Fathers Writes

falanarx:

socialismartnature:

2,000 Philly Students and Teachers Walkout, Protest Severe Budget Cuts | NBC 10 Philadelphia

Saturday, May 18, 2013 

Thousands of Philadelphia school students walked out of class and marched on city buildings to fight drastic budget cuts to their education.

Chanting “save our schools” and holding signs, the teens from at least 27 schools converged on the School District of Philadelphia headquarters at 440 N. Broad Street just after noon Friday, shutting down Broad Street to traffic.

Once the demonstrators reached numbers in the thousands, they began marching south on Broad Street towards Philadelphia City Hall at Broad and Market Streets — arriving around 1:30 p.m.

The students are fighting a series of severe budget cuts proposed by the district to close a more than $300 million funding gap. The proposed cuts include ending arts and music programs, sports and cutting auxiliary staff like secretaries, librarians and counselors.

The demonstration is happening at the same time parents, teachers and students testify before a Philadelphia City Council hearing on school funding.

The demonstration walked around City Hall in the middle of the street — shutting the area down to traffic. They also made their way into the building’s courtyard to have their voices heard.

Solidarity.

Oakland next?

In high school I knew a kid that rode like this. His name was Justice. Mountain Bikes were his thing and he would show up and ride with all us BMXers. I wonder if my son will be a rider!

seanpadilla:

siddharthasmama:

knitmeapony:

These 11-Year-Olds Are Metal As Fuck

There is a metal band in Brooklyn called Unlocking The Truth that is made up of three 11-year-olds. They make every band in the nu-metal scene look like total garbage. Not that that was difficult.

These kids have some seriously dope metally riffs and breakdowns. Not sure when they have time to come up with those in between doing homework and…I don’t know, what do 11-year-olds do these days? We have no idea. Play Pokemon?

Yo, little dudes. Wanna play the next show we put on? Offer is on the table. One catch: You gotta show us how to beat this last level on Bioshock Infinite.

LOOK AT THESE PRECIOUS BB ROCK STARS:

(via Jaded Punk, where you can find several more videos.)

These little dudes are sick! That second song was heavy as fuck. They got some riffs that sounded reminiscent of Sabbath which is even more dope.

I BELIEVE THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

So much excitement for my son! If one day he jams out like this I will be ssoooo proud. I mean I’m proud regardless but damn come on. Metal forever!

seanpadilla:

austinstatesman:

Restoring Rundberg

Austin police have spent the first part of 2013 working to combat crime in the Rundberg area in North Austin - generally the collection of neighborhoods north of U.S. 183 that straddle North Lamar Boulevard and Interstate 35. Last year, Austin police secured a three-year, $1 million federal grant to revitalize the area.

The Statesman looked at recent efforts in the Rundberg area in a package of stories this weekend.

Reporter Dave Harmon looks at APD’s ambitious Restore Rundberg project: 

“Cmdr. Mark Spangler, who’s leading the effort for the Austin Police Department, worked in the area as a young patrol officer 26 years ago. He’d like to see it return to what it was in the 1970s: a working-class neighborhood where people watched out for each other and crime wasn’t nearly the problem it is now.

“We look back 20 years and say, ‘What the hell happened?’” he said.”

A number of revitalization efforts and police operations have been tried in the past, but problems remain:

“Today, 9 percent of the city’s crime happens in the Rundberg area, which covers just 2 percent of the city’s footprint. “

Dave Harmon also spoke with managers of motels in the Rundberg area about their efforts to deter crime. One example story:

“Running a motel on Interstate 35 near Rundberg Lane is not for the faint of heart.

Ralph Gudbaur learned that in the summer of 2008 when he confronted a man he suspected of dealing drugs in the parking lot of the Budget Lodge, where he’d just become the manager: “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Gudbaur, 65, asked. He said the man unleashed a string of profanities, then hit him in the chest so hard that he staggered backward into a wall.”

An online interactive also looks at APD calls to Rundberg area hotels.

Read both stories, and see more photos from the Restoring Rundberg package

This was the first neighborhood I lived in after I moved to Austin, and I’ve gotta admit that it was (and remains) pretty grimy.

HOME! Lived in this area for a short while then I bought my home a little further north from here. The idea in Austin is that most crime occurs in East Austin. Much of it does but this neighborhood was popping off when I lived in North Austin. At one point there were even a series of marches by the broader Rundberg community demanding that crime stop. It was inspiring at that point to see that community making noise and organizing to resolve these issues. Much work to be done. Not sure the police are the answer to that issue though. I hope the community continues to organize, organize, organize….

lovelyskyboat:

ladijones:

In case you do not know…. Lianne La Havas is everything. 

A cover of Jill Scott’s, ‘He Loves Me’. 

One of my favorites from Lianne.

I want her Guitar!

(via messynefertiti)

Spent this warm afternoon cleaning and listening to this TED talk about Education. Been working on trying to tighten up my classroom skills and most importantly finding my own voice in my curriculum. It won’t happen anytime soon but I look forward to gathering tools and teasing out a new and better strategy for engaging youth!

This afternoon I ran across two comrades and we spoke about the nature of the school campus I work at. It has been plagued with violence the last few weeks that has impacted everyone on that campus. As social justice minded parents we are beginning to have that, ‘can’t send our kids to public school,’ mindset. Which is horrible to be pitted in that situation. This video makes me wonder how much involvement parents can have in transforming schools and the education that takes place in them.