where is she teaching? norway? nope. watts
(shout out to jeff for the story)
School rallies around dismissed Watts teacher deemed too 'Afro-centric.'
Karen Salazar was let go from Jordan High. Other instructors say they plan to resign or transfer in protest.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Students and fellow educators are rallying behind a fired Jordan High School teacher they say was sacked for encouraging political activism among her students.
About 60 students rallied Wednesday at the Watts campus, while a colleague of the fired teacher said he and 15 other instructors planned to resign or transfer to other schools to protest the dismissal of Karen Salazar, a second-year English teacher.
The dust-up has gone digital as well. Salazar backers have posted videos on the website YouTube. The postings, which have attracted thousands of hits, intersperse music, outraged protesters and interviews, as well as statements from the outspoken educator.
"You embody what it means to be a warrior-scholar, a freedom-fighting intellectual," she told students through a bullhorn in one video. "You are part of the long legacy, the strong history, of fighting back."
In another instance, Salazar rips the Los Angeles Unified School District, saying, "This school system for too long has been not only denying them human rights, basic human rights, but doing it on purpose in order to keep them subservient, to subjugate them in society."
A union official said the critique against Salazar included a statement that her teaching was too "Afro-centric." An assistant principal, in his evaluation of a particular lesson, accused Salazar of brainwashing students, according to Salazar and others.
Her course materials include "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," which is approved for students. Salazar, 25, also sprinkles in lyrics of slain rapper Tupac Shakur and the poetry of Langston Hughes..........
here is a link to more information and you tube videos on ms salazar
a facebook group
(note: i'm NOT a big fan of tupac's. ok, i'm NOT a fan at all. in any way shape or form. however, i think it's important all students should learn about malcolm x AND hear/read the words of langston hughes. malcolm x in the beginning of his conversion preached separation and unkindness to people whose skin color was different than his. at the end of his life, he realized that wasn't the way to go. he was a part of american history and we should ALL know about him. like him or not)
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