Black History Exhibition

Bonjour mes amis!

Today we held our official observance of Black History Month at Lycée Charles Tellier. About 65 students participated in displaying the results of many many weeks of hard work.

The morning started with the presentation of Melvin McNair by Paul and Adrian. The picture to the right is Vanessa introducing Paul and Adrian, with Melvin standing on the far left. They essentially summarized what they learned about him from the day that we spent in Caen. Paul and Adrian's English presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session in French.

One young lady posed what I felt was the most interesting question of the day when she asked Melvin if he regretted hijacking the airplane. I found it interesting because Melvin always speaks so positively about his life here in France and the welcome he received when he arrived, that it didn't really occur to me that he would have any regrets. Melvin's response was that he does regret hijacking the plane. He still firmly believes in the reasons for his crime, but he regrets the results, including no longer being able to see his family and missing the deaths of loved ones.

Next, two students showed a Powerpoint presentation on Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" and Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam." The presentation included information about each of the singers and analyses and explanations of the lyrics, as well as French translations. It was very well done. This was followed by a presentation by two other students on Jim Crow laws, describing the history of the term and providing specific examples of laws from various states that affected education, entertainment, freedom of speech, health care, work conditions, services and transportation.

After the presentations, Paul and Olivier introduced the various posters created by the different classes. These posters primarily displayed information about men and women of the civil rights movement. There were also posters about the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Black Panthers; several about lynchings and Emmet Till; and a few describing the miscarriages of justice in the cases of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Assata Shakur and George Jackson. Below are lists of the male and female figures highlighted by the students:

Male Figures
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Malcolm X
Bayard Rustin
Thurgood Marshall
James Farmer
Medgar Evers
Andrew Young
James Meredith
Clarence M. Mitchell

Female Figures
Linda Brown (of Brown v. Board of Education)
Ruby Bridges
Elizabeth Eckford (of the Little Rock Nine)
Rosa Parks
Coretta Scott King
Shirley Chisolm
Fannie Lou Hamer
Diane Nash
Ella Baker
Dorothy Height
Mary McLeod Bethune
Ida B. Wells

The picture above shows part of the exhibited posters. On one of the walls we hung a timeline of all the documented lynchings in the country from 1865 to 1965. It was 58 pages long.

After the students had some time to view the posters, I took a group of about 35 to one of the classrooms where I taught them "This Little Light of Mine." After working on it for about 20 minutes, we went back to the rest of the group and sang for them. Then it was time for lunch.

After lunch, the students spend the afternoon playing baseball with Melvin and they all had a lot of fun. So much fun, in fact, that a baseball day/BBQ has now been scheduled for June 26, right after school lets out for the summer. Too bad I won't be here for it. Anyway, the day was a complete success.


Bises,

Mlle. Alica

Home Sweet Condé...

Bonjour mes amis!

So I'm back in Condé sur Noireau after 2 weeks of vacation, the first part spent in Italy, the second spent in Germany. I got back to France on Saturday evening and I'm exhausted. We're jumping into this week head first, so to speak. Our Black History Exhibition is an all-day event this Thursday and there is still much work to be done in preparation.

That being said, I won't be recapping my vacation until this weekend. Just wanted to let you all know that I am still alive and well.


Bises,

Mlle. Alicia

P.S. Mon anniversaire est en 9 jours! (My birthday is in 9 days!)

Les Vacances d'hiver sont arrivées!

Bonjour mes amis!

Winter Break, meaning those two weeks I get off in February, has arrived! I know, I know, you're all wondering when do I ever work, right? Between holidays, scheduled breaks, and presidential inaugurations, it doesn't seem like I really do...

I'll be spending the first week on tour in Italy with the Valhalla High School Choir, of which Sterling is a member. The itinerary includes stops in Milan, Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome. I'll spend the second week in Mannheim, Germany, at Andrea's house (the German assistant). I'm excited for both weeks. First, I've never seen Sterling's school choir perform because I've always been away at school and I had a great time in Italy when we went 3 years ago. Second, I've never been to Germany, so how could I have passed up that opportunity?

I'm not sure about the Internet situation during my travels. But rest assured, as soon as I have both something to report and the means by which to post it, I will do so tout de suite.


Bises,

Mlle. Alicia

Chouquettes, Black Panthers, More Work and More Strikes...

Bonjour mes amis!

For some reason unbeknown to me, my favorite bakery is closed until the second week of February, which has forced me to patronize another vendor. Even though the other bakery isn't as good, they have something that my favorite place doesn't have: chouquettes with chocolate chips! They are soooo good, but I still prefer the originals.

The Thursday before I left for D.C., Vanessa and I took 6 of the students to Caen where they interviewed a man named Melvin McNair as part of our preparations for the Black History Month exhibitions. Melvin is a baseball teacher in Caen. So here's his story:

Melvin was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1948. He started his higher education at Winston-Salem State University and eventually joined the Black Panthers. In 1972, he boarded a Delta Airlines flight with his wife, child and a few other people. They hijacked the plane. And took it to Algeria. Melvin eventually ended up in France where the government refused to extradite him back to the U.S. He was tried and convicted here and served 3 1/2 years of his 5-year sentence. Melvin and his wife had 3 children, 2 of whom were born in France. His youngest child was murdered by drug dealers in the United States a few years ago. When we took a walk with him, he showed us the cemetery where his son is now buried.

It was a really interesting day with Melvin. He's very talkative and does a lot in his community. The students asked him some very good questions, but because of his circumlocutory responses, they had a little trouble following everything.

Work is overall pretty normal. Karine is back from maternity leave, which means Jocelyne is off to her next temporary assignment. I really like Karine and the students have clearly missed having her as their teacher. My schedule is changing a little bit now that Karine is back because she wants me working with different classes from the ones Jocelyne had selected but that is fine by me. I don't have to work on Mondays anymore and most of my Fridays are now off days.

One day last week I was walking to the front desk to get keys for the computer lab when Mr. Duval asked me to step into his office. When I was in high school, I got called to the principal's office once and it was a little unnerving so I had no idea what Mr. Duval wanted to discuss. As it turns out, he offered me a chance to make some extra money by putting together English-language immersion programs for the students to participate in during the upcoming vacations in February and April. I haven't yet decided if I'll do it.

And now for Strike Watch: Update 5... (I know you've been waiting for this.)

2 weeks ago, the students held assembly meetings to vote on whether or not they would continue striking and blockading the school. The final vote became that those students who want to continue striking are welcome, but that they shouldn't keep their peers from going to class if they so choose. So overall, everyone is back in school.

Last Thursday, January 29, all 6 of the major trade unions in France held a one-day strike demanding more job security from the government. As you can probably guess, the teachers' union was one of the participants. School, however, was still open because not all teachers participate. I was off because the one teacher I work with on Thursdays always supports the strikes. According to the news reports, it was the largest labor demonstration the last 20 years, but it failed to have much of an economic impact.

That's all for now. I'll be back with more soon!


Bises,

Mlle. Alicia