FWIW, here is a letter I sent to the school board:
I am the President and CEO of a business with offices in Pennsylvania and New York, and I can barely contain my outrage over a commencement address that was given at a public high school graduation in Ithaca, New York. While you might ask why I would concern myself with the commencement address of a small, insignificant and essentially irrelevant school located within my area of service, or why I would have a problem with such a routine event, I humbly ask that you read further.
On Monday, June 24, 2002, commencement ceremonies were held for the high school graduating class of the Alternative Community School in Ithaca, New York. The Alternative Community School (ACS) is a small middle school/high
school consisting of about 260 students in grades 6 through 12. Detailed information concerning the school's curriculum and teaching methodology can be found at their web site address at
http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/acs/ .
According to a news account published in the June 25th, 2002 edition of The Ithaca Journal, "one of the requirements for graduation from the Alternative
Community School (ACS) is to understand bias and take action to eliminate it." The Ithaca Journal reported that "change" was the theme of ACS Principal David Lehman's parting message to the graduates at the commencement ceremonies. He was quoted as he addressed the graduating class:
"I see you making changes for democratic justice and self-determination."
Apparently to celebrate their "commitment to justice, equity and compassion", Dr. Lehman endorsed the "agenda" of "understanding and eliminating bias" by welcoming a commencement speaker who was secured through the efforts of
one of the graduates. However, this particular speaker was unable to personally appear at the commencement and deliver his address, which was ultimately made by telephone. Nonetheless, high school students and faculty
embraced the speaker's message.
The reason for his absence: the speaker was none other than Wesley Cook, who is currently in on death row in a Pennsylvania prison for murdering a police officer. While you might not immediately recognize the name Wesley Cook, you might better recall him by his alias or the name he adopted, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
It is a good bet that none of the outgoing ACS students were born yet when Mumia Abu-Jamal murdered a police officer in cold blood. I would also bet that very few of the graduates know the history of Jamal, who rightfully
earned his reputation as an intolerant activist and a purveyor of violence based on his own racial bias. While this ignorance might give some forgiving latitude to the students, I openly wonder what Dr. Lehman's excuse could be.
It seems that by endorsing the address of this despicable human being, even if it was only through tacit approval, Dr. Lehman is promoting the overtly racially biased views of Jamal, which are well documented by Jamal's own
words and deeds. It appears that Lehman is selective in which bias he wants his students to understand and eliminate. The irony is sadly overwhelming.
For those unfamiliar with Jamal, who has become somewhat of a twisted "folk hero" of those who allegedly embrace tolerance, allow me to provide a brief account of the incident that resulted in Mumia Abu-Jamal being sentenced to
death.
Shortly before 4:00 AM on December 9th, 1981, on-duty Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner stopped a Volkswagen for driving the wrong way down a one way street with it's lights off. The driver of the vehicle was
identified as William Cook, the brother of Wesley Cook, (AKA Mumia Abu-Jamal), was driving the vehicle. According to eyewitness accounts, Cook exited the vehicle and punched Officer Faulkner in the face. Witnesses also observed Mumia Abu-Jamal, who for unexplained reasons, happened to be
sitting in his cab across the street from the traffic stop, run across the street towards the scene with his arm raised as if he was pointing a gun. From approximately 2 feet away from the officer, Jamal fired one shot from the .38 caliber revolver he was carrying, hitting Officer Faulkner in the
back.
Wounded, Faulkner was able to turn and fire one shot at his attacker before falling to the ground and losing his weapon. The bullet fired by the officer struck Mumia Abu Jamal in the chest.
In a cold blooded fashion, Jamal then approached the wounded, still conscious unarmed officer, put his gun within a few inches of Officer Faulkner's face, and fired. The bullet entered the officer's head slightly
above his eye and penetrated his brain, killing him instantly. Jamal then staggered several steps and collapsed on the curb. Less than two minutes later, police apprehended Jamal, with his gun still at his side, only a few feet from Officer Faulkner's body. A decorated five-year veteran of the police force, Faulkner was a law student and military veteran. He was also a husband, son and a brother. And he was murdered at the hand of Mumia
Abu-Jamal as determined by a jury.
It is also important to note that Jamal joined the Black Panther Party as a teenager and rose to the level of Lieutenant Minister of Information for the Panther's Philadelphia chapter. In this position, Jamal called for a violent race-based revolution, advocating the shooting of police officers in his various writings. I fail to see any "commitment to justice, equity and compassion" or attempts to "understand and eliminating bias" as allegedly
advocated by the Alternative Community School and Dr. Lehman in any of those statements.
What I see is the deliberate prostitution of commencement ceremonies where the graduates are the victims of a psychological assault, propagated by an agenda driven pimp of misinformation disguised as a principal. In my opinion, one cannot eliminate bias by boldly embracing it as did Dr. Lehman. His insipid actions are shameful and an affront to each of us who are truly committed to justice. That said, I openly call for the resignation of Dr. Lehman and suggest that he publicly apologize for recklessly providing an
inappropriate forum to a convicted, cold-blooded killer.
re post#47: Great letter and right on target, too.
The worst thing about all of this and other "alternative schools" is the plain and simple fact that there are no "alternative jobs"!