[PAA-Discuss] Join My High School Newspaper ...a note to students from Michael Moore

[Juli3 at aol.com]

Join My High School Newspaper ...a note to students from Michael  Moore
 
Friday, February 18th, 2011  
Dear High School Students:

How inspired are you by the thousands of  students from Wisconsin high 
schools who began walking out of class four days  ago and have now occupied the 
State Capitol building and its grounds in  Madison, demanding that the 
governor stop his assault on teachers and other  government workers? I have to 
say it's one of the most exciting things I've  seen in years. 
We are, right now, living in an amazing moment of history. And this moment  
has happened because the youth around the world have decided they've had  
enough. Young people are in revolt -- and it's about time. 
You, the students and young adults, from Cairo, Egypt to Madison,  
Wisconsin, are now rising up, taking to the streets, organizing, protesting  and 
refusing to move until your voices are heard. Effing amazing!! It has  scared 
the pants off those in power, the adults who were so convinced they had  done 
a heckuva job trying to dumb you down and distract you with useless  
nonsense so that you'd end up feeling powerless, just another cog in the  wheel, 
another brick in the wall. You've been fed a lot of propaganda about  "how 
the system works" and so many lies about what took place in history that  I'm 
amazed you've been able to sort through all the bs and see the truth for  
what it is. This was all done in the hopes you would just keep your mouths  
shut, get in line and follow orders. And don't rock the boat. Because if you  
do, you could end up without a good job! You could end up looking like a  
freak! You've been told politics isn't cool and that one person really can't  
make a difference. 
And for some beautiful, unknown reason, you've refused to listen. Maybe  
it's because you've figured out that we adults are about to hand you a very  
empty and increasingly miserable world, with its melting polar ice caps, its  
low-paying jobs, its incessant war machine, and its plan to put you in  
permanent debt at age 18 with the racket known as college loans. 
On top of that, you've had to listen to adults tell you that you may not be 
 able to legally marry the person you love, that your uterus isn't really 
yours  to control, and that if a black guy somehow makes it into the White 
House, he  must've entered illegally from Kenya. 
Yet, from what I've seen, the vast majority of you have rejected all of  
this crap. Never forget that it was you, the young people, who made Barack  
Obama president. First you formed his army of election volunteers to get him  
the nomination. Then you came out in record numbers in November of 2008. Did 
 you know that the only age group where Obama won the white vote was with  
18-29-year-olds? The majority of every white age group over 29 years old 
voted  for McCain -- and yet Obama still won! How'd that happen? Because there 
were  so many youth voters of all races -- a record turnout that overcame 
the vast  numbers of fearful white adults who simply couldn't see someone 
whose middle  name was Hussein in the Oval Office. Thank you young voters for 
making that  happen! 
Young people elsewhere in the world, most notably in the Middle East, have  
taken to the streets and overthrown dictatorial governments without firing 
a  shot. Their courage has inspired others to take a stand. There's a huge  
momentum right now, a youth-backed mojo that can't and won't be stopped. 
Although I've long since left your age group, I've been so inspired by  
recent events that I'd like to do my bit and lend a hand. I've decided to turn  
over a part of my website to high school students so they -- you -- can 
have  the opportunity to get the word out to millions more people. For a long 
time  I've wondered, how come we don't hear the true voices of teenagers in 
our  mainstream media? Why is your voice any less valid than an adult's? 
In high schools all across America, students have great ideas to make  
things better or to question what is going on -- and often these thoughts and  
opinions are ignored or silenced. How often in school is the will of the  
student body ignored? How many students today will try to speak out, to stand  
up for something important, to simply try to right a wrong -- and will be  
swiftly shut down by those in authority, or by other students themselves? 
I've seen students over the years attempt to participate in the democratic  
process only to be told that high schools aren't democracies and that they  
have no rights (even though the Supreme Court has said that a student 
doesn't  give up his or her rights "when they enter the schoolhouse door"). 
It's always amazed me how adults preach to young people about what a great  
"democracy" we have, but when students seek to be part of it, they are  
reminded that they are not full citizens yet and must behave somehow as  
indentured servants. Is it any wonder then why some students, when they become  
adults, don't feel like participating in our political system -- because  
they've been taught by example for the past 12 years that they have no say in  
the decisions that affect them? 
We like to say that we have this great "free press," and yet how free are  
high school newspapers? How free are you to write or blog about what you 
want?  I've been sent stories from teenagers that they couldn't get published 
at  school. Why not? Why must we silence or keep out of sight the voice of 
our  teenagers? 
It's not that way in other countries. The voting age in places like  
Austria, Brazil or Nicaragua is 16. In France, students can shut down the  country 
by simply walking out of school and taking to the streets. 
But here in the U.S. you're told to obey and to basically butt out and let  
the adults run the show. 
Let's change that! I'm starting something on my site called, _"HIGH SCHOOL 
NEWSPAPER."_ (http://mikeshighschoolnews.com/)  Here you will be able to 
write what  you want and I will publish it. I will also post those articles 
that you've  tried to get published at your school but were turned down. On my 
site you  will have freedom and an open forum and a chance to have your 
voice heard by  millions. 
I've asked my 17-year-old niece, Molly, to _kick things off_ 
(http://mikeshighschoolnews.com/mollys-note/01/23/2011)  by editing this page for the 
first six  months. She will ask you to send her your stories and ideas and the 
best ones  will be posted on _MichaelMoore.com_ 
(http://www.michaelmoore.com/) . I'll  give you the platform you deserve. It will be my honor to have you 
on my site  and I encourage you to take advantage of it. 
You are often called "our future." That future is today, right here, right  
now. You've already proven you can change the world. Keep doing it. And I'd 
be  honored to help you. 
Yours,
Michael Moore
_MMFlint at aol.com_ (mailto:mmflint at aol.com) 
_MichaelMoore.com_ (http://www.michaelmoore.com/)   
P.S. When can you get started? Right now! Just go _here_ 
(http://mikeshighschoolnews.com/user/register)  and  register. (You can use a made-up name if 
you want and you don’t have to name  your school.) Then once you’re done, 
start submitting _blogs_ (http://www.mikeshighschoolnews.com/node/add/blog) , 
_music_ (http://www.mikeshighschoolnews.com/node/add/featured-music) , 
_video_ (http://www.mikeshighschoolnews.com/node/add/featured-video)  and _more_ 
(http://www.mikeshighschoolnews.com/node/add) ! 
P.P.S. If you’re reading this and not in high school, please take a second  
and forward it to all the students you know.


_Join Mike's  Mailing List_ 
(http://www.michaelmoore.com/mikesmailinglist/index.php)  | _Follow Mike on Twitter_ (http://twitter.com/mmflint)  | _Join 
Mike's Facebook Group_ (http://www.facebook.com/mmflint)  | _Become Mike's 
MySpace Friend_ (http://www.myspace.com/mmflint)   

    You are currently subscribed to michaelmoore as:  juli3 at aol.com 
Add maillist at michaelmoore.com to your email address  book to ensure 
delivery 
_Forward  to a Friend_ 
(http://go.netatlantic.com/subscribe/forwardtoafriend.tml?m=37861504.e63d12a6ee0ffff97f312314b560559e&o=24619522)   |  _Manage  
Subscription_ 
(http://go.netatlantic.com/subscribe/managesubscription.tml?m=37861504.e63d12a6ee0ffff97f312314b560559e)   |   


_Subscribe_ 
(http://go.netatlantic.com/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=michaelmoore)   |   _Unsubscribe_ 
(http://go.netatlantic.com/u?id=37861504.e63d12a6ee0ffff97f312314b560559e&n=T&l=michaelmoore&o=24619522)   
 (http://www.netatlantic.com/learnmore/?list=michaelmoore&server=go) 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://paa-tx.org/pipermail/discuss_paa-tx.org/attachments/20110222/182fb2b1/attachment.htm>