Inspired by Roger & Me trailer and @FlintExpats's book Teardown, a 5th grader reflects on problems in #Flint. pic.twitter.com/TnMkUpDEvu
— CriticalClassrooms (@lapham_katie) June 6, 2014
Friday, June 6, 2014
A Fifth Grader's Take on Flint
Katie Lapham is teaching her fifth-grade class in New York about Flint. And the kids get the picture.
8 comments:
Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.
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Didn't the Rabbit Lady actually live in Burton, not Flint? And didn't she object to her portrayal in the movie? Isn't it amazing that statements in movies that are on shaky ground so often become so ingrained in our culture that even lies become perceived as the truth? The fairly accurate statistics waited until the end. Roger Smith, who was part of a new culture of GM executives that didn't come from Engineering and GMI, but from Accounting and UM, did decide that Flint had to be punished for its Past, and that History was no longer important. But the real History wasn't the Sit Down Strike, it was the History of GM. Corporations quickly made an end run around the Unions. But the result is a deindustrialized America, not just a deindustrialized Flint, that may well not be economically sustainable.
ReplyDeleteYes and yes. I believe it was Burton and she apparently did object...after the movie came out but not before. But I'd still argue that Roger and Me captured the reality of Flint. So she lived on the other side of Center Road. Not saying you're doing this, but I do find it odd how people attack some specific errors in the documentary rather than grappling with the larger theme, the main point of the entire thing, which you describe perfectly. Corporations didn't like unions because they shaved some their gargantuan profits ever so slightly. So they went elsewhere. We deindustrialized and got the service economy and now the tech economy, which means lots of low paying jobs, if you can land one. Great deal!
Deleteso you don't want to put up anything against Moore Huh?
ReplyDeleteI tend to edit out personal attacks against anybody. Especially by people who won't use their real name. It applies to everyone, not just MM.
DeleteI'm trying to piece together what was probably deleted. I am TRULY and greatly saddened by the recent events with Michael and Kathleen. I think they were made for each other. This is my "Open Letter" advice. RECONCILE. Take a page from the Clintons. Get an advance for a new Hollywood Movie. Keep the house on Torch Lake. It's beautiful and anyone would want it if they could afford it. You can with the advance. If you can't get along, you can live at opposite ends and never have to interact! I'm serious and not being judgmental.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. For the record, I don't mind judgmental or even unserious comments, but I do try to avoid very predictable right vs. left fights in the comment section. (Not that you did this, Atherton, I'm just elaborating on my earlier comment.) This gets frustrating at times because it means I try to avoid overt political material, which is obviously very difficult and at times means I avoid interesting stuff. My reasoning is that if you want to fight out political questions in a highly partisan way, there are a million other places online to do it. And if you want to personally attack someone, you can certainly find other places to do it.
DeleteBy providing a topic the includes the leftist Michael Moore, you have provided a topic of a political nature. For you to then judge other people as making personal attacks is embarrassing at best. If you don't understand Michael Moore is not adored by the people of Flint, then you have been gone to long. The information on the delivery bag used by the paperboys is a great example of what people want to see. I know you do a lot of great work on this site and appreciated by a lot of people, including myself. But please leave the political stuff out. Thanks you.
ReplyDeletePoint well taken. I broke my own rule on this one.
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