Nobody Likes a Teachers Strike. Here’s How We Can Work to Avoid Them.

Nobody likes a teachers strike. I know. I have lived through a number of them. And I’m doing it again this week. My life and…

Forget the School-to-Prison Pipeline, For White Boys It’s the School-to-Politics Pipeline

Tonight, President Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. Like many other U.S. citizens, I see our current president as deeply flawed,…

We Cannot Go Another Month Without Teachers Knowing Black History

In just the past several weeks, school systems across the United States have, at last, taken the steps to elevate critical lessons from African-American history…

A Psychology Professor Explains How Racial Trauma Impacts Students of Color

Dr. Maryam Jernigan-Noesi has been thinking about and studying children’s mental health since she was a child herself. I recently talked to her about the…

Forget Implicit Bias, Let’s Talk about Explicit Bias in Education

Last month I kicked off a training on ways to use language as an asset to unleash the critical thinking potential of English learners with…

If You’re Still Wondering Why We Have to Teach Social Justice, Here’s Your Answer

If you’re not already aware, right before the new year a Black man was arrested at a Huntington Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, for cashing his…

If You Think Excellence Can’t Exist in All-Black Schools, You’re Tripping

As a child, youth, and adult, I have had the absolute pleasure of being surrounded by Mamas and Babas who upheld Black liberation in thought…

Betsy DeVos, The Grinch That Stole Civil Rights

Outrage: The White House Doesn’t Care About Black Kids I wanted to go into my vacation and the holidays on a high note. But, leave…

Excellence Is Not a ‘White Thing’

“Mom, the kids at school said I act White,” my daughter told me one afternoon a few weeks ago. I asked her why. “Because I…

If We Really Want to Change Our Schools, We Need to Get Real About What’s Happening in Them

Thirteen years after Hurricane Katrina and the reunification of all schools under the governing of Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), we are still having conversations…