Matt Bonamo tried pretty hard to discredit Ras Baraka in his March 19 Politico Magazine article. He failed, because Ras is good at being good – but not for lack of trying.
First, look at the photo Mark chose as his lead: why is Baraka’s face contorted, and his finger laid alongside his nose? Only one logical answer: the photo is meant to be demeaning. In the article’s wrap-up, Bonamo quotes Ras using syntactically regional language. Again, why? Why list every one of Booker’s impressive educational credentials and then contrast that with a quote showing Baraka being loose with his grammar? Again, the reason is clear: Bonamo obviously meant to discredit Mayor Baraka.
Bonamo’s article also clearly shows he drank the ‘Newark school Reform’ Kool Aid and loved it. It’s too bad Bonamo did absolutely no background research on this topic. It’s not like truthful reporting about the so-called school reform scam is hard to find. Mark Zuckerberg’s much-touted-by-the-media’s $100 million gift was not to help Newark schools. It was to help bolster the charter schools incursion into Newark, which itself is meant to serve as a wedge to close public schools and sell off the buildings in which they are housed – valuable city assets – to education privatizers (aka charter school developers). Booker and Christie are the New Jersey ringleaders of this effort and Cami Anderson is a captain in their army of betrayal of the public trust.
The One Newark school reorganization plan that Cami kicked into high gear this school year was not intended to provide better education and better choices to Newark students. Its single goal is to create discomfort and chaos in the lives of the city’s indigenous residents whom are primarily black, Latino and poor, and to decrease education quality for the city’s students. But with Mayor Baraka’s support, Newark’s student heroes continue to protest valiantly and brilliantly against attacks that are morally reprehensible and socially irresponsible.
I guess they’ll win because heroes are hard to beat.
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