(Re) Birth of a Nation

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#BlackLightsMatter

Posted by Daniel Kelvin Bullock on July 14, 2015

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I recently performed this poem, #BlackLightsMatter, at The Pinhook in Durham.

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Do It Like Durham: What does it look like to hold Black leaders accountable?

The world seems to be falling apart and so does Durham Public Schools (DPS). An unprecedented financial error occurred when about 1300 DPS classified workers were promised raises, received them, but faced the possibility of having to pay the money back. Since then, classified staff, supported by the organizing power of the local teachers’ union, Durham Association of Educators (DAE), have been protesting to: Commit to keep February paychecks whole; Provide a public explanation of why January checks did not match December checks as workers anticipated; Schedule a Meet and Confer work session with DAE for no later than the week of February 12th. Durham Public Schools Board of Education has agreed to use over $4 million from its fund balance to cover the cost of the payments through January, so that employees will not have to pay back money to the district. However, there isn't a clear resolution for moving forward. This is the most unfortunate administrative debacle we’ve seen in ou

DAE is no longer predominantly WHITE:POWER and politics in education

Durham Association of Educators (DAE) has been putting in work over the years to grow their membership. Apparently, they are no longer a predominantly white union. I wish they had put just as much energy into growing their critical consciousness and developing a liberatory framework. As an educator and former dues paying member of DAE, I believe DAE should be using their collective organizing power to support our predominantly Black and Brown students as they advocate for educator and worker rights, but they don’t. Their mode of operation is how to gain power over and not power with the community. These are white supremacy moves. Amid the disastrous failure unraveling in Durham Public Schools , DAE usurped the protesting movement from the bus drivers and created their own demands that apparently didn’t align with everyone they claimed to represent. As such, DAE was surprised by the canceling of schools on February 9th & 12th because they did not organize this call-out . This i

Dear White Women Educators in DPS

Dear White Women Educators in DPS, For the last two weeks, I didn’t have the words to offer a critical analysis of what I saw transpiring through social media. I have them now. When the board voted 5-2 to reopen schools, many educators & community members across racial lines were caught off guard, frustrated, and angered by the decision. I understood those emotions, as we all thought we would remain in virtual learning until the end of the year. Then SB37 happened, and the district, along with a majority of the board members, decided to pivot. What I witnessed in the aftermath of the vote, however, was white women educators fuming and unraveling through social media. The words “betrayal” and loss of “trust” were thrown around freely. People demanded the names of the board members, and many were ready to “vote them out.” White teachers even lamented that the board members wanted them to die. Maybe in a race-neutral society, this would seem like righteous indignation, but we d

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