A young man I have tutored for a few years recently got his GED. He left Baltimore City public schools in the fifth-grade. “Dropout” is not an appropriate description for a fifth-grader. Over a number of years he has spent time in juvenile detention, group homes, and the Baltimore City Detention Center. When I met […]
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Talking about race in the classroom
Monday, November 26, 2012We lack a basic racial literacy in this country that would give us each a knowledge base to have intelligent and productive conversations with each other about race. We are not practiced in learning from one another across racial lines, or asking each other intelligent and well-informed questions about each others’ race-related experiences.
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Designer Prisons
Tuesday, November 20, 2012Prison design and architecture has been closely entwined with public debates over prison policy and the meaning of justice in a democracy since the earliest days of the Republic.
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Racial differences in Maryland’s justice system raise civil rights concerns
Monday, November 19, 2012This summer, the United States dominated the Summer Olympics by receiving more medals than any other country in the world. Sadly, the U.S. also leads the world in the number of people it incarcerates—about 2.3 million. And, most people in this country’s prisons and jails are disproportionately African American or Latino.
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Maryland DREAMERS give me hope
Monday, November 12, 2012“So happy all my friends get to go to college!” This is what my daughter, a sophomore at Trinity College, texted me when it became clear, late on election night, that 58 percent of voters had approved the Maryland DREAM Act, which will help thousands of undocumented students access higher education in the state over the next several years. A rush of tears came to my eyes, surprising me. It was a mixture of parental pride, patriotism, and hope.
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Welcoming new Americans
Wednesday, November 07, 2012Baltimore has long been a city that welcomes new arrivals. According to some historical records Baltimore ranked 2nd only to Ellis Island as a destination for arriving Immigrants. What is less well known, is that while people were arriving in large numbers to Baltimore’s ports looking for rail, mill, and shipyard jobs, it was on these very same railroads that large numbers of arrivals decided to move out of Baltimore in search of greener pastures.
