When Talking About Race Upsets Your White Mother
My mom has the cheery demeanor, moral sensibilities and lingo of a Leave It To Beaver episode. “Don’t be such a sourpuss,” she scolds. “Have you ever smoked a doobie?” she inquires. “Oh, that is just terrific!” she exclaims. My mom is what I’d like [...]
My Name is Carrie, and I Medicate My Son
My 10-year-old son has autism. And we give him anti-anxiety medicine every day. If someone had told me fifteen years ago — back when I was a smart, chic, kind of fit twenty-something newlywed — that my new husband Joe and I would one day give our child a [...]
My Friend Died in a Police Van. That Could Have Been Me – if I were Black
My friend Hanuman was cremated two weeks ago, his ashes now sit in a wooden box on his parent’s alter. The cause of his death is still being investigated, but we know he died shackled to a bench in the back of a prison van. [...]
Sick, Tired, and Hopeless: Accepting the Racial Realities of Being Black in America
I can no longer witness the senseless murder of people of color by the police without breaking down in tears. The recently released video that captured 50-year-old Walter Scott being shot in his back eight times as he attempted to run away from white police officer [...]
When Gelato Gets Racial or a Little Girl Hears the N-Word for the First Time
As the wheels continue to fly off my personal life, moments of simple joy and normalcy are increasingly hard to come by. My son’s unexpected visit home this week promised to be an opportunity to simply be present with family and savor the simple joys of [...]
How To Win the War on Sexual Assault
The Walnut Bowl draws comics at www.thewalnutbowl.com | Follow Walnut Bowl @thewalnutbowl This piece was reprinted by EmpathyEducates with permission or license. We thank the Illustrator, Cartoonist Walnut Bowl. We are grateful for his kindness and for Walnut Bowl's invitation to speak the many ways [...]
National Poetry Month 2015: “A poem should not mean/But be”
By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. April 1, 2015 Spring semester 1980, I was a first-year student at Spartanburg Methodist College and the class was Public Speaking 101, taught by Steve Brannon. At that point in my redneck life, I was [...]
Will Milwaukee Schools be turned over to National Charter School Companies? Ask New Orleans
With education reform ideas moving through Wisconsin’s legislature, three citizen experts on the nation's "Recovery" School District— the Miracle that never was, and the Recovery that never came — will share their personal stories and perspectives. Dr. Raynard Sanders, Karran Harper Royal, and Dr. Kristen Buras are [...]