As I mark my first quarter century of working in schools, I can’t help but reflect back. Sure, I think about my recent wins and misses as a principal, and how our staff and students fared in 2016-17. But to be honest, what I...
Tag - Accountability
“Education among all kinds of men, always had, and always will have, an element of… revolution…” —W.E.B DuBois “The most revolutionary thing a Black man can do is to build a strong, cohesive family unit.”—Malcolm...
This year at my school we’ve been proud to host two teacher residents. They are both Black and have worked under the guidance of master teachers, co-planning and observing expertly designed lessons, and then practicing them...
“As a teacher, as a parent and as a citizen, it’s distressing to see the department [of education] walking away from its core responsibility of advancing equity.” Former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. John B. King...
Dear Mama, I hope all is well. I wanted to send you a note of thanks. As a child, I always appreciated and benefited from your tremendous and incessant love, support, and advocacy, even though (like many youth), I didn’t always...
I recently had the opportunity to meet with the new U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, and her senior advisers. It was an invitation I wasn’t sure if I would initially accept. However, I am glad I did. Although, several...
Most of my educational experiences as a child were in an all-Black spaces and all of my experiences as an educator have been in schools that serve Black communities. And, although I can’t say I am an expert on everything about...
“Our people have made the mistake of confusing the methods with the objectives. As long as we agree on objectives, we should never fall out with each other just because we believe in different methods, or tactics, or...
“After 30 years of doing such work, I have concluded that classroom teaching…is perhaps the most complex, most challenging, and most demanding, subtle, nuanced, and frightening activity that our species has ever invented. The...
One of the single most infuriating liberties in which white privilege manifests itself is attempting to define other people’s heroes. The 2nd principle of Kwanzaa calls on us to apply Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) to our...