"The Hill We Climb"

[kadee79]

A Fl. school has banned this!  Pathetic that they are afraid of words.  Pathetic that they are afraid of free speech!

Amanda Gorman slammed officials at an elementary school in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on Tuesday for banning "The Hill We Climb," the poem she famously recited at President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential inauguration.

In an attempt to fight back, she said her publisher Penguin Random House is joining PEN America and others in a lawsuit "to challenge book restrictions like these."

"I'm gutted," the former and first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate wrote on Instagram about the Bob Graham Education Center's decision to ban her work from the kindergarten to eighth grade students it serves. The decision was made after one parent complained, Gorman wrote.

School officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"I wrote The Hill We Climb so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment. I've received countless letters and videos from children inspired by The Hill We Climb to write their own poems," she wrote. "Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech."

The school's move is the latest in a slew of efforts to remove literature that addresses racial and social justice from classrooms nationwide.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-school-bans-amanda-gorman-s-inaugural-the-hill-we-climb-poem/ar-AA1bBbOp?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=4ef60544037c403ca3e6ae4e99b9ea93&ei=51

[pulmonarymd]

I didn’t realize that the people of Florida have become such snowflakes

[Opti]

Its Florida. She is young, black, and spoke at an inauguration. It is about them. not about her. I hope she chooses not to be gutted because by banning it, it will only make it more desirable/

[djAdvocate]

May 23, 2023 20:27:11 GMT -5 Opti said:

Its Florida. She is young, black, and spoke at an inauguration. It is about them. not about her. I hope she chooses not to be gutted because by banning it, it will only make it more desirable/

she is enraged.  as well she should be.

[Tiny]

Heaven help us if our children learn empathy or to put themselves in someone else's shoes or to perhaps realize that people experience the world differently than they do.

[Opti]

May 24, 2023 11:20:21 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

May 23, 2023 20:27:11 GMT -5 Opti said:

Its Florida. She is young, black, and spoke at an inauguration. It is about them. not about her. I hope she chooses not to be gutted because by banning it, it will only make it more desirable/

she is enraged.  as well she should be.

What does being enraged buy her? IMO as a lifetime as a target of other people's projections, I do not want to play with their problems. Walk away. It is not like she is the only non-white person being treated like crap in Florida.

Its about DeSantis.
Its about wussy people's fears, and some of them are older black men (re Tim Scott)
Its about where Florida is politically today.

Gorman IMO should channel into her art. Ignore DeSantis and Florida unless it brings about even better art. MO.

[thyme4change]

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 24, 2023 11:20:21 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

she is enraged.  as well she should be.

What does being enraged buy her? IMO as a lifetime as a target of other people's projections, I do not want to play with their problems. Walk away. It is not like she is the only non-white person being treated like crap in Florida.

Its about DeSantis.
Its about wussy people's fears, and some of them are older black men (re Tim Scott)
Its about where Florida is politically today.

Gorman IMO should channel into her art. Ignore DeSantis and Florida unless it brings about even better art. MO.

If she isn’t enraged, nothing will get done. We should all be enraged.

[Tiny]

From the linked article:

"No literature (books or poem) has been banned or removed," the district said in a statement. "It was determined at the school that 'The Hill We Climb' is better suited for middle school students and, it was shelved in the middle school section of the media center. The book remains available in the media center."


I wonder what that actually means. I have a feeling the "media center" is someplace the kids don't actually use or see often.

I say this because when I was in HS (the late 70's) - I discovered that some kids had NEVER been in a library. They had no idea how to use a card catalog or how to find a book on the shelves. They had no idea that there were magazines and newspapers that you could read for free. I was flabbergasted by this.

I remember learning about how to use the card catalog in my grade school library (maybe when I was 'hiding' from the Clique Girls by avoiding having to go to recess) and the librarian lady had pity on me and said she needed help in the library room.

I'd have to guess that the "media center" is where books go to die...  you know "just like in the Good Old Days" 

[Opti]

May 24, 2023 14:18:48 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

What does being enraged buy her? IMO as a lifetime as a target of other people's projections, I do not want to play with their problems. Walk away. It is not like she is the only non-white person being treated like crap in Florida.

Its about DeSantis.
Its about wussy people's fears, and some of them are older black men (re Tim Scott)
Its about where Florida is politically today.

Gorman IMO should channel into her art. Ignore DeSantis and Florida unless it brings about even better art. MO.

If she isn’t enraged, nothing will get done. We should all be enraged.

You do not need to be enraged to get something done. You need a plan. Possibly plans. Just the other day an enraged 19 yr old crashed into the bullocks outside the WH planning to take over the government and kill the President.

He was enraged. He did something. 


He made a very bad choice that might cost him ten years in prison. 
FWIW, I also get things done when I am happy following what I love.
I think that is a better path, concentrating on what I want, not what I don't.
Your reality, your playbook. 

[djAdvocate]

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 24, 2023 11:20:21 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

she is enraged.  as well she should be.

What does being enraged buy her? 

righteous anger fuels revolutions.

[happyhoix]

There was one person who objected to it because she claimed it wasn’t educational and it ‘indoctrinated’ kids.

ONE person.

The other parents should take up a collection to pay for the first semester of school for her kids at one of those segregated religious schools they have down here in the South, where the white kids can be safely protected from the coloreds while they get a shitty education.

[Pink Cashmere]

May 24, 2023 17:19:25 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

What does being enraged buy her? 

righteous anger fuels revolutions.

As John Lewis said, “Good trouble”.

[NastyWoman]

May 24, 2023 18:47:43 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

There was one person who objected to it because she claimed it wasn’t educational and it ‘indoctrinated’ kids.

ONE person.

The other parents should take up a collection to pay for the first semester of school for her kids at one of those segregated religious schools they have down here in the South, where the white kids can be safely protected from the coloreds while they get a shitty education.

And that is the scariest part of all the idiocy that we are seeing at the moment.  Just ONE person can cause something to be banned. It used to be that people would step back if a crackpot like this opened his/her mouths and they would see how overboard this statement really is. Today it seems that in many areas people hear a protest like this and FOMO strikes without any evaluation to its validity: like OMG I could have been the first to protest. Let's be the first in "approving" this protest though...

To paraphrase a famous poem
First they came for the journalist and we said too little
Then they came for the medical scientist and we fought a bit but decided we needed to get along
Now they are coming after public education and we look away
When the country's decline will be irreversible who will be left to speak up for it?

[Opti]

May 24, 2023 17:19:25 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

What does being enraged buy her? 

righteous anger fuels revolutions.

It can, it can also cause J6 and other things. The J6ers thought they had righteous anger and not enough of them are paying for it because of their color and privileged of $$$.

Do the right thing, of course, but "righteous" is often in the eye of the beholder. 
Look at scgal about abortion and many like her. 

[djAdvocate]

that is the risk we take in a free society.
i still contend that liberty is not won without toil and, often, bloodshed.

and yes, fascists say the same thing.
the only thing that separates them from us 
is their Pyrrhic victories, the truth, and the sands of time.

edit: oh, and legitimacy.  forgot that one.

[NancysSummerSip]

May 23, 2023 20:24:39 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

I didn’t realize that the people of Florida have become such snowflakes

Not all of us. Many of us are enraged by what the Tallahassee Tyrant and his boot-licking legislature have done to gut freedom in Florida. DeSantis talks about freedom like he invented it instead of subverting it. This is no doubt a creature of his own insane idea of absolute power and righteousness, and if he could, would imprison anyone who speaks out against him, rather than simply removing them from office or passing laws against them and what they stand for. He is well on the way to creating a dictatorship in this state, and if ever elected president, would not hesitate to do so at a national level.

I see jack-booted thugs violently quashing peaceful protests and a gulag-type system of labor camps as his way of dealing with those who do not look like, sound like, act like or believe like he does. He talks about having a thick skin to deal with Trump's word vomit on Truth Social? DeSantis has the thinnest skin since one-ply TP was invented. He refuses interviews by mainstream media outlets because he claims they are not fair, and just recently claimed that fashion magazines have a political bias against his wife because she's conservative:

floridapolitics.com/archives/614629-ron-desantis-thinks-casey-desantis-should-be-on-fashion-magazine-covers/

Curiously, she never seems to be able to utter a word on her own. She does appearances and admittedly does look great, but never has anything to say that actually sounds like she believes it. Every word out of her mouth is very scripted, every appearance is movie set-staged.

And FWIW, many US First Ladies have been featured on and in fashion magazines. I was unable to find any state first ladies who were featured during their active time as first ladies. So I am not sure why DeSantis is so pissy on this. Other than he's hoping she'd be good press for him.

[haapai]

Maybe he's unhappy because nobody has had the nerve yet to point out just how bad her Camelot imitation actually is.  In his heart, he know it's bad.  He doesn't understand why she isn't getting mocked for it, and he'd welcome the distraction from himself. 

[happyhoix]

That one woman who complained about this has been found to have antisemitic comments on her social media page. She apologized and claims she’s not antisemitic. (Those comments just showed up when she tripped and fell while holding her tablet, I guess.

Then she admitted she only read parts of the poem.

She should just admit she saw ‘poem by black girl at Biden’s inauguration’ and her knee jerk reaction was an anti Biden, racist one. We know it. She knows it. Stop pretending this was ‘for the little children’

[djAdvocate]

"Nobody does more harm than people who feel bad about doing it.

God defend us all from a difficult decision in the Pentagon.

Sad poisoned nice guy, more poisoned than nice."

WS Burroughs

[Opti]

May 28, 2023 16:02:34 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

That one woman who complained about this has been found to have antisemitic comments on her social media page. She apologized and claims she’s not antisemitic. (Those comments just showed up when she tripped and fell while holding her tablet, I guess.

Then she admitted she only read parts of the poem.

She should just admit she saw ‘poem by black girl at Biden’s inauguration’ and her knee jerk reaction was an anti Biden, racist one. We know it. She knows it. Stop pretending this was ‘for the little children’

Here's an article I saw on it.


www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-mom-who-challenged-amanda-gorman-poem-and-other-books-says-she-only-read-parts-of-the-material/ar-AA1bOjs4?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=eace6aae4b6b40f6be2ca8fcfde9e03d&ei=7

“I’m not an expert,” Salinas said. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”



Gorman rejected the school's defense that her poem was restricted, not banned, and that it remained available for middle-school children.



"For those claiming my book wasn’t banned, just 'aged-up,' 'The Hill We Climb' is an inaugural poem for the world," Gorman posted on Twitter. "Relocating it to older age group library shelves by its nature bars younger and equally deserving generations from accessing said moment in history."

The advocacy group Miami Against Fascism posted photos of Salinas at rallies with member of Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that has protested school curriculums that mention LGBTQ rights, critical race theory and other issues. Salinas told JTA that she was not a member of either group, saying she had merely attended rallies where their members were present.

[NancysSummerSip]

Well, we have the Florida Man, the quintessential low-life scumbag, gap-tooth, shirtless yahoo who is either making the state look bad with dumb criminal acts or somehow winds up on camera commenting about them.

Now, we have Florida Mom. Somehow, "I'm not a reader" translates to "I know what's good for other people's kids. And my attendance at Proud Boys rallies and support of Moms for Liberty is just so I don't become one of those lazy soccer mommies."

Frankly, I hope a whole lot of you show up at Friday's LGTBQ+ fundraiser 5K next Friday. I plan to toss as many of you as possible into the Intracoastal. Unfortunately, scum that you are, you will probably float to the surface. Me? I am gonna celebrate with as many gay-themed attired and outright drag queens as possible. I may have fewer friends and family speaking to me if I get on camera, but hey, whatever. I can use the block feature on my phone and be rid of you.

[pulmonarymd]

Doesn’t sound like you will lose much if they stop talking to you

[NancysSummerSip]

May 29, 2023 15:41:21 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Doesn’t sound like you will lose much if they stop talking to you

The family - nope, not at all. They've already outed themselves as so far to the right they'd fall off the earth if it was flat.

Some of the friends I would admit I'd miss for other reasons. They are not bad people, but they range anywhere from teetering on the brink of conspiracy theory-land to outright setting up home and shop and parking their gun-racked, high-riser pickup truck there.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 24, 2023 11:20:21 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

she is enraged.  as well she should be.

What does being enraged buy her? IMO as a lifetime as a target of other people's projections, I do not want to play with their problems. Walk away. It is not like she is the only non-white person being treated like crap in Florida.

Its about DeSantis.
Its about wussy people's fears, and some of them are older black men (re Tim Scott)
Its about where Florida is politically today.

Gorman IMO should channel into her art. Ignore DeSantis and Florida unless it brings about even better art. MO.

No. Full stop. 
Pretending that ignorance that includes racism and censorship is not occuring is not how we solve this problem.

[happyhoix]

May 29, 2023 14:00:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Well, we have the Florida Man, the quintessential low-life scumbag, gap-tooth, shirtless yahoo who is either making the state look bad with dumb criminal acts or somehow winds up on camera commenting about them.

Now, we have Florida Mom. Somehow, "I'm not a reader" translates to "I know what's good for other people's kids. And my attendance at Proud Boys rallies and support of Moms for Liberty is just so I don't become one of those lazy soccer mommies."

Frankly, I hope a whole lot of you show up at Friday's LGTBQ+ fundraiser 5K next Friday. I plan to toss as many of you as possible into the Intracoastal. Unfortunately, scum that you are, you will probably float to the surface. Me? I am gonna celebrate with as many gay-themed attired and outright drag queens as possible. I may have fewer friends and family speaking to me if I get on camera, but hey, whatever. I can use the block feature on my phone and be rid of you.

Yeah - ‘I’m not a reader’ means you should leave your kids education to people who DO read.

Unless you prefer them ignorant- and many far righties would rather have illiterate kids than take the chance that a real education might un- brainwash them.

Can’t have kids thinking for themselves, can we. 😡

[Opti]

May 29, 2023 19:08:18 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

May 24, 2023 14:01:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

What does being enraged buy her? IMO as a lifetime as a target of other people's projections, I do not want to play with their problems. Walk away. It is not like she is the only non-white person being treated like crap in Florida.

Its about DeSantis.
Its about wussy people's fears, and some of them are older black men (re Tim Scott)
Its about where Florida is politically today.

Gorman IMO should channel into her art. Ignore DeSantis and Florida unless it brings about even better art. MO.

No. Full stop. 
Pretending that ignorance that includes racism and censorship is not occuring is not how we solve this problem.

You aren't understanding what I wrote at all.

Florida is a battleground and at age 63 I pick my battles more carefully than I did at 25 or even 45. The goal is to win over Florida IMO, not get angry unless it serves a higher purpose. I was not surprised in the least to learn today that the woman who complained is part of some very questionable organizations. Organizations that I think exist only to stir shit up. 

I do not think we make a better Florida by playing DeSantis's game nor this woman's. They want us to play their game and tilt the windmills they set up. Its a losing strategy IMO for liberals. Look at Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and perhaps Malcolm X. The best way to win is good trouble. Planned, not reactive. MO. YMMV. Being born in 1960, some of this feels like reruns to me, fwiw.

Extra (ignore if you prefer short posts):

I remember going to watch the film Malcolm X that was released in 1992. What struck me the most was the grace and choices Malcolm X made knowing that the government and others wanted him dead. He could walk on the stage and be killed, or he could bail and likely be killed that day too. He chose to walk onto the stage knowing he would likely die there. I want to hope that we are past the martyr stage for race relations. I worry we are not, and I would hate to see Gorman do something that brings that possibility closer to her.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X_(1992_film)#Screenplay
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm prepares to speak before a crowd at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, but tragically, disciples of the Nation of Islam shoot him several times. One of Malcolm's bodyguards shoots one of the shooters, Thomas Hagan, in the leg before a furious crowd beats Hagan. Malcolm is transported to a hospital, but is pronounced dead on arrival.

[Opti]

May 29, 2023 19:59:01 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

May 29, 2023 14:00:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Well, we have the Florida Man, the quintessential low-life scumbag, gap-tooth, shirtless yahoo who is either making the state look bad with dumb criminal acts or somehow winds up on camera commenting about them.

Now, we have Florida Mom. Somehow, "I'm not a reader" translates to "I know what's good for other people's kids. And my attendance at Proud Boys rallies and support of Moms for Liberty is just so I don't become one of those lazy soccer mommies."

Frankly, I hope a whole lot of you show up at Friday's LGTBQ+ fundraiser 5K next Friday. I plan to toss as many of you as possible into the Intracoastal. Unfortunately, scum that you are, you will probably float to the surface. Me? I am gonna celebrate with as many gay-themed attired and outright drag queens as possible. I may have fewer friends and family speaking to me if I get on camera, but hey, whatever. I can use the block feature on my phone and be rid of you.

Yeah - ‘I’m not a reader’ means you should leave your kids education to people who DO read.

Unless you prefer them ignorant- and many far righties would rather have illiterate kids than take the chance that a real education might un- brainwash them.

Can’t have kids thinking for themselves, can we. 😡

I find that statement both sad and amusing.

“I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”

So how can you effectively be involved in your child's education if you don't actually read the books? This feels so much like Trumper's telling Jordan Klepper to do the research and then finally admitting they did not do the research themselves. Not even close. Someone else read the Constitution or whatever it was, but they trust them. 

[Pink Cashmere]

May 29, 2023 20:50:34 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 29, 2023 19:59:01 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Yeah - ‘I’m not a reader’ means you should leave your kids education to people who DO read.

Unless you prefer them ignorant- and many far righties would rather have illiterate kids than take the chance that a real education might un- brainwash them.

Can’t have kids thinking for themselves, can we. 😡

I find that statement both sad and amusing.

“I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”

So how can you effectively be involved in your child's education if you don't actually read the books? This feels so much like Trumper's telling Jordan Klepper to do the research and then finally admitting they did not do the research themselves. Not even close. Someone else read the Constitution or whatever it was, but they trust them. 

I let my DD read books I hadn’t read, that people were making a big deal bout at the time, and some of her peers’ parents didn’t let them read. These particular books were the Harry Potter books. Not only did I let DD read them, even though I hadn’t, I actually bought them for her in hardback when they came out.

At some point you have to trust that you’ve done enough raising your children, that they can read books and explore the world without falling for the first silly thing they run into. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

May 29, 2023 21:16:41 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

May 29, 2023 20:50:34 GMT -5 Opti said:

I find that statement both sad and amusing.


So how can you effectively be involved in your child's education if you don't actually read the books? This feels so much like Trumper's telling Jordan Klepper to do the research and then finally admitting they did not do the research themselves. Not even close. Someone else read the Constitution or whatever it was, but they trust them. 

I let my DD read books I hadn’t read, that people were making a big deal bout at the time, and some of her peers’ parents didn’t let them read. These particular books were the Harry Potter books. Not only did I let DD read them, even though I hadn’t, I actually bought them for her in hardback when they came out.

At some point you have to trust that you’ve done enough raising your children, that they can read books and explore the world without falling for the first silly thing they run into. 

True and I let my kids read things that I haven't read.  I know my kids reading levels and we have an open relationship that if they have questions about what they read they can come to me.

I DID refuse to let Abby check out adult true crime books.  Pretty sure she could understand it but even I have a line when it comes to books.

BUT there is a difference between reading everything my kids read first and proudly boasting you are not a reader but are "involved" in your child's education.  

Because if they had ever cracked open a book in their life that wasn't written by someone with the last name Rush or Tucker then they wouldn't be banning books and trying to get teachers fired.  Someone who openly states like that they aren't a reader in the context given is someone who is proudly boasting they have a closed mind and intend to keep it that way.

[laterbloomer]

May 24, 2023 15:23:11 GMT -5 Tiny said:

From the linked article:

"No literature (books or poem) has been banned or removed," the district said in a statement. "It was determined at the school that 'The Hill We Climb' is better suited for middle school students and, it was shelved in the middle school section of the media center. The book remains available in the media center."


I wonder what that actually means. I have a feeling the "media center" is someplace the kids don't actually use or see often.

I say this because when I was in HS (the late 70's) - I discovered that some kids had NEVER been in a library. They had no idea how to use a card catalog or how to find a book on the shelves. They had no idea that there were magazines and newspapers that you could read for free. I was flabbergasted by this.

I remember learning about how to use the card catalog in my grade school library (maybe when I was 'hiding' from the Clique Girls by avoiding having to go to recess) and the librarian lady had pity on me and said she needed help in the library room.

I'd have to guess that the "media center" is where books go to die...  you know "just like in the Good Old Days" 

OK it's stretching to find a reason to be offended just because it might be in a less used section of the library. And actually we are making that part up, I suspect the media section would be used more than the other sections. If it's still in the library it isn't banned. There are too many real issues going on to waste energy on made up ones. This is like the right getting all worked up about the non existent litter boxes for kids that identify as cats.