What Did You Just Say?!?

Are we really "cowards"?

Is it truly that "everyone" is cowardly?

Is it fatigue...

Is it frustration...

Is it disgust...

Is it confusion...

Is it denial...

Is it anger...

Is it shame...

Well, it's 2009 and it seems in many ways we aren't much further along, in terms of having difference making discussions than we were in 1969...

Please notice, i didn't say we weren't further along in terms of legal rights or equal access, much of that has been addressed (rightly so) through state and federal legislatures and our court system...

But there is something still "missing".....

But then again, maybe the attorney general has a point....

What do you think?

American difference makers....

The month of February is Black History month. i seriously doubt that Carter G. Woodson (the man who is responsible for launching the initiative) would have ever thought the day would come when the occupant of the White House would be a black man!
A few weeks ago i had the opportunity to speak at a community celebration about a dream that one of the most prominent leaders in the Black community had for our nation many years ago... Dr. Martin Luther King often spoke of the "beloved community"... let me encourage you to take some time today as you read this blog (that is assuming you are still reading), search that term on the Internet.... beloved community.
Right now, i am in Indianapolis and the African-American community here has a rich and vibrant history as well. Madame C.J. Walker is noted by many to be the first female African-American millionaire and her story is very, very cool!
While the trophy was given to the most outstanding college football player every year beginning in 1935, there was one group of athletes who up until 1961 were excluded from Heisman consideration. Ernie "The Express" Davis led Syracuse University to their only national championship and became the first African-American to win the Heisman in 1961.
There are so many others who have contributed not just to Black History but American history can i encourage you to take some time, go to your local library, check out the Internet... wrap your heart and mind around the contributions that so many African-Americans have made and continue to make to our nation!

A Long And Winding Road....

Can i tell you a pretty cool story?

My son Josiah, who is about to graduate from his last year of high school, has been taught at home by his Mom every since he was about three years old... we have never been interested in making statements about the state of the public school system in our country or anything like that. My mother was a public school teacher in New York City for well over twenty years! i loved the schools that i attended growing up and as a matter of fact, i have friends to this day that i attended school with!

We actually started teaching Josiah at home because Ruthie had originally intended to become a public school teacher... She's a very talented and creative writer and for several years she regularly contributed curriculum to several large children's curriculum publishers. So for her, teaching our children at home was, in many ways, the fulfillment of a dream.

Several years into teaching first Josiah, then our next oldest son Jonah, our daughter Hannah and now Levi, we observed that Josiah was having some difficulty reading. After some assessments we were able to do on our own, we determined that Josiah seemed to have slight dyslexia... Dyslexia is a learning disability that causes the brain to process information differently and often manifest itself in that individuals may have difficulty with written language in particular with reading and writing... and as you can imagine it can be extremely frustrating to both the student and his teachers.... now magnify that by about a bizillion times in a homeschooling setting!

Josiah and his mom however persevered and even to this day continue to do the hard work of not allowing this disability to keep either one of them in check! Now add to this the fact that a foregone conclusion is that one day when you're done with high school the obvious "next step" would be college... for Josiah (and maybe even his mom) knots in the stomach accompanied that thought! The key would be taking the ACT test... Josiah studied extra hard... even though he had taken other standardized test in school this one was different... he took the test, half believing that double digits would be a miracle...

Fast forward to the past two weeks... Josiah received his test score from the ACT which when submitted to the college he wanted to attend.... along with his current academic record and other funds made available... qualified him to receive scholarship funds which will underwrite his college tuition by at least 50% for the next four years!
i'd say between Josiah and his Mom they should both be very, very proud!
i am... of both of them.