Our Collective Blackness No Longer Has Value to You Once We Cross Your Party Line

After a month of not writing, I took to Twitter to share some thoughts about the nasty fallout from the protest of a large group of Black…

How to Throw a Big Ass House Party and Change the Game for Our Kids

Got you with the title, didn’t I? LOL! But since I have you here, let me tell you how to throw a big ass house…

Thank God for Parents Who Refuse to Be Gaslighted by the Failing Education System

Last week I attended a community town hall in Nashville organized by my friend Vesia Hawkins, a relentless and faithful community servant who brought together…

I #LoveTeaching Because I Never Stop Learning

#LoveTeaching Week is a grassroots campaign started by teachers in 2015 as an opportunity to celebrate teaching, leading, and learning in a way that unites…

Before a Child Can Learn They Need to Feel Safe and Cared For

The life of a high-powered literary agent in New York City seems about the farthest thing from my life as a teacher serving largely low-income…

Episode 19: Football and Literacy (feat. Vesia Wilson-Hawkins)

In this episode, we sit down with our colleague Vesia Wilson-Hawkins to discuss what it would be like if parents got as fired up about…

How to Save Charter Schools From the Beatdown

There seems to be an organized assault on charter schools. Legal challenges, bureaucratic barriers and smear campaigns all work to destroy their reputation, deplete their…

If You’re Not Going to Teach Our Kids to Read, Then We’re Taking Your Ass to Court

Outrage: Kids Can’t Read, America It took the kid about 5 minutes to read one sentence. He struggled to pronounce the easiest words. I was…

How You Can Advocate for Your Grandchild at School

I was a product of the early civil rights era. My entire first 12 years of formal education were spent in the segregated public school…

Teaching Is Not Like Those Cute Teacher Movies, It Takes Wisdom and Grit

Can I really do this for 30 years? Why isn’t loving them enough? It always worked at camp. My lessons are awesome, so why don’t…