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...
Tag - activism
As a child, I remember studying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. only from one perspective — the man who had a dream. Without a deep understanding of Dr. King, I lacked the ability to apply some of his profound principles to my...
Time and time again, I’ve heard educators say that the lack of parental engagement in their schools is what is holding them back. But, when I listen to families, in Philly or Chicago or any other urban city, I hear about the...
While most traditional schools have always grounded their work in the 3 Rs (Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic), other schools have determined that the actual work includes the 3 As. After the NCLB law was ushered in, to sidestep...
Mansur Buffins served as a summer intern at The Education Trust. Over the summer, he wrote for their blog page. Mansur reminds me of members of The Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice and Philly youth like...
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...
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...
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...
Gerald Dessus, a former literature/composition teacher, like many other teachers, is teaching a course that we believe all eighth-graders in Philly should engage in. Below is teacher leader Mr. Dessus’ response to our need to...