FIRE IN WATTS: Jordan Students Rise for Ms. Salazar

Jordan High School students lead a protest for Jordan English Teacher, Karen Salazar, who was recently fired for allegedly espousing "extremist views" in her class room. Students for Salazar were accompanied by Jordan H.S. Teacher and Poet, Mark Gonzales, Jose Lara and other members of the Association of Raza Educators (A.R.E.), as well as members of the community and of the independent press. The protest took place Thursday, June 5, 2008, during after-school hours. Amongst many of the heartfelt words Ms. Salazar shared with people regarding her students, she expressed deep appreciation for their bold acts of self-sacrifice.

"I feel humble that they were here because a lot of students know that it's risky to walk home after the school crowd has left....Walking home alone, things can happen to them," Salazar said.

For more information, contact Students for Salazar C/O The Sixth Sun Productions:

sixsun@mac.com

To get directly involved with the campaign to force the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to renew Ms. Salazar's contract, contact Jose Lara at the Association for Raza Educators (A.R.E.) at razaeducators@yahoogroups.com

Also, professional poet and Jordan Teacher, Mark Gonzales, can be reached at humanwrites@gmail.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Karen
• Salazar
• Jordan
• High
• School
• Teacher
• Watts
• LAUSD
• Student
• Activism
• social
• science

[yabasta824]

Day after day, children are denied the right to be children. The world treats rich kids as if they were money, teaching them to act the way money acts. The world treats poor kids as if they were garbage, to turn them into garbage. And those in the middle, neither rich nor poor, are chained to televisions and trained to live the life of prisoners.

The few children who manage to be children must have a lot of magic and a lot of luck.

-Eduardo Galeano, Upside Down

[skindog323]

I don't get it, why is it when a White person teaches the youth skills like writing, like in the movie Freedom Writers they get a feature film on the silver screen, but once a person of color teaches the youth to question the basic foundations of Eurocentric thought they get demonized. There is something wrong in this picture. I am upset in the way Ms. Salazar is being marginalized and mistreated by the administration at Jordan High School. This is a classical extension of colonization.

[hypostatic8]

From the Immigrant Rights Marches to the Walkouts and now the struggle to reinstate Salazar, we need to unite these movements not only with each other, but with Katrina and Sean Bell. Raza consciousness! Thank you Mr. Gonzalez. Thank you Ms. Salazar. VIVA SALAZAR!

[missus2cents]

i live in watts but did not go to jordan and this has me in tears.. i feel so inspired

[Gulfporter]

01:26 Student no doubt gainfully employed by now.

[Irishcookies2009]

Karen Salazar is a fat ass mexican bitch. Seriously go back to fucking mexico if you want to learn your shit..i mean your "culture" and "NOSTORY" hahaha

[QUINTUSMAXIMUS]

@skindog323 Actually, a white teacher would get fired if he or she was an English teacher and focusing on political ideas while teaching English such as talking about white or black socialists. You can argue freedom of speech, but why couldn't she just focus on teaching them English? If it was a political science university class, I might understand. I wouldn't have fired the woman. She should have been told to teach English. Promoting your political views to teach English is off-base.

[molinmusic]

Profound! More love! PEACE Please Educate All Children Everywhere FOCUS For Our Children United Strong

[rvd99]

rise of the students.