National Social Justice Day

To celebrate this day, I highly recommend the following reads and listens ...

1. "Challenge the Status Quo" by Dr. Lewis and Dr. Toldson, http://www.chancewlewis.com/books
2. A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne
3. "Back to School", This American Life  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/474/back-to-school
4. "Harper High School, Part One", This  American Life  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/487/harper-high-school-part-one

Thanks to Dr. Ayana Allan for most of the recommendations above.  Each of these pieces has personally inspired me in my continuing quest to be a part of the solution and not the problem.  There are many social justice issues in our world and these resources aim particularly at the under-education and over-expulsion of America's urban youth.  I'm committing to better educate myself on this topic.  I'm also committing myself to pray more and to invite God into the conversation.

I want to take this opportunity to encourage you to educate yourself on the social justice topic that you are passionate about.  Yesterday, while I was doing some work at Panera I overheard a conversation that jarred me and made me realize that even in our times of best intentions, we still are at risk of doing great harm if we do not equip ourselves with proper education.  The girl I overheard was talking about the children she works with through a church program aimed at under-privileged youth in Bryan, TX.  She clearly had the best of intentions but the ignorance of her comments was unbelievably degrading to the children.  Knowing that I have made similar comments in the past, my main takeaway was - we must humble ourselves and attempt to understand before we attempt to serve.

This post is dedicated to Coach Carter who has been my most patient teacher of all time and to all of the students who have continued to inspire me and to open my eyes to our endless potential.
         

National Waffle Day

Really might have been one of the best holidays so far. This might look ordinary but it was DELICIOUS! Chocolate chip waffle with peanut butter and whipped cream on top. Amazing.

Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and It's Abolition

First of all, I would like to say that, in all seriousness, this is a day worth remembering. It is sobering to remember that at the founding of our country, men were enslaved by other men. It is even more sobering to remember that the enslavers were humans just like us. Which means, that we are capable of equally horrible acts. Our time is wasted if we spend it judging the evil actions of the past. Instead, we need to focus on preventing those evil actions from ever happening again.

Sarah and I have been spending a lot of time recently discussing the repercussions of slavery and discrimination. We are interested in discovering how many social ills today are still directly or indirectly linked to slavery and to segregation. And then we are interested in curing all of those social ills. If you are interested in joining this discussion, please come over to our house for a glass of wine and some good conversation.

Today, in remembrance, I read some brief biographies of Harriet Tubman. A woman who risked her own life to save hundreds of others. We, as young people in America, have easy lives and often lose sight of the fact that a happy life is not necessarily a comfortable life. We were put here for so much more than our own pleasure. Tubman didn't just live, she changed the course of history. We have the same power within us. Sarah has a quote in her room that says, "We are all greater than we think." It's time to take hold of that statement and begin acting instead of talking, to begin thinking instead of dreaming. It's our turn to stand in the gap.

Harriet Tubman sang the following spiritual as a warning to warn escaping slaves to move from the path into the water in order to throw off pursuing dogs...

Wade in the Water

Chorus:
Wade in the water,
Wade in the water children.
Wade in the water
God’s gonna trouble the water

Who’s all those children all dressed in Red?
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Must be the ones that Moses led.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus:

What are those children all dressed in White?
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Must be the ones of the Israelites.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus:

Who are these children all dressed in Blue?
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Must be the ones that made it through.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

National Men's Grooming Day

Today we want to highlight a man who is an expert in the art of manly grooming: Jackson Nahoum. Jackson, we love you with the full beard, with the handlebar, and even when you're cleanly shaven. Thanks for showing all the men out there how it's done. Keep up the good work.

National Aviation Day

Today is National Aviation Day. We had hoped to go meet and interview pilots about their careers today, but sadly Anna was unable to slip away from her professional development event in Newark long enough to visit the airport. However, the universe was conspiring with us today. Unbeknownst to me, my trek to Rockaway Beach took me past the Floyd Bennett Field: Brooklyn's home of Naval Aviation. It piqued my interest; here is what I have learned.

Floyd Bennett Field was a national center of WWII naval aviation, deploying offensives both over the Atlantic against German U-Boats and to take part in some of the major battles of the war in the Pacific. During WWII Floyd Bennett Field was the busiest naval station in the country. Men and women built and delivered enormous quantities of planes to the field.

Today the field is no longer an active Naval base, but in the old hangers vintage planes are refurbished and the north end of the park has been converted into Aviator Sports and Events Center, providing fields and camps for families in southern Brooklyn.

Bibliography:

National Parks Services: Floyd Bennett Field, http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/120floyd/index.htm

Remember to say thank you to our nation's pilots.

Sarah

Cupcake Day and Bad Poetry Day

Big shout out to Jonathan Seale for helping us celebrate this important day. He created a bad mad libbs poem about cupcakes (wow!).

Here's a picture of Jon crafting the poem:

And here's the finished product (I italicized all the words that were filled in through mad libbs):

Bad Cupcake Poem

Oh my purple love

Your toe is

like a marvelous cupcake.

Your eccentric yeast rises

like the sun.

Your ring finger

is like icing

and your voice

runs like sprinkles.

Bake me in your oven

of integrity.

Every hour with you

is like an ugly dessert.

The Meaning of "Is" Day

I'm just going to warn you - I'm going to get deep on you today. If you're not ready for it, don't go there.

What IS the meaning of is?? Is means "to be" does it not? We use all forms of it to describe ourselves. I am a girl. I am a teacher. I am from Texas. The word "is" defines us. But who am I really? Am I who I say I am or who you think I am? Am I what I say or what you see? Can there be more than one true me? Which of us can really claim to know the true meaning of is?

Example:

What IS in this picture? Is it some weird type of bouncy ball? Is it a strange type of food? What do you see?

Now, look at the next picture? What IS that? A flower? Some leaves from outside?

The answer: they are one and the same! My tea that I drank tonight started out as a round hard ball and then blossomed into a beautiful tea leaf flower. Even though they are both very different, each one IS still the same tea.

Lesson learned: look twice before you decide the meaning of "is". Especially when you are looking at people.

FYI I'm going to start giving you a weekly preview of the holidays that are coming up. Usually I'll do it on Sunday, but not this time.

Wednesday: Cupcake Day, Bad Poetry Day, Mail Order Catalogue Day

Thursday: Black Cow Root Beer Float Day, Aviation Day, National Medical Dosimetrist Day

Friday: Men's Grooming Day, Virtual Worlds Day

Saturday: Daffodil Day, Hug Your Boss Day, National Homeless Animals Day, Poet's Day, Senior Citizen's Day