Earlier today, I saw that the vile Alex Jones of InfoWars—the same Jones who spread the conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook Massacre never happened, it was performed by child actors—had posted a doctored video portraying Emma Gonzales and the other kids of MSD as Nazi youth.
Now the New Yorker sees a striking resemblance between Emma and a classic pottrayal of Joan of Arc.
I much prefer the latter. Though not Joan’s Fate.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ms. Gonzales will not be burned at the stake.
I’m afraid it will be SHE who will burn Florida and Federal politicians at the stake, and I shall supply her with as many political and advocacy matches and gallons of lighter fluid as she wants.
She embodies the essence of bravery, courage, intelligence, passion, collectivism, justice, energy, persistence, truth, and purity.
She and her peers are a reminder of what we once were and how many of us (not all) have lost our verve, our piss and vinegar, our inner light, and our vigilance as a result of bathing, raving, and glowing too long in the luxury of complacency, NIMBY, not very research-based ideologies and the unsubstantial branding of political parties and politician personalities. As Emma reminds us soberly, we no longer can can stay in that same place of ignorance, hopelessness, learned helplessness, and going along to get along. No more.
Emma is also a perfect metaphor for this idea that we ourselves must run for office, must civically participate, must vote, must be active and not passive, must take a stand and not be indifferent, must take a risk and not hide in the illusion of comfort, and must collectively band together with each other to lose our labels and see what’s really important and humanistic for society.
Thank you, Ms. Gonzales. It figures that it takes a minor to educate me, an adult, after all these years.
Her three minutes of silence in front of an audience of hundreds of thousands was the most eloquent three minutes of the day. What amazing presence of mind, what poise, what self control it took to be voiceless and emotionless for three minutes. That was truly the sound of silence.
Yes x 1,000!
Not on topic, but worthwhile: The Kentucky governor (I was born in KY) signed a bill making Holocaust and genocide mandatory topics in KY publicly-operated schools. see
https://jewishlouisville.org/kentucky-legislature1-passes-mandatory-holocaust-education/
Interestingly, it was a parochial school (Roman Catholic) that did the lobbying.
A “high-five” to Kentucky public schools!!
I would like to see more cooperation in crafting education policy, between public and non-public schools. This is one example. When this kind of non-partisanship, and cooperation is present, everyone wins.
Catholic and public schools have two very different fundamental purposes for being. While no doubt that religiously neutral discussions of the teaching and learning process can, and perhaps should take place, those fundamental differences cannot be bridged.
Play not with fire, Charles. You can get burned . . . .
What business does the Kentucky governor (or the legislature) have in mandating what gets taught in all Kentucky schools? Is the governor an educator? How many of the legislators are?
BTW, will “holocaust and genocide” now be a tested subject in Kentucky? If not, why would schools spend time on that if it’s not going to help in their evaluations? Maybe this Catholic school could have lobbied against the use of tests and teacher evaluations?
And further BTW, how exactly is this going to be taught? At what grade levels? How do you teach kindergarteners about the holocaust and genocide?
It surprises me that a conservative like you is cheering the government sticking it’s overly large and intrusive nose into local curricular matters.
Some good questions, dienne, but having seen how some districts purposely water down events around the Holocaust (which are a good introduction into the topic of genocide), I understand the governor’s move. It’s like districts who choose to ignore or minimize the Civil Rights movement of the sixties (and the setbacks and the ongoing efforts). There are events and topics that we should not be allowed to ignore, especially with the human tendency to repeat such unspeakable crimes. I agree, though, that the when and how should be left up to the local schools. I am a bit biased since I got to observe up close over several years a very powerful curriculum developed around WWII.
The people of the state of Kentucky, set up a constitution, and then empowered the state government to set up a system of publicly-financed and publicly-operated schools. See:
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legresou/constitu/183.htm
Q
General Assembly to provide for school system.
The General Assembly shall, by appropriate legislation, provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the State.
Text as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised September 28, 1891.
History: Not yet amended.
END Q
The people of the state of Kentucky have thus empowered the state government to operate/finance the public schools system. The authority has been in place since 1891. And since the (state) government PAYS for the system, then the government has every right to mandate the curriculum. Every public school teacher’s paycheck is signed by the Treasurer of the state of Kentucky.
“He who pays the piper, calls the tune” – Unknown.
The current governor of Kentucky, is Matt Bevin. He is a successful businessman. see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Bevin
I do not know how many of the current members of the Kentucky general assembly are educators. The fact is, that there are an “historic” number of educators running for seats in the legislature. see
http://www.wdrb.com/story/37398596/historic-number-of-teachers-running-for-kentucky-general-assembly
Do not press me on specifics. The legislation has just been passed, and the details will have to be worked out. Will it be a “tested subject”? I do not know, but I would hope so.
As to why would schools spend time on this subject: I would think that they would spend time on the subject, because the state (which runs the school system, and pays the bills) has mandated it to be so.
I am not equipped to address why Roman Catholic educators would lobby against tests and evaluations. I just do not know.
Again, as to specifics: I just do not know. The ink on the governor’s signature, has hardly dried. The program is going to have to be worked out. As far as grade levels, I would think that the material would be selected that is grade-appropriate.
I do not think that a subject of this type would be taught at Kindergarten level.
You must keep in mind, that the state mandates all types of curriculum in the schools it finances. As a conservative, I have no problem with this. If anyone thinks that the government should get out of the education business, they should be pushing for school vouchers and privatization.
Keep in mind, I have walked through the gas chamber at Dachau. I have been in Anne Frank’s house. I have reached into the dirt, ( in a concentration camp) and felt the detritus of human bone slip through my fingers. I have shaken hands with Holocaust survivors. I have drunk beer in the cellars of breweries in Munich.
I feel very passionately about the Holocaust, and I also feel that the subject must be taught in our public schools.
The US Senate finally ratified the genocide treaty in 1988.43 years after the Soviets liberated Auschwitz.
see
https://enoughproject.org/blog/day-us-ratifies-genocide-convention
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Santayana) (The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense. Scribner’s, 1905: 284).
You got this right…thanks for posting it!
I hope we “lose” the Joan of Arc comparisons. I suppose it is natural to want an icon, but do icons get to grow or are they stuck in a role ordained by others? There are many excellent speakers among the Parkland students; I hope their words energize not only their generation but the rest of us as well to demand rational debate and action on gun control. Their voices are strong, but the people must be heard.
People make icons of others instead of raising up to the task, myself included. Too much pressure on Emma, she is not a free person anymore because of all those heightened expectations. When she stops rallying, people will be shaming her, the same people who are making an idol out of her now.
It was hard not to be really impressed with so MANY of the protester voices; Emma’s message was strong, but just as strong were messages from many others. Joan of Arc’s was a singular voice—these are many voices, all unique but still united.
The Joan of Arc story is really amazing and resonates with my 13 year old students. Alas, this is one story I sometimes have to sacrifice because there’s so much important stuff to teach in CA 7th Grade World History class. We need more time.
John Oliver “exposed” Alex Jones for the lying fraud that he is.
A banana slug is more intelligent than the followers of Alex Jones that believe the diarrhea coming out of Jones mouth.
This has just been posted from the WH. Trump will never become a supporter of less school violence as long as $30 million from the NRA is sitting in his pocket. DeVos is a Trump sycophant.
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In the Washington Examiner, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos writes that “last month, when 17 innocent children and adults were massacred in Parkland, Fla., President Trump delivered a forceful response: The failures to confront school violence in America over the past 40 years end now.” Secretary DeVos adds that President Trump and his entire Administration “are committed to making America safe by implementing evidence-based measures that will help improve mental health, prevent crime, and keep violent behavior out of our schools and communities.”
Emma (and the rest of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students) is/are brilliant and inspiring not to just her fellow youth but to geezers like me as well. I do worry about the vicious and repeated attacks on these young people. It goes way beyond criticism, it is an effort to destroy, delegitimize and intimidate the students into silence. When I hear the latest smear against these heroes, I go into a total rage. A video was made depicting Emma and her friends ripping up the Constitution, it was a total photo-shopped fraud; the kids were actually ripping up a target practice sheet. Another rumor perpetrated by these cowardly hyenas was that David Hogg was not even at the school at the time of the shooting, another fabrication. These far right wing filth like Alex Jones will do anything and everything to destroy these admirable students. Add to the list of deplorables Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a racist crypto Nazi who made demeaning and nasty comments about Emma.
“Emma of Park(land)”
Emma of Park
And Joan of Arc
Likeness is stark
Lights in the dark
How does one see Alex Jones . I only had the misfortune once when he burst into the Young Turks studio with that other thug soon to be a Federal felon Roger Stone. Parental block works for a whole lot of stations.
The only way I’ve ever seen Alex Jones is by letting my guard down.
But you should definitely watch John Oliver’s dissection and evisceration of Alex Jones. Google it.
I’ve seen it, it’s wonderful.
Me Too
Joel,
Google InfoWars, or better yet, google John Oliver on Alex Jones.
dianeravitch
I am well aware of who he is . As usual my sarcasm was missed . Ten second clips or two line quotes are enough to send me looking for the kid’s baseball bat .
I am a Brazilian and I would say the kind of school that has students like Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg is exactly what is needed in USA and Brazil. These children are citizens, in the very meaning of that word. They show why public education cannot be measured just by standard tests. But what is even more astonishing is that these students from a public school will defeat the conservatives. That is amazing!!
Well said.
Samantha Fuentes, 18, still had a part of a bullet lodged in her face when she spoke at the March for Our lives Protest. We followed the Parkland shooting survivor as she demanded to turn her trauma into change. [NYT video]
You do not have to be a subscriber to watch a NYT video.
How HORRIBLE that any teenager has to live with this trauma the rest of her life. Gun lovers are CRAZY if they think they need a gun to protect their families and themselves. 33,000 people died in one year from guns. When is enough enough?
The NYT always has a political quote of the day. Today’s comes from a Parkland, FL survivor. What an inspiration. I wish our politicians had as much courage. They mostly are a bunch of flops.
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QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“The truth is, us kids, we just want to be the voice for the people we lost, or for people who don’t think they have a voice. I am prioritizing this over college right now, I am prioritizing people’s lives over my education.”
SAMANTHA FUENTES, who was wounded in the school shooting last month in Parkland, Fla., on whether to begin college in the fall or continue the campaign to promote more rigorous gun safety laws.
This is a very intelligently written piece. What a great school to grow/present such brilliant students.
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I Tried to Befriend Nikolas Cruz. He Still Killed My Friends.
The notion that the Parkland shootings wouldn’t have occurred if students had been kinder is deeply dangerous.
PARKLAND, Fla. — My first interaction with Nikolas Cruz happened when I was in seventh grade. I was eating lunch with my friends, most likely discussing One Direction or Ed Sheeran, when I felt a sudden pain in my lower back. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of my 90-pound body; tears stung my eyes. I turned around and saw him, smirking. I had never seen this boy before, but I would never forget his face. His eyes were lit up with a sick, twisted joy as he watched me cry.
The apple that he had thrown at my back rolled slowly along the tiled floor…
But students should not be expected to cure the ills of our genuinely troubled classmates, or even our friends, because we first and foremost go to school to learn. The implication that Mr. Cruz’s mental health problems could have been solved if only he had been loved more by his fellow students is both a gross misunderstanding of how these diseases work and a dangerous suggestion that puts children on the front line.
It is not the obligation of children to befriend classmates who have demonstrated aggressive, unpredictable or violent tendencies. It is the responsibility of the school administration and guidance department to seek out those students and get them the help that they need, even if it is extremely specialized attention that cannot be provided at the same institution.
No amount of kindness or compassion alone would have changed the person that Nikolas Cruz is and was, or the horrendous actions he perpetrated. That is a weak excuse for the failures of our school system, our government and our gun laws…