Jonathan Joseph, the 30 year old tenured Social Studies stud teacher at White Plains High School, is one of the reasons why Barack Obama will be sworn in as our next President this Tuesday.  As an early Obama supporter with major political interests (he watches Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s shows religiously), Joseph spent much of his weekend and vacation time off from teaching in 2008 volunteering with the campaign.  From traveling to nearby swing states to making cold calls, even going door to door at times, the man with two first names did whatever it took to get his candidate elected.  And it worked.  My good buddy Double J took the time to talk with Westcheddar about his efforts on both the campaign trail and in the classroom…

ip:  For those out there that don’t know you, what classes do you teach at White Plains High School?  Which one is your favorite?

jj: I’ve been at the high school for 7 years now and have taught a variety of different stuff including U.S. History, Economics, and Law.  From a content perspective, I like Economics the most – you can basically turn anything into an economic problem.  The discussions are the most real and seniors are the most fun to teach.  But U.S. History is probably my favorite simply because it’s a full year and you develop cool relationships with kids over that time.   

ip:  Were your students interested in the election?  Did they talk about it a lot with you?  Did you use class time to talk to them about it? 

jj:  They were aware of it and some were more interested than others.  I saw some kids show up at the call center in Rye before the election.  Obviously the feeling in the building was very pro-Obama (he won the school vote 1300-250 or so), but I’m not sure how well they know the issues so I try to focus on that angle.   

I definitely use class time to discuss it, I mean, what better time to be teaching this stuff.  It’s nice when something that’s usually dry like the Electoral College can be engaging.  Also, if they’re interested in politics and government because of him, it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.  It’s cool how it all works out too.  On Friday, I was teaching about the post-Civil War South, about sharecropping and black codes and Jim Crow.  On Tuesday, an African-American will take the Oath of Office.    

ip:  You spent the last three weekends campaigning in Pennsylvania before the election, a neighboring swing state.  What did your work there consist of?  Were you affiliated with a larger group Obama supporters? 

jj:  I started spending time in Pennsylvania last winter in preparation for the Democratic primary in April.  Initially, I just found an address in Northwest Philly and took the Chinatown bus down there to see how I could help.  As a teacher you get a good amount of time off, so I spent a good part of my February and April breaks there.  When the general election rolled around, I found out my cousin was organizing trips out of Brooklyn, so I would hop on random vans and go down on weekends to work.  I also made calls from my house and helped train others at local call centers in Westchester.

This is gonna get a little bit into the nuts and bolts of it all, but the way it was organized was incredible.  Basically, they had print-outs of registered voters with a ton of info.  Everything from the person’s address to party affiliation to the number of people who lived in the house, along with their family members names, ages, party affiliation etc.  Our job was to find out how they felt about Obama and compile a database that could be used to create separate strategy for each individual on the list.  Some people needed to be persuaded, others just needed voting information.  On election day, the ground teams in Philly were working with call teams in New York to get to every Obama voter in a swing state.  Only those people who were Obama supporters were contacted and brought to the polls. As the day went on, the lists were refined to reflect who had already voted.  Those who hadn’t got another phone call or door knock.  If you were a McCain supporter or on the fence, we knew it and would just skip your house.   

The hardest part was that we were in the most run-down, poor areas of Philly.  I’m a big believer that politics can and does make a difference, but it was difficult to figure out how to explain that to families who had basically been forgotten by every politician who had ever knocked on their door.  For as much as it felt like I was doing something valuable and worthwhile, it also felt like a bunch of white, anti-war, pro-environment, children of hippy liberals running through a neighborhood that we didn’t belong in and preaching at people whose struggle we didn’t necessarily understand and couldn’t relate to.  It’s complicated, I guess. 

ip:  What was it about Barack Obama that initially caught your attention?  Can you remember back to when you first heard of him? 

jj:  I’m a political nerd so I was up on Obama early in 2004.  The guy he ran against had to withdraw because of scandal and so his seat was one that could be picked up by the Democrats, a rare thing back then.  When he gave the keynote at the Democratic Convention, I remember knowing that he was a great speaker and that I didn’t want to miss it.  The thing I like most about him is that he honestly doesn’t believe that those who disagree with him are bad people.  I think he looks for that which we have in common, and I think he will step away from the politics of judgment.  The coolest thing I’ve heard him say since he got elected was that he wanted to bring the two halves of Washington D.C. together, because currently, once you step away from all the white marble, you find a lot of those forgotten neighborhoods like the ones I canvassed in Philly.  It’s an issue where there are no political points to be scored, so for him to even mention that… it gives me hope that we have someone genuine in the White House.   

ip:  Have you read his books?  Which one would you recommend to your students? 

jj:  He’s a great writer.  Dreams of My Father is the better book.  It’s more about him and less about policy positions and politics.  You realize that he came from the same place the rest of us did, and that he fought the same battles with himself that we all do.  

ip: Just curious, this is a little off topic, but who is the most “off the hook” student you ever had in a class at WPHS?  Is there one that sticks out as being really funny or having a crazy personality or being a total class clown? 

jj: First of all, all kids are off the hook. The shit they say is hilarious… and I spend a huge amount of time everyday laughing.  It’s one of the biggest benefits of the job.  But since we’re on the Obama social activism train, I’ll shout out a kid named Arturo Bravo.  As a senior in 2005, he organized a walk out in support of immigrants.  When word got to the administration, they called him into an office with the police chief and the principal and every other big willy they could find.  They tried to pressure him into calling the whole thing off, hitting him with everything from personal consequences to issues of student safety.  He looked them dead in the eye and said, “I understand, but this is something I have to do.”  In the end, 1000 kids walked out and held a rally at the fountain downtown.  The police were cool about it too.  The commish was so impressed by Arturo that he made sure that all the cops who covered the rally were in their dress whites.  I think he’s studying to be a lawyer now.       

ip:  Yeah, I remember that.  I know Arturo too, he’s a cool kid.  From a teacher’s perspective, what do you see as the main issues that are affecting young people in this country that Obama needs to address immediately? 

jj:  I hope he can help make schools into places where creativity and innovation are welcome and rewarded.  We’re all caught up in this test score or that test score or how many AP kids we have.  The tests don’t require critical thinking, and they make schools into these rigid, inflexible places where success is based on understanding and working the system.  It’s nonsense.  Ideally, we’d have a society where the most talented people said, “I want to be a teacher.”  We need to make schools into places where those people would want to work, and where their talents wouldn’t be wasted.  So any step in that direction would be nice.  And is it too much to ask that college be affordable?  

ip:  Do you see kids at school wearing Obama t-shirts?  It seems to be a new fashion trend. 

jj:  There are some around but nothing too crazy, I’m sure it will pick up even more after he takes office.  More of them seem to be hoping Ed Hardy gets elected in 2012.  

ip:  Ha!  You’re a well known sneakerhead at WPHS.  What’s the sickest pair you own?  And if you had to design an Obama sneaker for Nike, what would the design and colors look like? 

jj:  My favorites right now are these green denim Dunks.  The De La Soul’s are sick though too.  And I’m the only cat in the world with a pair of Air Force Ips.  I actually went to the website to design Obama Dunks, but it wouldn’t let me cut and paste the picture.  Obviously red, white and blue, but the way I had the colors was kinda sick.  Throw the Obama logo on the back outside heel and we’re good to go… Air Force Hopes.

ip:  I found a pair of Obamas that someone made online.  Check them out.  Finally, how did you celebrate Obama’s win?  Keep it real, did you cry when you found out?  It’s okay, lots of people did.   

jj:  Cats came over early, but when they called it for Obama I was sitting on my couch with my friend Kate.  And hell yeah I cried.  Most of the next day too.  It was an incredible day to be a teacher.  And I’ll probably be crying again when I’m standing on the Mall in Washington on Tuesday when he takes office.  I worked hard for this, and wanted it badly.  It’s that line from Shawshank, in the letter at the end from Andy… “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies…”  Holler.

Mr. Joseph’s Top 5 Obama Campaign Moments

1. National Anthem- Election Night on St. Marks in NYC

 

2. Manassas, Va

3. Responding to Hillary’s negative attacks in the debate the night before.

4. The South Carolina Victory Speech.  Probably my favorite of the campaign.

5. Super Tuesday Speech from Chicago – “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

Thanks to JJ for the exclusive interview.  And to all the ladies out there who want to holler at him down in D.C. after the inauguration, well, you may have to wait in line…

P.S.  I just realized this is my 100th Westcheddar post.  Nice.  Thanks to all my readers for their continued support.  Stay tuned for more fresh updates in 2009.   Peace.