How one, short blog post could generate so much interest, truly amazes me.  One of my faithful readers, Frederick Harrison, has been in contact with me regarding his interest in sharing Dr. Patricia Bath’s story with the world. I first told you about Dr. Bath back in February of 2008 in a blog post, Helping People to See. Dr. Bath’s story is [...]

1) Two W.A.R. authors, LINDA TRICE and CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD will speak Saturday , March 6, 2010 in Frederick, MD at the annual SCBWI conference. Both will offer workshops, critique manuscripts and speak at an author panel. The topic of the conference is DIVERSITY. For further information or to register contact the Regional Advisor: Edith [...]

The true meaning of poetry is love…and having dedicated several blog posts to the late Virginia Hamilton, I felt it only fitting to (somewhat) close this series with an interview with her husband, and well known poet, Arnold Adoff.  So instead of recreating our e-mail interview, which was in traditional Q & A format, I wanted to capture the essence of  Virginia [...]

If you’re a teacher, perhaps you’d be interested in this opportunity for your students who are asked to write, what they care about for the 2010 Culture & Global Issues Reflection Contest

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela Earlier, my friend Chad sent me a tweet to remind me that it was the 20th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. Thanks, Chad!  And as amazing as it sounds, many students still do not know about Mandela’s legacy, or [...]

Tonight on PBS begins the month long series, FACES OF AMERICA, where Dr. Henry Louis Gates  explores the multi-layers and dimensions that make up the American people – through the lens of RACE. And while his research findings may not be all that surprising, it will, perhaps, shed some much needed light on how we are more connected than we [...]

"Where Dreams Take Flight" -August Martin High School motto  In 2005, I interviewed one of the last people to fly with Amelia Earhart, who has since passed away. Marguerite McDonough Jersey was a rare, hidden treasure, tucked neatly away in Indian Lake, NY, in the Adirondack Mountains. And while her story was never reported in the mainstream [...]

My fascination with Virginia Hamilton and Arnold Adoff continues to grow, since they have helped me to solidify much of what the Writers Against Racism movement is all about. George E. Stanley called it: Zetta Elliot called it: Virginia called it:  

I hope you follow me as I journey through and add, yet, one more (obvious) piece to this ever-unfolding W.A.R. puzzle.   While this post is longer than usual, it is substantive in that it provides a glimpse into some heated, ongoing, and much needed debate, that pertains to W.A.R. Again, I ask that you follow me. And after reading this post, [...]

I was on a mission to find Jeanette LeMons-Attisso, who I reported on last week. You’ll recall, Jeanette was visiting Haiti before the quake struck, as she was working on her Haiti Reads library project. I was curious as to how she, and her library were doing. Here’s my interview with her.   A.B.  After watching the Haiti Reads library [...]