Ep. 130: A Book Challenge in our Backyard

EQ: How has anti-LGBTQ sentiment seeped in local school boards?

Hope is joined by guest Gavin Downing, a teacher-library in the Kent School district who recently experience a very intense effort by some community members to ban a young adult book, Jack of Hearts and Other Parts by L.C. Rosen. In this episode, we dig into the timeline of events, discuss the recent rise in book bans and how we can all be more proactive in our support of students’ rights to read diverse perspectives and experiences.

Related Links:

• When Your Book Gets Banned by the School Board

• List of 50 Books Texas Parents Want Banned from Libraries

• Book Bans Rise: Grounds for Moral Panic?

• ACLU Threatens Possible Legal Action if KSD Board Removes Book

• Author L.C. Rosen’s Statement

• Kent School Board Votes Against Banning

• KSD board voted NOT to ban the book

Do Your Fudging HW:

• We can’t do this alone–reach out to SD, let them know/policies for district; shore them up BEFORE the challenge comes in; school board; public library

• How folks can support you/prevent the banning of books in KSD or in their local districts

Ep. 119: Manifest A Mask & Other Nonsense Educators Are Expected to Do

EQ: If society believes that having students attend  in-person schooling is so critical, why didn’t they do anything to make it safe and sustainable?

In this episode, Megan and Hope discuss the dire conditions in which educators and students are facing upon the return to school. As per usual, they try to dig into some of the arguments for the in-person vs. remote learning debate and hold multiple truths at the same time. Namely, we all know high quality in-person instruction is ideal but in-person schooling has hella flaws & leaves kids out all the time AND remote learning has hella flaws and leaves kids out too. BOTH can be empowering. BOTH can be meaningful. BOTH can be racist, inequitable and garbage for students and the teachers. One of our biggest concerns is that districts lack plan Bs, Cs, and Ds. The needs, desires, and health of teachers matters. They are people whose lives matter. Just because they are teachers does not mean that they surrender their humanity.

Related articles:

• Reddit thread of NYC Public HS student point of view

• King and Pierce County hospitals are facing “crisis levels” of hospitalizations. There are no beds left right now

• NYC School “Staying Open”

• Best article laying it out America Doesn’t have Enough Teachers to Keep Schools Open

• A good piece of satire about all of this

Do Your Fudging Homework:

• Buy some rapid tests for your favorite school teachers

• Write to your local school board members about going remote during a search and creating clear plans for thresholds to school closures/return to in-person learning.

2017 EOY Review: Bright Embers of Hope in a White-Hot Dump Fire

Our EQ: What the hell happened this year and how do we make sense of it?

From hijab wearing Barbies and the election of the first openly transgender legislator (Danica Roem) to Australia legalizing gay marriage via national referendum and Bey slayin in her maternity pictures, 2017 had many hopeful moments. We recall some of our pop culture highlights of the year.  In another segment called “Where Are They Now?” we catch up on the latest from women of the Alt Right and Roy Moore, the creep who won’t go away.  

Mentioned in the episode:

• At a moment when white supremacy is echoed in the “America first” slogan of President Trump, Beyoncé dislodges “white” from its central place in religious symbolism with her maternity pics.

• The White mediocrity of Taylor Swift continues to be as inspiring as Miracle Whip on Wonderbread AND she used her (very powerful) platform to take her sexual abuser to court and promote #MeToo

• Time Person of the Year: Silence Breakers

• Notable Movies: Moonlight Wins Best Picture, Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick, Jordan Peele’s Get Out

• Notable Music: Kendrick Lamar’s “Damn: Collectors Edition”,  Drake’s Passionfruit has special significance, DJ Khaled/Bieber/Migos/Chance/Lil Wayne “I’m the One”, Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee “Despacito” and the Biology Parody, Macklemore had a new album with  good “flow” (as the kids say), even if some of the lyrics are extreme slant rhymes or make literally no sense (he’s since sold out two shows at Key Arena)

• Women of the Alt Right

  • Ladies Night: Meet the Women of the Alt Right

    • Umm….Mary Elizabeth Tyler is highly problematic

  • Alt Right Women Asked to Choose Submission To Grow Political Movement

  • “Alt Right Women Are Upset that Alt Right Men are treating them terribly”

  • Alt Right Women Discover Bitter Racists are Also Sexist Jerks

  • Women of the Alt Right Are Shocked and Hurt that Men in the Movement are Sexist

• Roy Moore & Rebecca Corry

• Louis CK has been SCRUBBED from Disney’s reruns of Gravity Falls.  Like they voiced over his voice overs.

• Since our episode the list of accused sexual abusers got longer: 25 new ones! Garrison Keillor, Tavis Smiley, and Morgan Spurlock (who outed himself!)

Timeless or Terrible:

• Danskos   

• Dressing up your pet   

Do Your Fudging Homework:

• Annie: in 2018, if you do nothing else, protect democracy. https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2016/advocates-for-democracy
• Hope: Go Read On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder