Re: The Suburban Station Violinist

In an earlier blog post, I ranted and raved about this kid who I have seen for a couple of years now playing, very skillfully, his violin on the concourse of Suburban Station.

Since SEPTA is my primary form of transportation ( I have a car but with all this teacher money I make, I cannot afford to fix my baby up...story for another day) I frequently happen upon many "writeable" events. Riding the 13 trolley, moments ago, through Southwest Philly Mr. Violinist himself, Sean Bennett, boarded with a female companion.

I looked around the trolley to see if any of the other passengers' faces revealed that they knew who this young man was. No revelatory faces. With that, I really wanted become a "writeable" moment myself and stand to give this young man his props before the entire trolley, but decided against it. Instead I resolved to give him what we call in church, a Holy Ghost handshake (dropping a few dollars in his hand then walking away).

Why am I hype? As I stated before, he is a young, black male with a gift! If we were to undergo a psychological exercise and I were to say, "black teenage boy", what would immediately come to mind? Pants saggin', snap back wearin thug? Criminal? Jail? No good? Waste? SMH? Sean, among many other young black males, who aren't the "top story" on the 5pm newscasts, create the contrasting and alternative images that we all need to have of the black male.

As a teacher, I see my students for what they will become! Sean is like one of my students and I am excited for his future!! Sean could very well have been my student a few years back.

I really want him to get his own special report on one of the local networks. Searching the internet, I did find this philly.com article. Click, read, and enjoy:
http://articles.philly.com/2011-02-01/news/27092982_1_young-musicians-tina-davidson-rehearsal

There are many Seans out there! Some sit in our classrooms and many are pants-saggin, snap-back wearin thugs who have been to jail! They're just waiting for someone to tap into their untapped potential, waiting for that metaphoric "Holy Ghost" handshake!!

Diane Sawyer with Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey talking race in America

VIDEO: @DianeSawyer talks with @Oprah and @ForestWhitaker about race and change in America. http://t.co/07XnxnFG5m
— ABC World News (@ABCWorldNews) August 3, 2013

Charles G Hayes & Warriors Jesus Can Work It Out Remix

My Christian faith is a huge part of who I am. This is one of the songs that I have on "repeat" right now. There are quite a few things that I need the Lord to work out, not the least of which is the situation in our public schools and the leadership of this land! In any event, enjoy! Jesus can work it out!!

"Let the Circle Be Unbroken" really mirrors today...

As I stated in a previous blog post, the content of Mildred Taylor's, Let the Circle Be Unbroken is very relevant today. In chapter eleven, a group of black young people were gathered on their school grounds. One of the racist white landowners' sons approaches a young black male, who was helping the organization efforts. He questioned him about his involvement.  Dube, who stutters and was very nervous, was too nervous to talk. He only nodded or shook his head. Here's more of what happened:

"You telling me the truth, boy?"
Dube nodded.
Stuart stared at Dube; Dube stared at the ground. "You hear from him or any other of them union men, I wanna know 'bout it. You hear me boy?"
Dube nodded, not looking up.
"That go the same for all of y'all. There ain't gonna be non union down in here, so y"ll tell that to your folks. No union!"

PA Governor's Mansion...a UNION connection??

Say it ain't so...

PA Governor's Mansion
Read the short "passage" on the governor's residence and who designed it.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1163949&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=227&mode=2

A little about the architect George Ewing
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/25851

Wait?!? What clubs and organizations did he belong to?

• Pennsylvania Society of Architects
• American Institute of Architects (AIA)
• Philadelphia Chapter, AIA
• Swarthmore Zoning Board

Here's some info about the AIA -->
http://www.aia.org/practicing/groups/international/uia/aiap073960
http://www.aiapa.org/about-us/local-chapters.html

Union connection? Seems like it to me!
Since our governor seems to be anti-union, I proposed we help him pack up and ship out!

Yes, Let's Talk Salaries....

So, the School Reform Commission (SRC), the state of PA, and the School District of Philadelphia all want to see salary cuts of up to 13%. ---> http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/District-wants-13-salary-cuts-other-big-changes.html

Philly Teachers' Salaries
Let's see how long it takes you to find out what we make. Exactly! Not long at all! Go to most charter school websites and you won't see teacher salaries.
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/e/ee/

PA Legislative Salaries
I was curious to see what our lawmakers here in PA make on average. Here are two sites that I found that give that info:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/pennsylvania_lawmakers_get_aut.html
As of 2012 -->  http://www.empirecenter.org/html/legislative_salaries.cfm

Note: Base salary approximately $83,800 per year
Then, there are those who work for the legislators, here's info on what they make
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/images/video/2011_pdfs/041011-spend.pdf

What did the Governor say recently?
Here's the text:

Appearing at an event today in Philadelphia, Gov. Tom Corbett defended the state's role in the funding battle. "Forty-five million dollars in federal funding funneled through the state are contingent on reforms, including teacher concessions," Corbett said.
"We are working very closely with the local community, with the School Reform Commission. We've provided some resources, but we also need to see that there is movement from those same people that are rallying," said the governor.

Here's the source and the entire article:
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/57946



Notes:
1.  It takes more than 10 years, and advanced degree AND additional 30 credits to make what a freshman legislator makes
2. It's nice that the governor won't take the increases he's due under the law. But, I think I'd sit nice and comfy in Southwest Philly at $174,914 a year, not too shabby.
3. So, I was curious to see what the governor's salary would be at a 13% cut (approx $152,000). I was also curious to see what 13% of his salary was (approx $22,738). Note: $22,738 is approximately what a little less than 36% of the Philadelphia population makes. So let's just say, about 33% of Philly's population makes nearly $22,738 a year according to --->  http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

Note: I don't claim to be a resident statistician....but I can read and analyze!!!

Mildred Taylor's, "Let the Circle Be Unbroken"

For the xth time I'm reading the sequel to Mildred Taylor's, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. The book, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, picks up where the first book leaves off. With each rereading of books that I love, I get something different out them every time. With each rereading, I read with a different set of experiences based on which I form different opinions and draw different conclusions from previous readings of the books.

This is how reading and English classes should be; discussions of themes in literature based on the myriad experiences and background knowledge that students bring to the classroom. In this education reform era, teaching, much to our chagrin, has become everything but!!!

In any event, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent. My primary point was that this book deals with themes that we are very much experiencing today: race relations, unionism, the coming of age of a 14 year old black boy, unemployment, the role of strong women holding down households, etc.

Movies, videos, and games cannot capture the experiences that can be had in the reading of good quality books!!