Almost a decade ago, I wrote a column about White Jesus, and specifically Black people’s worship of white Jesus. I talked about how jarring it was for me, a 17-year-old walking into Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta for the first time and seeing a giant white Jesus hanging behind the…

If you’ve been in one of my workshops or heard me speak to a large audience, you’ve likely heard me tell the story of how Freddie Gray and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015 completely changed the way I approach my work. …

My children are enrolled in an international school this year. It’s a private, internationally accredited (U.S. and U.K.) bilingual school with small class sizes — under 20. The children and teachers all wear masks, and no parents are fighting over mask mandates. It’s glorious. The children like it for different…

I woke up this morning and texted both of my children, who are back home in D.C. visiting their dad and grandparents today. I put on my Morehouse sweatshirt, and every one of my personal and professional social media networks got a variation of the same message I sent my…

As some of you know, I left U.S. News and World Report in May. I spent the summer and early fall consulting for a handful of clients in the educator preparation and education equity spaces, while managing a cross-country move from Maryland to Austin, Texas. …

One of my favorite stories in all of HBCU lore is the story of Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick meeting his wife during Carnival in Trinidad, which he called “one of the greatest festivals on Earth” in a 2014 interview with C-SPAN’s Brian Lamb. Carnival Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday…

Amelia Boynton Robinson lived her whole life in pursuit of civil rights. Upon her death in 2015, her son Bruce said, “The truth of it is that was her entire life. That’s what she was completely taken with. …

Valerie Thomas’ interest in science was sparked by seeing her dad work on the family’s television set, and furthered when she got her hands on a copy of The Boys First Book on Electronics at the age of eight. But despite the fact that her father was the reason for…

Patricia Roberts Harris graduated summa cum laude from Howard University and went on to be the first Black woman named as an American envoy when President Lyndon Baines Johnson appointee her as ambassador to Luxembourg. “I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier…