Blog
Refuse the Shame, Break the Silence
If you're a woman you've, probably had your Harvey Weinstein moment, and you probably didn't report your abuser. I get it. After my attempt to garner help from a perp-supporting yard teacher failed miserably, I gave up believing at seven years old that I had any right...
Girls Evolved To Survive Abuse (But They Shouldn’t Have Too)
In my second blog I told the true story about a gang of boys dragging me to the "pussy-bushes" in 3rd grade Then came 5th grade when a lone troubled boy stalked me in the hallways at recess, using the packed passageways as cover as he repeatedly pressed his...
Healing PTSD: Too Late For My Brother
(Link to Ken Burns Documentary on Vietnam) Periodically my brother sent photos home to assure my mother that he was alive. His selection of photos revealed a lot. This picture of him with prostitutes is the most normal thing he could come up with during his second...
Gun Legacy, Gun Lessons
My great uncles on my mother's side were small time crooks who used guns to rob the local armory. My father adopted the attitude that guns were manly and virtuous, if used correctly (I grew up with a loaded gun in the house). So after adopting my brother, Larry, he...
Brain Break
Yesterday's post was heavy, so today I'm going to give my brain and your brain a spa day with some humor. Humor also helps the brain regulate...dopamine levels, reports a Stanford research team in the December 4, 2003, issue of the journal Neuron. Dopamine, also known...
Grief: Breaking the Taboo
I wasn't sure for a moment whether to laugh or cry because I failed to save a draft before an "open-tab-over-load" forced me to reboot. Thanks (or maybe no thanks) to Google docs my brain now assumes everything is being backed up automatically, so my heart raced when...
Feeling More Black
When I was transitioning from teacher to administrator, I took a year long position in a wealthy suburban district with pay cut because they were going to give me leadership opportunities and mentoring. It turned out that it also meant working with an all White staff...
Segregation By “Choice?”
(This is my yearbook photo from 9th grade) Berkeley Unified was one of the first districts in the country to integrate "by choice". That sounds terrific. They didn't need a court to order them to do as I mentioned in my post, Reality Check. Even though the buses...
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Affect All of US
This post is a link-fest that provides critical research on why children act out, are checked out, or even drop out of school. Keep in mind, that information about ACEs is not limited to children's behavior and physiology, but also why parents, teachers, and other...
Equity vs. Equality — The College Edition
(None of My Brothers or Sister Went College...and that is Truly a Shame) The only stress that rivals back-to-school time, is apply-to-college time. For some families, college applications are the culmination of a decade (or more) of preparation, for others, it's a...
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Inspired by what I've shared? Or have your own survival story to share? I'd love to hear from you.