A very successful educator sent me a text not long ago that said that all of the deans in a particular school are Black males. It raised an interesting and perennial question: Why are so many deans Black men? Is managing school...
Archive - September 2017
As a principal, father, and community member, I know from experience that our youth continue to need support and advocacy once they go on to pursue their post-secondary goals. As excited as our community is to collaborate with...
This is a guest post from Mr. David Hardy. It originally appeared on the Philly.Com and was reproduced here with his permission. Mr. Hardy is one of my heroes. He is the co-founder and retired CEO of Boys Latin Charter School...
I write for my life Louis Armstrong wrote “my only sin is my skin.” My only sin is my pen. I wrote for my soul and for us all. -Dr. Sonia Sanchez We are only recently emerging from an age where schools cut the arts and...
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” —Steve Biko Few things are more important than the fertile minds of our children. On the commemoration of the martyrdom of Steve Biko...
I’m grateful that my friend and colleague, Erika Sanzi, wrote about our work at The Fellowship-Black Male Educators for Social Justice. She brings up a great point about our goals. We are obviously committed to Black...
Tom Rademacher, an English teacher in Minneapolis, wrote a piece that reminded me of questions I have asked about the lack of teacher diversity and the stark imbalance of different voices in our schools. There is much to be said...
These experiences have given me reason to think more about what it means to be culturally responsive, not just as an educator but also as a human being. The first time I thought deeply about race was probably in high school. I...
Last week I attended a rally to call for the city to tear down the statue of Philly’s former white supremacist police chief and mayor, Frank Rizzo. The statue is a worthy target. Rizzo was an avowed and violent white...
Last week we had one of three family orientations to launch the 2017-18 school year. One of the messages I shared with families was that their community school has almost one million dollars less today than it had 10 years ago to...