “the education reform lunacy movement”. Political back room deals forced down our throats derailing public education. The worst of it? Ripping away the ticket to a better life for a lot of low-to-no income people. My best and favorite students are those who come from a tattered past looking for a lift in life. They know they have to work hard and they dig in to their education and learn wholeheartedly. Dina Ciraulo who teaches in the Cinema department wrote an eloquent piece about our students. Please check it out.
The “education reform lunacy movement” is one that both parties of the U.S. government align themselves with at every level. Truly it is nothing more than the insidious desire to imprison all students to massive debt to the very corporations that are behind the “reformation”. Interesting how the student loan industry shareholders have inserted their talons so deep that they are the administrators and the accrediting overseers, snarling at the educators who work day and night to keep the classroom alive and adventurous.
City College of San Francisco, in my view, is ground zero for the public, post-secondary, affordable education war. A huge fight lay ahead of us. Some of my colleagues want to lay low and not make waves and by doing so, I believe, they enable the powerful elite. But there is also a great number of us that will not let injustice prevail here. So, taking a deep breath and another sip, I realize that I’ve got my work cut out for me. But I’m healthy and strong. Indeed, the plan for my 50’s was to spend my days teaching and producing my creative works. I hadn’t intended on conjuring up my inner Mario Savio…
Thanks for thinking of me and checking in. How’s it going with you?
