tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post7886863471567268827..comments2023-10-17T22:56:42.784-04:00Comments on Only in The Republic of Amherst: New Sheriff In TownLarry Kelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-36040836889679076162014-08-20T18:08:12.282-04:002014-08-20T18:08:12.282-04:00I wouldn't be so sure that all those demonstra...<i>I wouldn't be so sure that all those demonstrators are Shabazz's friends</i><br /><br />Really?<br /><br />Well the disruptions at SC meetings all come from the people he demonstrates and protests with:<br /><br />Sonji-Johnson (Shabazz has demonstrated with her many times "in support of Carolyn Gardner");<br /><br />Vira Doungmany(Shabazz VERY actively campaigned for her during her SC run, he protested with her to bring "Justice with Ayyub", etc);<br /><br />Vira's husband (Shabazz is shown standing with Vira's husband at the "Hand's Up Don't Shoot" rally he organized on the common this past weekend);<br /><br />Camila Carpio (Shabazz protested with Camila during their "Justice with Ayyub" campaign, he had her standing beside him during demonstrations outside the H.S., he gave a speech recognizing her commitment to "human rights" and then awarded her a Sojourner Truth" award, etc);<br /><br />Kathleen Anderson (too many protests and rallies attended together to list);<br /><br />and so on. These people aren't his friends? Then why doesn't he ask them to stop disrupting the meetings? He seems to have SOME sort of a rapport with them.<br /><br />I guess it's time to do some back-peddling, huh?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-18167972703327449492014-08-20T17:42:48.737-04:002014-08-20T17:42:48.737-04:00anon 4:11 pm:
I wouldn't be so sure that all t...anon 4:11 pm:<br />I wouldn't be so sure that all those demonstrators are Shabazz's friends. He doesn't like the meeting disruptions (such as at the end of the last SC meeting in June) anymore than the other SC members do. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-41100492656027519442014-08-20T16:11:15.273-04:002014-08-20T16:11:15.273-04:00Make your meetings as boring and low-key as possib...<i>Make your meetings as boring and low-key as possible</i><br /><br />But how can the SC do that when Shabazz's friends show up every week to turn it into a demonstration of people crying and yelling and and wringing their hands over the inequities they have to endure? And now there will be all the time they need to put on their show.<br /><br />Shabazz's fellow demonstrators, picketers, ralliers, sign-holders have been allowed to hijack the intent behind having school committee meetings at all, and they promised at the last meeting to return.<br /><br /><br />Shabazz: “I think that our superintendent and our administrative team have been working diligently to put some changes in place at both our high school and middle school that will serve to give us early warning signs of problems as well as to prevent some of the things from happening as they did last year,” he said. If they work, “I’ll be one of the happiest members of our district.” (Gazette)<br /><br />Then why did you try to undermine the superintendents and the administrative teams hard work by lying at the very first ETF meeting you held, saying that the supt continually refused to provide you with documents you needed to address issues of inequity, when she in fact DID provide you and the entire SC with the documents well before you held the ETF meeting?<br /><br />Shabazz has been attempting to undermine the administrations efforts for over two years now, and I have ample examples of that.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-65573437294897418912014-08-19T22:09:19.085-04:002014-08-19T22:09:19.085-04:00The clear route to effective governance is the one...The clear route to effective governance is the one that the O'Keeffe Select Board and later on the Sarat Library Trustees have come to embrace:<br /><br />Make your meetings as boring and low-key as possible.<br /><br />If you bore people to tears, you can develop the space to make tough decisions, without having to look over your shoulder. If residents are watching each week with popcorn in hand on Amherst Media, you are doing something wrong. <br /><br />Good governance in Amherst is terrible TV. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-83914397911218934512014-08-19T21:25:35.210-04:002014-08-19T21:25:35.210-04:00Does anyone know when we will see the recommendati...<i>Does anyone know when we will see the recommendations to increase equity in our schools that is supposed to come out of this sub-committee? I hope they can make some recommendations that are not what we've already been hearing ...</i>?<br /><br />Well, Shabazz's stated first order of business and explicitly stated intent of the formation of the Equity Task Force was to brainstorm ways to support Carolyn Gardner, who must have obviously (her well-being being the first order of business) had to endure harder times than any kid in school (even the ones who got the hell beaten out of them for being white.) Recommendations that address student's needs, and that would increase equity in the schools for kids, comes second.<br /><br />Wonder if they've gotten past the brain-boggling problem of "How the heck do we support Carolyn Gardner, beyond an enormous outpouring of personal support from staff and administration and student body, and breaking from subject study time to have assemblies, and community rallies, and listening to stories during SC public comment of the hardship she's endured, and weeks of paid time off, and a personal body guard, and colleagues rearranging their busy schedules to accommodate her needs, and always have one of them sitting in her room while she's working?"<br /><br />Such a vexing question, that requires a sub-committee's recommendations: "How can we support Carolyn Gardner?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-42689383206857694852014-08-19T18:57:52.664-04:002014-08-19T18:57:52.664-04:00Traphagen was trapped, if she voted for O'Brie...Traphagen was trapped, if she voted for O'Brien she would have been accused of voting for a white guy, and of not wanting fair representation of people with brown skin on the sc. That's part of the divide they have created in our schools/town. They've damned the possibility of a positive, harmonious, productive school year once again<br /><br />Irv was able to discuss and represent and work for positive change for kids of color in the ARPS's without turning it all into an "us vs. you" situation. It was with Shabazz's arrival that we saw the circus-like, non-productive, "you're all racists and white supremacists" faction that started showing up to meetings, and having protests on school grounds, and holding public campaign rallies in our schools in support of Vira where they told flagrant lies about white school personnel and administrators. That was not a coincidence.<br /><br />The voting mistake we all made was the mistake so many have made up until now: we voted for Shabazz over Irv because he seemed cool and smart, but instead we got a do-nothing, finger-pointing divider, who calls it in in every aspect of his life except where there's a photo op.<br /><br />Every three years is too long to have to wait to <i>maybe</i> get to evaluate the people we voted onto sc through our votes! We evaluate the town manager and supt and all of their staff gets comprehensively evaluated yearly, but our SC members receive no evaluations, and if they know the next sc election will be an evaluation of their tenure, they just don't run and evaluate themselves as having done wonders.<br /><br />Someone should start a "School Committee Report Card" website, where we can evaluate sc members on a weekly basis and give them a report card timed to coincide with the report cards our kids get a few times a yearAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-42873049516920195352014-08-19T17:46:01.101-04:002014-08-19T17:46:01.101-04:00I can't figure out what Kathleen T was thinkin...I can't figure out what Kathleen T was thinking. She seems really smart and rational and yet she voted for Baptiste. She'll need to explain that ridiculous decision if she decides to run again one day. I know that one vote will prevent me from ever voting for her again. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-8850366482717356142014-08-19T17:21:10.824-04:002014-08-19T17:21:10.824-04:00And we elected these fools?
Imagine if Vira had w...<i>And we elected these fools?</i><br /><br />Imagine if Vira had won.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-48006233012803202442014-08-19T16:41:34.584-04:002014-08-19T16:41:34.584-04:00These kids evaluating the Professor are all suffer...These kids evaluating the Professor are all suffering from a Western bias.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-79847200244987167722014-08-19T16:31:21.258-04:002014-08-19T16:31:21.258-04:00Oh, I think she learned to stop caring about what ...Oh, I think she learned to stop caring about what a serial Cowardly Anon Nitwit thinks.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-40016123014723506732014-08-19T16:26:47.277-04:002014-08-19T16:26:47.277-04:00DON'T SAY HER NAME or she will be forced to ge...DON'T SAY HER NAME or she will be forced to get online and defend herself, which she doesn't want to have to do!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-4611456268841662002014-08-19T16:26:32.804-04:002014-08-19T16:26:32.804-04:00Lawrence O fits the bill Anon 404 and look what ha...Lawrence O fits the bill Anon 404 and look what happened to him. The recent SC chair election was a disgrace and one of the worst actions I've ever seen them take. And we elected these fools? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-59212919613403066032014-08-19T16:04:12.571-04:002014-08-19T16:04:12.571-04:00If the SC is looking for tokens, and for diversity...If the SC is looking for tokens, and for diversity, I volunteer to be the token white, traditionalist, raise-standards, excellence-for-all SC member. Now that would shake things up! Oh, wait... We tried that a few years ago and it made many of us uncomfortable! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-14908133492958402032014-08-19T16:00:41.002-04:002014-08-19T16:00:41.002-04:00Are you trying to say he's a Catherine Sanders...Are you trying to say he's a Catherine Sanderson in dreadlocks?Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-30576617073328974542014-08-19T15:55:52.097-04:002014-08-19T15:55:52.097-04:00He won't run again, he'll say he worked hi...He won't run again, he'll say he worked his butt off to make things better but that the community and school department is too resistant change. And not because she- I mean, he is too afraid to allow the next election to be a referendum on her- I mean, HIS term on the SC.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-2384545503598233072014-08-19T13:59:39.269-04:002014-08-19T13:59:39.269-04:00Shabazz is 5/6 of the way through his 3 year term ...Shabazz is 5/6 of the way through his 3 year term on the school committee and he has really nothing to point to in terms of accomplishments. Even in terms of the most basic role a school committee member has, he failed: he failed to evaluate the superintendent, and like a student who can't manage their time properly, asked for an extension the day before the individual members evals were due, and even though he knew for the entire semester that his major project would be due on a specific date, he said the process felt "rushed". Denied an extension, (because this is the real world,) like an insolent child he simply submitted an eval that said the supt failed to make any progress or meet any goals in the last year, and included zero backup data or evidence, and so per state regulations his eval could not be accepted or included.<br /><br />In his third year serving on sc he finally took on subcommittee work, chairing the Equity Task Force. Does anyone know when we will see the recommendations to increase equity in our schools that is supposed to come out of this sub-committee? I hope they can make some recommendations that are not what we've already been hearing, and are something more than the many concepts and recommendations the schools have implemented either partially or fully already.<br /><br />WE ARE GETTING IMPATIENT, Amilcar, when will we see some real input and evidence of real progress resulting from your tenure?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-35910600144540726042014-08-19T12:32:19.215-04:002014-08-19T12:32:19.215-04:00Tokenism is the policy or practice of making a per...Tokenism is the policy or practice of making a perfunctory gesture toward the inclusion of members of minority groups. This token effort is usually intended to create an appearance of inclusiveness and deflect accusations of discrimination. Typical examples include purposely hiring a non-white person in a mainly white occupation or a woman in a traditionally male occupation. Classically, token characters have some reduced capacity compared to the other characters and may have bland or inoffensive personalities so as to not be accused of stereotyping negative traits. Alternatively, their differences may be overemphasized or made exotic and glamorous.<br /><br />In America, the practice and concept became part of the popular culture in the late 1950s. Martin Luther King discussed the subject in 1963 in his book Why We Can't Wait; in the same year, Malcolm X told an interviewer "What gains? All you have gotten is tokenism–one or two Negroes in a job or at a lunch counter so the rest of you will be quiet." In 1964, Woody Allen's debut album included a routine about his being hired by an advertising agency:<br /><br /> "[They] wanted a man to come in, and they pay ninety-five dollars a week, to sit in their office, and to look Jewish. They wanted to prove to the outside world that they would hire minority groups, y'know? So I was the one they hired. I was the show Jew at the agency. I tried to look Jewish desperately. I used to read my memos from right to left all the time. They fired me finally, because I took off too many Jewish holidays."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-13558798777324601102014-08-19T12:21:18.738-04:002014-08-19T12:21:18.738-04:00Mr. Baptiste talks a lot.
I have noticed that.Mr. Baptiste talks a lot.<br /><br />I have noticed that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-21248155014188291012014-08-19T11:23:35.210-04:002014-08-19T11:23:35.210-04:00Maybe it should be called "Most of Amherst To...Maybe it should be called "Most of Amherst Together" or "Amherst Together Except the Select Board."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-85175904252537632722014-08-19T10:21:13.760-04:002014-08-19T10:21:13.760-04:00So I guess once again we have someone telling us w...So I guess once again we have someone telling us what a great job Shabazz and Baptiste are doing for our schools, but can not give credible examples. So should we just chalk that up to more hot air?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-8255407449054932902014-08-19T09:07:30.833-04:002014-08-19T09:07:30.833-04:00Kind of interesting that the Town Manager, who is ...Kind of interesting that the Town Manager, who is white, caught hell (bureaucratically speaking) last night from the Select Board, who are all white, for entering into the "Amherst Together" racial calming initiative with school Superintendent Maria Geryk, who is white, without consulting them first.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-62193746547726759682014-08-19T09:02:02.517-04:002014-08-19T09:02:02.517-04:00The content of character....
Kind of makes me thi...The content of character....<br /><br />Kind of makes me think of that ol' MLK trope, "do not judge a man by the color of his skin but by the content of his character."<br /><br />I think the OPPOSITE is becoming status quo around here - in trying to not be racist, that's all we're doing. I don't believe in affirmative action and making assumptions about one's abilities based on race.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-5233766196442797542014-08-19T08:26:51.791-04:002014-08-19T08:26:51.791-04:00And it would be far more effective if you showed s...And it would be far more effective if you showed some character and attached your name. Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-52841549022557269192014-08-19T08:04:39.204-04:002014-08-19T08:04:39.204-04:00Anyone care to comment on the content of Shabazz&#...Anyone care to comment on the content of Shabazz's character?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-71648735586541241752014-08-19T07:25:47.149-04:002014-08-19T07:25:47.149-04:00Amherst is 77% white but you'd think from some...Amherst is 77% white but you'd think from some attitudes here that this was Detroit and there wasn't a black person in any role, anywhere, and there was some kind of imbalance to everything and anything. There is not. When people stop pushing this diversity crap down other peoples throats and start facing reality, and taking people for who they are and not what color they are, we'll be able to have realistic attitudes. We treat racial needs like balancing the colors of balls on a Christmas tree instead of the reality that blacks simply don't account for a large percentage of the population yet some have a need to give blacks special treatment because it's the cool thing to do. Blacks represent a small number of educators nationwide. That is not because they are discriminated against. It's because they don't go into the field. Last I looked Amherst had a small population of black students and yet you'd think they had a racial mix like Jackson Mississippi and not a minority represented anywhere. Get over it people. Putting a black person in a role because they are black and not for their qualifications doesn't worked or has no one ever going to be honest about the latest president. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com