Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick describes what she has learned from the students who emerged as spokespersons for the student survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
They are the most eloquent and most effective protest leaders in our nation since the 1960s and 1970s, when civil rights and anti-Vietnam war activists converged to change the nation’s direction.
She derives five lessons that they have taught us.
The first is that they ignore Donald Trump.
The second is that they don’t waste their time arguing with people who don’t share their values and goals.
The third is that they share leadership and don’t care who gets the credit.
Read the piece to learn the other two lessons for making change in the Trump era.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It is excellent.
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“they don’t waste their time arguing with people who don’t share their values and goals”
But College Board President David Coleman [aka Lord Coleman] says that is a mistake.
According to Coleman, who apparently saw the massacre as an opportunity to advertise the wonders of AP
Emma Gonzales “may have benefited from a less-partisan approach and an attempt to better understand the positions of gun-rights proponents.”
So, whom should we believe, an opinionated high school student or the Lord of the Tests?
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As an aside, it’s not really clear (to me at least) why it’s important for Emma to take a different approach when, as Lord Coleman has pointed out previously, “no one gives a &#!t what you feel and think”.
There must be some logic there but I am obviously too stupid to see it.
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“Emma Gonzales “may have benefited from a less-partisan approach and an attempt to better understand the positions of gun-rights proponents.””
But we have spent understanding that position for 200 years. It’s not that complicated. These kids also understand it, and they summarize their opinion when they say “we call BS”.
Why doesn’t Coleman call the NRA for a less partisan approach?
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Here is a voice on gun control—not exactly from “our” side and from somebody who is a also non-negotiator type
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7D7C2ezYg0
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Coleman’s statement is rich with irony:
First, though negotiating is actually the best approach in some cases, a non-negotiator type is precisely what is needed in this case. There should be no negotiating when it comes to the lives of students and teachers in our schools.
Second, Coleman is himself a non-negotiator — basically a dictator when it comes to education policy – so it is actually very funny that he criticizes Emma Gonzales for not trying to understand the position of gun proponents.
Did Coleman try to understand the position of teachers when he shoved Common Core and high stakes testing down their throats? Of course not. And we know why because he actually told us: no one gives a &#!t what they feel and think. Certainly not him.
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YES! IGNORE that DUMP. Makes him crazy.
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My Slate online comment:
There is hope for the future in these beautiful, intelligent and articulate children. How many adults have the nerve and steel to stand up to Trump and all of his GOP colleagues who have been bought out by the NRA.
My Senator Todd Young (R-IN) was paid $2,896,732 by the NRA to gain his loyalty. Our Great Leader was given $30 million. Why is the NRA giving so much money to buy undying loyalty if the reality is that “Guns don’t kill”.
The WH, Mar-a-Lago, Senate and Housse chambers and many town hall meeting do not allow guns. Why do hypocritical GOP stalwarts want these holy places to be free of guns? My guess is that deep inside they all realize, “Guns do kill.”
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I couldn’t leave a comment on the Slate piece so I’ll post it here.
The author of this piece says they are teenagers, 17 years old, and that the central mistake we have made this past week is trying to understand how this vast army of eloquent, purposeful, and clear-eyed students has been all-but-invisible to us until now.
Teenagers like these teens are not invisible to me. I taught teenagers just like them for most of the thirty years that I was a public school, classroom teacher in California. I’m not surprised that there are young adults like them out there speaking up.
There is no such thing as a child who can’t think for themselves.
Note that in a few months, those 17-year-olds will become legal adults at 18, and some of them will join one of the four military branches and end up fighting in one of America’s endless, never-ending wars.
Also, there was no mention of the fact that behind these teenagers are parents and the teachers that they have had since kindergarten. Those parents and teachers taught them and guided them to become who they are today.
Those teens did not become the eloquent spokespeople in a vacuum. It didn’t happen with the snap of two fingers.
They had someone teaching them how to solve problems and think critically — teachers, parents, friends, peers.
The only reason many adults might not be aware of how capable many of our young adults and children are is because of the never-ending lies coming out of the corporate privatization machine, led by the Koch brothers and ALEC, that our public schools have failed.
Our public schools have never failed and these teens are the evidence of that.
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Yes. Eloquent, purposeful, and clear-eyed students and all of the adults and peers who supported them in NOT- MEASURABLE and NON-DATA-DRIVEN ways.
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I think that people are underestimating the role of this comprehensive high school in supporting the students who have taken their grief and are forging it into a movement.
This account comes from the Columbia Journalism Review. It is about the students enrolled in journalism classes, including broadcast journalism ,and their teachers. https://www.cjr.org/analysis/parkland-school-shooting.php
This account illustrates how students who had been enrolled in the theater program, in journalism studies, and who participated in school “clubs”organized themselves and delegated responsibilities within the safe haven of homes and supportive parents.
Don’t miss Emma González who so powerfully spoke through tears to a national audience. When people said she should run for president, she joked she was already president of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. https://www.buzzfeed.com/remysmidt/heres-what-its-like-at-the-headquarters-of-the-teens?utm_term=.emnK513gza&ref=mobile_share#.bwJe26yEx8
The number and variety of classes at this school is amazing The demographics and state “report card information” is also here. https://www.greatschools.org/florida/parkland/387-Marjory-Stoneman-Douglas-High-School
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The MSD students know instinctively that—
“The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing.” [variously attributed]
But won’t they fail where so many many others have failed? Aren’t they simply dreaming the impossible dream?
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” [Harriet Tubman]
But what about practicality? Isn’t getting the NRA out of gun control like ending such immutable and inevitable features of human existence as the Divine Right of Kings and chattel slavery?
I guess they also instinctively feel what a true American hero once said:
“Truth is powerful and it prevails.” [Sojourner Truth]
Amen! Go students!
😎
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“The second is that they don’t waste their time arguing with people who don’t share their values and goals.”
Yeah, I bet that some adults told them to have a townhall meeting with NRA and FL senator, but we could see how useless it has been, and how uncomfy the teens felt. How about them meeting the president? How ridiculous was that?
The only thing I am wondering about is when college students will show their support?
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From what I just read, it sounds like the exact oppostie is happening on colleges but not by the students.
“In recent years, gun lobby-backed legislation that would force colleges and universities to allow guns on campus has been introduced across the country. This legislation, which would create new dangers and burden schools with significant financial costs, is opposed by university stakeholders from police chiefs to students to college presidents. Statehouses should not override the public safety judgment of our colleges and universities, especially given the risk factors common to campus life.”
The National Rifle Association (NRA) began its push to FORCE colleges and universities to allow guns on campus following multiple high-profile campus shootings. …
Despite this push, states have overwhelmingly rejected these bills.
However, some states have passed this legislation. For instance, Texas … and this resulted in “Student Opposition: In Texas, there have been large student protests. Further, students at Historically Black Colleges and LGBTQ students have expressed concerns about how the law will affect their communities – noting that they regularly face intimidation and complex interactions with law enforcement on campus.” …
“College Students: In a 2012 study of students, 79 percent said that they would not feel safe if concealed guns were allowed onto their campuses.”
https://everytownresearch.org/guns-on-campus/
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My university is one of those that allow guns for faculty. Of course, now there are bills in the baking in TN to allow students to carry as well.
The weird thing is that only 6 out of 1K profs applied for the oncampus permit, but nobody protested.
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I like all, but I like “The third is that they share leadership and don’t care who gets the credit.” the most. I hope I am not too old to see time when we won’t be at the mercy of a single leader in this country.
I wouldn’t miss the 4th lesson from the article. Here it is
4. They Expect to Win
The adults forgot to tell the kids at Stoneman Douglas that they can’t win against the NRA. As Alec MacGillis suggested last week, decades of demoralized fatalism have allowed progressives to persuade themselves that the NRA and Republican interests are too powerful to overcome, causing liberals to give up the fight before it begins.
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Yes. I think 4. is absolutely true.
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Sue, if you want to unsubscribe, that is your job, not mine
I did not sign you up.
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