‘You Squander Wealth That’s Mine’

Studies prove that elementary school intervention programs help at-risk children succeed in their adult life. The Go Project NYC is a nonprofit organization in Lower Manhattan that is dedicated to providing academic assistance and social services to low-income, underperforming elementary school children in the area. When a teacher’s aide expressed concern that a new summer program would include a political message, he was abruptly let go from the program.Robert Bullock was reluctant to air this information publicly, as he hoped that the director of the program would change her mind about enhancing the program with a song that to him had clearly politically overtones that he considered “inappropriate.” After reading the lyrics I found that I agreed with his assessment.Basically the program starts off the day with a pep rally based on a decades-old Kenyan tradition of community self-help called Harambee. It literally means “working together for a common cause.” The Go Project provides academic assistance and social services to students who attend public elementary schools below 14th Street in Manhattan. Most Go students may be described as first-generation, low-income individuals and as English-as-a-second-language learners whose parents speak Spanish, Mandarin, or Cantonese.Mr. Bullock was also a volunteer as well as an aide and he told me his work with the program for several years had been pleasant and professional. However, when he learned that a political protest song was to be sung every morning in assembly during the summer semester he expressed his concern to the executive director, Wendy Reynoso.He explained, “This program, in my past experience, has made no effort to familiarize these children with this country’s constitutional framework. We do not sing the National Anthem or say the Pledge of Allegiance. The inclusion of political content is new to the program. I believe it was chosen not to improve self-esteem but to deliver a political message to a young and easily manipulated audience. Perhaps that motivation was unconscious. It is a song of political revolution. To have these children sing it in assembly every morning is improper.”The song is an empowerment song that I was unfamiliar with. It’s called “Something Inside So Strong” by Labi Siffre. I contacted Ms. Reynoso to ask her questions about the new enhancement and to verify that this song would be part of the program. I specifically wanted to know the meaning behind the words, specifically, who are the people the children are supposed to stand up to?These are the beginning lines that gave me pause and I repeated them to Ms. Reynoso to confirm that we were speaking of the same song: “The higher you build your barriers, the taller I become; The more you refuse to hear my voice, the louder I will sing; You hide behind walls of Jericho, your lies will come tumbling; Deny my place in time, you squander wealth that’s mine.”The refrain is obviously about self-empowerment: “Something inside so strong I know that I can make it, tho you’re doing me wrong; You thought that my pride was gone, something inside so strong.”Exactly who is the “you” in the song, I asked Ms. Reynoso. She explained that the song was written more than 20 years ago by a South African to protest apartheid and that we should all agree that apartheid was something to protest. But, I told her, this is not South Africa. This is Lower Manhattan. The Go Project is funded in part by the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity led by wealthy hedge fund managers.“The children love the song,” she said. “It has been part of the Harambee tradition for years and is being sung by children in Washington Heights.” Ms. Reynoso confirmed that it was she who decided to include this song in the program; that it is a song to show children that they can achieve despite circumstances.On the website www.goprojectnyc.org, there is a video of students testifying how much the program has helped them already, so how will this song, which Ms. Reynoso does admit has political overtones, improve the program, I wondered.Why was Mr. Bullock fired, I asked? Ms. Reynoso said that she had great respect for Robert but that she needed workers to be totally committed to the program and he was not.Having grown up under worse circumstances than these students, it’s my opinion that lessons and tutoring produce better results than anachronistic songs from foreign lands. How about singing songs about how great it is to live in this country? That would be an original concept in the public schools.acolon@nysun.com

‘You Squander Wealth That’s Mine’

‘You Squander Wealth That’s Mine’

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