Donna FordAfrican-AmericanOur Children are Watching: Teachers, What are Your Non-Verbal Messages Saying to Our Black Students?Due to racial injustices – profiling in society and in schools – Black caregivers are obligated to train our children to be hyper-observant of their surroundings, and strangers and foes when driving, walking, playing, shopping, dining… in all situations. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a physical reprieve from deficit thinking and alienation in a brick-and-mortar setting, but not visually during online teaching where visuals dominate.June 21, 2020COVID-19To Help Narrow Achievement Gaps During and After COVID-19, Families Must Promote Rigor and Relevance at HomeWho knows how long schools will be closed, but every day counts when it comes to addressing academic achievement gaps. Every day, I am so very concerned about Black students falling further behind their White counterparts. This angst increases during the summer when achievement disparities increase drastically. While those with the fiscal means and educational clout are pushing their children forward, far too often, Black children are falling backwards or behind. The reality is that gaps can be and are gulfs, sucking in our Black children.April 26, 2020OpinionBlack Boys Cry Too: Let Them Be Free to Express Healthy EmotionsDistorted and misguided views about who is permitted to be sensitive, empathetic, and demonstrative about being in pain of any kind must not be part of raising Black boys. Studies indicate that Black males seldom and/or are the least likely to seek and ask for formal and informal help, such as counseling. Their pain festers and can implode in such forms as anger and rage. Health issues ensue (e.g., high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity), along with shorter life spans.April 9, 2020COVID-19A Message to Educators: Hygiene, Hand Washing, and Cultural Considerations Before, During, and After Health CrisesLike medical and mental health professionals, educators who are ignorant and incompetent relative to culture (especially those other than their own) can and have been harmful by contributing to school-based racialized trauma. ‘Do no harm’ must not be tossed aside like old news and discarded like trash when teaching, counseling, and delivering other health services. Doing so is a disgrace to the education profession and an affront to Black and other culturally different students, families, and communities.March 29, 2020OpinionWhen Inhumanity ‘Trumps’ a Fundamental Basic Need to Live and LearnFar too many families live in food deserts – low income communities, more than a mile from a grocery store, and many do not have a car. Many grocery stores do not accept food stamps (#sigh). Estimates indicate about 25 million families are trapped in food deserts; a disproportionate percentage are families of color — Black and Hispanic – in both urban and rural communities. Their mental and physical health are compromised based on food insecurity and/or access to unhealthy food options that are affordable. When hungry, any food is better than no food. Some policy makers appear to be clueless or uncaring about this. Where’s the humanity, I ask rhetorically? #absent.March 7, 2020African-AmericanSupporting Black Students When They are Further Traumatized in SchoolThere is no question that student trauma is on the rise and some school professionals are part of the problem.February 23, 2020African-AmericanSocial-Emotional Learning for Black Students is Ineffective When it is Culture-BlindEducational professionals ill-prepared to work in culturally relevant ways with students of color in their capacity as mental health professionals (e.g., counselors, social workers, psychologists), and teachers, administrators, and policy makers can contribute to and even exacerbate SEL issues for students of color.February 6, 2020OpinionRacial Discrimination Continues to Deny Access to Gifted Education for Black Students: A Few Reality ChecksA new report indicates that Black students do not have access to advanced courses. For some readers, this is new news, as in unfamiliar. For others, like myself, my contemporaries, this is very old and frustrating news—the kind that makes me grind my teeth to the point of getting a migraine.January 26, 2020Previous PagePage 4 of 4
