Recent Articles

The following links are to articles about race and poverty--please, feel free to read and react to them...

Florida apologizes for legacy of slavery:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/us/27florida.html

Education, Poverty, and Enlistment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/opinion/09webb.html?ref=opinion

Remember you need to compose two posts for Monday's class. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will leave you with the following thought from Paulo Coelho:
"All things are one. When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. The extraordinary is always found in the way of the common people."

What do you want? And in the words of one of my hero's John Wooden, "you make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give." What will you give and how much are you willing to give?

Deconstructing Fences

How can you deconstruct the 'fences' that have been placed around you?

In order to deconstruct the fences, do you first need to recognize that there are fences around you and then articulate why they are there?

Think. Digest. React.

"If You're Black, Stay Back"

Harrington writes, "A white welfare worker tells of the children when the first begin school. They show off their books; they are interested and friendly. But then, in a few years, they learn. Their schools are crowded; the instruction is inferior, and the neighborhood is omnipresent and more powerful than the classroom."

In your lives, which is a more powerful force: the classroom or the 'street?' How do they teach you two different things and who determines where you should learn?

Week One--Post One

How does Geoffrey Canada learn about violence, and how does violence evolve in his life? But more importantly, is that violence born out of anger, hatred, or necessity? How has his environment shaped his outlook?

Please talk amongst yourselves.