The Curiously Brief Life of Integrated America At its core, integration was a social policy designed to end the brutal racial caste system that locked Black people into the bottom rungs of American society. The policy was codified into law 53 years ago (yes, integration is that young) in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That law banned race and other forms of discrimination in … [Read more...]
4 Lessons Shea Moisture’s Fail Can Teach Black Businesses Owners
Shea Moisture is a Black owned hair care company in the middle of a racial identity branding crisis. It’s a racial identity branding crisis of such epic proportions that Rachel Dolezal is breathing a sigh of relief (and possibly seeking new employment?). When Black business owners build their foundation on a Black clientele, it's likely that they will one day ask: should … [Read more...]
Why Integrated Schools Don’t Solve Black Student Problems
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I wasn't surprised to read New York Daily News reporter Shaun King’s heartbreaking article about Jaylon Sewell. Jaylon is a Black student who “wasn't allowed to attend class with dyed hair — ‘when white students with dyed hair were allowed to attend class.’” Nor was I surprised to read that: “Jaylon and more than 20 other black students at Neville High School have … [Read more...]
Teaching Nat Turner
Birth of a Nation: Imagining Black Resistance I’m taking my students to see Birth of a Nation and I’m excited to use this film as a tool in my curriculum. At a time when #BlackLivesMatter has become a unifying rallying cry, I’m eager to use the film to show an example of Black resistance, something most of our students rarely, if ever, get to see. And our inability to see … [Read more...]
Why Racial Profiling is Here to Stay
When we see an example of police brutality in action, racially disparate policing becomes part of the conversation. Though we know racism plays a huge role, rarely do we make the necessary connections between the racist ways that policing in America began and how Black/Brown communities are policed today. That is repeatedly proving to be a fatal mistake. The History of … [Read more...]