I was a mediocre photographer. It was one of my creative outlets when I was younger, an outlet I thought could perhaps be refined and polished. I took a few great photographs, but I could not be consistent nor obsessive in the necessary way an artist must be. I learned the core components of a…
Tag: failures
one must earn and keep the public trust
Amidst the discussions of relations between police and the public there has been a incongruous parallel made between the actions taken by individuals vs. those of the police. To be police is a profession. The uniform, the academy, the obligations and policies are particular to partaking in that profession. And the actions taken by police…
East African frostbite
On some national public radio, feel good story about the immigrant experience and programs that help newly arrived immigrants cope with the freezing Minnesota winters, they talked with one of the teachers, an East African man who had arrived 15 years prior. He talked on the point of how impossible it is to imagine finger…
public impotence yet aroused by tragedy porn
Things I have learned this week through simply a cursory read of my Facebook feed and pre-chewed news sites.: Israel is invading Gaza, once again the Ukraine has weapons, one strong enough that is took down a commercial airplane on that plane were key researchers trying to solve the riddle of HIV/AIDS Tracy Morgan is…
let’s play a game – spot the hypocrisy
Bill Gates makes his fortune on new technologies – both hardware and software. Bill Gates uses a small portion of his gigantic fortune to fund “education reform”. He throws money at every new, shiny idea that comes across his desk – small schools, technology in the classroom, the Common Core, and educating for global competencies….
memory in a double helix
I forgive the Nazis. My DNA was marked by the fear and hatred generated in Germany. Parts of my DNA were destroyed by those people. A book was written espousing why my father and grandmother and grandfather and cousins ought to be viewed as subhuman. People gained and maintain power and wealth from the insistence…
renew
this domain name has been renewed for another year. i am making a commitment to continue this experiment, to continue to battle collective failures, and seek for something more…
letter to my teens
When I am here, within these wall, and in conversation with you, I am in the role of a teacher. That role has certain privileges and responsibilities. But I am also a community member of the city of Boston, and know the ins and outs of this place. When meetings like this one happen, it…
scrutiny
Anyone in the public eye is forced to have their complete life susceptible to prying eyes. The public is seeing the C- on the Presidents report card, the mistress in the downtown apartment, the strange sexual deviances and each and every mistake of the people who attempt to have a public persona. In this era…
hey, so by the way, you are racist
A recent article in the guardian put words and a definition to how racism has mutated: “Gone is the overt, violent, and legal racism of my childhood. It has been replaced by a subtler version. It is a racism that is easier to ignore, easier to deny, and consequently almost as dangerous.” – Chris Arnade http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/12/america-racism-subtle-dangerous-new-york…
where racism lives
As I try to educate this new generation of young people about history and systems of inequality, I encounter a resistance. It is not an overt denial nor an ignorance, and it has baffled me for some time. Young people today have access to more ideas and information than ever before. But within this data…
on addiction and candy crush
I think often times about neurochemicals, biological imperatives, and addiction. We loves to consider ourselves autonomous beings with self-awareness, choice, and freedom. But so much of what we do and how we think comes from electric synapses in our brain and body that we don’t ever see or regulate. One impact of how our brains…
