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Author - Rann Miller

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Teachers, Stop Spanking Your Students!

October 8, 2020
by Rann Miller
7 min read
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Black Lives Matter, but Black Bodies Get Beaten I attended a Catholic pre-school; the teachers and the director were nuns. It was the 1980s, meaning that certain attitudes were very much normalized, like corporal punishment...

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Teachers, Regardless of What Your President Says, Don’t Whitewash History

October 4, 2020
by Rann Miller
5 min read
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When I was first assigned to teach U.S. history nearly a decade ago during my second year as a social studies teacher, my first stop was to a Black-owned bookstore around the corner from where I taught. A month before the school...

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Cops In Schools Are Dangerous to Black Children

October 3, 2020
by Rann Miller
6 min read
1 Comment

Earlier this year, Dr. Tamar Klaiman, member of the Abington Board of School Directors, came under fire for saying the following: We know that the Black and Brown students are much more likely to be shot by the officer...

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When Blackface is Worn in Schools

September 29, 2020
by Rann Miller
7 min read
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I know a few Black male teachers, however I know more Black male principals and vice principals. It’s not that more Black educators choose to be administrators over teachers per se. Rather it’s because Black male teachers are...

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Dear Students, Now That The 2020 School Year Kicked Off, Please Help Us Find Our Way

September 28, 2020
by Rann Miller
6 min read
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To the Tremendous Energy at the Start of an Unprecedented School Year Growing up, I attended a small Catholic grade school in East Camden. We were a small community, but a community nonetheless. At the start of every school...

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Black Parents: Vanguards of Black Student Advocacy

September 22, 2020
by Rann Miller
6 min read
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Contrary to the stereotypes, education continues to be a value of the highest priority in the Black community; dating back to the underground schools in the Antebellum South where Black people, at the risk of losing limbs and...

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“Unintended” Messaging About Black (Male) Teachers

September 21, 2020
by Rann Miller
6 min read
1 Comment

Teachers who establish meaningful relationships with their students should be celebrated and modeled after. However, social media has a way of turning any narrative on its head; making teachers overnight sensations for sharing...

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Principals, I Am Not Your Magical Negro

September 16, 2020
by Rann Miller
7 min read
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For many schools, having a Black man in their buildings often means having a disciplinarian in their school to supervise Black students, particularly Black male students. Sometimes, schools specifically hire Black men to dole out...

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A Love Letter to Black Parents in American Schools

September 14, 2020
by Rann Miller
7 min read
1 Comment

Shortly after I proposed to my wife, our parents threw us an engagement party. There were a few standout moments from that day; my wife in her beautiful yellow sundress, it was the hottest day of the year, and a conversation my...

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An Open Letter to White Teachers of Black Children

September 11, 2020
by Rann Miller
7 min read
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… If America is going to become a nation, she must find a way—and this [Black] child must help her to find a way—to use the tremendous potential and tremendous energy which this child represents. If this country does not...

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