Throughout my time as an educator, I’ve been pulled into my share of “special taskforces” meant to address “at-risk” students – namely Black students. I have no doubt that such groups can be found in schools across...
Tag - police brutality
In the 1930s, the incomparable Billie Holiday sang about the horror of Black lynchings—the strange fruit hanging from Southern trees, the blood on the leaves that flows from the savage anti-Blackness at the root. Nearly a...
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...
June 08, 2020 Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, I, like many black children, was raised by my single mother. Our fathers weren’t there for us; some by choice, and others in prison or dead. Since childhood, I have...
When speaking out directly against injustice, our white counterparts are perceived as brave, while Black leaders see our anger weaponized. Like most of us, my inbox has been flooded for weeks with pointed statements from...
Four weeks ago, a Black man was lynched. In 2020. I remind myself of that fact each day so that I do not forget what we saw, what happened—that we witnessed a man take his last breath. In the days following, we watched...
Last week, I watched American cities burn: Minneapolis, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Philadelphia. And while the murder of George Floyd was the catalyst, Amy Cooper played a role. It’s easy to...
Courage, commitment, and foresight are consistently needed when you work in schools, districts, and organizations that claim to be doing the work of anti-racism. There are too many organizations and school/district leaders today...
In recent months, notable people within school reform circles have locked horns over a trifling question: Does the inclusion of social justice activists, people derided as “warriors,” in education reform threaten the...
While The Hate U Give is a best-selling book and top-rated film, I’m getting some real pushback from my administration about having my students read the book and see the film in my English Language Arts class, despite its...