Black History Month: Death by Journal

Okay—circle of trust here. After dropping my youngest child off at college all the way from San Antonio, Texas, to Lawrence, Kansas, at The University of Kansas, I simply said goodbye and drove the 11 hours back home. Except, as soon as I got to our house, I stepped into the hallway bathroom and...

Black History Month: Fits, Photos, and Happily Ever Afters

Back when I taught at Southwest High School in San Antonio, Sharri Peterson, who dubbed herself my work wife, was my school spirit partner. Whenever there was a school spirit dress-up day, everyone knew Sharri and I would collaborate and a selfie would follow.

Black History Month: The Friend You Need

In just the past few weeks, I’ve seen two friends post on social media about their spirit animals. 

Neither of them is Native American.

Recently, State Farm ran a commercial where Aaron Rodgers claimed to have a spirit animal. 

He’s not Native American either. 

Black History Month: African American Experiences in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

In honor of Black History Month, I have created a lesson that can be used for students to learn (or review what they have learned) about African American experiences from the period after the Civil War through the Great Depression. Hopefully you will find the lesson useful and students will find it...

Black History Month: He Sees Dead People

My mother tells this story of being so exhausted that she couldn’t get up to rock my older brother, her first child, back to sleep in the middle of the night. But then he stopped crying, and she swears she saw the ghost of her mother rocking his cradle.

Dear Son,

On December 20, four days after his semester finished, my youngest son flew home for Christmas break. On December 29, he flew back—19 days before his new semester started.