WINTER 2015

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Dear PSU Supporter,

Right before this fall began, before the 2014-15 school year kicked off, we came together for a week of youth leadership

development. We hosted BAYM (Building A Youth Movement), for our 11th consecutive year, our summer organizing institute. We facilitated workshops on budget cuts to schools, the prison industrial complex, Military myths- just to name a few. Little did we know that we were laying the groundwork for what would turn out to be a game-changing fall.

This fall we continued to mourn the loss of Mike Brown, Renisha McBride, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and countless others. We held and participated in multiple die-ins, marched to city hall, spoke out at community meetings, and held private discussions at our office. Our executive director, Hiram Rivera, traveled to Ferguson to offer young people the tools and skills they need to strategize in this fight for life and dignity. PSU member, Mahala Papadopoulos and alumni, Koby Murphy, travelled to Minneapolis to give the keynote speech for the Twin Cities Social Justice Education Fair. We were busy, but sustained by the news from across the United States that reminded us all that we were not alone in this fight for justice.

As we begin winter, we are entering our 20th year as an organization, we come to 2015 in nearly the same way that PSU began: with the unapologetic conviction to force conversations around the root causes of inequity in education and beyond. We drew, and continue to draw, heavy inspiration from the #BlackLivesMatter movement, especially its genesis, born out of leadership of queer black women:

“When we say Black Lives Matter, we are talking about the ways in which Black people are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity. It is an acknowledgement Black poverty and genocide is state violence... And the fact is that the lives of Black people—not ALL people—exist within these conditions is consequence of state violence. When Black people get free, everybody gets free.” - Alicia Garza, in an interview with the Feminist Wire speaks to the meaning of #BlackLivesMatter

We knew that the question that needed to be ask was this: If our schools are being systematically underfunded, under-resourced, under-staffed and

Philadelphia Student Union exists to build the power of young people to demand a high quality education in the Philadelphia public school system. We are a youth-led organization and we make poistive changes in the short term by learning how to organize to build power. We also work toward becoming life-long learners and leaders who can bring diverse groups of people together to address the problems that out communities face.

Philadelphia Student Union4205 Chestnut St. Floor 2Philadelphia, PA 19104215-253-4586www.phillystudentunion.org

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Article Editor: Beth PatelArt/Design: Alex Shin, Alexander Printing & GraphicsCover photo by Jenna Pope

If our schools are being systematically underfunded, under-resourced, under-staffed and overcrowded, while prisons are being built, and (most importantly) we define this as vIolence...

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On October 15th, the School Reform Commission held

a movie night in honor of Parent Appreciation Month. The movie they chose to screen, Won’t Back Down, is an anti-union, pro-charter movie funded by the same people behind the 2010 pro-charter, anti-union documentary Waiting for Superman. The event was sponsored by Comcast’s Internet Essentials Program. In Won’t Back Down, the protagonist fights against a teacher’s union to turn her public school into a charter school. One scene in Won’t Back Down features a union boss saying “Teachers’ unions will start caring about students when students start paying union dues.” Another scene depicts a teacher locking a young student in a closet.

The School District of Philadelphia decided to screen this movie a week after canceling the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’s contract. We saw this as a ploy to manipulate parents into supporting the privatization of public schools. The Philadelphia Student Union recognized that this was essentially a propaganda film, and we decided to shut it down.

We attended the screening, and twenty minutes into the film, about 20 members of PSU began chanting and making our way to the front of the room in which the movie was being shown. We sat down and staged a sit-in clapping and chanting “Philly is a union town,” and “The SRC has got to go!” After about a minute of sitting and clapping, event organizers raised

R e p o r t B a c k :

“Won’t Back Down” Screening

By Ruby Jane Anderson and Nomi Martin-Brouillette

Student sat-in to protest the School District of Philadelphia’s screening of Won’t Back Down.

overcrowded, while prisons are being built, and (most importantly) we define this as violence, then how can we fight back against state violence that is targeting poor black and brown communities? How can we bring the #BlackLivesMatter movement to our experience with public education in Philadelphia? We linked state violence to our fight for educational justice.

Of course, we would not be able to do any of this without the valuable support, encouragement and leadership of you. With your support, we continue to work with our partners and allies nationwide to defend public education and show those in power that we will not accept anything less than full justice for every young person.

In the pages that follow you will read about our recent actions- die-ins, marches, sit-ins- and also what is inspiring us- creative, moving poetry and our visions for the future. We hope you enjoy this issue of the Union Rep. We have no other option but to fight back against the systems that oppress us and the larger forces that attempt to privatize our education and push us out. As students we are organizing for a big year ahead, and we are grateful that you are standing with us.

In Solidarity,

The Students and Staff of the Philadelphia Student Union

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that Simms’ sister, Quibila Divine works for) also chanted “Lock them up! Lock them up!”. After another five minutes of chanting, the police came and said that they would start arresting people if we did not leave. As we were escorted out of the building, we continued to clap and chant.

Sylvia Simms words to us represented the school-to-prison pipeline. They represented years of growing distrust between politicians and the community, they represented all of the budget cuts and school closings Philadelphia has seen.

SRC Chairman Bill Green defended Sylvia Simms by saying she is the strongest advocate of public schools. If she’s the strongest, what are the other SRC members like? If she’s the strongest, why did she lie to the press about her words? And, if we did go to failing schools, would that somehow take away our right to participate in

the lights and paused the movie.

SRC member Sylvia Simms, the only SRC member who was present and who happens to work for Comcast, was livid. She came up to us and tried to ask us what school we went to, even though we were clearly wearing Philadelphia Student Union shirts, showing just how disconnected she is from the community. After proving she has never heard of PSU, and after we ignored her repeated requests for information about who we were she screamed, “Y’all probably all in failing schools!” She screamed it twice, inches away from PSU members faces. To the press, she later denied saying this. After we released a video in which her words were clear, she had no response. (As of the printing of this newsletter, she has remained silent on this incident)

Some people from the Woman’s Christian Alliance (an organization

democracy?

Our voices are valid important and it is time for us to be heard.

They formed the newest PSU chapter at their school this fall.

Hundreds of students died-in at the School District of Philadelphia to protest violence in all forms. Photo by Chris Fascencelli. Read more about this on Page 7.

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Do you feel as though your school is a prison? Some

students asked this question say “yes” and others say “no”, but if you look at both, they are pretty similar. The only difference is that you get to go home everyday. Look at the gates on your classroom windows, armed police walking the halls. You walk through a metal detector, even whipping out an ID everyday. I don’t know about you but I do feel like a criminal in this environment. Some of the students feel safe with all of these prison-like systems in place, but you should never feel like you need this type of system to be safe in your own school.

We should not be treated as though we are prisoners. Some people say it’s

the students’ behavior, but it is actually the environment we are in. Imagine walking into class and there is not a single textbook for your class. They think by putting students in this environment that we will simply act like prisoners because we will not be engaged in class work. Most of the time we will work on test preparation, not the things that we need to succeed in life.

I have collected some data on why our environment is effecting us. According to the Justice Policy Institute there is no clear correlation between rates of theft or violence and SRO (School Resource Officer) presence in schools. The 1995, the School Crime Supplement to the

National Crime Victimization survey found evidence that security guards in school may actually lead to more disorder.* Imagine the disorder that results from real police in schools. While reported incidents of violence and crime in schools are at the lowest level since the early 1990s, arrests and referrals of students to the juvenile justice system by SROs are increasing. The presence of SROs in schools has led to youth being arrested for disruptive behavior, such as swearing, rather than dangerous behavior.

The first person I interviewed was Shaheem Robbins, he is in 12th grade at Benjamin Franklin High School. He is one of many that feels like schools

Is Your School Like a Prison?By Hausim Talbot

Photo by the Media Mobilizing Project

Con’t to pg. 11

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there trying to stop us by blocking the on-ramp with their bikes and cars, but that didn’t mean that we had to stop moving. During the standoff with the police the cops tried arresting one of the chant leaders. Her arrest was prevented by marchers chanting and demanding she be freed. We then turned and went in another direction heading towards city hall. As we marched and chanted down Broad Street, lots of people in cars and walking on the sidewalks clapped and honked their horns supporting us in respect and in honor.

This event to me was the most radical event we’ve had in months, and I’m glad that I was a part of it. I hope that this event really captured the meaning of #BlackLivesMatter because people need to know that this

On December 3rd, we attended a die-in at 30th street station and

marched all the way to City Hall as a part of a Black Lives Matter protest in Philly. The action was organized by the group, In Defense of Black Bodies. There were many young and adult activists that supported us in this action to protest the police killing of so many Black people like Mike Brown, and Eric Garner, and the non-indictments of the killer cops that murdered them.

During the march our route was constantly being blocked by cops on bicycles and police cars, but we kept moving and maneuvering around them. Though the walk was very exhausting, we kept moving forward and didn’t let anyone stop us. When we got to the highway the cops were

Die-In at 30th St. Stationslogan represents the lives of black people and other oppressed groups. This also represents us standing up as a people telling racist police to stand down. The slogan #BlackLivesMatter really means a lot to me as a young black student activist because I believe that all lives matter because if we can uplift black people, who are the most marginalized in the United States, then we can uplift all oppressed peoples. No one should be able to just up and take someone’s life because they woke on the wrong side of the bed. I don’t understand how someone could hate someone because of how they look so much, to the point where they have to end their life. I’m going to keep fighting for the Black youth until there’s a change.

Brian Burney is a sophomore at Benjamin Franklin High School.

By Brian Burney

Photo by the Media Mobilizing Project

R e p o r t B a c k :

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a speech given by Briana Bailey:

a die-in in front of the School District of Philadelphia

We know that the justice system in the United States is criminally broken, serving the few who profit and incarcerating many for minor offenses. The prison system houses millions. 25% of all people incarcerated in the world are housed in our prisons. This system does not rehabilitate- it destroys Black lives and breaks apart black families. Our education system, too, is broken and violent.

The death of Laporshia Massey, a 12 year-old who died last year from an asthma attack shortly after being sent home from school because there was no nurse on duty at her school, is a shocking but real example of the ways that systematic underfunding of public education is putting students lives at risk.

The following is a speech given by Briana Bailey at the action:

Members of Asian Americans United and Boat People SOS. Photo by Chris Fascencelli

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My name is Briana Bailey and I’m a member of the Philadelphia

Student Union and a senior at Science Leadership Academy. For weeks, die-ins around the country have been taking place to fight against police brutality.

Since the non-indictment of Darren Wilson and no justice for Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice or the other black people killed every 28 hours, people have been taking this fight to the streets and we stand with them today!

Protest against police brutality have taken place in the halls of universities, highways and even police stations. We staged a die in today to not only stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, but with all of the students of Philadelphia. This city has over 150,000 students and more than 60% of them are black. Philadelphia public

schools continue to be some of the most under-resourced, under-staff, yet over-policed in not only Pennsylvania, but in this country. This is no coincidence.

Today we asked you all to die in for 6 minuets in honor of Laporshia Massey, a 12 year old African American 6th grader. Who on September 25th, 2013 died from an asthma attack as a result of her not having a full-time nurse in her school due to budget cuts. Laporshia’s death was a result of a state government that refused to provide adequate funding to it’s Blackest school district. Laporshia’s death was a result of the actions of local politicians and a school district committed to the privatization of our schools and city, regardless of the costs on human lives.

We are here to fight against America’s system. The state’s system.

The policing system and 440 (the School District of Philadelphia) you are apart of that system as well. To quote the rappers Dead Prez, “The same people who control the school system, control the prison system. And the social system, ever since slavery.” This system attacks women, the poor, the disabled, our queer Sisters and Brothers, people of color, young people and Black people. This system disproportionally attacks black people. We, the students are fed up with the violence happening against us.

PSU defines violence as “Power that hurts ones chances of survival.” This is a school district whose policies led to the deaths of two children as a result of having no nurse in their school, that’s violence! When they closed our schools, that’s violence! When they robbed us of our basic resources, cut our teachers, deny us an adequate education and a real chance at a future,

Briana Bailey speaks to the crowd in front of 440 at the student-led die-in. Photo by Media Mobilizing Project.

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that’s taking away our chances of survival. That is violence! These acts of state violence are crimes against the students of Philadelphia. And we demand justice!

Philadelphia Student Union is demanding the following:

• We demand an end to school closures and we demand no new prisons. When 24 schools were closed, out of the 15,000 displaced students, 81% were black students. Is it a coincidence that our schools are closing and not the surrounding suburban schools? No, its an attack.

• We demand that the SRC is abolished. We demand an elected school board.

• We demand that all school police are re-trained in Restorative Practices.

• We demand that all our schools are funded adequately through a Fair Funding Formula.

• We demand an end to the Federal 10-33 Program. Return all militarized weapons and machinery from local police departments and school districts back to the Department of Defense.

America is supposed to be the model for how a country should treat its people. How can we be that if our government can’t treat all of it’s citizens as humans. The United States of America has not shown a respect for everyone’s humanity and Pennsylvania, Philly: We can start creating a new America that treats all of it’s people like human beings.

I would like to end with a call and response quote from Assata Shakur Everyone please hold hands. So repeat after me:

It is our duty to fight for freedom.It is our duty to win.We must love and protect each other.We have nothing to lose but our chains.

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The decision of the Brown v. Board case was, without a doubt, revolutionary. It

resulted in the official desegregation of schools, and ultimately the desegregation of every other venue in the United States (Jackson). Its impact, however, has been perhaps least felt in schools. There are many ways in which today’s students, primarily African Americans, experience unofficial segregation and racism in the school system. Though the outcome of Brown v. Board served as a catalyst for integration of schools and all other locations, therefore promoting racial equality among all students, many school districts have remained unofficially segregated in some ways, leaving students at a disadvantage.

The court case of Brown v. Board of Education resulted in a landmark decision made by the supreme court- to end the mandatory segregation of all schools in the United States. The case was brought to the Supreme Court in 1954 and 1955 in two parts. The result of the first part was the declaration of “separate but equal” as unlawful, turning over the previous law that resulted from the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 (Powe Jr.);(Brophy). The second part of the Brown v. Board decision, passed in 1955, stated that school boards were required to desegregate all schools (Powe Jr.). The impacts of both decisions were felt all over the U.S., not just in schools, but in society in general. Because of Brown v. Board, it became illegal to segregate schools, and also the rest of the United States.

Though Brown v. Board was

successful in desegregating other parts of society, its effects have perhaps

Brown v. Board and american Education Today

By Mahala Papadopoulos and Emma O’Neill-Dietel

been least effective in schools. Many African American students attend schools that have a majority population of African American students (Johnson);(Thernstrom). Similarly, many white students- especially in the suburbs of big cities- attend schools that are attended mostly by white students. This unofficial segregation is heavily based on where students live, which in turn is directly affected by economic status of their families. White flight has led to many suburban schools being composed of predominantly white students, while many low-performing, inner-city schools are attended by students whose families cannot afford to move to a better school district (Johnson). This causes systemic racism; schools that perform poorly on standardized tests often receive less funding and support, or are even subject to closure. The students are not at fault, yet they are unable to receive the education they deserve, because the school system is biased against them (Rothstein).

This biased school system also leads

to racism when it comes to discipline. Students of color are three times more likely than white students to be suspended or expelled. This is due to the system being fundamentally biased against them (Ayers). Teachers and administrators also play an important role in the discipline of their students. Role models are an important part of motivating students through education, and schools are often lacking in role models for African American students. Even in schools that have a majority of African American students, most teachers are white (Jackson).

Students also lack role models in the curriculum that is taught in

school, especially in history class. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the only city that has African American history as a mandatory course for graduation of high school. Almost every public school in the country teaches history through a Eurocentric view. This can be detrimental to performance of non-white students because they never see role models of their own race in a classroom environment. In 2005, when the course was first introduced, African American students made up two-thirds of Philadelphia’s students. Teaching African American history helps these students with their self-image, dispelling many stereotypes that are so prevalent in today’s society. This course also helps non-African American students to be more understanding of their peers (Janofsky).

Even though Philadelphia has African American History as a high school graduation requirement, it is still one of the most segregated school districts in the U.S. (Rivera). In terms of segregation and racism in schools, Philadelphia is no exception. Just because African American history is a mandatory requirement for graduation, does not mean that the Philadelphia School District is devoid of problems relating to race. Because Philadelphia is a large city, it is much more likely to be segregated by where its citizens live. Philadelphia is currently suffering from massive budget cuts to its school district, which fall heavily on lower-performing schools (Taylor). Due to the lack of resources, these schools often perform poorly, resulting in further cuts. It is a terrible cycle that is influenced by poverty and therefore geographic location of students and their families (Rothstein).

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In Pennsylvania, a study has recently been released showing that school districts with over 92 percent white students receive more money per student than districts with less than 92 percent white students. It also revealed that half of Pennsylvania’s school districts are composed of at least 92 percent white students (Mezzcappa).

There have been many issues with racism and segregation in schools following the case of Brown v. Board. Though it was a revolutionary decision that continues to shape this nation today, Brown v. Board was not enough to ensure equality among students of all races. There are many issues that have ultimately created the unofficial segregation of school districts throughout the United States. In order to create schools that are racially diverse, supportive, and fair, schools must diversify curriculums, and populations of teachers and students. They must ensure that all students, no matter their race, are treated equally within the systems of discipline and testing. School districts need to fund struggling schools in majority African American neighborhoods to promote success to break the cycle of injustice. Students of every race are legally allowed to attend any school of their choice, but the true goal of Brown v. Board will not be accomplished until there is a dramatic change in the US school system and society itself.

Mahala and Emma are both sophomores at J.R. Masterman High School.

Bibliography

Ayers, Kyla. “60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education: How much has changed?” The Union Rep. Spring/Summer 2014: 3-5. Print.

“Bolling et al. v. Sharpe et al.” The African-American Experience. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey. U.S. History in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

Brophy, Alfred L. “Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).”Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ed. David S. Tanenhaus. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 52-56. U.S. History in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

Brownstein, Ronald. “How Brown v. Board of Education Changed—and Didn’t

Change—American Education.” Theatlantic.com 25 Apr. 2014. Web 7 Nov. 2014.

“Civil rights at school.” New York Times 29 Oct. 2014: A28(L).U.S. History in Context. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.

Jackson, Charles. “The brown decision in retrospect: commemoration or celebration.”The

Western Journal of Black Studies 31.2 (2007): 28+. U.S. History in Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.

Janofsky, Michael. “Philadelphia Mandates Black History for Graduation.” Nytimes.org. 25 Jun. 2014. Web 11 Nov. 2014.

Johnson, Fawn. “Beyond Desegregation.” Nationaljournal.com19 May 2014. U.S. History in Context. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.

Mezzcappa, Dale. “Racial bias evident in Pa. funding system, analysis shows.” Thenotebook.org 6 Nov. 2014. Web 7 Nov. 2014.

Powe Jr., Lucas A. “Brown v. Board of Education (Brown II), 349 U.S. 294 (1955).”

Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ed. David S. Tanenhaus. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 215-217. U.S. History in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

Rivera, Hiram. Personal interview. 5 Nov 2014.

Rothstein, Richard. Brown v. Board at 60: Why Have We Been So Disappointed? What Have We Learned? (2014): n. pag. Epi.org. Economic Policy Institute, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.

Taylor, Elizabeth. Personal interview. 7 Nov 2014.

“The Atlanta Declaration (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1854).” Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 6. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 2405.U.S. History in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

Thernstrom, Abigail, and Stephan Thernstrom. “Have we overcome?” Commentary 118.4 (2004): 49+. U.S. History in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

are prison. He says that he deals with being pushed into class every day. He hears fire alarms constantly being pulled. One day there was a real fire and no fire alarm was pulled. He says that the worst part of all of this is the armed police in school. One day in the cafeteria a huge fight erupted. The police came and pepper-sprayed many of the students. I suspect that they don’t know how to handle a situation properly without using force. These types of situations call for counselors and social workers, the same positions that have been cut in many public schools.

Personally, I also feel like these

systems really do not work. When I go to class I feel ready to learn but I can’t because there are no books in my desk, it’s usually a packet the teacher gives us. I feel as though they don’t trust me with a book. I walk through the halls and most security guards are like your friend just sitting there talking with you even though you should be in class. If you don’t go to class sometimes they will tell you to leave the school and most students just leave.

I really wish I see this system be dismantled so we can once again feel safe in school. I wish we were able to not be placed in this situation in which we are the criminal. They simply want to keep this system so we won’t want much from life. They are setting us up for failure.

Hausim Talbot is a senior at Martin Luther King Jr. High School.

* For more on this report, please refer to “Education Under Arrest: The Case Against Police in Schools” (November 2011) by the Justice Policy Institute.

Con’t from pg. 6

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Poetry from the Philadelphia Student Union ...

Our Forefathers of America Said “Public Schools are mandated

for or offered to all children without charge, funded in whole or in part by taxation.”The 10th Amendment says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

But, Mayor Nutter and Governor Tom Corbett set up an SRC to violate our constitutional rights and treat the low- class poorly.

Children can’t even pass state testing and rich schools are the only one with high scoring,

Our futures are failing their classes and with the no child left behind laws they’re passing without any extra help.

Our leaders say they’re scared that there will not be any future leaders, but they’re taking away our resources the we the people are crying for help and their leaders are not listening.

Our books are outdated, our self-esteems, passions, and intelligence are downgraded.

We are constantly being told you are a failure, criminal, illiterate, stupid or a nobody, our leaders and schools need fixing.

Many families have no money, kids have no food in their tummies.

Why doesn’t Comcast pay taxes and why doesn’t Wal-Mart pay their workers right

but they can take from many?

The people have been fighting back

peacefully, pleading, and begging but, those rich high-powered people don’t care at all but for themselves.

Many students are not prepared for college because, the government wants to spend our funding on new hotels.

They toss around thousands of dollars around like it’s nothing.

That money could be used on children’s education now that’s stunning.

Dr. Hite closed many schools and still looks at low income students as failures.

SRC member Sylvia the “supposedly” voice of the community said so herself, and her colleagues still defend her.

The SRC makes Public Schools look bad as though we’re failing but, our leaders are bailing out on us.

SRC members…. Go away! Dr. Hite the man we can’t trust, and

Mayor Nutter, You failed us!

But, we, we the people, we won’t back down.

Sakiema is a senior at

South Philadelphia High School.

Deferred Reason of Education

by Sakiema Wood

On The Streets of PhiladelphiaBy Darnell R. Brown

PhiladelphiaA place called home

A place where you can be freeBut you’ll never be. People are crying and sadWho people who are dead and mad.Growing up from cracks on the groundAnd bodies all around.

PhiladelphiaOne chance to live,One chance to hope,One chance to help,One chance to be yourself,Not somebody else.We are done and finish me.

PhiladelphiaIt’s like a million people die in a dayand all we can do is cry and pray.Philadelphia has no love in this world.

PhiladelphiaWe are here to live,We are here to be free,We are here to be equal,We are here to be what you want to be. But that’s something we will never be.

PhiladelphiaThe city of brotherly love,But there’s no love in this place.Starting from- school shut downs,Kids getting killed for no reason,Cops killing people for no reason.The only thing I see is a whole bunch of hate.

PhiladelphiaWe are men,We are women,

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We are kids and children.We are here to live not to die.We are from poems,We are from songs.Us, unified,We can be strong.

Darnell is a junior at Benjamin Franklin High School.

#BlackLivesMatterBy Rodney (Raw-D) Burney

On my sore feet screaming Black

lives matter

because police kill so many of us

it’s starting to make a pattern.

I gotta question- How is Eric

gardner the criminal?

How y’all get away with murder

when people were filming you?

Because if you look at the white

man’s dream,

it wasn’t their first choice to make

Blacks succeed.

Now please, I don’t wanna die so I

stopped eating candy bars

and if I buy some tea I’ll pour it all

in a handy jar,

so they cant say I had a 22 in my

hand.

White kids think I’m crazy for it,

but they don’t understand.

Cops kill so many of us it’s starting

to make a pattern,

so I’m on my sore feet screaming

Black lives matter.

Rodney is a freshman at Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School.

W hy I am stuck in this theory of time?Striving to become a flower of a former

profession of revolutionary, to break a chain reaction of the thought down statistic line.

My heart it shakes and trembles because of the emotions inside,My oppressors made this possible for me with a plan in mind.

They take away my mind state- back in slavery- and then train me only to follow orders,Take away my creativity to put my emotions and mind set into disorder.

They feed me corruption through the TV and then tell I’m a criminal because I’m black and society placed a stereotype on me.

I tried to fight back over and over again but these people who are my “leaders”Won’t help me, they’re stuck in this chain called follow-the-leader.

Its not my fault- I wasn’t asked to be here- the forefathers should have left me there in Africa or here in Native America and they could of stayed in England,but no, their determination brought pain and death to others

and it still does over 300 years laterand the motivation and ambition drives them all to plot to deprive their enemies of their resources give them famine and disease and watch them die off or run and then take what they want and not need. Why? Why they live like this and treat us like this?Why do the people bow down to this?

I want to be the mocking jay,Let me rise high over my oppressors Who call themselves successors,But they stole or bashed another to get it.

If the world fought back against oppression, citizens fought back against lack of funding for our schools, and the government just stops making the truth look like a belief,and hiding their evilness and making it look like peace and making plans to make black people look like thugs, criminals, and thieves who are up to no good but to rob, kill, and deceive. Stop the madness and lies and give us freedom and relief.

Why?By Sakiema Wood

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RIIIIIINNNNGGG!!!

The bell rung releasing the crowds of students out of Ben Franklin High School. It was Wednesday, October 11, 3300 and this meant that it was time for the weekly PSU meeting in room 820 (Over the years the population increased causing the school to need to 2 extra floors).

“Ayeeeeeee, whats good everyone? I couldn’t get pizza today so I got chips.” said the old heap of metal and flesh which was referred to as “Hiram Bot” or “Hiram” for short. Back in 2099 they invented a new system to sustain a dying human and luckily for Hiram who had just been struck by a car and money to spare became one of the first people to become an Cyborg. Through the years he went from small technical tweaks to becoming more metal than flesh he had: a metal arm, two bionic legs, a glass eye, and most of his insides were replaced with pistons and generators to keep him going.

The twins Kevin and Alex Preston-Tran (descendants of Iyanna Preston and Minh Tran) walked into room, shoving each other out of the way to get to bags of chips; they always fought. “KevyKev, Alex ; whats good with you? Where’s everyone else?” said Hiram.

“They should be coming soon”. At that moment the rest of the PSU filed into the room laughing and joking about things that happened earlier in the day. “Aight Aight, everybody sit down; today were gonna be talking about the past”.

“The past? For what?” said Briana Robinson, whom was the descendant of Ciara Robinson. “Well, basically the point of learning history is so that it doesn’t repeat itself, and with Alvin Corbett running for governor he might plan to take revenge on your great great great great great GREAT grandparents for what they have done.”

“But what did they do to him?” asked Bailey Burney.

“It all happened long ago, way before Beth even gave up her physical form to become a hologram” said Hiram.

“Well what did they do?” yelled Naseem Gibson Jr. IV.

“Well longggg ago……”

*flashbacks*

“It was October in the year of 2014 when the mighty PSU members struck out against Corbett and his dastardly deeds we ha-”

“Wait wait wait wait, struck out? Dastardly deeds? What is this a Batman movie!?” Alex interrupted.

“Shhh its for effect”, said Hiram Bot as he continued his story. “Anyways, Corbett’s minions... then known as the School Reform Commission, were planning to win over the hearts of the parents by inviting them to a parent appreciation meeting at the old School District Of Philadelphia building, so of course we had to-”

“BLOW IT UP” shouted Naseem.

“What? No! They protested and shut it down!” said Hiram.

“How?” Bailey said while eating a granola bar.

“Let me finish...Like I was saying... They had went into the building as ordinary students just looking forward to watching a good movi-” *Hiram’s phone rings “Drunk in loveeeeeeeeeeee”*. The students burst into laughter. “Aye shut up its a classic, anyways. Hello?” Hiram talks on the phone for several minutes then hangs up. “It was Tim, he said sorry he couldn’t make it to the meeting he is on planet 420 trying help aliens get over their addiction of herbal remedies. Now lets finish our story. They went into the building acting as ‘normal’ as they can be: they smiled, were quiet, and they were polite. The movie, it was called Won’t Back Down, had been playing for about 20 minutes everything was going smooth, well at least to Sylvia Simms, she was a member of the SRC, it was. The students wanted to stop this movie from being shown, because we knew it was just propaganda. Showing this movie was just a way to convince the parents that we should close EVEN more public schools. Since, the Governor used to appoint three out of five of the SRC members, all their dastardly deeds are connected... so anyway, the chants began, the students rose and took there seats under the screen; all the while the parents and administrators sat baffled by the sudden uproar from the students.”

“Well what did the adults do?” Says Kevin. “Ahaa now see this is were it gets interesting” HiramBot says, “Some of the parents left, some stayed thinking the movie would start again, some even cheered them on and recorded them; but not all were

By Naseem Gibson

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excited. Sylvia Simms along with some other adults booed them and said things like “LOCK THEM UP.”

“And what did they do? Did they give up?” Bailey said.

“Pshhh nah they stuck through. They showed their power and made sure that everyone in the room understood that we need our public schools, and that the School District shouldn’t be screening propaganda. Later that month, Tom Corbett lost the election. After that they did mannnny other actions and that’s what eventually led their statues being placed in your school. But now, the Corbett legacy of cutting education budgets could possibly return, thru Alvin. In fact, we know he’s up to no good. He’s got some corporate education reform buddies that he keeps too close. So who’s ready to plan this action against Alvin Corbett?” yells HiramBot.

1 MONTH LATER

“BREAKING NEWS: It seems as if the tides are changing for the opposing governor with Alvin Corbett now winning in terms of overall popularity; I don’t how he does it but

with his new mysterious business partner, things have gone nothing but smoothly... Shockingly, there have been no PSU members at his public appearances. This is Channel 29 daily news, signing out.”

HiramBot turns the video off video and turns around to the members of PSU.

“Damn!” says Briana crossing her arms angrily, “He’s gonna win at this rate!”

Kevin adds to her statement screaming, “Yeah, well it’s because of that guy he’s hired it’s like he knows our plan and what were gonna do at every rally then he stops us before we can do it.”

“Someones working for the opposite side, theres a traitor here!” screams Alex.

HiramBot settles everyone down “Nah man, you guys wouldn’t do that, it’s something else. But what?”

“Let’s rewatch the video” Kevin says. The students replay the news clip and notice something interesting about the mysterious man.

Together we can build a more just school system. Follow the link using the QR code below or go to phillystudentunion.org/donate.

“Look at his face he looks sorta like an old Corbett but with a saggy face and gray hair , and whats that blue shiny stuff on his hand,” Naseem Jr. points out.

“Wait, what? Blue shiny stuff that’s weird, the only blue shiny stuff that looks like that comes from a time tunnel” says Kevin.

“A TIME TUNNEL!” Everyone says in unison.

“He must have went into the future and seen he lost, then he brung his future self back to the past to tell what would happen and what actions he should avoid!” Briana yells.

“Aha, so he wants to play that game, fine. Kids its time we met the old PSU”.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Naseem is a sophomore at Benjamin Franklin High School.

Together we can build a more just school system. Donate to PSU today.

PSU member, Ruby Jane Anderson addresses the crowd. Photo by Chris Fascencelli