http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmGzqQUeDE
Video by Angel Gonzalez (does that guy EVER rest?), who put up this post on you tube:
July 22, 2009 - Harlem Parents, Teachers & Community protested the further privatization of PS 197 now with the Democracy Prep Charter. Already the Harlem Children's Zone Charter operates their afterschool program. GEM, the Grassroots Education Movement in Defense of Public Education, participated. The UFT-AFT leadership has supported privatization with charter schools and thus the union-busting that comes with it! Fight this privatization pushed by the DOE & the UFT!
Note the number of Blacks and Latins in this protest. That is why I said this type of activity is BloomKlein's worst nightmare.
The Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) in alliance with various groups around the city, have been engaging in these type of actions over the past few months since GEM was founded less than 5 months ago (not too shabby).
Until recently, BloomKlein have been staking out the high ground by using the language of civil rights to give the impression that the only people who opposed them were middle and upper class whites who wanted to deny them the control of the schools they needed to meet the needs of the Black and Latin community.
They even hired Al Sharpton to stand with them. But as the black community has begun to rise up in Harlem and other areas of the city, note how Sharpton has shrunk back, even endorsing Thompson for mayor against his buddy Bloomberg. (We think Mike will understand and still funnel the bucks over to Al as he will be of some use in the future after the election.)
When confronted by the possibility that groups led by Sam Anderson and Jitu Weusi and Councilman Charles Barron were going to picket the fancy event he up on with the Educational Equality Project a few months ago, he got all 'fraidy cat and offered Barron a chance to speak to avoid the possible press coverage of black people picketing his event.
See Barron's slap down of BloomKlein and Sharpton
[Barron video removed to speed up loading. Go directly to You tube to view]
Enjoy the next 4 years of dictatorial control Mike and Joel. Your time is coming.
Charles Baron has made one of the most lucid, clear cut speeches against mayoral control of almost anyone. I rarely agree with him, but this speech reeks of common sense which is so sorely lacking by the proponents of mayoral control.
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