Reaction to Obama's Speech to America's Schoolchildren

President Barack Obama spoke to America's schoolchildren at Wakefield High School in Arlington County, Virginia on Tuesday September 8, 2009. High school senior Timothy Spicer-- athlete, AP student, and class president--had the honor of introducing the President to his school. Spicer was introduced before he got on stage. The fact that he is a successful African-American student made his role in the event even more significant.

The speech only lasted for twenty minutes, which was just enough time to make the point. Just about everything that Obama said was what a parent who values education would have said to their child. And more. This is because Obama had a similar childhood as many poor kids from single-parent homes. He knew every excuse that a kid could make for not succeeding in school, and he was on to all of them.

Some quotes from Obama's speech:

"We can have the best teachers, the best schools, the best parents--but it won't make a difference unless you put in the work."

"You have a responsibility to yourself to find out what you are good at."

"If you quit school, you're not just quitting on yourself--you are quitting on your country."

"Some of the most successful people in the world have had the most failures."

He encouraged students to study hard, to set their own goals for their education, and to use failure as a teacher, not as an identifier. He encouraged students to ask adults whom they trusted to help them stay on track of their educational goals. He told students that right now, school is their job.

I heard a lot of these things from my own parents. I am sure that a lot of Republicans heard this from their parents as well. I hope they feel good and silly making all of that fuss about this speech. If they are still mad, well...they will have to attend an anti-racism workshop or two.

Obama's Speech to America's Schoolchildren

The concept of children writing essays about the President, or what they could do for their country, or what they could do to help the President, is not new. Only now, people getting bent out of shape because a president actually provided lesson plans to accompany his speech to schoolchildren. You can access these lesson plans for K-6 and 7-12 here.

No one said that the assignments were mandatory. In fact, no one said that listening to the speech was mandatory. Actually listening to the speech would be a good idea, though, simply to overcome one's fears, or to have something tangible to critique. Maybe this speech would encourage kids to become more engaged in civics and public affairs, and make them realize that they are not too small to make a difference. Where is the harm in this?

Evil Rabbis

Really shoddy news article from BBC News online

The headline of this article is "US Rabbis Arrested in Crime Probe". The focus of the very small article, however, is only some of the government officials involved in this case.

I am sure that BBC News will do some followup reporting, but posting the article like that was irresponsible.

As the day progressed and the details came to light, here was the new headline:

"US Rabbi Held Over 'Kidney Trade'" (with no mention of the rabbi)

A few hours later, the story fills out, and the headline becomes "US Corruption Probe Nets Dozens".

Everyday Racism

The Advocate posted a telling story about prominent Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Gates got locked out of his house, and tried to get back in. A "local woman" called the police, because all she saw was an African-American man attempting to get into a house on the Harvard University campus. The police went into this situation also with the assumption that this was a break-in. Of course Gates would be indignant and outraged, especially since some police offers like to play up their authority and act like bullies. Gates was arrested for "disorderly conduct" and released on a $40 bail.

I was born and raised in the Northeast, where racism and segregation is still a part of everyday life. If you are a person of color in a predominantly white neighborhood, the residents will call the police if they do not know you, or if a neighbor cannot "speak for" you. If you are a person of color driving through a predominantly white neighborhood in a nice car, the police will come to check you out. This is what happened to my Foundations of Education professor Dr. George Fouron.

Dr. Fouron happened to work at a university on the North Shore of Long Island, New York, where now and then he would take a shortcut through one of the whitey white old money neighborhoods while driving his Mercedes Benz. One day he was late for class, and he told us that the reason he was late was because a policeman stopped him simply because he was a person of color driving through a white neighborhood in a Mercedes Benz. I was shocked. But I was even more shocked when a young man raised his hand and said, "Dr. Fouron, don't worry. I work for the police department and can get you a pass that will tell the police that you are OK."

No one said a word. I don't know if it was because they were as stunned as I was with this drama that played out before us on the stage of our lecture hall, or because they agreed with this system. I just didn't know what to say. How degrading this all must have been for Dr. Fouron.

Anyway, the responses to the article about Henry Louis Gates Jr. sickened me. You can read the article and the comments here.

This story reached President Obama's ear, and he had something to say about it:

Obama Criticizes Police Handling of Professor Henry Louis Gates

Please understand that when these incidents are brought to light, and when everyone speaks out against the bad behavior of police, it actually improves how the police treat everyone.

For the record, I am watching a lot of documentaries these days about racism in Russia. The Russian police do not provide security for anyone, especially if those people are not ethnic Eastern Orthodox Russians. In fact, many of the Russian police who are sent to arrest some of the most outspoken leaders of ultra right wing xenophobic groups tell those dudes, "Sorry man, I am just doing my job...if I wasn't a policeman I would be marching with you."

The United States has come a LONG WAY. Always remember that the police are PUBLIC SERVANTS, hired to KEEP THE PEACE and TO MAKE EVERY INDIVIDUAL FEEL SECURE.

They are not hired thugs, they are not skinheads, they are not vigilantes, they are not Klansmen. There is no reason why any innocent person should feel threatened or intimidated of a blue uniform, or be put on the defensive when approached by someone in a blue uniform.

Albino Murders in Tanzania: 21st Century Witchcraft

In Tanzania, albinos are being murdered for their body parts, believed to have magical powers.

In this article from The New York Times, the "witch doctors" are marketing albino skin, hair, and bones as ingredients that will make people rich. According to a statistic in this article, 1 in 3,000 people in Tanzania are albino (which, compared to US figures for albinism at 1 in 20,000, is pretty impressive).

This article claims that 1 in 5,000 people in Tanzania are albino, and that the Lake Victoria region has the largest concentrated population of albinos in the world due to minerals from a native fish (according to legend).

This article from BBC News says that there are 4,000 "registered" albinos in Tanzania, but there could be as many as 173,000. Some are powerful female government figures...

Albino killings for body parts have been reported by the BBC since 2007.

The Red Cross has set up a sanctuary for albino infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers at a school for the disabled. You can see their photos here. They are in desperate need of sunscreen, which is very expensive in Africa as elsewhere around the world.

The albino killings are giving witchcraft a bad name in Tanzania. The licenses of all traditional healers in Tanzania have been revoked in the attempt to put an end to the murders, but the black market trade in albino parts is still thriving outside of Tanzania. Arms, legs, hands, genitals, and entire heads are sent to the Congo and Nigeria.

I want to know how this "tradition" got started, and why no one in the West had heard about it until two years ago. While I keep fact finding, please pass this story around. Innocent people are being murdered for profit, at the expense of what remains of the true pagan religions of the region.

Thing 38: Screencasting

I used Jing and SnagIt to show you my Google home page.
We often use SnagIt at work to take screenshots for library instruction or to show technical support or systems what is going wrong with our various services. It is a helpful tool in that sense. It also allows you to save images in a lighter file format than JPG.

Thing 46: Web Junction Minnesota

I am surprised that more librarians are not signed up to Web Junction Minnesota. It provides an excellent social networking opportunity for librarians all over the state. We also can have the opportunity to share resources with each other by uploading documents for members to see.

In the future, I may use the discussion boards if more people sign up.

It would be great to have links to all of the Minnesota library websites on Web Junction. Videos and photos of other peoples' libraries, library events, library instruction, etc. would also be nice to have.