In this post, I am going to demonstrate honesty, and share all of the e-mail writing that has been a part of this action, beginning with this quote from Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1950) writes of heroism:
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"Heroism works in contradiction to the voice of mankind and in contradiction, for a time, to the voice of the great and good. Heroism is an obedience to a secret impulse of an individual's character. Now to no other man can its wisdom appear as it does to him, for every man must be supposed to see a little farther on his own proper path than any one else. Therefore just as wise men take umberage at his act, until after some little time be past; then they see it to be in unison with their acts. All prudent men see that the action is clean contrary to a sensual prosperity; for every heroic act measures itself by its contempt of some external good. But it finds its own success at last, and then the prudent also extol." (p. 253). |
In the context of social change, heroism is leadership that at first appears heretical to those who embrace the status quo. Heroism is often at first attacked and criticized as objectionable in the context of history, until society finds a way to express it's needs through the acts which are initially prosocial in nature. Social change is directly a process of demonstrating a need which society has, communicating the shared values and messages that exist in a salient way, and then allowing society to take up the charge of creating contact between the expressed needs and the changes in social systems that will meet those needs.
Telling the truth in Jefferson County has been an act of heroism, and has been summarily attacked, because it changes the way in which the entrenched status quo is perceived and can perceive of themselves. Often social messages such as these are difficult to accept, especially by a county board that has until now remained underneath the radar and completely capable of placing blame and avoiding all culpability in the cause of our collective issues.
In May of 2014 I wrote the attached e-mail (below) to the Jefferson County school board, after which I became a target. I have now and in the year 2000 been targeted by Jefferson County and I have been victimized through bad police work, blame, and stigmatization. Jefferson County Deputies falsified a police report that had been based on an injury I had earned accidentally while falling into a rock ledge prior to meeting the deputies. I was finding my coping sense and I was trying to find a way to be as safe and vulnerable as I could because days prior I had been poisoned, attacked, violated, and accused of culpability in the hot pepper attack at Jefferson County Open School in Lakewood, CO.
Instead of offering me assistance, and because I have taken up this position with the school board, I have been harmed by the deputies who then filed charges after the victimization because they are seeking to escape accountability. I had not committed any crime of assault, and I allowed the deputies to abuse me much like the abuses I have experienced in my early life from other patriarchal abusers.
Telling the truth has brought me harm, and Jefferson County continues to place blame on others as though we can manipulate the situation. I have found that the shame attached to any accusation from the county indeed comes from it's own guilt. The county accused us of creating false information, but as you can see here and in the fabricated police reports, it was the county creating false information.
The local city has been forthright in it's investigations, honest, and transparent as a part of the process of finding those who would attack our schools. I thank them for being authentic and for helping me to find the people who would threaten the safety of the community that I love so much. I ask that the local municipal governments look out for the safety of our students in Jefferson County, because it has become apparent that Jefferson County itself has not been able to do so.
Telling the truth among the parties of a corrupt government is heroic, and I am glad to see Emerson's words reflect true, as other wise people begin to extol and to listen to the needs of our young people.
In the process of my adventure, and through the storms of stigma, I earned an exceptional degree as a testament to the understanding of mental health and social change. Pictured elsewhere in this blog you will find that I graduated Summa Cum Laude in the field of Psychology at Walden University. I earned this degree through intrinsically motivated learning, and a desire to achieve the foregoing understanding.
I should mention that I am writing a book about growing up in JeffCo, especially since I was born left-handed and am ambidextrous now. The website related to book updates is at www.dxed.org, and the book will contain more of the stories that are a part of this web log.
From: Corey H. <dyetan@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, May 19, 2014 at 7:27 PM
Subject: Jefferson County Schools
To: ldahlkem@jeffco.k12.co.us, jcfellma@jeffco.k12.co.us, jnewkirk@jeffco.k12.co.us, juwillia@jeffco.k12.co.us, kewitt@jeffco.k12.co.us, lgillis@jeffco.k12.co.us,manker@jeffco.k12.co.us, stbell@jeffco.k12.co.us, hrbeck@jeffco.k12.co.us, board@jeffco.k12.co.us, mkelly@coloradocommunitymedia.com, jaguilar@denverpost.com,ngarcia@chalkbeat.org, canderson@ coloradocommunitymedia.com, daniel@evergreenco.com, nelson.garcia@9news.com
All,In 1994 I dropped out of high school due to intense social expectations. I knew very well that there was a huge problem at the state level. I knew this because the lives of all of the people that I had cared about changed in those few days. Your district made a financial decision, to expel all of my friends. I have videos of all of these people from when they were teens, most of these people are either in prison, or fighting very dearly trying to earn a paycheck, some are in other systems.To make matters worse, I myself was placed in the school to prison pipeline that your district had created. I spent 20 years trying to earn my first bachelor's degree, after attending high school at Jefferson County Open School while in my early twenties. This is the only thing that the division of vocational rehabilitation had ever helped me improve.I was told that I was severely mentally ill. For a very long time I would cry to sleep at night, wondering why there was nobody helping me. I am an athlete, at that time I weighed over 260 pounds, and I currently have scars over much of my body due to medication side effects. I have other symptoms that will never heal, as the result of medication. I have been on I believe, every atypical antipsychotic drug that had been available prior to 2010. I was told that I would not ever be able to be in a position in any company, or earn my own paycheck for the rest of my life. Most of my friends also had believed what these mental health professionals and school teachers had said about me, and I have been assaulted many, many times. Sometimes, by people I had considered my dearest friends.While in the Fort Logan hospital, I was asked to give up all of my constitutional rights, including my right to bear arms and my right to respect my own religion. If I had described my religious beliefs, or if I had wanted to be a part of reporting any crime I would have been told that I was imagining things, and that I needed different medications.I would like your district to think very seriously about what high-stakes testing really means to our young people, give them the respect that they deserve, and listen very carefully to their needs. Accountability is not about finances, it is about understanding the best way to educate young human beings who deserve to be in the very best roles within society that they believe is possible and strive to achieve.I've kept very detailed records of my journey. I have since been declared healthy and fit, in every possible way. I had never had the disability that I was diagnosed with. I can work for the State of Colorado and help solve the problems in every major social system that I have been processed in.The following is a communication that I had shared with a number of education organizations, and attached are two pictures. One of myself in 1994, and one of myself in 2001 after being processed at Fort Logan.***I have thoroughly documented my early experiences from within the school-to-prison pipeline in the context of the Jefferson County Schools administration. I have a lot of old video footage, every document I had ever written, and some outstanding letters of reference from Jefferson County Open School that refer to integrity.
I'm here to help solve our problem based on my experience, and also the associated problems in the mental health, disability, and vocational rehabilitation systems. My original high school transcripts are posted here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= 0B32eEzpVnqebMFZMMTJYM3JXaUU& usp=sharing
Since 1994, it has been my mission to understand the harm caused by the pipeline, and social expectations that can lead to violence and other larger social problems. Here is some of my original research and other references that apply to the solutions for our collective social problems.http://such411.blogspot.com/
Somehow, I also kept track of every other assignment I wrote at every other university, including the state ones.
I have since been found to be healthy in all respects.
I'm going to stand up for the students today. You can join us.http://standupforallstudents.org/
The link to my 2000 JCOS Transcripts is here.
Photo 1.
Photo 2.
I later followed-up to this e-mail with the following information:
September 9, 2014
Emerson, R. W. (1950). Heroism. In Atkinson, B. (Ed.), The selected writings ofHello everyone.I promised a community update, and I am writing to deliver that update.I spoke with my friend Jonathon Stalls in a meeting in Denver. He gave me some great advice, he said, keep it simple stupid. I have previously been treated unfairly in many life domains at the same point in time in Jefferson County, these times are things for which there will be a fact-finding process to unearth the gritty details of my life at the time. While this seems awkward I am choosing to be vulnerable and to let all pending investigations yield what they may, I am proud to be a part of a community that fairly investigates and prosecutes crimes, and I would like to find a way for any residual judgmentalism to fade.When the deputies approached me in May, as cited in this e-mail thread, I had been naked for two hours. The reason I was naked was because I had been attacked and felt betrayed as a political figure at another time and place that made me feel unsafe in the world, and I had been walking for many hours trying to find a sense of safety and communion with the world, before disrobing in a field that was distant from any residence or public place. I had no intention of being found in public naked, but I was, and I avoided the deputies. At no time did I attack them, I had absorbed all of the incoming attacks and taser blasts without causing harm, while politely asking the deputies to stop the harm.It has become clear to me in other parts of the community that I had been accused of other things which would cause deputies to believe I were behaving criminally, and this may have influenced their judgment in a way that brought out some anger in their behavior. I am not a criminal and those judgements were unfair, but I understand these perceptions that might be happening as people acting to uphold the law serve in difficult times and places.However, the deputies moved forward and filed charges that were created from a police report that is a fictitious representation of events. I remember the events clearly and I did everything within my ability to avoid harm to the deputies and additional harm coming from the deputies who had initiated the assault with a collapsible baton. I forgive these people, they have difficult lives and difficult jobs and had made hurtful judgments without due process. What I cannot forgive is the misrepresentation of my actions through reports that are dishonest and fabrications that are only based on pre-existing injuries from the previous night.I was hurt from a fall, I believe I had been poisoned, I was exhausted walking with no food or water for more than eight hours overnight with no sleep. I had received injuries from the wildlife as well as the terrain. I needed medical attention and I was served injuries instead. While I can forgive the notion that I might have been perceived as culpable in other events in Jefferson County, I am calling on Sheriff's Deputies to be honorable and to tell the truth of these events that are not a part of the other investigations. In this way we can begin a process of justice and healing that can happen instead of creating further mistrust toward governance as it is happening within the larger community, and we can find success as a part of the other investigations that will serve to find those truly culpable in the other crimes.I have a lot of hope that justice can be served well, and that the public trust can be preserved through this crisis. In a related event I have successfully been heard through the petition at Walden University, and the retroactive withdrawal petition in the attached thread was decided in my favor as well. Let's keep the process of healing growing and allow the process of justice to be something that is empowering in the community and that maintains trust for law enforcement in our lives.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York, NY: Modern Library.
http://www.emersoncentral.com/heroism.htm
