BAMN is crossing a very serious line.

[kraig]

BAMN urges DPS students to skip class in protest



BY TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • May 1, 2009

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Updated at 10:13 a.m.

A community action group is urging Detroit Public School students to march this morning from Chadsey High School to oppose the closing of 23 schools across the city.





But the principal of Chadsey High is denouncing the plans for a student protest, saying the group organizing the walkout is taking advantage of his kids.

“That’s them giving out literature to our kids out front; I’ve got to try to stop this,� Chadsey principal Tony Jones said about BAMN’s promotion of a rally and march to Clark Park today at 11:30 a.m., during the school day. “That’s not right.�

He said students should be in class learning; those who leave class will be punished.

“If students walk out of this building, they’ll be excluded. They’ll be kicked out of school for a certain number of days,� Jones said. “You cannot do that. It’s illegal.�
BAMN [[By Any Means Necessary) plans to start a rally at 11:30 a.m. in front of the school on Martin Street just north of I-94 in southwest Detroit, then walk three miles to Clark Park on Clark at Lafayette, according to a BAMN news release.

The group's organizer Monica Smith said this morning that it is advising students to leave school, which is in session today, and boycott classes today to protest Chadsey’s proposed closing by Detroit Public Schools.

Detroit Public Schools spokesman Steve Wasko condemned the march, pointing out that students would have to cut school to participate.

“It’s the height of irresponsibility for adults to be encouraging students to miss class in the middle of the school day,� he said. He said the district is welcoming input on school closings from students and parents at a number of public forums throughout the city.

[Stosh]

It's absolutely amazing. These people have no concept of reality or the value of education. Those students that are willing to join these trolls in this effort deserve to be excluded. But do their parents care?

[digitalvision]

I remember when I ran into them awhile back marching for "Free water, free heat... that's what we want, free water, free heat..."

That really explains a lot. There's not a connection to reality with these folks.

[raptor56]

Damn it BAMN again!

1) it's hard enough to get Detroit students to stay in school. Now you want them to skip class?

2) You honestly believe this protest will make a difference?

3) Let's keep extra schools open so the District will go even more bankrupt. That'll work!

BAMN stands for Blowhard Arrogant Mental Nitwits, right? These folks and the Call Em Out crew should go crawl in a deep, dark hole together.

[Russix]

It might be a convenient time to close a school if all the kids are out of it.

[daddeeo]

With so many skipping every day, who is gonna notice anyways?
Some people are just plain ignorant. I think they complain just to complain.

[Zimm]

i prefer to think of BAMN as "BLEMP" or "By the Least Effective Means Possible."

i've never seen on organization consistently choose such poor protest strategies. there's always a disconnect between the problem [[as only they can see it) at hand, and the action they take. each one is a bigger head scratcher than the last.

if i were a member, i'd have a real problem with leadership that always uses my time and effort in a manner seemingly guaranteed to produce little or poor results. of course, if you're in BAMN, you probably aren't smart enough to make an observation like that...

[MCP-001]

BAMN [[in its various forms) are a bunch of losers whose only claim to fame is getting their name in the papers and making a spectacle of themselves.

They are only taking advantage of the DPS meltdown for yet another 15-minutes of fame.

My advice: Ignore them!

[firstandten]

In every institution political and otherwise you have obstructionist. That is a fact of life, however, the children should not be used as pawns in this. They need to use the school board meeting as there forum to complain and moan and throw grapes.

If it is possible try[[it may not be possible) to use this as a teaching moment for the children, explain the economic realities of the situation and let them know they are getting only one side of the story and to question BAMN as to what there plan might be.

In the future make sure every HS student has taken at least Intro to Economics course.

[oldredfordette]

There's an I hate BAMN or some such group on Facebook right now.

Those guys are assholes.

[cheddar bob]

There's an I hate BAMN or some such group on Facebook right now.

Those guys are assholes.

BAMN, or the I hate BAMN facebook people?

[Ravine]

Just the use of the phrase, "by any means necessary," suggests some assholery is afoot.
To me, the phrase-- and the concept behind it-- is morally faulty.
And, before some little scholarwannabe gets all huffy:
Yeah, yeah, I know to whom the phrase is popularly attributed.

[andyguard]

BAMN stands for Blowhard Arrogant Mental Nitwits, right? These folks and the Call Em Out crew should go crawl in a deep, dark hole together

I understand what you're saying, but aren't you afraid of what might come crawling out of the hole?

[MIRepublic]

This happened at a high school in my city a number of times. A student protest was organized, either by students or outside forces, to protest the laying off of teachers, and it was held during the school day with the same threats made by the principal and district.

[Bloomfield Pills]

I remember the Communist Party people used to hang around my high school passing out their newspapers, trying to incite a revolution.

It was a waste of time. We didn't need the Communists to tell us that school sucked.

[Prodigal_Son]

Just the use of the phrase, "by any means necessary," suggests some assholery is afoot.
To me, the phrase-- and the concept behind it-- is morally faulty.

Agreed. "By any means necessary" means that you would nuke Canada if that somehow helped you accomplish your goal. It is a shorthand for the fact that you have confused your own desires with the common good.

No one can ever make a positive impact in a community unless they realize that their own desires are NOT always the common good. It's called growing up.

[LodgeDodger]

Just the use of the phrase, "by any means necessary," suggests some assholery is afoot.
To me, the phrase-- and the concept behind it-- is morally faulty.
And, before some little scholarwannabe gets all huffy:
Yeah, yeah, I know to whom the phrase is popularly attributed.

That word perfectly describes BAMN.

It's wonderful to teach young people to have a voice, but not by utilizing BAMN's methods.

[raptor56]

So back on topic, was there a walkout\protests yesterday, or was this another much adieu about nothing?

[Dustin89]

This happened at a high school in my city a number of times. A student protest was organized, either by students or outside forces, to protest the laying off of teachers, and it was held during the school day with the same threats made by the principal and district.

I don't agree with BAMN or their approach, but my high school's senior class did [[very effectively) use a sit-in and then a skip day as a means of protesting actions taken by the superintendent that were very unpopular with students and teachers. We also packed several board of ed meetings, wrote letters and op-eds, etc. Long story short, the superintendent re-instated the high school principal that he had wrongly transferred; the board of ed didn't renew the superintendent's contract; and he left the district and moved to Arizona.

[Ravine]

Oh cripes Raptor please say you were indulging in a bit of silliness with the way you delivered that question.
And, not to thread-jack a thread which, probably, is about to slip off the edge of the table anyway, but I want to further explain why I think the whole "by any means necessary" bit is a load of bullshit.
It may sound all dramatic and strong-willed, but it is morally disgraceful. That kind of thinking is for lunatics such as Adolf Hitler and Dick Cheney. [[A pair who shares much in common, with the notable difference being that Hitler was an outstanding public speaker and Cheney comes across as a blustery, corrupt maggot who had half of his mouth botoxed.)
The very idea that any goal is so important that it doesn't matter what must be done, or what kind of person one must become, in order to reach it? Profoundly evil, in my view, and I would like to believe that one of Malcolm X's strongest pre-mortem regrets was over his having ever uttered some bullshit like that.
All of my ranting may seem like a bit much, given the triviality of the aforementioned non-event [[and of the sponsoring group itself,) but just the sight of that phrase causes my blood to boil.

[irish_mafia]

Ravine,

If you look at the dictators of the world, i think you will find a much more compelling argument to compare Obama with Hitler.

As far as BAMN, it would seem to me that anyone participating in the group should be tasered until they are no longer capable of controlling their own bodily functions. At that point, you give them a wink and tell them that you were dealing with them by an means necessary.

[Bearinabox]

Ravine,

If you look at the dictators of the world, i think you will find a much more compelling argument to compare Obama with Hitler.

As far as BAMN, it would seem to me that anyone participating in the group should be tasered until they are no longer capable of controlling their own bodily functions. At that point, you give them a wink and tell them that you were dealing with them by an means necessary.

Hmm. So being like Hitler=bad, but violently suppressing viewpoints with which you disagree=good?

[Ravine]

Yeah, Bear, I mentally rolled around a couple of responses to that post, but I think I'll just log off and go to bed.
Cheney has openly, and bluntly, expressed his tendency to think in that way.
And, who said anything about dictators?
But, I suppose that if one is so inclined, some abstract reason for bringing Elmer Fudd, John Lennon, or Adrienne Barbeau into the topic could also be supported.
Whatfuckingever.

[ridgeabilly]

Would it be a appropriate to bring Elmer Fudd, John Lennon, Adrienne Barbeau, Donald Lobsinger and Larry Wild Man" Fischer.into the thread?

[Danny]

I and the rest of The Street Prophets are against BAMN for they support affrimative action, especially in various colleges. They tried make their presence known in Wayne State University's Student Council, but many students voted against them keep them out. Fight to shut BAMN down for they trying to reverse segregational power to African Americans before other ethnicities.