I went to a small rally so I could park my car and only walk a short distance because I’m disabled. There were 120 people there including one who was 100 years old. We sang, cheered, and waved flags and signs. Passing drivers honked and gave thumbs up. Even NJ Transit bus drivers honked. It was joyful and everyone was laughing and smiling.
We went to our small county seat's event in northeast Pennsylvania and had a great turnout. We had music, speakers, and a voter registration booth. It was peaceful and fun!
We are active participants in our local Democratic Party in this red area. When one of the event organizers asked if I'd be the Portland Frog for the rally, I jumped at the chance! ; )
I had to modify my costume a little to accommodate my short self so I could walk and dance. Had lots of photos taken with other participants, so met many like-minded people, which is very encouraging.
After the rally and the next day, we addressed postcards and prepared mailings to inform and encourage people to vote in every election.
Thanks you Steven and all the dedicated American folks. who are standing tall and taking it to the pavement for democracy and freedom. I love that photo with the morning shadow . the long shadow of defiance. I understand Trump and his minions where busy on the west coast strutting they masculinity trying to blow up Camp Pendleton. My apologies to Mike Johnson and Karoline Leavitt the Pro-Hamas and terrorist folks could not make the protest cause they were busy in Idaho looking over some land for an air strip.
To every media outlet STOP spreading Trumps Lies. Instead of repeating his lies talk to them an d then switch to over 7 million people speaking out. That would be fair journalism. Christ.
Yesterday was a beautiful reminder of what we love. But until this nation recognizes that our teachers were to be democracy’s foundation and that fascist-like dictators did to education four decades ago what Trump is doing to our country now, we won’t find our way back.
I’m a former teacher who in 1995, shifted my career to teaching my fellow citizens that fascists stole education from us. I can’t get enough people to listen to my lesson. I lead people to websites WhiteChalkCrime.com and EndTeacherAbuse.org describing how they turned education into these thieves’ treasure chests and silenced gifted teachers leaving us with loyalist-teachers who sold out due to fear and only a few people hear me. And not one media person looks into this.
Being too arrogant to listen to a teacher, a person who chose a moneyless career to benefit others, is the flaw that brought us to these times. Giving all the power to celebrities has been our downfall.
I represent a group of other whistleblowing teachers with stories to tell that this society has rejected because we’re not celebrities. We’re just teachers. Meanwhile the universe created school shootings as red flags to say look deeper, your schools are so much worse than you can imagine, and these flags have to keep coming and murdering more children because you won’t look deep.
Our schools are why we’re at this crossroads.
Instead of marching, read my book, A Graver Danger. You’ll know the way out of this nightmare.
As a writer and occasional actor and speaker, I've learned that if I'm not getting through to people, the fault isn't theirs, it's mine. I need to pay more attention to where they're at, and adapt my message accordingly. You might want to consider that.
People are not going to stop marching and we need more people to engage not fewer. So I will not stop. Furthermore, it has nothing to do with reading or not reading a book.
Education cannot change fast enough to ‘save us.’
I believe you are mistaken that people are too arrogant to listen to teachers. It was support for teachers that saved their pensions in KY. It was support for teachers and local schools that defeated a state Constitutional Amendment to basically use public tax dollars for private schools.
Mistaken or not, just as attacking the messenger is not a good idea, neither is attacking the audience. Maybe carving out a message with 2-3 specific action steps people can learn about. Not broad attacks, charged language in a sea of adjectives. Because school based issues are mostly district or individual school issues it is difficult to engage people build a national movement.
I appreciate your concern and input. I’ve been asking people to listen to the whistleblowing teachers for years, worried we’d lose our democracy. I’m not referring to working teachers. They can’t afford to talk. People think it’s impossible to fire teachers but that’s not true. They fire the whistleblowers. And when we’re not heard, we can’t force the change we got fired for trying to accomplish.
I’m not referring to mistreatment either. I’m referring to turning teachers into fascists’ tools forced to harm their students. Truly first they came for the teachers. But since people don’t know that it’s so hard to communicate what’s going on. That’s why I wrote A Graver Danger to take people inside our schools so they’ll understand how education has been taken over. People who read it are very grateful but to explain it in a few sentences is to confuse!
Now that we have lost our democracy I’m frustrated since if only people knew what’s going on behind the scenes in education they’d get involved. It’s not about saving teachers. It’s about empowering teachers so they’ll blow open the scam too many of our schools have become.
There’s so much people don’t know because we’ve been silenced and we’re all over the nation. We need a reporter to investigate. I think it’s too hard to ask citizens to investigate. The people I referred to as too arrogant are our leaders and media. They should be on top of this. I didn’t make that clear that our leaders -both parties- let this happen. I apologize for not making that clear. Thanks for caring.
You’re absolutely right. I did presume that people would want to end school shootings, which is a big part of what I teach and how our schools paved the way for Trump.
If people read my book they’d know how to end school shootings. It is incomprehensible to me that people would take a pass on that after Sandy Hook.
My mission is to expose a cover up.
it’s really hard to be heard. That’s why they take so long to expose. I appreciate hearing from you as it helps me figure out the bridge needed between what I’m trying to teach and my students.
Yes, it is hard to be heard. There are many competing voices. It helps to be concise. If it is school shootings, then it is quite a tortured path from embezzlement & whistleblowers to preventing school shootings, fascists & trump. You may want to keep in mind the average attention span has been compared to a goldfish - with an attention span of 12 seconds.
Over half the adult population reads below a 6th grade level. Most communication intended for the general public keeps that in mind. Calls to action are brief, repetitive & have one message - without complex plots. The preferred format to introduce ideas is similar, more like traditional business writing: brief introduction of the subject, supporting info or bullet points with the subject restated in a ‘call to action’ or something to engage the reader.
While people are upset about fascism & the word draws attention, I’m not sure most think of it as a credible issue in their local schools. It’s a lot to expect them to accept they send children to spend to school each day to be with fascists. They know the people at their schools. They do not know you.
If I was writing about literacy, in its most brief form, I might do something like:
Johnny Still Can’t Read. Help us fix it.
• Strong reading skills are the key to learning; keeping students engaged & reducing student misbehavior.
• The way schools teach reading leaves most students behind.
• Mississippi figured it out. So can your school.
I’m a former teacher who has asked people to listen to teachers for years. I’ve created a place with teacher experiences & solutions. A place where you can find out how you can make sure Johnny Can Read. —————
On the landing page there would be more about what is in the book. The reasons the ineffective methods continue (contractors, literacy dropped from university teacher training curriculum, state policies etc.)
What I did was explain it in a book figuring most people won’t read it but all we need is one leader to read it- my goal.
I include a solution that will make a democratic leader a hero. I’m afraid we need Abraham Lincoln, however. Not seeing his clones.
I’m getting outstanding reactions from readers. They’re getting the connection to fascism big time. Sending me appreciation emails. So in a way we agree. The goldfish aren’t my audience. People at Substack seem deeper but this topic takes real deep. I figure it’s worth putting it out there but I need to focus on a different market. You’re so right about goldfish.
You know the poem: first they came for. I see this as first they came for the schools but I was a goldfish!
It cannot be emphasized adequately how instrumental trustworthy diligent journalists such as yourself and others here have coherently encouraged us to stay hopeful.
I too experienced tearful joy while participating.
Excerpt from your words:
“This was a peaceful show of collective power and a release of pent-up energy from many who have felt overwhelmed and powerless, fearful and alone.
This was an opportunity to push back against a deeply cynical collection of Republican liars who have abused their power, including exploiting their platforms in recent days to insist this would be a “hate America” rally populated with scary terrorists.“
Thank you Steven; thank you everyone for your courage and love of our country.
Thanks for the video. We changed the same in Augusta, GA and saw a post from Colorado with the same. I love the unity and consistency in this huge beautiful land we share.
I live in Boston but had to be in Providence Rhode Island over the weekend. So my husband and I and my cousin and his wife went to the No Kings rally at the beautiful Providence Statehouse. There were 30,000 of us there marching joyfully and purposefully through the city. It was exactly what we all needed to re-energize ourselves. for the critical fight ahead. If you haven’t yet attended a rally please do. You’ll be very glad you did…
Wow, so powerful to listen as you suggested. My small county seat of 30,000 had 3,000 protesters - in rural Indiana! Do not assume the heartland is lost, and give no quarter to tyranny.
If the aim of the protests was to get Trump and his henchmen to change their evil ways,unfortunately it was not a success. I was revolted when I saw what Trump tweeted the following night. It showed him in a plane wearing a king's crown and spewing sewage over the protesters.That is what his majesty thinks of them. What other leader of a country would do anything so disgusting. He is a madman and should be called out for this latest outrage,but the feckless Republicans will just dismiss it. How have we sunk so low?
If a kid with a sense of morality, who hates fascism, had made the very same video - of Trump wearing a crown and dumping excrement on peaceful protesters - it would have been viewed as an indictment of Trump for his contempt and hatred for us, the people.
It is bizarre, however, that Trump would issue such a video himself. How much more evidence do his followers need to realize that the man is deeply troubled and that he has nothing for them but disdain?
Thank you for your reporting, Stephen. We will get through this. I too was moved by the passion of the people I was with on Saturday. It felt great to know so many of us see the truth of what is happening. But I know we have still not seen the darkest of days this terrible regime has in store for us all. I hope we can continue to stay strong and committed to do whatever it takes to prevail. We have too much to lose no to.
I went to a small rally so I could park my car and only walk a short distance because I’m disabled. There were 120 people there including one who was 100 years old. We sang, cheered, and waved flags and signs. Passing drivers honked and gave thumbs up. Even NJ Transit bus drivers honked. It was joyful and everyone was laughing and smiling.
Bless you
💙💙💙💙
Thank you.
“I love conservatism when it means the preservation of beautiful things, I love revolution when it means the destruction of vile ones.” - Ouida
Time for rebellion. 🖖
We went to our small county seat's event in northeast Pennsylvania and had a great turnout. We had music, speakers, and a voter registration booth. It was peaceful and fun!
We are active participants in our local Democratic Party in this red area. When one of the event organizers asked if I'd be the Portland Frog for the rally, I jumped at the chance! ; )
I had to modify my costume a little to accommodate my short self so I could walk and dance. Had lots of photos taken with other participants, so met many like-minded people, which is very encouraging.
After the rally and the next day, we addressed postcards and prepared mailings to inform and encourage people to vote in every election.
We must resist and we must persist!
Thanks you Steven and all the dedicated American folks. who are standing tall and taking it to the pavement for democracy and freedom. I love that photo with the morning shadow . the long shadow of defiance. I understand Trump and his minions where busy on the west coast strutting they masculinity trying to blow up Camp Pendleton. My apologies to Mike Johnson and Karoline Leavitt the Pro-Hamas and terrorist folks could not make the protest cause they were busy in Idaho looking over some land for an air strip.
To every media outlet STOP spreading Trumps Lies. Instead of repeating his lies talk to them an d then switch to over 7 million people speaking out. That would be fair journalism. Christ.
Yesterday was a beautiful reminder of what we love. But until this nation recognizes that our teachers were to be democracy’s foundation and that fascist-like dictators did to education four decades ago what Trump is doing to our country now, we won’t find our way back.
I’m a former teacher who in 1995, shifted my career to teaching my fellow citizens that fascists stole education from us. I can’t get enough people to listen to my lesson. I lead people to websites WhiteChalkCrime.com and EndTeacherAbuse.org describing how they turned education into these thieves’ treasure chests and silenced gifted teachers leaving us with loyalist-teachers who sold out due to fear and only a few people hear me. And not one media person looks into this.
Being too arrogant to listen to a teacher, a person who chose a moneyless career to benefit others, is the flaw that brought us to these times. Giving all the power to celebrities has been our downfall.
I represent a group of other whistleblowing teachers with stories to tell that this society has rejected because we’re not celebrities. We’re just teachers. Meanwhile the universe created school shootings as red flags to say look deeper, your schools are so much worse than you can imagine, and these flags have to keep coming and murdering more children because you won’t look deep.
Our schools are why we’re at this crossroads.
Instead of marching, read my book, A Graver Danger. You’ll know the way out of this nightmare.
As a writer and occasional actor and speaker, I've learned that if I'm not getting through to people, the fault isn't theirs, it's mine. I need to pay more attention to where they're at, and adapt my message accordingly. You might want to consider that.
People are not going to stop marching and we need more people to engage not fewer. So I will not stop. Furthermore, it has nothing to do with reading or not reading a book.
Education cannot change fast enough to ‘save us.’
I believe you are mistaken that people are too arrogant to listen to teachers. It was support for teachers that saved their pensions in KY. It was support for teachers and local schools that defeated a state Constitutional Amendment to basically use public tax dollars for private schools.
Mistaken or not, just as attacking the messenger is not a good idea, neither is attacking the audience. Maybe carving out a message with 2-3 specific action steps people can learn about. Not broad attacks, charged language in a sea of adjectives. Because school based issues are mostly district or individual school issues it is difficult to engage people build a national movement.
I appreciate your concern and input. I’ve been asking people to listen to the whistleblowing teachers for years, worried we’d lose our democracy. I’m not referring to working teachers. They can’t afford to talk. People think it’s impossible to fire teachers but that’s not true. They fire the whistleblowers. And when we’re not heard, we can’t force the change we got fired for trying to accomplish.
I’m not referring to mistreatment either. I’m referring to turning teachers into fascists’ tools forced to harm their students. Truly first they came for the teachers. But since people don’t know that it’s so hard to communicate what’s going on. That’s why I wrote A Graver Danger to take people inside our schools so they’ll understand how education has been taken over. People who read it are very grateful but to explain it in a few sentences is to confuse!
Now that we have lost our democracy I’m frustrated since if only people knew what’s going on behind the scenes in education they’d get involved. It’s not about saving teachers. It’s about empowering teachers so they’ll blow open the scam too many of our schools have become.
There’s so much people don’t know because we’ve been silenced and we’re all over the nation. We need a reporter to investigate. I think it’s too hard to ask citizens to investigate. The people I referred to as too arrogant are our leaders and media. They should be on top of this. I didn’t make that clear that our leaders -both parties- let this happen. I apologize for not making that clear. Thanks for caring.
I think you presume that if people had known they would have agreed what was happening was bad. I have severe doubts about that.
You’re absolutely right. I did presume that people would want to end school shootings, which is a big part of what I teach and how our schools paved the way for Trump.
If people read my book they’d know how to end school shootings. It is incomprehensible to me that people would take a pass on that after Sandy Hook.
My mission is to expose a cover up.
it’s really hard to be heard. That’s why they take so long to expose. I appreciate hearing from you as it helps me figure out the bridge needed between what I’m trying to teach and my students.
Yes, it is hard to be heard. There are many competing voices. It helps to be concise. If it is school shootings, then it is quite a tortured path from embezzlement & whistleblowers to preventing school shootings, fascists & trump. You may want to keep in mind the average attention span has been compared to a goldfish - with an attention span of 12 seconds.
Over half the adult population reads below a 6th grade level. Most communication intended for the general public keeps that in mind. Calls to action are brief, repetitive & have one message - without complex plots. The preferred format to introduce ideas is similar, more like traditional business writing: brief introduction of the subject, supporting info or bullet points with the subject restated in a ‘call to action’ or something to engage the reader.
While people are upset about fascism & the word draws attention, I’m not sure most think of it as a credible issue in their local schools. It’s a lot to expect them to accept they send children to spend to school each day to be with fascists. They know the people at their schools. They do not know you.
If I was writing about literacy, in its most brief form, I might do something like:
Johnny Still Can’t Read. Help us fix it.
• Strong reading skills are the key to learning; keeping students engaged & reducing student misbehavior.
• The way schools teach reading leaves most students behind.
• Mississippi figured it out. So can your school.
I’m a former teacher who has asked people to listen to teachers for years. I’ve created a place with teacher experiences & solutions. A place where you can find out how you can make sure Johnny Can Read. —————
On the landing page there would be more about what is in the book. The reasons the ineffective methods continue (contractors, literacy dropped from university teacher training curriculum, state policies etc.)
What I did was explain it in a book figuring most people won’t read it but all we need is one leader to read it- my goal.
I include a solution that will make a democratic leader a hero. I’m afraid we need Abraham Lincoln, however. Not seeing his clones.
I’m getting outstanding reactions from readers. They’re getting the connection to fascism big time. Sending me appreciation emails. So in a way we agree. The goldfish aren’t my audience. People at Substack seem deeper but this topic takes real deep. I figure it’s worth putting it out there but I need to focus on a different market. You’re so right about goldfish.
You know the poem: first they came for. I see this as first they came for the schools but I was a goldfish!
It cannot be emphasized adequately how instrumental trustworthy diligent journalists such as yourself and others here have coherently encouraged us to stay hopeful.
I too experienced tearful joy while participating.
Excerpt from your words:
“This was a peaceful show of collective power and a release of pent-up energy from many who have felt overwhelmed and powerless, fearful and alone.
This was an opportunity to push back against a deeply cynical collection of Republican liars who have abused their power, including exploiting their platforms in recent days to insist this would be a “hate America” rally populated with scary terrorists.“
Thank you Steven; thank you everyone for your courage and love of our country.
💙🇺🇸💙
Thanks for the video. We changed the same in Augusta, GA and saw a post from Colorado with the same. I love the unity and consistency in this huge beautiful land we share.
I live in Boston but had to be in Providence Rhode Island over the weekend. So my husband and I and my cousin and his wife went to the No Kings rally at the beautiful Providence Statehouse. There were 30,000 of us there marching joyfully and purposefully through the city. It was exactly what we all needed to re-energize ourselves. for the critical fight ahead. If you haven’t yet attended a rally please do. You’ll be very glad you did…
WOW! 30,000? Outstanding!
Wow, so powerful to listen as you suggested. My small county seat of 30,000 had 3,000 protesters - in rural Indiana! Do not assume the heartland is lost, and give no quarter to tyranny.
💙🇺🇸💙
Excerpt from Steven’s essay:
“Stay strong, stay engaged and be clear that we will get through this dark chapter in America’s history.
But that depends on all of us recognizing our collective power and refusing to give in to doubt and despair…”
Big cities, little cities & towns, local neighborhoods: lots and lots of folks protesting snd fighting for our democracy! 💖🇺🇸💖🇺🇸
If the aim of the protests was to get Trump and his henchmen to change their evil ways,unfortunately it was not a success. I was revolted when I saw what Trump tweeted the following night. It showed him in a plane wearing a king's crown and spewing sewage over the protesters.That is what his majesty thinks of them. What other leader of a country would do anything so disgusting. He is a madman and should be called out for this latest outrage,but the feckless Republicans will just dismiss it. How have we sunk so low?
If a kid with a sense of morality, who hates fascism, had made the very same video - of Trump wearing a crown and dumping excrement on peaceful protesters - it would have been viewed as an indictment of Trump for his contempt and hatred for us, the people.
It is bizarre, however, that Trump would issue such a video himself. How much more evidence do his followers need to realize that the man is deeply troubled and that he has nothing for them but disdain?
Profound impact when listening to the Schindler’s list music with your video Steven. Appreciate you!
Thank you, Cathy. And thanks for experiencing it.
Thank you for your reporting, Stephen. We will get through this. I too was moved by the passion of the people I was with on Saturday. It felt great to know so many of us see the truth of what is happening. But I know we have still not seen the darkest of days this terrible regime has in store for us all. I hope we can continue to stay strong and committed to do whatever it takes to prevail. We have too much to lose no to.