Back to Lyceum

It's the time to return to the books and the talk. School has begun and my classes seem to be filled to the rim. My AP US History class, all 29 of them, seem to be unafraid of the material and the challenge and seem to be rebuffing the rumors of the class being 'impossible'. Well, that's an accomplishment in itself. You guys rock! The Multicultural Studies class is also huge, but again, a great microcosm of society. Debate is also filled with students who seem, so far, really excited about the resolution and their potential to become a critical thinker and speaker. All in all, it looks like a good semester. I've begun to introduce some of the tech-geek components of the class with positive results. I am going to keep the practice of using email to communicate with students and parents. The forum is going to be a place where ideas get tossed around, battered, propped up again and then kicked again for good measure. I'm going to tone down the idea of posting lessons on the forum and transfer more of that to the wiki page this year. Wetpaint seems to be a more friendly host than pbwiki, but I'll have to see throughout the semester how it holds up to usability and security. Podcasts and my video library give me so many more options in the classroom, but I have to balance my use of video in the class with time constrictions and other content.

This year is definitely a year of change. The presidential election is a necessary and powerful teaching opportunity. I am going to use the most controversial issues in my debate course, and build connections to both AP US History and Multicultural Studies. There's also a lot of change at the high school. We have a new superintendent, new MCAS challenges in science and history, new mandates for daily agendas and lesson plans, and lots of new staff. This is definitely a year to feel 'on my toes', but life without challenges is super boring. Today was a good day, but tomorrow is always better.

The LaHave River

I'm back from an annual vacation to Canada, specifically Nova Scotia. My maternal grandfather wasa born here in the early 1900's on the LaHave River, south of Bridgewater. At the age of 13, he was sent to work on a schooner with his uncle. Norwood Richards had 9 other brothers and sisters, but he is one of the few to leave Canada. In the 1970's he built a small summer ranch overlooking the river, and my family has been lucky enough to use it as a vacation house ever since. My wife and our two dogs love it there. Although the fog settled in for most of our vacation, we read many books, played long board games into the night, and had many long hikes on the Atlantic shore. It was great!

Value

Yesterday, I had a chance to meet with a friend of a friend and talk about their ideas in beginning a new web site. My role was to help provide some sort of context by relating important events and issues in history to the content of the new site. It was something that I had not done for a long, long time - and something that reminded me about the value of the work that I do. I had the chance to share stories from the past with adults - and not only were they curious, but they also were grateful. For over a decade, I have tried to do my best to entertain teens with fantastic plots, ethical challenges and the great human drama of history - in an uphill struggle to create in many the value of learning about our collective past. Here, it was easy, and I almost forgot how easy it was. Many of my friends do not share the same love of study - the same fascination with the human experience - that I have. It is rare that I get to use my knowledge of experience and experience of knowledge for an audience - but I loved it and am very grateful myself for the oppoortunity.

Obama

Barack Obama is now the Democratic nominee for the presidential election of 2008. Can he make a difference? My knowledge of history and experience observing public policy in the US lead me to think that the institutions of power endure past the intentions or outcomes of the people who influence them. Has any president been able to challenge the status quo? Even 'radicals' like Lincoln and FDR used presidential power only to serve the ends of the state. So, enlightened self interest doesn't seem to be limited to individuals. The survival of the state and its ability to perpetuate geopolitical power remains an end to itself. Obama claims to support transparency and ethics in government and a community organizing approach to pubilc policy. He also claims to radically change the approach to foreign policy by replacing the premise of US superiority with the partnership of common challenges. National security realities may change. The electorate that would potentially give him a victory definitely will. Obama will be held accountable by an entirely new constituency for the 21st century. I'll willingly be part of that group.

Necessary Threats

Authority is created by those who surrender their power to the will of others. It’s assumed that, in the tradition of political philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, that a social contract is created between the state and the individual by this action. The state is socially responsible to protect its members; however we know through studying American history, that this has too often not been the case. Political institutions solidify their authority through the enforcement of law, but laws in American history that restrict liberty, protect wealth and promote racism undermine this social contract. Inevitably as a result, society suffers from the diseases of political apathy, economic disempowerment and social division. Our history, however, also provides panaceas. Activists have proven that democracy is sustained by challenges to authority. Whether we speak of the power of abolitionists, labor unions, suffragists, peace activists, civil rights protesters, immigrant advocates, or human rights bloggers, their role in American history cannot be underestimated. John Brown, Alice Paul, and Malcolm X (to name only a few) are examples of necessary threats to the authority of the state. Authority fears change, and with good cause. Revolt undermines the status quo, demanding a swift and punishing reaction against activism. Our history is littered with examples of reactionary backlash. Today, as media consolidation, public distrust and wealth concentration limit the perception of individual empowerment, these heroes are needed more than ever. Mohandas Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Question yourself; question authority - or it will question you.

The Voice of Power

Power. Malcolm X fought against it in his youth. He blamed it for weakening him in his teens. He was punished by it in his early adulthood. In prison, he submitted to it wholeheartedly. He used and attracted it as a religious leader. As an activist, he scorned its abuses and demanded its validation. The changes in his own life refined his understanding of political, economic and social power. Lately, I’ve wondered why Malcolm’s life and message has become so important to me. When I first read his autobiography and speeches in my late teens, something appealed to me in his internal and external search for justice. Malcolm’s myth became his message. He transformed his own consciousness as well as those followers of racial justice. Tragically, his life in submission to Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam misled millions because it reacted and did not respond to the needs of those suffering from American institutional and personal racism. Today, I feel the need to use the message that Malcolm’s energy raises in me for my own activism. War is evil. Poverty is injustice. Racism is violence. My voice wants to hear Malcolm to be heard aloud. Inspiration is power.