Ever since discovering playground kickball in the second grade, I have loved sports. In high school I ran track (a mediocre 400 meters), played football (a decent linebacker), basketball (a good corner jump shot), and baseball (always a little afraid of line drives). I loved the competition, the practice—loved improving my competence, loved team camaraderie. I enjoyed […]
“… as a teenager, I kept thinking, Why don’t the adults around here just say something? Say it so that they know we don’t accept segregation? I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can’t sugarcoat it. You have to take […]
Looking back on 2025, AWTT Education Director Connie Carter calls on all of us to find the inspiration we need to meet the challenges of 2026.
I’ve written before about the fierce negativity of the MAGA community toward Wokeness, i.e., their contention that teaching or professing the true history of racism in the United States is a terrible thing to do because it heaps shame and guilt on white children for racial sins of the past, sins they are not responsible for and […]
Many adults—teachers, parents—are overwhelmed, angry, and fearful with what is happening in the world. The wars, the environment, the political rancor, the outright cruelty being modeled by people in positions of power, the corruption and celebration of greed, the dishonesty. Anger and fear are appropriate responses. The checks and balances of our institutions have failed, […]
When I was a kid, I loved cowboy movies. In a frequent motif, the handsome sheriff, wounded in a duel with a nasty desperado, whom he had killed, limped into the town’s saloon and wincingly asked the tipsy doctor, “How bad is it, Doc?” A pretty woman of sketchy repute, who worked in the saloon […]
We like balance, fairness in everything we do. A square deal. Our financial lives are based on the notion of equivalency—getting what we pay for. Equivalence is used as the basis for settling a score—He did it first! It’s the central tenet of physics—for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Ethical equivalencies, […]
Author’s note: I wrote this piece when I was painting John Brown’s portrait back in 2012. It was my attempt to sort out the complex aspects of his character and clarify my attraction to legacy, my admiration for his fierce courage and commitment despite his darker reputation. Once the portrait was completed, I set these […]
The justification for erasing America’s historic injustices, claiming that knowing them causes kids to feel guilt or shame, is a high priority for our current right wing government. Trump and his ilk make this sound like a noble cause—protecting kids from carrying the factual and emotional burdens of history. Think how much more uncomplicated and […]
“. . . an act of cruelty . . . was the ancient irresistible rejoicing of power over weakness.” – Tony Hoagland “You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test […]