January 29, 2014 jdnrtkuth (Dbseruer Page 7 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Steps Forward on School Discipline Helping our kids strive and thrive M arian W right E delman In m a n y A m e ric a n s c h o o ls th e h o lid a y c e l e b r a tin g D r. M artin L u th er K ing J r.’s birth day is used as an opportunity to teach children about his life and legacy. B ut in too m any o f those sam e schools, black and other n o n w hite and poor chi ldren ’ s extrao rd i nary talents are still being w asted today. by N early three-quarters o f black and L atino fourth and eighth grade p u b lic school students cannot read or com pute at grade level. L ong after legal segregation has ended black students are still m ost likely to be excluded from the classroom . W hen black students are so often left b e hind and pushed out it should not surprise us that black students are m ore than tw ice as likely to drop out o f school_as w hite students. So I applaud the U .S. D ep art m ents o f E ducation and Justice for th eir recent action to address h arm T itle VI o f the C ivil R ights A ct o f ful school d iscipline policies that 1964. p u sh so m any th o u san d s o f the W hile the guidance offered is m ost v u ln erab le ch ild ren ou t o f voluntary, school districts that fail school each y ear and into the ju v e to use effective strategies to a d nile ju stic e and adult prison p ip e dress disparities in how discipline is line. applied could be subject to legal If the ed ucation system is to do action from the D epartm ent o f E d u its part in dism antling the cradle to cation or D epartm ent o f Justice. prison pipeline and in replacing it A s w e recognize the 50th an n i w ith a cradle to college, career and versary o f the C ivil R ights A ct o f success pipeline, w e m ust end the 1964 and so m any other im portant current p ractice w here children in hard w on victories in the Civil Rights the g reatest need are su sp en d ed M ovem ent this year, w e m ust re and expelled from school m ostly for m em b er those victories could be nonviolent offenses including ta r lost w ithout m eaningful en fo rce diness and truancy. m ent o f the law s advocates fought I have n ev er un d ersto o d w hy so hard to w in h a lf a century ago. you put a child out o f school fo r not T he C h ild ren ’s D efense Fund has com ing to school rather than d eter been speaking out against school m ining w hy they are absent. d iscipline policies that continue to I hope the new set o f resources stack the odds against poor ch il released by the D ep artm en ts o f dren and children o f co lo r for all o f E d u catio n and Ju stice w ill h elp o u r 40 years. schools create positive, safe en v i Several o f C D F ’s state offices ronm ents w hile relying less on e x h a v e b e en m o b iliz in g stu d en ts, clusionary discipline tactics. T hese youths, parents, advocates, ed u ca resources, officially know n as “guid tors, co m m u n ity leaders, and co ali ance,” w ill help schools and d is tion partners to ensure students are tricts m eet th eir legal responsibility not unfairly pun ish ed and pushed to protect students from d iscrim in a out o f school into the prison p ip e tion on the basis o f race, color, o r line. T he new guidance is a valuable national origin as required under tool for them and all parents and com m unities. W hile the guidance does not p ro hibit schools or districts from using any p articu lar n o n d iscrim in ato ry policy, it does call into question som e policies that have h istorically excluded black and L atino students disproportionately and are o f q u es tionable educational value— includ ing “zero to leran ce” discipline p o li cies w hich require m andatory co n sequences fo r certain infractions, and policies that prevent students from returning to school after com ple tion o f a court sentence, w hich co m pound the often discrim inatory e f fects o f the ju v en ile and crim inal ju stic e system s. Perhaps the m ost absurd and outrageous are policies w hich allow o r require suspension o r expulsion for students w ho have been truant— punishing children for being absent by forcing them to be a b se n t. T he new guidance reco m m en d a tions are valuable to ev ery o n e co n cern ed about success fo r all o f the n a tio n ’s ch ild ren — including stu dents, parents, educators, and co m m unity m em bers. T hey reiterate the longstanding right o f parents to seek federal intervention on b e h alf o f their ch ild re n ’s civil rights. If you are a p aren t and believe that y o u r child has been d iscrim i nated against on the basis o f his o r h er race, color, national origin, sex, o r disability, file a co m p laint w ith the U.S. D epartm ent o f E ducation O ffice for C ivil Rights. G o to school board m eetings and ask questions. M eet w ith your neighbors to learn about the experience o f students in y o u r co m m u n ity ’s schools. W ith all o f this inform ation— w hat Dr. K ing called “co llection o f the facts to determ ine w h ether in ju stic es are aliv e”— you can m ake y o u r case in the m edia, organize a ro u n d sch o o l b o a rd e le c tio n s , reach out to local and state elected officials, and com e together w ith others to dem and change. I t’s w ay past tim e to end child exclusion from the indispensible life line o f education. This tim e, like so m any good law s and regulations, the true test o f the value o f this new guidance w ill be how well it is im ple m ented. L e t’s all jo in in to m ake sure everyone has a stake in helping our children strive and thrive in school. T h eir future and o ur n a tio n ’s future depend on it. Marian Wright Edelman is Presi dent o f the Children's Defense Fund. He Challenged Us to Face Uncomfortable Truths The life and legacy of Amiri Baraka by M arc H. M orial v a rio u sly d e sc rib e d as a b e a tn ik , a b la c k n a tio n a list an d a M a rx ist. B ut h e w as first an d fo re m o s t a w rite r an d so cia l c o m m e n ta to r o f u n c o m m o n sk ill an d in sig h t. H is 1963 m a ste rp ie c e , “ B lu es P e o p le ,” w h ic h e x p lo re d th e h is to ric a l ro o ts an d so c io lo g ic a l s ig n ific a n c e o f th e b lu e s an d ja z z , h as b e c o m e a c la s s ic th a t is still ta u g h t in c o lle g e c la ssro o m s to d ay . O n J a n . 9, w ith the p a s s ing o f th e p ro lific p o e t, p la y w rig h t, e s s a y is t, a n d c ritic A m iri B arak a , o n e o f th e lite r ary g ia n ts o f th e 2 0 th c e n tu ry w as c a lle d h o m e. A s w e o ffe r c o n d o le n ce s to h is w ife, c h ild re n an d fa m ily , w e re m e m b e r the 7 9 -y e a r- A lm o st e v e ry b la ck an d p ro o ld B a ra k a n o t o n ly fo r h is b o ld , g re s siv e w rite r an d th in k e r o f the in v e n tiv e an d ic o n o c la s tic lite r 2 0 th c e n tu ry sh a re d a k in sh ip , ary v o ic e , b u t a lso as a c o u ra frie n d s h ip o r fe u d w ith B arak a. g e o u s so cia l ju s tic e a ctiv ist. B u t, u n d e rg ird in g e v e ry th in g he H is id e a s a n d w o rk h a d a p o w w ro te a n d sto o d fo r w as h is d e sire « erfu l im p a c t on b o th th e B la ck to lift up th e d o w n tro d d e n and A rts an d C iv il R ig h ts m o v e m e n ts d is e n fra n c h is e d , e sp e c ia lly in h is b e g in n in g in th e 1960s. h o m e to w n o f N e w a rk , N .J. B arak a w as b e st k n o w n fo r his A s a te sta m e n t to h is b ro a d ecle c tic w ritin g s on race and class. in flu e n c e , m o re th an 3 ,0 0 0 p eo p le H e e x te n d e d m an y o f the th e m e s a tte n d e d h is fu n e ra l last S a tu rd a y an d id e a ls o f the 1960s B lack at N e w a rk S y m p h o n y H all. P o w e r m o v e m e n t in to the realm o f he a c to r D a n n y G lo v e r o ff ic i a rt, w h ic h he saw as a p o te n t a ted an d n o ted B a ra k a ’s in flu e n c e w e ap o n o f c h a n g e ; an d lik e m an y o n h is c a re e r. C o rn e l W est c a lle d g o o d r e v o lu tio n a r y a r tis ts , he B a ra k a “a lite ra ry g e n iu s .” S o n ia so m e tim e s w e n t o u t o f his w ay to S a n c h ez re a d a p o em fo r him w rit o ffe n d th e s ta tu s quo. H e has been ten by M ay a A n g e lo u . S p e a k in g at th e w ak e th e n ig h t b e fo re , Jesse c e n tly n o te d , “ A m iri B arak a w as O b a m a ’s] e le c tio n o n ly sh o w s the J a c k s o n h o n o re d B a ra k a as “ a c o n tro v e rs ia l b e c a u se his w as a d ep th o f it.” c re a tiv e a c tiv ist an d c h a n g e a g en t p e rs p e c tiv e th a t w as c o n sid e re d A m iri B araka alw ays challenged w h o n e v e r sto p p e d fig h tin g o r o u t o f fa sh io n d u rin g th is p o st us to face su ch u n c o m fo rta b le w o rk in g fo r the fo rm u la to c re a te race g h o st d a n c e , th e a ttitu d e th at tru th s - an d w e are b e tte r b e c a u se so cia l ju s tic e .” say s th a t b e c a u se w e h av e a b la ck o f it. B o rn E v e re tt L e R o i Jo n e s, the p re sid e n t, ra c ism is no lo n g e r an M arc H. M orial is president w rite r c h a n g e d his n am e to A m iri issu e , w h en th e a c rim o n io u s n e ar and c h ie f executive officer o f the B a ra k a in 1968 to re fle c t h is e m p s y c h o tic re a c tio n to [B a ra c k N ational Urban League. b ra c e o f Isla m an d th e p h ilo so p h y o f M a lc o lm X . H e a tte n d e d R u tg e rs, H o w ard an d C o lu m b ia , se rv e d in th e A ir F o rc e and b eg an h is lite ra ry c a re e r in the 1950s in the B eat p o et scen e o f N ew Y o rk ’s G reen w ich V illage. H is o n e -a c t p la y , “ D u tc h m a n ,” w o n th e O b ie A w ard as th e b est o ff-B ro ad w a y p ro d u ctio n o f 1964. In 1965, h e c o -fo u n d e d th e B lack A rts M o v e m e n t in H arlem , in fu s in g th e B lack P o w e r m o v e m e n t w ith p o w e rfu l a rtis tic v o ices. H is n u m e ro u s a w a rd s an d h o n o rs in c lu d e his s e le c tio n as the P oet Portland: (503) 244-2080 L a u re a te o f N ew J e rse y in 2 0 0 2 Hillsoboro: (503) 244-2081 a n d his 1995 in d u c tio n in to th e Facsimile: (503) 244-2084 e x c lu s iv e A m e ric a n A c ad e m y o f Email: Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com A rts an d L e tte rs. C o n tro v e rs y w as a m a in sta y o f A m iri B a ra k a ’s c a re e r. Ish m ael R ee d , a n o th e r p ro v o c a tiv e p o et Advertise with diversity in !’c Portland ( Observer an d c o n te m p o ra ry o f B arak a r e . THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sw eeney, P C Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon ('¿ill 503-288-0033 ads@portlandobserver.com