Who do you know that is 58 years young or older? Think about how recent 58 years ago was — on this day 58 years ago, the Governor of Georgia threatens to withhold PUBLIC SCHOOL funding to any school that tries to integrate black and white students. What do you know about how schools and classrooms are still segregated today in 2018? What do you know about educational and political leaders that are still using policy and power to keep learning opportunities segregated, to hinder learning for some students? If you don’t know anything about how these things are still going on, what are you doing to educate yourself? If you do know, what are you doing to change it? How are you supporting the people who are making efforts to drive change? Do you believe in the power of education, that all young people have a right to quality learning experiences?
I am on day 11 of the Equal Justice Initiative Calendar. Reading these daily reminders of history, of how we humans allow one another to act, and of the timeline of how recent so many of these things are is not a joy-filled moment of my day, but it is incredibly powerful in helping to ground me in the reality of our past and our present. The calendars are only $5. Can you take a minute each day to remember the history we were born out of?