This essay was created from ideas in two of my previous essays, here and here. It also appeared in the local Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. One month ago, I had no idea what was about to happen. I was spending time with my family, going to work, exercising, playing in a band. I was…
COVID-19 diary
Tuesday, February 25th -- One month ago I got up as usual and went for a three-mile run. After breakfast and my usual preparation at home, I traveled to two of the schools where I coach on the west and north sides of Chicago. I had meetings with a principal, a teacher, and a teacher…
Global crises can only be met by collective spirit
Taking in the news, we are bombarded by the coronavirus, and our nation seems in the grip of an uncontrollable fear. Out in the streets, in schools, in restaurants, in stores, the nation seems to move on as it always does. Where is the truth -- are we in the midst of a crisis or…
Following our young people of color
This morning, I helped host a workshop at a high school that I support in the Chicago Public Schools. At this workshop, the students shared how they had advocated for and formed two new student organizations at this school, a black student union and a gay-straight alliance. The students shared how they saw the need…
Presidential politics and the detour of labels
My mom tells a story -- I don't remember it -- that she was driving somewhere with me during the election campaign of 1980 between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. I was 4 years old. She stopped at a light and a woman approached the car. The woman leaned down to my mom's open window…
De-tracking at OPRF promotes racial justice
This essay also appeared in the local Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. American schools have been struggling for decades -- and should have been struggling since their inception -- to properly educate Black and Latinx students. Oak Park and River Forest High School, like many suburban high schools with sizable Black and Latinx populations, has…
Our nation is sick. Is impeachment the remedy?
The wealthy white men who originated the institutions that make up this country -- from those who stepped off the boat at Jamestown to those who led the American Revolution and wrote the Constitution -- created the system of white supremacy. This white supremacy gave them free labor (free to them, although at great cost…
Racial development: a proposal for white people
As school begins for the fall, we must connect our schools and teaching to the real lived experiences of students. This means that we must make race a topic of conversation and study. Some schools have begun to take this leap when they are facing students of color, but too many do not do so…
