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...
Tag - police brutality
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...
You must never get discouraged in struggle, you will build something and the enemy will knock it down, and you will have to start from zero… -Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) I had the honor of starting my teaching career...
It has been great to see the activism of students be expanded. While student activism didn’t begin with the Parkland youth, I am still glad to see them join the ranks of students of color who have been on the front lines for as...
“History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history. If we pretend otherwise, we literally are criminals.” -James Baldwin The Eagles have celebrated their first national...
Everyone has a “why.” It informs their motivations, their purpose, their drive and commitments. When you work on behalf of children and in service of communities, your “why” is crucial. As in why did you...
I didn’t always think about writing about my experiences. I wasn’t reluctant to share them either. But, I was mostly content to share what I saw, heard, learned, and thought about our schools in one-on-one and small group...
“Dad!! Help!!” I paused from talking to my 6-year-old son to focus where my older son’s frantic voice was coming from. He had just been three- or four-feet away from me, and now two strangers had him gripped...
All year our eighth-grade students have been grappling with social justice issues and how to address them. They’ve closely analyzed past movements in America and South Africa—especially those involving direct action of...
Mark Twain once quipped that schools should not get in the way of educating our youth. When schools and/or districts choose to ignore massive forms of oppression because it is not convenient or comfortable to discuss, another...