They don’t make ‘em like they used to

I can’t buy them at the store

The Levi’s that I once knew

I can’t wear them any more

The material is far thinner,

It don’t last too long this way

The blue jeans that were once a winner,

Do not last from day to day.

Context is Everything

In the early 1970s ethnic studies classes for high school students were less controversial than today. The term “critical race theory” wasn’t used yet and most of these classes were merely an attempt to tell the truth no matter how difficult or ugly. People were ready. Inclusion was long overdue. 

Working in a school district with high percentages of black and brown students, I inherited a program called “Minority History.” 

This was a one-year course divided into two semesters. The first was an entire semester devoted to black history. The second semester featured teaching units on Native American history,  Mexican American history, Asian American history, and units on Women’s history. Women, as a minority group, was an early attempt to develop and teach a curriculum that dealt with sexism as well as racism. 

I found myself in charge of this program because it originally belonged to the woman I student taught under and because I was a recent College grad with an undergraduate major at UCLA in African American studies. That was based on the first Black history and literature courses offered there. It garnered some notoriety because the celebrated athlete Kareem Abdul Jabber was also in those classes.

While my supervising teacher left me resources and access to her curriculum, I was free to enhance what existed and develop my own as well. A major theme in my course was the relationship between concepts like image, identity, and power. While I had done a fair amount of research on African, Mexican, and Asian Americans, it was difficult to find usable resources dealing with Women. The second wave of the feminist movement was in its infancy then, but materials were being developed urgently. 

I’d gone to a workshop sponsored by the California Council for the Social Studies and picked up some ideas. The woman who led the workshop presented a slide show focused on images of women in literature. Included were some images from First-grade readers. Many of us present that day learned to read with Dick and Jane books. Looking at some of the images that day, after 25 years or so, we easily saw how sex roles were developed and reinforced. The following week I went to the curriculum library at the School of Education at UC Berkeley, where I‘d graduated the year before. I did not find Dick and Jane, however, I did find a more contemporary reader called Janet and Mark. 

As I scanned the pages, my jaw dropped.  Some things became painfully obvious.  Whenever Janet and Mark rode in the car with their parents, the males were in the front seat and the females in the backseat. When Janet wanted to do something independently, she made a cake with her mom "for Daddy." Mark, however, declares in another chapter "I want to make something. I can make something good."  He then proceeds to put together a car from an old wooden box and some wheels he finds lying around. Very skilled and independent is the message. But the coup de gras comes in a story where Mark is shooting baskets at a hoop mounted on the garage. This driveway setup is identical to what millions of kids have and remember. They can easily relate to the graphics. When Mark finally lets Janet take a shot, she throws up an air ball, (missing the backboard entirely) As Janet shoots, the text reads, “Up up, up and down.” The accompanying graphic is Mark laughing, covering his mouth with his hand. When Janet refuses another attempt because she has been shamed, the graphic shows Mark pointing at her while the text reads, "She is just like a girl, she gives up."  I swear that is exactly what it says on the printed page. This sexism is so blatant that it’s difficult, even now, to see how this book made it to publication. 

The following week I put together 35 copies of this story from a First-grade reader and used them in my classes. My students were just as shocked as I had been. We had great discussions about the consequences of these visual images and messages. Others reported that Janet and Mark were the book they learned to read with. 

A few weeks later, a rumor got back to me that I thought so little of my student's skills and abilities that I resorted to First Grade reading level material in my classes. Again, my jaw dropped. Obviously, my use of Janet and Mark had needed to be understood. Again, my classes and I discussed this new issue. In retrospect, I suspect a parent may have seen one of the story copies in their student’s notebook and assumed the worst. Context is everything.

It’s About Time

 I need to leave her. Like many relationships it’s complicated. Still, the time has come and I know it. Like myself, we have both lost some of our attraction with age. Things weaken, they occasionally fail, slow down. She has, at times been good to me. The unexpected surprises and poignant moments have not been forgotten. They occasionally make me smile.  They sneak up on dark days and make me think it has all been worthwhile. But, times change. What was once solid begins to crumble. We adapt or we don’t last long. So, I’ll be heading out soon. My long attachment to horse racing has run its course. I need to leave the race track. 

In the beginning, she lived up to the billing.  It begins with the horse. Always, the horse comes first. I have always had a visceral reaction to horses. As a thoroughbred trainer friend of mine always said, It’s in the blood.” It must be because it’s as if I can’t help myself in the presence of an equine athlete. The energy, the glossy coat, pointed ears, rippling muscle, the eyes. Ever stare into the eyes of a thoroughbred? 

This piece is in progress. 

Childhood connections /Characters/ Biggest thrills/ tech changes/ final thoughts

C’mon Along

 I have made the 12-hour drive from Portland to the Bay Area more times than I care to admit. The latest came last week.  This time of year, the weather plays a crucial role in determining how smoothly that drive goes. Fortunately, the roads over the mountain passes were clear this time. The rain and fog was ever-present. Though the landscape varies, some characteristics of this trip remain the same. The Oregon part of the trek is often beautiful with sweeping pastureland in the Willamette Valley, and fir and pine forests for hundreds of miles. Rivers are abundant. The Willamette, the McKenzie, the Umqua, the Klamath, and the Upper Sacramento are all visible from the car window. 

In the last 5 years, we have not driven straight through, choosing to stop at the halfway point in Ashland, Oregon. Ashland offers a good place to eat and sleep with peaceful views, bookstores, pubs, outdoor stores, and a beautiful park. It is the home of Southern Oregon University, and, of course, the renounce Shakespeare Festival. It has culture and character. 

On morning two of this trip, we cross the California border after about half an hour on the road. During the winter months, no stop at the border is necessary because there is little concern about fruit being brought into the state. Next, the descent past Yreka, Weed, Shasta City, and Dunsmuir culminates at Shasta Lake. This reservoir is in good shape for the first time in a good while because of recent rains and an improved Snowpack. The descent ends in Redding, Ca. where the landscape changes dramatically. We are in the flats now. The sprawling valley stretches for hours. There are a few farm towns, most start with the letter A. Artois, Arbuckle... Pine and Fir trees have been replaced by Olive trees and rice paddies. It is not uncommon to see a crop duster here and all manner of political signs, mostly right-wing, conservative. 

By the small town of Dunnigan, Interstate 5 continues to Sacramento but offers an off-ramp to I 505 which is the link to I 80 the road to Oakland and San Francisco.  I 505 rolls through some barren farmland. It’s flat, straight, and rather dismal. But the transition to I-80 at Vacaville is dynamic. The drivers should brace themselves while making this merge. The sudden appearance of a 5-lane freeway is a jolt. The speed of the cars, their numerous lane changes, and the need to read signs carefully create culture shock. Put simply, the vibe is much different. It's "on your toes" at all times or suffer the consequences.  Glad I don't live in that kind of environment anymore.