If you have something to say...
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has opened investigations into possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in Tucson. Not that TUSD has bothered to inform the district's taxpayers of the investigation.
In a stunning rejection of celebrated author Ana Castillo's offer to read and speak with Tucson high school students next week, Tucson Unified School District administrators added a new chapter to the nation's most troubling censorship crackdown.
We are survivors of the January 8th, 2011 shooting in Tucson and we are a diverse group of real, patriotic Americans. We are a Republican, an Independent and a Democrat, and we strongly support the second amendment. We are some of the too many faces of gun violence in this country.
While the Daily Show brilliantly reminded millions of viewers last night of the disgraceful racist elements behind the attack on Tucson's acclaimed and now outlawed Mexican American Studies program, educators across the nation recalled a teaching moment.
Facing an unprecedented wave of censorship, Tucson has unabashedly staked out its claim as ground zero in the defense of poetry and literary arts.
One of the most innovative poets and authors over the last 25 years, Tafolla's genre-bending bilingual verse from San Antonio's West Side barrio has given voice to several cherished volumes of poetry and stories.
This week I am singing the alto part in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. This is a piece that I do not quite get. Try as I might to see the overwhelming emotion in this piece, I am ashamed to admit it is lost on me.
The trauma and stress over the dismantling of the Mexican American Studies program, including the confiscation of books in front of young middle school and high school students, has never been addressed by Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) officials.
My life has never been the same since March 6, 1993. The day I lost the best thing that ever happened to me... 51-year-old, Gail Parker. My mother, my best friend, my heart and my soul.
Thousands of teachers across the country are now using books and texts from Tucson's Mexican American Studies curricula in a special "No History is Illegal" campaign.
As the nation watches the Tucson Unified School District's spiral into disarray, hundreds of students have walked out of their Tucson schools today in a coordinated protest against the banishment of the district's acclaimed Mexican American Studies program.
It is important that this week, one year after the tragedy at Tucson, we remember those who were senselessly slaughtered there, including a 9-year old girl.
Members of the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board are expected to vote tonight on the fate of a controversial Mexican American Studies program. Will they accept the state's ruling that MAS violates the law? Will they vote to dismantle or modify MAS? Or will they further appeal the findings and accept the multi-million-dollar fines?
On the issue of universal healthcare, Carmona stays away from "highly charged phrases like universal healthcare or single-payer" because those words can shut down conversation and negotiation. ..But Carmona didn't mince words when he added that all Americans should have some basic health coverage, prompting hearty applause from the audience.
"After taking Raza Studies in high school, I felt like it was my obligation to make sure to stay connected with the community and search for solutions in improving our local environment."
Analyzing problems in the real world and coming up with solutions. If officials think that's anathema to a sound education, they've given civil rights advocates the most principled argument yet for why ethnic studies is so vital for the next generation of leaders.
