Last month, I wrote about the need for white folks who are looking for ways to address racial injustice in America to support black founders. I challenged funders and individuals to make big investments in the organizations and initiatives that black leaders create. After reading my article, a few funders asked me to talk in … Continue reading What funders should do to support black founders: Part 1
Tools for students and parents fighting against racism in their schools
This post is for those who are tired of asking for people to acknowledge 400 years of black pain in America. This post is for those who know that our education system works in tandem with our criminal justice system to devalue black lives. Our school leaders and policymakers shouldn't have needed to see George … Continue reading Tools for students and parents fighting against racism in their schools
You asked what white folks can do. Support black founders.
After the latest spate of black pain and protests interrupted the white gaze, there seems to be a great white awakening afoot. I'm not quite sure what was particularly poignant about this round of lynchings but folks are starting to connect the dots between 400 years of oppression and our present condition. And like Ibram … Continue reading You asked what white folks can do. Support black founders.
If you’re mad about riots you don’t really understand black pain
A few months ago, I watched the movie Just Mercy and, for yet another time in my life, I felt the strangest of feelings. A part of it was the feeling of sadness and deep pain as I watched innocent black men being snatched from their families and fast-tracked to death row without evidence. Another … Continue reading If you’re mad about riots you don’t really understand black pain
What we don’t talk about on Labor Day
While we're thanking unions for our present working conditions and rights on Labor Day let's also think about the savagely stolen labor that fueled prosperity, privilege, and position in America. Let's think about how slavery, peonage, sharecropping, and convict leasing gave some Americans wealth and advantage to pass down that is now passed off as … Continue reading What we don’t talk about on Labor Day
The Segregated, Stealthy Spaces of Education Policy
As sure as the campaign signs and billboards will soon be removed across our state, the image of diverse, broad-based support and engagement presented by vote-seeking politicians will be replaced with an all-too-familiar reality: folks are most comfortable doing the business of public policy in segregated, stealthy spaces hand-in-hand with special interest groups. In the … Continue reading The Segregated, Stealthy Spaces of Education Policy
How another police shooting reveals public education’s problems with race
As a father of a 16-month-old, I'm tired. But after enough “you don’t know what tired looks like” clapbacks and side-eye from my wife, I no longer say such silly things in front of her. The many times I am up at night with my daughter pales in comparison to the amount of sleep she … Continue reading How another police shooting reveals public education’s problems with race
Do #blackvoicesmatter in Delaware schools?
Another black history month came and went and far too many students I work with were told they don't matter. Every year, I ask my students in TeenSHARP how their schools celebrated and acknowledged Black History Month. If they're lucky their school displayed their trusty Dr. Martin Luther King poster, made a few black history … Continue reading Do #blackvoicesmatter in Delaware schools?
Urgency of Now 