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[Cross-posted in HuffingtonPost.com/Chicago]
After years of attending Chicago Board of Education monthly meetings, on December 14, 2011 I felt like I left one where the community was actually heard, by the public and by the board. During the “public participation” segment of the meeting, a lone voice stopped the business-as-usual.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Adourthus McDowell, a Chicago Public School parent and member of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, began the takeover by rising from his chair and interrupting a presentation by Chicago Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard on a new $660 million capital construction plan.
Using a ‘mic check’ technique borrowed from Occupy Wall Street protesters, McDowell read from a prepared text in short bursts so comrades planted around the room could repeat his words and thereby amplify them for the crowd.
The action continued. Parents, educators, and community activists repeated Mr. McDowell’s speech and were escorted out of the room one-by-one.
Vice President Sharkey holds Board of Education meeting in Board’s absence.
Some local bloggers and politicians have become highly critical of the “mic check” tactic, where public meetings and events are upstaged by the voice of those who feel voiceless. On its face, it does appear to be rude and counterproductive.
This would be true if these public meetings really were about providing community input. I’ve attended hundreds of public meetings, both as an activist and as a reporter. Board of Education “public participation” segments are two hours where taxpayers are allowed two minutes each to describe decades of neglect or outright sabotage of their school communities, as bemused members of the Board of Education play on their Blackberries.
Ever have that nightmare where something terrible is happening and you can’t scream for help? For the parents, students, and educators who take a day off of work to attend these meetings, this becomes a reality.
This particular meeting was held in the wake of CPS’ announcement to close and turnaround more schools. Many came to defend their school communities. They were prepared with data and research to show why the board should halt their plans.
From Chicagoist:
A study by UIC professors last year showed that the turnaround model espoused initially by CPS during the Richard M. Daley administration has served largely to re-segregate the school system.
The Board of Education didn’t get to hear any of this at the meeting, as James Warren describes in the New York Times:
David Vitale retreated into executive session. Mr. Vitale is a banker who was picked by Rahm Emanuel Emanuel to be president of the Chicago Board of Education.
This was after the Mr. Vitale, much like a bad first-year teacher:
… told the crowd that he hoped they’d ‘gotten it out of their system,’ prompting more jeers.
We need you out of our system,’ one man yelled back.
It seems that when confronted by the public they chose to serve, the Board of Education retreats. After the board members left the room, Jesse Sharkey — the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union — who taught for over a decade in CPS schools explained their cowardice:
‘I’ve had many hard days as a teacher and… you can’t just take your ball and go home,’ Sharkey said, addressing the empty seats.
When you are working on changing a system led by the richest people in the city who have no patience for the people whose taxes pay their stipends and subsidize their friends, you have to come up with new tactics.
Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey holds Board of Education meeting in Board’s absence.
Had the community members played by the board’s rules last week, the meeting would have been just another one like countless others. Motions would be passed and communities would be destroyed, as members of the board could continue playing Words With Friends.
6 Comments
Bravo for Adourthus and the others.
Tightly controlled “public” meetings exist to perpetuate the status quo for the benefit of the 1%.
Mic-checks are a way of piercing that control. This is where it starts.
Power to the people!
Long live Mic-check! I was inspired by Mr. McDowell who proved that Rahm Emmanuel is not the only father in the City of Chicago.
Recommended.
“This would be true if these public meetings really were about providing community input. I’ve attended hundreds of public meetings, both as an activist and as a reporter. Board of Education “public participation” segments are two hours where taxpayers are allowed two minutes each to describe decades of neglect or outright sabotage of their school communities, as bemused members of the Board of Education play on their Blackberries.”
This behavior must be endemic among public officials. At this week’s Oakland City Council meeting, councilmembers wandered in and out of the meeting while citizens attempted to get their attention and to distill serious concerns into two-minute soundbites. Then the council president decided to limit Occupiers – who had been waiting to speak for nearly six hours – to ONE minute each because there were so many of them. The mic checks that ensued were certainly no more rude than the behavior of the council. The days of politicians receiving deferential treatment in respect of their office are just about over.
Our so called leaders in many instances want absolutely NOTHING to do with us. Mic check these pricks, so what if they think its rude, they’re the ones that are really rude.
I ♥ Mic Check.
Folks here may recall how members of Congress were addressed rudely by Tea Party people in August 2010 at town hall meetings. The MCs were stunned. The mic check method strikes me as a more organized and less rude version of the TP approach. I’m not criticizing, just observing that the left is now speaking out as vociferously as the right did. I wonder, however, whether the less rude method will be as effective.
Public meetings nevertheless remain a formality, or to use a word that is favored at myFDL, kabuki. Everyone knows, or should know, that the real work is done behind the scenes by the politicians – and at the voting booth by the citizens. The Tea Party was able to translate their anger into votes. The left needs to do the same.