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  • Criticizing Capitalism in Classrooms: Taboo? or Good Citizenship?
    Mark commented on the article | almost 3 years ago
    Criticizing Capitalism in Classrooms: Taboo? or Good Citizenship?

    Thanks for writing this article up. As the Portola Valley teacher who made the video with his students, I'm flattered that you think we did it right by being skeptical.

    I wanted to comment because I think it's worth mentioning something that, quite surprisingly, the New York Times left out. It wasn't just the high school in Mendocino who responded to our video. In fact, Annie Leonard herself contacted me about my class' video. Being as she is from Berkeley, and we're just across the bay, she wanted to meet us and answer our questions. After a month or so of trying to get our schedules to work, she was true to her word and ended up meeting with my class in my living room in San Francisco. We recorded the whole thing, and posted it as a part of a podcast series that the class works on.

    Last year (after our interaction happened), Andy Carvin reported on this story and included all the details at his PBS Learning Now site, including the follow-up conversation with Annie. You can read that story at this link: http://tinyurl.com/ywxkrf

    I point this out for a few reasons. First off, I think it's pretty damn cool and worth mentioning that Annie Leonard took the time to meet with us. But beyond that, I think it gives significant credibility to your last line...how different schooling is today from how it used to be. Through youtube, we engaged in a conversation with Annie Leonard. She heard us, and wanted to continue the conversation. For posterity sake, we recorded it and broadcast it on the web.

    Thanks again for writing about this. My biggest hope in all of this, when it started and still today, is to demonstrate to students that their voices can matter. If they say it right, they are not necessarily just shouting into the void, but can potentially find themselves face-to-face with the distant person they want answers from in the first place.

  • Fem 2.0: An Intersectional Identity
    Mark commented on the article | about 3 years ago
    Fem 2.0: An Intersectional Identity

    I just want to say that as I man, I am proud to identify as a feminist. I am all for the equality of the genders and am proud to be working on starting a girls' secondary school in Kenya, because I have personally internalized the benefits of empowering women. I understand the rift between most men and feminists, and think it's a shame...and I think the comments here are important. I do think that men need to feel welcome into the conversation. Of course, it takes effort for them to be willing to engage, but I know that many men are extremely intimidated by women who identify themselves as "feministis." I don't understand their feelings, but I certainly acknowledge them.

    Anyway, I don't have much to contribute except a major encouragement for groups like this to continue to extend an open hand to skeptical males, as un-fun as that may be some times.

    Thanks for the updates, and I look forward to more.

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