Poetry Out Loud contest

This is such a wonderful competition, however, undocumented students are ineligible. I am working at Brooklyn International HS this semester (maternity leave replacement) and my students are thrilled about poetry. Now I'm stuck. I want my students to have the opportunity to read, think about, discuss and recite poetry, but many of my students are ineligible for this contest. Poetry Out Loud not only boosts my students enthusiasm for the written word, it improves their pronunciation and presentation skills (which they desperately need to improve!!!).

Yesterday I spent several hours searching for scholarships and contest opportunities my students WOULD BE eligible for. I didn't come up with much. My students are refugees, migrant workers, and escaped victims of oppression. They came (or were sent) to the U.S. for a "better life." Many are separated from their families, have experienced atrocities beyond belief, and were the ones that "made it." Now what? Are they relegated to lives of working at McDonald's, a laundry, or washing dishes??? They all deserve to go to college. Thank goodness CUNY takes undocumented kids. But what about those who can't afford it? What about those who need to get away from the city? What about those who need something more?

And to think, this all started with a poetry contest.

13 the Musical

I saw a preview of "13" today. The music was incredible. The kids found to play the roles were extremely talented---they could all dance, act, and sing---true triple threats. The show itself, however, is a threat to any attempts at dispelling stereotypes and uniting diverse groups of people.

The show begins with teens lamenting the struggles of young adulthood. Most everyone can relate to the campy, sing-song list. Then the storyline is revealed---in New York, a young Jewish boy named Evan is about to be initiated into manhood, and his big party plans are thwarted by his parents' nasty divorce. He suddenly finds himself stuck in small-town Indiana and is willing to do anything to get the popular crowd to his bar mitzvah, which, of course, no one has heard of or understands in this "lame" town.

First of all, the stereotypes running throughout the show are horrendous. Every day students and schools fight against ideas of jock and nerd. Even the word "crip" gets thrown around when a boy with a muscular-degenerative disorder comes into conversation. If the show was meant to be a parody or satire, that's one thing---but the show is written as a serious, true look into the lives of teenagers. This show perpetuates stereotypes, and in the end, everyone gets together with "their kind." The "nerd, Jew, and crip" form the 'outsiders' clique, and the jock and cheerleader leave with their entourage. At one point Evan stands up to the school bully, but in the end, the bully gets the glory and the girl.

Secondly, the portrayal of Small Town, USA is highly inaccurate. It is depicted as drab, backward, and sparse. Sure, there may be towns like that, but they are few and far between. The smallest town I lived in was Elmer, NJ---home to less than 2,000 people and a Land O'Lakes dairy farm. The town also boasts one of the greatest music festivals in south Jersey and is host to an incredible annual street fair.

Thirdly, not a single character in the show grows, changes, or learns. The audience is under the illusion that Evan grows, but this is a cheap trick. Evan only learns that if you screw up and say you're sorry, you're forgiven and if you stand up to a bully, you get hit in the face and made fun of. So basically, the show says that if you are your authentic self, the people who don't like you will never see you for who you really are, no matter what you do. The show also teaches that if you reveal a person's true character as something contrary to popular belief (in this case, a popular jock is revealed as a bully and a best friend as a back stabber), no one will ever believe you, you'll be ganged up on, and you'll be made an outcast.

Fourthly, this show makes its girls out to be petty, catty, and willing to do anything for a guy. How sad after all the research and info on young girls...girlfighting is a big problem that educators, researchers, and girls groups are trying to remedy---only for it all to be thrown out the window by a show that glamorizes and normalizes it all. There is even a song completely dedicated to a girl who is considered "bad news" and it is sung by the guys! There is no song chastising the bully, however. (although they do make the bully out to be stupid, which also irks me---the stereotype of the dumb jock who flunks math, but is happy because he won the football game isn't fair to all the incredible young athletes out there who are required to get a high GPA to stay on their sports teams)

The writer of this show really missed the mark. Sure, there were funny lines, lines that made you gasp, up-to-the-times lines incorporating slang and text talk...but where was the story? Here was an opportunity to dialogue about what issues teenagers are facing in a real, raw, artistic way; an opportunity to showcase true talent and give teens a much-needed voice. What happened? Stereotypical characters in a stereotypical place doing stereotypical things only serves to further divide already fragmented teenagerdom. What a disservice to this nation's young people who deserve to be shown in a more real light than this.

New Orleans.

I am incensed.  Nothing short of furious.  Where is the humanity in this second potential disaster?  After Katrina, I spent some time in New Orleans as a stress and trauma relief counselor.  I saw physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual destruction; people stripped down, ripped down raw, exposed, bleeding and screaming for help.  How desperate do people have to be before they get the help and need they deserve?  

I watched New Orleans' mayor Nagin's statement live early this morning.  How can someone threaten his people just a DAY after the anniversary of New Orleans' largest natural disaster?  "You need to be scared," he said.  "If you are stubborn enough, if you are not taking this as seriously as we need you to take it, if you decide to stay, you are on your own.  There will be no services available for you, no emergency services.  Anyone who decides to stay, I'll say it like I've said before Katrina; make sure you have an ax, because you will be carving your way or busting your way out of your attic to get on your roof."  

There are CHILDREN who suffered Katrina's effects, trying to rebuild their lives.  I do not see the sense or sensitivity of this message.  And Nagin's full speech?  I listened to it in the wee hours of the morning.  It was heated and frightening.  I cannot find the entire video of it on any internet search.  I cannot find lengthy quotes of the most destructive words.  It has somehow been erased from the public eye...replaced by more softer words in his speeches since.

People are getting on buses not knowing where they're being sent.  A reporter asked an evacuation worker why the people haven't been told where they were going.  The response?  (paraphrased) "Oh, they all know that they're going to the airport.  They are just unsure of their destinations once they fly out."  Excuse me?  These people are being loaded into buses and trains to hubs where they are being sent "out."  How are they to tell relatives where they are going?  How are they to know they will get food, clothing, and shelter?  How will they know they will be returned after the storm?  (with Katrina, several people were "evacuated" by airplane, and when they wished to return to New Orleans, they were told they had to pay for their relocation themselves)

The mayor of New Orleans (and several other spokespeople for the "evacuation" cause) have declared this to be the best run evacuation ever.  That may be true, but make a REAL CAREFUL comparison.  Every evacuation in the past has been a disaster.  So of COURSE this looks smoother on the outside.  The powers that be said they have made contingency plans for pets...though the first to be evacuated have had to leave several animals.  Some people refuse to go.  Why?  They're scared.  They may be separated from loved ones, from their children.  They might not want to leave a pet.  They might not want to leave a house that has been in the family for generations.  They might not want their business looted while they're away.  They may be promised certain services they never receive.  They might have a relative stuck in a hospital they don't want to leave.  They may not want to relive the trauma of Katrina...because all this happened during that disaster.  People may leave this time who DIDN'T leave during Katrina for the same reasons.  It is all an abysmal mess.

Who is taking care?  Who is loving these people as colleagues, neighbors, and family?  The mayor, the congressmen, the president is the father or the mother of this country and his/her children.  Is Nagin or Bush acting as father?  Did Bush act as such during Katrina?  All the morality that his political party and the monetarily endowed from corporate America tout as the only way to "save" the country is rhetoric lost in the way the country's poor, disabled, and suffering are being treated...in the way civilians in U.S. militarized countries are being treated.  What kind of parent lets their children suffer?  What kind of parent teaches their children violence and murder is the only answer...the only justice?  What kind of parent abandons their children when they are sick?  What kind of parent makes an appearance in their child's life to give a big speech to gain a bit of notoriety, talking about taking care and providing, only to ignore their child's cries moments later through a simple distraction---which usually leads to building more bombs and deploying more troops, resulting in an inept role model of a system in crisis.  

What kind of parent doesn't allow their children to make decisions for themselves, then blames the children when things go wrong?  What kind of parent on one hand asks their children to grow and become wise and learn from their mistakes, and on the other hand repeats mistakes of their forefathers (in this case, literally) and shelters them from the truth?  What kind of parent fights for the death of their children?  This is the United States?  There is more hate, more murder, more division than can be fathomed.  And the parent sits back while all his unwanted children destroy themselves.

Social Justice Planning

Are you an educator of some sort? Whether you work with kids or adults (and who is REALLY an adult, anyway?), the Social Justice Planbook helps you help your students CHANGE THE WORLD. I just got mine in the mail last week. It is straightforward, interactive, and user-friendly. Specifically designed for the 2008-2009 school year, it is filled with quotes, thought-provoking prompts, major historical events around social justice and PLENTY of space to plan for all your classes and groups. View sample pages and order yours today!

Corporate Welfare

So my newest personal (global) affliction is corporate welfare. "What is this?," you ask, marveling at how the words "corporate welfare" roll easily off your tongue. "It sounds so nice," you think to yourself. And, as several people I've talked to seem to query, "Wow, corporations are giving to people and places in need? Maybe this world of big business ain't so bad." If this is your mindset, friends, you have clearly been deceived.

Corporate welfare is money that has been GIVEN to corporations (that's right, FREE money) by the GOVERNMENT! That's right, your tax dollars at work, supporting big business. Okay, so maybe SOME businesses are deserving. But IBM, General Motors, Pillsbury and General Electric? Those companies have received quite a hefty sum from Uncle Sam, who doles out an average of $125 BILLION per year.

So what about social welfare? You know, the money that helps out the those unable to work, the disabled woman down the street, or the guy who recently lost his wife to leukemia and has to pay off doctor bills, funeral expenses, and raise two kids on his own? Let's just say the numbers don't exactly add up to $125 billion...oh, yeah, and there's still a war going on (I'm sorry, didn't I say 'peacekeeping'?) that continues to be paid and paid and paid for (costing much more than coinage I dare say).

Search for yourself. You'll be surprised.

Information I suggest:
"The Big One"---a documentary by Michael Moore
A TIME article from 1998 that is eerily undated
http://www.corporations.org/

Free Speech TV and ArtsNET

So I've obviously been watching a significant amount of Free Speech TV. Not aware of the concept? Neither was I! Thanks to my fiance, I discovered I have been confined and manipulated by mainstream media. Now I am free!

Free Speech TV regards itself as "the nation's first progressive television channel."

FSTV Vision:
" Seizing the power of television to expand social consciousness, FSTV fuels the movement for progressive social, economic, and political transformation. By exposing the public to perspectives excluded from the corporate-owned media, FSTV empowers citizens to fight injustices, to revitalize democracy, and to build a more compassionate world."

What an amazing, necessary approach to making the world transparent. Learn more about Free Speech TV here.

In other news, I have joined ArtsNET, an organization borne from the need of New York University artists to collaborate across the campus on projects for social change. This network of visual, conceptual, interpretive, and reflective artists will present a cooperative piece in September in NYC. More details about the group and its activities to come!

The Power for Social Change

There is an incredible movement stirring up the political and social strata of society. This movement will change the face of the world as we know it. This movement will remove the veils of mainstream media in an attempt to empower those whom life is affecting---every living being on this planet. This movement has marched through basements and blocks, sidewalks and streets, telephones and television, internet and introspection. It is a cry that has rung all over the world at some point in time, humanly-constructed or otherwise. But now, in the information age, where isolated pockets of the earth are able to connect, converse and convey faster and more accurately than ever before, this movement is set to explode. This movement is social change.

Are you a part of the ongoing, ever-increasing dialogue about issues plaguing your world? Are you one of the many whose voice has been suppressed? Are you strong enough---brave enough to speak out against the oppressor? Now is the time to stand up for what you believe. Now is the time to band together across borders, across disciplines, across party lines. Now is the time to give a voice to the voiceless.

Every person on this earth holds an incredible amount of power. Power can manifest as mental, physical, or emotional strength. It can appear as talents or gifts. Power can act as both freedom and control. It is the abuse and misuse of power that causes suffering and destruction. Appropriate use of power allows the world to thrive and grow.

Power can emerge as a tangible or intangible force. The wake of power churns out amazing new coalitions and corporations, and can also produce new wars and opposing factions. What causes this rift, this dichotomy? Every strike and march, every act of human gathering--for the good of a group or the destruction of another-- forms on one side of the rift. Very few gatherings exist to explore how to bridge this rift.

So I ask you, are you a bridge or a barrier? ...and when, under what circumstances, is it important to choose?

Ask yourself where you fit into the social change movement. Resolve to make an impact. Internalize your cause, but keep the blinders off to constantly broaden your horizons and refresh your perspective. Be open to support. Be aware of your surroundings. Be receptive to other viewpoints. You will attract others to you and your thoughts as others will be magnets for you. Lead with passion. Follow with strength. And remember, use your power wisely.

First Musings

As I sit here typing, I ponder the possibilities of this blog. It was born of a desire, a need, a drive to write and share the wonderous creative thoughts that float through this world. It is my wish for it to morph and grow and expand to reflect the life that is art and the art that is life. Welcome world as we journey through the thought trails of the universe!

In Deepest Gratitude and Respect for the Muse,
Lindsay : )