Tag Archives: lowell

Black Lives Matter Students Just Walked Out of a San Francisco School

Mother Jones

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San Francisco’s Lowell High School is the city’s most coveted public, elite school that posts some of the highest test scores in the country. But when it comes to the treatment of its black students, young activists argue that the school is flunking—and needs to change. That’s the main message about 25 members of Lowell High’s Black Student Union delivered to the City Hall and San Francisco Unified School District today. The students walked out of classes in the morning and then marched toward the Civic Center area of the city, where they were greeted—unexpectedly—by several San Francisco school board members and San Francisco school chief Richard Carranza.

The protests were sparked by a number of incidents, but the most recent was a sign that was posted on a public billboard on campus earlier this month that read, “Black History Month” and included a Twitter hashtag below that read “#gang.” Chy’na Davis, a sophomore at Lowell High, told Mother Jones that while it was clear the message was meant to offend black people, it took several days for the school administration to remove it. Davis said she appreciated that the school held an assembly to discuss the issue, but said that most of her friends who are not black left the meeting without an understanding of why the incident was offensive to black students.

“The poster was a straw on the camel’s back,” Davis explained, while five of her peers nodded in agreement. “There are so many small, daily incidents and comments that stereotype us.” Just last month, she says, a student asked her, “Did you eat fried chicken this weekend?” Another student joked to her friend while walking by Davis, “See, I have black friends. I’m ghetto.”

Kristina Rizga/Mother Jones

According to several students at the walkout today, some teachers intervene when they hear offensive remarks toward black students, but most don’t. There isn’t enough black history being taught at Lowell or discussions of police brutality or the Black Lives Matter movement, Davis and other members of the Black Student Union told Mother Jones. “We just feel like our individual complaints are not taken seriously by the school. So, we decided to take action together,” said Davis. She added that today’s walkouts were inspired by the national Black Lives Matter movement.

Lowell High school has 2,650 students, and only 2 percent of them are African American. In a letter sent to students shortly after Lowell High school administration removed the offensive sign, school principal Andrew W. Ishibashi said the school would institute more cultural-sensitivity training for students and staff.

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Black Lives Matter Students Just Walked Out of a San Francisco School

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The Bird and the Bee Finds the Aching Heart Beneath the Glossy Surfaces

Mother Jones

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The Bird and the Bee
Recreational Love
Rostrum

The unlikely but artistically fruitful partnership of Inara George and Greg Kurstin, aka The Bird and the Bee, has flourished for a decade, despite little encouragement from the commercial mainstream. The daughter of the late Little Feat leader Lowell George, she’s a subtly compelling singer who conveys deep feeling with languid poise; her best solo album is a collaboration with art-pop genius Van Dyke Parks. He’s a master of slick pop who’s produced big names like Katy Perry, Charli XCX, and Kelly Clarkson. But for all their polish, The Bird and the Bee has always been about finding the aching heart beneath the glossy surfaces, and this striking fourth album is no exception. While Recreational Love ups the danceablity quotient slightly from previous outings, shimmering songs like “Lovey Dovey” and “Please Take Me Home” are simultaneously exhilarating (for their suave craftsmanship) and heartrending (for their raw emotion), revealing intriguing new elements with each hearing.

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The Bird and the Bee Finds the Aching Heart Beneath the Glossy Surfaces

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The Justice Department Claims This Defamation Case Will Reveal State Secrets—But Won’t Say How

Mother Jones

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In an unprecedented move, Attorney General Eric Holder has intervened in a defamation lawsuit, seeking to have the case thrown out on the grounds that it will reveal state secrets—without publicly explaining how it would do so. On Wednesday, a lawyer for the plaintiff in the case, a Greek business mogul accused of doing business with Iran, fired back at Holder in a letter to the court that essentially says: Prove it.

Dismissal of the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in 2013, would be highly unusual. Neither party in the suit is connected to the government, and the Justice Department insists on keeping its interest in this case a mystery. In the past when the Justice Department has invoked state secrets, a high-ranking official has offered a public explanation to the court. But Holder asserts that in this case, he cannot discuss the Justice Department’s reasoning, nor the agency or information that the lawsuit might compromise.

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The Justice Department Claims This Defamation Case Will Reveal State Secrets—But Won’t Say How

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