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The Knotted Line

Evan Bissell, Author

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2001: Left Behind

2001: No Child Left Behind financially penalizes schools that don’t make progress measured through testing. The policy language references a military idea about never leaving a soldier behind.   

Actions for Self-Determination:
  • 1960: Students perform the first sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, galvanizing student action across the country and leading to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 
  • 1999: New World Theater in Amherst, Massachusetts, founds Project 2050, a summer creative arts retreat with the goal of building leadership among youth of color from the Northeast. (2050 is the year the country is expected to be more people of color than white people). The retreats draws heavily on hip-hop culture and intergenerational dialogue.  Despite continued success and funding, the project is forced to close in 2009.
  • 2012: A group of students in Tuscon, Arizona, begin meeting on weekends to hold Chicano Studies classes after the state bans Mexican-American studies.
  • 2012: After walking out of two Detroit schools to protest one closing and the conditions at another, the district suspends over 150 students.  In response students and educators organize the Southwest Detroit Freedom Schools during the time of their suspension.

Discussion Questions:
  • What parallels do you see between your school and the military? Where do you see examples of militarization in your school?
  • How does/did testing affect your school year? Compare your experience to that of someone from a different generation.
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