Steven Rosenfeld of Alternet interviewed Jitu Brown about the coalition-building he is leading to fight for educational justice. Jitu is national director of the Journey for Justice, which fights for the rights of underserved black and brown children. Jitu is a member of the board of the Network for Public Education.
Jitu led the successful hunger strike at Dyett High School in Chicago, preventing its closure.
He says:
“I always say to people, we had to go on a hunger strike to win a neighborhood school in Brownsville. We had to risk our lives, literally. So I think what people have to realize as we organize, we can’t organize in a way that’s transactional. We can’t organize in a way like we’re insiders, because we are not—even if we think we are. We have to organize like we are fighting a system that is dead-set against making sure that black snd brown children receive a quality education. That’s my understanding. So if Journey for Justice collapsed tomorrow, I’m still going to be in the struggle, because that’d how we assess it.
“This is not about playing the inside-outside game. We have to have an organizing strategy that is determined. People have to be prepared to struggle and suffer a little bit. We call it organizing outside of the acceptable protest playbook. You start at the rallies. You start at the disruptions of meetings and things of that nature. But we have to be prepared to go further. I don’t say that in an arrogant way. We have to tighten our belt, put our big-boy and big-girl pants on, and realize that.
“Let me just share this with you. On the 25th day of the Dyett hunger strike, [during] which Mrs. Irene Robinson was hospitalized twice; while we were starving in Washington Park; while the former head of the Cook County Medical Association called it a public health crisis and urged the mayor to resolve it, that same day, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CEO of Chicago School Board Forrest Claypool had a ribbon-cutting event at a school called Lincoln Elementary. A neighborhood school for wealthy whites close to De Paul University, and they gave them $21 million for a new annex that several of the parents didn’t even want. Parents from that school advocated [to] give that money back to the South Side and the West Side; we don’t need it, they do. But despite that, while we starved in Washington Park, they did a ribbon-cutting to give them $21 million. That tells me all I need to hear. That’s what you’re up against.
“You are up against a system that does not view black and brown children as valuable. And until we on the left acknowledge that—because we on the left don’t acknowledge that. And we have zero tolerance for that, for a system—like right now, as I’m talking to you, there’s an elementary school in Chicago on the north side where children get Mandarin Chinese, Arabic and Spanish. Every teacher has a teacher aide. They have a full-time nurse, social workers, speech therapist, drama teacher. At the same time, there are children on the Southside where children have to eat lunch under the stairs because the school is so crowded. There’s one teacher aide in the entire building. And a part-time Spanish instructor that they had to lose their librarian in order to get. See, that’s separate and unequal.
“And that’s co-equal to the right and it’s acceptable to the left. And until we are honest about that, and that’s what we are trying to do at Journey for Justice; build a multi-racial alliance that’s grounded in the principle of unity through self-determination. The issues that we bring forth have to be championed by all. Not watered down in order to make white people feel more comfortable—no. We have to face the ugliness, the ugliness of how race has expressed itself in this country. And nowhere is it more profound than in public education.”
Many thanks to Jitu Brown for understanding what it takes to “fight the power” and the commitment it takes to win. Who would have thought that wanting a democratic public school for your children would require such organizing, sacrifice and effort? We know we cannot trust Republicans, but many Democrats are hypocrites. They are willing to accept the gross inequities of our system while they deny local citizens the right to self determination based on democratic participation. He wants supporters of public education to put representatives on notice. I agree with him. It is a war of money against people. He states, “We have to build the political power that says, if you don’t support sustainable community schools, this will—not may—this will cost you your job. If you don’t support us having an elected school board, this will cost you your job.” We need to present a united front.
As an aside, I recently read that Cory Booker is considering a run for president in 2020. I hope black and brown people don’t get fooled by him. We should should reject neo-liberals with privatization schemes and “choice” baloney. We’ve been through this with Obama. After Trump and DeVos, nobody wiIl have any patience with Booker, a fake progressive. I don’t care about the color of his skin; he is bad for public education, local control and the creation of community schools. Take a look at what he did in Newark.
Suffer a little bit.
I don’t think so. To get rid of the malignant narcissist in the White House and take away the GOP’s majority in at least one House of Congress, the suffering will have to go beyond a little bit.
Many thanks to the owner of this blog for this posting.
What struck me most forcibly was that while people are on a hunger strike, someone is hospitalized, etc., the rheephormsters go ahead with a ribbon-cutting event at a $21 million annex even some parents didn’t want and that—
“Parents from that school advocated [to] give that money back to the South Side and the West Side; we don’t need it, they do. But despite that, while we starved in Washington Park, they did a ribbon-cutting to give them $21 million.”
Glad to see that the classic rheephorm strategy of divide-and-conquer isn’t going as smoothly as planned. But don’t be surprised when, sometime in the probably not too-distant future, it is claimed by the ribbon-cutters and their enforcers and enablers that nobody voiced the slightest concern at the time.
Because for corporate education reform—1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or X.X—when it comes to raking in the $tudent $ucce$$ and creating a two-tiered education system that favors the advantaged and disfavors the disadvantaged—
See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.
Except when the chickens come home to roost. Then their eyes and ears and mouths suddenly come alive. If only someone, anyone, had spoken up…
Expect it. Don’t believe it. They fit the Trump profile perfectly:
“I wouldn’t believe Donald Trump if his tongue was notarized.” [Leona Helmsley]
And she should know!
😎
Thanks for the Helmsley quote! She had Trump’s number many years ago.
The issues that we bring forth have to be championed by all. Not watered down in order to make white people feel more comfortable. Few have the courage of Jitu Brown.
Chicago is not the only town in need of such leadership and courage,
It feels like a lawsuit needs to happen in order to bring equality into all classrooms. Get the ACLU involved or anyone else who would like to take up this cause.
I agree. Separate is never equal.