Gun Violence Claims Too Many Young Victims

by | May 17, 2012 | Opinion

The e-mail message was direct and devastating: “Davius Boyd, a 4th grader in Mrs. Enos’ class, died at approximately 5:45 this afternoon,” wrote my principal. “The coroner informed of his death about 40 minutes ago. He had gone to a...

How One Person Can Build a Better Community

by | Apr 30, 2012 | Opinion

Every morning at 7:15, the doors of our school open wide to a line of bus riders ready to come inside. “Hello, Jaheem. Hi, Kiara. Hey, Imani. Hope you’re having a good day, Omar,” I call out as the students walk past me to the cafeteria for...

Traveling the Path to Civility and Peace

by | Apr 13, 2012 | Opinion

When I lived in Mali as a teacher, one morning Madu walked the one-kilometer path from his village to my house. He was married to Sirima and they had two children: 4-year-old Sira, who they called Bonnie, and 2-year-old Musa, who they called Papa. He told me that Papa...

Are There Galileos to Challenge Today’s Dogma?

by | Mar 27, 2012 | Opinion

I was going down the road, listening to “All Things Considered” on NPR, when I heard an interview between Melissa Block and Kelly Beatty, a senior contributing editor for Sky and Telescope magazine. I learned that now is the best time to see Jupiter and...