Slavery and the Making of America . About the Series | PBS

Slavery and the Making of America . About the Series | PBS: SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a four-part series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. Drawing on a wealth of recent scholarship, it looks at slavery as an integral part of a developing nation, challenging the long held notion that slavery was exclusively a Southern enterprise. At the same time, by focusing on the remarkable stories of individual slaves, it offers new perspectives on the slave experience and testifies to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.

This program will premiere nationally on February 9, 2005.

A Very Good Place to Grow Up, for Almost Everyone - washingtonpost.com

A Very Good Place to Grow Up, for Almost Everyone - washingtonpost.com: The Washington region is one of the nation's best metropolitan areas for Hispanic, Asian and non-Hispanic white children, based on a study of health, housing, economic, crime and education data released last week by the Harvard School of Public Health. For black children, the D.C. area ranks about average on most factors, according to the study, titled 'Children Left Behind: How Metropolitan Areas Are Failing America's Children.'

The report, which compares living conditions for children in the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas, draws on a broad range of data that the authors spent five years compiling, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; the data are available at http://www.diversitydata.org.

Same-sex classes a growing trend in public schools

HARTLAND, Wisconsin (AP) -- Lauren Panos was surprised when she walked into her ninth-grade English class in the fall and saw there were no boys.

Her parents had not told her they had enrolled her in a new all-girls class at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, about 25 miles west of Milwaukee. A semester into classes, Panos still isn't sold on the idea.

"All the girls there, they can talk out of turn," the 14-year-old said. "We get really off task and it's really annoying."

More public school systems are looking at separating boys and girls, whether for certain classes or by entire schools, after the federal government opened the door last fall. Supporters say splitting students by sex minimizes distractions, helps them learn better and allows boys and girls to explore subjects they may not otherwise take.

Panos' classmate, Alyson Douglas, 15, said she likes not worrying about boys causing disruptions.

"Guys just make a bigger nuisance in the class," she said.

Panos' and Douglas' school is one of just three public schools in Wisconsin that offers classes for either boys or girls only. But Thursday night, the Milwaukee School Board approved a committee report calling for opening a school with all same-sex classes, perhaps by 2008.

Milwaukee would join several other large cities where public schools already offer single-sex classes. They include New York City -- where there are nine single-sex public schools -- as well as Chicago, Dallas, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Plans to open same-sex schools have been announced in Miami, Atlanta and Cleveland.

Nationwide, at least 253 public schools offer single-sex classes and 51 schools are entirely single sex, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. In 1995, just three public schools offered single-sex classes.

Critics of same-sex classrooms argue that proven methods of improving education should be pursued instead of one that divides boys and girls. Separating boys and girls is tantamount to "separate but equal" segregation-era classrooms, they say.

"Too many schools feel they can carry out a social experiment with students' education with really the flimsiest of theories," said Emily Martin, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project.

Single-sex schools are an "illusionary silver bullet," said Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women. They distract from real problems and do not offer proven solutions such as lower class sizes and sufficient funding, she said.

Many classrooms and schools could make the switch thanks to a change made by the U.S. Department of Education in November.

NPR : Rafe Esquith Offers His Fiery Teaching Methods

NPR : Rafe Esquith Offers His Fiery Teaching Methods
All Things Considered, January 22, 2007 · Rafe Esquith is a trail-blazing, fast-talking, fifth-grade teacher who has racked up a slew of awards for his work at a public school in Los Angeles. Ninety-two percent of the children at the school live in households below the poverty level, but Esquith's students have reached the pinnacle of academic and artistic success. His fifth-graders are already tackling high-school fare: algebra, philosophy and Shakespeare.

Esquith's methods have been so successful that he has been encouraged to leave the classroom to help other instructors. But he has no interest in abandoning his kids. Instead, he wrote Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, which Esquith likens to a cookbook for teaching in an urban classroom. The title of the book comes from an incident that occurred while he was helping a student in class with a chemistry experiment.

"In trying to get her alcohol burner to light, I set my hair on fire and didn't even know it until the kids started screaming," he says. "But as ridiculous as that was, I actually thought, if I could care so much I didn't even know my hair was on fire, I was moving in the right direction as a teacher — when I realized that you have to ignore all the crap, and the children are the only thing that matter."

He says his teaching tactics, however incendiary, apply to both teachers and parents.

Dairy could doom historic California town, group says - USATODAY.com

Dairy could doom historic California town, group says - USATODAY.com

Dairy could doom historic California town, group says
By John Ritter, USA TODAY
ALLENSWORTH, Calif. — A few restored buildings among sprawling flat acres of farmland are all that's left of an ambitious experiment a century ago — one doomed to fail but still an enduring symbol of African-American self-sufficiency.

Allen Allensworth, a former slave who rose to Army colonel, brought a colony of blacks here to a sparsely settled corner of the Central Valley in 1908. His vision was a discrimination-free town where blacks, through hard work and education, could compete in white America.

Unforeseen events killed the dream, but in the 1970s, the state preserved the town as a historical park. Today, Allensworth, an icon of black history, is threatened by a herd of cows, its patrons say.

Tulare County, the USA's top milk producer, has tentatively approved plans for a large dairy outside the 240-acre park. The Friends of Allensworth, a group with members across the state, fears odor and flies from 9,000 cows and their manure will drive visitors away. The group wants the dairy located somewhere else.

"Allensworth is one of a kind. It can't be replaced," says Victor Carter, president of the Friends of Allensworth. "It should be there for our youth, to see what we can accomplish given a chance." The park had 7,843 visitors in fiscal year 2006, according to the state parks department.

Ed Pope's family settled in Allensworth in the 1930s. He returned in retirement "to become a preservation activist on the scene." The park is on the National Register of Historic Places. If the dairy comes, Pope says, he could stand on railroad tracks next to the park "and throw a rock and hit a cow."

"If people stop coming, the state can't justify spending money to keep the park open. And if the park dies, Allensworth dies," says Pope, 77.

NPR : Black Power on Display in New Congress

NPR : Black Power on Display in New Congress

The 110th session of Congress has an unprecedented number of African-American lawmakers in key positions of power. Black lawmakers with long seniority are taking over committees with influence on such fundamental issues as taxes, homeland security, trade and Social Security.

Some of these representatives – such as Charles Rangel and John Coyners – have been in Washington for decades. Coyners, who was first elected in 1964, helped establish the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.

The Black Caucus gradually accumulated considerable influence on Capitol Hill, until the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. Since then, Caucus members have seen their influence wane, rarely winning the ear of the Bush White House.

But last November's election brought a massive reversal of fortune for the Caucus. Now six of its members are poised to have a considerable impact on what happens in the House in the next two years.

Use the link to access more information about individual Caucus members.

Hispanics and Education - Hispanic Achievement

Hispanics and Education - Hispanic Achievement

Nowhere has the impact of the rapid growth of America’s Hispanic population been more apparent than in our elementary and high schools. The number of Hispanic K-12 students increased by almost 6 percent between 1993 and 2003, with Hispanics now accounting for 19 percent of public school students. Blacks make up 17.2 percent of the population while Whites posted a decrease, from 66 percent to 58 percent.

A report from The National Council of La Raza called “Hispanic Education in the United States” provides a more detailed account of how Hispanics compared to their peers in all levels of education.

The jump in the number of Hispanic K-12 students was most significant in the Western United States, where they rose from 15 percent in 1972 to 39 percent in 2003, surpassing Whites in the process. More than half of all immigrant youth are Hispanic (58 percent), with a larger portion in upper grades than lower grades.

Compared to other groups, dropout rates among Hispanics remains high and educational achievement relatively low. Barriers such as English language acquisition, immigration, insufficient financial aid and inadequate access to educational resources can explain the gaps between Hispanics and other students, say La Raza researchers.

The first issue to address is that of poverty. Roughly 49 percent of Hispanic and 48 percent of Black 4th-graders attend the public schools with the highest levels of poverty. Only 5 percent of White and 16 percent of Asian students are enrolled in similar schools. There are large state funding gaps between low- and high-poverty districts as well, especially in states with large minority populations, including California, Illinois and New York.

In 2004, Hispanics represented approximately 17 percent of all public high school students but graduated at a rate below the national average. Almost three-fourths of all Whites completed high school, compared to 53.2 percent of Hispanic students and only 50.2 percent of Blacks.

Jefferson, Blair Lead Nation In Intel Search Semifinalists - washingtonpost.com

Jefferson, Blair Lead Nation In Intel Search Semifinalists - washingtonpost.com: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria and Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring together produced 26 of 300 semifinalists nationwide in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for 2007, the technology company announced yesterday.

The schools, which draw students with conspicuous math and science abilities from Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, respectively, ranked first and second for the number of semifinalists from a single campus in the annual contest. Jefferson had 14; Blair had 12.

The D.C. region yielded 31 semifinalists in all, 10 percent of the nation's total, with one each from Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman and Thomas Wootton high schools in Montgomery, Eleanor Roosevelt in Prince George's County and the private Sidwell Friends School in the District. Jefferson and Blair are perennial contenders because of their math-science magnet programs.

A "prize patrol" from the talent search visited Blair yesterday to present the school's semifinalists with $1,000 checks; schools receive a matching sum for each honoree. A similar ceremony for Jefferson's 14 semifinalists was canceled because of a power outage at the school.

Forty finalists will be announced Jan. 31. On March 8, finalists will travel to Washington for a week-long event, culminating with 10 students receiving scholarships totaling $500,000. The top winner will receive a $100,000 scholarship.

The talent search, founded in 1942, is the nation's oldest and most highly regarded pre-collegiate science contest.

Overall cancer deaths decline again, but statistics not as rosy for blacks - USATODAY.com

Overall cancer deaths decline again, but statistics not as rosy for blacks - USATODAY.com: The number of Americans dying of cancer declined for second year in a row, this time by a much greater number, the American Cancer Society reports, a signal that decades of advances in prevention and treatment are paying off, experts say.

Although black women have a 9% lower cancer rate than their white peers, black women have an 18% higher death rate for all forms of cancer. Black men have a 15% higher rate of cancer and a 38% higher death rate than white men, a trend that extends from 1999 to 2003.

Whatever happened to Ruby Bridges? - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com

Whatever happened to Ruby Bridges? - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com: NEW ORLEANS - Ruby Bridges didn't ask to be an icon of the civil rights movement; others made that happen.

She was, after all, just six in 1960 when the NAACP selected her to integrate a New Orleans elementary school.

An angry mob tried to keep her out, but federal marshals got her in.

And Norman Rockwell made the moment famous in a 1964 painting.

Forty-six years later, after Katrina flooded the city, devastated the school and triggered a new round of racial upheaval, Ruby Bridges is back, this time on her own accord — to save the school.

Even before Katrina, William Frantz Elementary in the Lower Ninth Ward was in danger of closing.

“I used to go to the back to sharpen my pencil, there,” says Bridges as she takes us on a tour. “I see this school being filled with kids.”

But there's more. Bridges wants to integrate the school — again.

King's own words on display for his holiday - USATODAY.com

King's own words on display for his holiday - USATODAY.com: The handwritten personal papers of Martin Luther King Jr., including his sermons and the 'I Have a Dream' speech, will be on display in Atlanta today, one of many tributes planned for the late civil rights leader.

Schools, banks, federal offices and post offices are closed today as the nation observes the 21st annual King holiday.

In Washington, D.C., the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation is announcing $3 million in new contributions from corporations. That will bring the total raised to $76 million toward a goal of $100 million. The memorial will be built along the Tidal Basin, between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials.

King, who was assassinated in 1968, would be 78 years old today.

'He was the irresistible force that made the immovable object of segregation move,' Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Sunday. 'We who admired him so much can honor him the most by carrying on his work. Civil rights is still the unfinished business of America.'

The memorial is scheduled for completion in 2008. It will be the first memorial on the National Mall for a non-president and the first for an African-American.

The Atlanta History Center opens an exhibit today of King's handwritten papers. One is his 'I Have a Dream' speech, delivered to 200,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in August 1963. Also being displayed is King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' in which he laid out his opposition to segregation and said citizens had an obligation to disobey unjust laws.

The papers are from the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.

Legislation signed into law by President Reagan in 1983 designated the third Monday in January as Martin Luther King Day. The holiday, first observed in 1986, is timed to fall on or around King's birthday, Jan. 15.

Despite Lessons on King, Some Unaware of His Dream - washingtonpost.com

Despite Lessons on King, Some Unaware of His Dream - washingtonpost.com: In a recent survey of college students on U.S. civic literacy, more than 81 percent knew that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing hope for 'racial justice and brotherhood' in his historic 'I Have a Dream' speech.

That's the good news.

Most of the rest surveyed thought King was advocating the abolition of slavery.

The findings indicate that years of efforts by primary and secondary schools to steep young people in the basics of the civil rights leader's life and activities have resulted in a mixed bag. Most college students know who he is -- even if they're not quite clear on what he worked to achieve.

Students and teachers say today's federal holiday marking King's birthday is the one that receives the most attention in schools, in part because the events surrounding the man it commemorates are the most recent.

"I think if there is one holiday on the calendar that is really reflective and thoughtful and has historical content, it is the King holiday," said Cynthia Mosteller, a history teacher at Deal Junior High School in the District. "It is a topic about which literally every student knows something."

How long students will continue to learn it, however, is open to question, students and educators say.

The recent survey of college students, conducted by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy for the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, suggests that schools are not doing as much as they could to go beyond a cursory history lesson. More than 14,000 college freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities earned an average score of 53.2 percent in the survey.

Memorial honoring MLK to receive funding boost - USATODAY.com

Memorial honoring MLK to receive funding boost - USATODAY.com: WASHINGTON — Alfred C. Bailey, too, had a dream.

About 20 years ago, the retired engineer and his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers sat around a dining room table, talking about the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Memorials to King had been erected around the country, but there was nothing in Washington, D.C., where he made his famous 'I have a dream' speech about a future of racial harmony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the summer of 1963.

'We knew he deserved it, so we dedicated ourselves to getting it done,' said Bailey, 82, of Silver Spring, Md.

Today, 21 years after the first federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., the dream King's fraternity set in motion is almost realized.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc., has raised $72.9 million in mostly private donations to fund a memorial on the National Mall and will announce Monday that corporate donors will be contributing at least $2 million.

The foundation is asking churches over the next year to sponsor a collection for the memorial, which is expected to cost $100 million.

Scheduled for completion in late 2008, the memorial will be located on a four-acre site along the Tidal Basin, surrounded by memorials to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

It will be the first memorial on the mall for a non-president and African American.

'I don't have any question that we're on track,' said Harry Johnson, the foundation president.

The memorial will include waterfalls, a wall of quotes, and boulders, including one with a carving of King's image and words.

Bailey helped pick the design. He was among the more than 200,000 people who heard King's 1963 speech during the March on Washington, and he was inspired.

Bailey remembers, as a young soldier in 1943, having to travel through small Southern towns with the curtains drawn on his train car because the residents 'didn't want to see black people.' And 10 years later, he and his wife slept in their car when they ran out of gas after the local gas station closed and no hotel would take them.

'That's why I could feel so good when Martin spoke about freedom for all because I had experienced segregation,' Bailey said. The memorial, he said, 'will be so worthwhile to many generations to come.'

Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos - New York Times

Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos - New York Times: WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. — Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York. But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls’ basketball team as well as the boys’, more than half of the aspiring cheerleaders dropped out.

The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court — “Hands Up You Guys” becomes “Hands Up You Girls”— to comply with a new ruling from federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to guarantee gender equality in student sports.

“It feels funny when we do it,” said Amanda Cummings, 15, the cheerleading co-captain, who forgot the name of a female basketball player mid-cheer last month.

Whitney Point is one of 14 high schools in the Binghamton area that began sending cheerleaders to girls’ games in late November, after the mother of a female basketball player in Johnson City, N.Y., filed a discrimination complaint with the United States Department of Education. She said the lack of official sideline support made the girls seem like second-string, and violated Title IX’s promise of equal playing fields for both sexes.

But the ruling has left many people here and across the New York region booing, as dozens of schools have chosen to stop sending cheerleaders to away games, as part of an effort to squeeze all the home girls’ games into the cheerleading schedule.

Boys’ basketball boosters say something is missing in the stands at away games, cheerleaders resent not being able to meet their rivals on the road, and even female basketball players being hurrahed are unhappy.

In Johnson City, students and parents say they have accepted the change even as they question the need for it.

NPR : 'Until the Building Falls Down': A Fight to Vote

NPR : 'Until the Building Falls Down': A Fight to Vote: Theresa Burroughs was 18 years old and ready to vote. But in her Alabama town, it took two years of effort just for her to register.

Accompanied by J.J. Simmons, a minister who would not let her back down, Burroughs went down to the Hale County Courthouse on the first and third Monday of each month.

'The white men,' Burroughs says, 'they would not let us register to vote.'

The chairman of the board of registrars, remembered by Burroughs only as 'Mr. Cox,' posed questions meant to disqualify black voters, such as 'How many black jelly beans in a jar? How many red ones in there?'

When Burroughs responded that Cox didn't know how many jelly beans were in the jar any more than she did, the answer was quick: 'Shut your black mouth.'

But Burroughs, with Simmons' support, kept on going, despite the embarrassment.

'We're going to go until the building falls down,' Simmons said.

On the day that Cox finally relented, he asked Burroughs and Simmons a simpler question — to recite part of the preamble of the Constitution — and also gave her a final insult.

'You're going to pass today. Because we are tired of looking at your black faces,' Burroughs recalls him saying. Then he handed over the slip of paper that meant Burroughs was a registered voter.

Burroughs voted in the next election. And she hasn't stopped since.

'It shouldn't have been this hard,' she says. 'I knew it shouldn't have been this hard.'

Emerging Scholars: The Class of 2007

Emerging Scholars: The Class of 2007: Just 10. Each year it becomes increasingly difficult to select just 10 Emerging Scholars. There are so many outstanding scholars of color in the academy who are breaking new ground in research, applying scholarship to public policy and grooming the next generation of leaders and professionals.

Diverse’s 2007 Emerging Scholars are doing all of that while setting records and earning the distinction of being the “first” or the “youngest” to win tenure or merit some impressive accolade.

This year’s crop of award-winning academicians was chosen by Diverse staff and, in some cases, nominated by colleagues. The scholars include a scientist who uses GIS technology to map racial health disparities; a first-generation college graduate and doctorate who is a highly sought-after computer expert; and a math prodigy who was studying college-level calculus at age 9 and earned his doctorate at age 20.

Some of our scholars benefited from the encouragement of mentors or pipeline programs like The PhD Project. Some, destined for stellar private industry careers, came to the academy by happenstance. All are driven and exceptional.
See for yourself.

Perspectives: King Holiday Opportunity For Change

Perspectives: King Holiday Opportunity For Change: Recently, I drove by a place of worship and read “new year, new hope.” I thought there was something quite prophetic in that short message. As we know, America will celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 15th. On that day, we will pause to reflect on the greatness of the man and to re-commit ourselves to his principles of fairness and justice. Many of us have found his philosophy to be quite simple. He wanted all of us to treat one another with great dignity and respect. Turning talk into action, however, causes us the trouble.

“Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that,” King said. “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” On Jan. 15th, there will be wonderful speeches, personal testimonies and great singing. On this day, I would like to believe we will all be on the same page. We will talk passionately about our love for one another. There is something truly special about the activities on this day. Places of worship, auditoriums and other edifices will be filled with people singing, “We shall overcome some day.” I enjoy the spirit that comes with this great song. I believe with all of us working together that we can capture this spirit year round.

Coretta Scott King honored in Atlanta - Race in America - MSNBC.com

Coretta Scott King honored in Atlanta - Race in America - MSNBC.com

ATLANTA - It’s been a year since Coretta Scott King received thunderous applause when she surprised guests at the annual Salute to Greatness Dinner and appeared on stage, smiling and waving with her children.

On Saturday, guests again applauded the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., as she was honored posthumously for her human rights contributions and work to preserve her husband’s legacy in the decades after his death.

King suffered a stroke and heart attack in August 2005 and battled ovarian cancer before she died in January 2006.

Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners - McREL

Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners - McREL

Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners applies the strategies from the best-selling book Classroom Instruction that Works to reaching English language learners (ELLs). It describes ways for mainstream K–6 teachers to adapt the strategies to meet the needs of ELLs at different stages of language acquisition. Teachers also will learn how to use culturally appropriate methods to increase parents' involvement in the education process.

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IN THE NEWS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; No Name-Calling Week

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IN THE NEWS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; No Name-Calling Week: IN THE NEWS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; No Name-Calling Week

Jan. 10, 2007 -- Tolerance-related news events, with discussion questions and resources for classroom use
by Carrie Kilman

Professors Offer Realistic Look at King
Next Monday, the United States will observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. How will your classroom celebrate?

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Four days later, U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) introduced a bill to create a national holiday in King's honor. But the bill stalled. For 15 years, members of Congress reintroduced the bill, but Congress steadfastly refused to pass it.

By November 1980, the bill lost by only 5 votes. Public support for a national holiday was growing. In 1982, more than 6 million people signed petitions urging Congress to pass the legislation. In August 1983, after continued public pressure, the King Holiday Bill passed the House by a vote of 338 to 90. But the fight wasn't over. In the Senate, the bill's fate was uncertain.

Later that month, 750,000 protesters marched to the Lincoln Memorial for the 20th Anniversary March on Washington, demanding the Senate and President Reagan take action. Two months later, the bill cleared the Senate. In November 1983, President Reagan ceremoniously signed it into law, while Coretta Scott King, Dr. King's widow, looked on.

Many states objected to the new holiday and refused to recognize it. In protest of the new law, several Southern states created holidays for Confederate generals on the same day as King's holiday. It wasn't until 1999 that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was celebrated in all 50 states. Today, the holiday is celebrated, in some form, in more than 100 countries.

Explore King's influence and the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in your state.

Tolerance.org: Speak Up!

Tolerance.org: Speak Up!

Your brother routinely makes anti-Semitic comments. Your neighbor uses the N-word in casual conversation. Your co-worker ribs you about your Italian surname, asking if you're in the mafia. Your classmate insults something by saying, "That's so gay."

And you stand there, in silence, thinking, "What can I say in response to that?" Or you laugh along, uncomfortably. Or, frustrated or angry, you walk away without saying anything, thinking later, "I should have said something."

In the spring of 2004, the Southern Poverty Law Center gathered hundreds of stories of everyday bigotry like these from people across the United States. They told their stories through e-mail, personal interviews and at roundtable discussions in four cities: Baltimore, Md.; Columbia, S.C.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Vancouver, Wash.

People spoke about encounters in stores and restaurants, on streets and in schools. They spoke about family, friends, classmates and co-workers. They told us what they did or didn't say — and what they wished they did or didn't say.

And no matter the location or relationship, the stories echo each other.

When a Native American man at one roundtable discussion spoke of feeling ostracized at work, a Jewish woman nodded in support. When an African American woman told of daily indignities of racism at school, a white man leaned forward and asked what he could do to help. When an elderly lesbian spoke of finally feeling brave enough to wear a rainbow pin in public, those around the table applauded her courage.

Speak Up! echoes that applause, encouraging everyone to take a stand against everyday bigotry.

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IVORY TOWER: Lessons for a Teacher

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IVORY TOWER: Lessons for a Teacher: IVORY TOWER: Lessons for a Teacher

Veteran teacher Dottie Blais writes openly about a question that too often is left unspoken and unanswered: How does a teacher's whiteness get in the way of successful multicultural education?

by Dottie Blais

Only one student ever told me to my face that she hated me and meant it. It happened more than 20 years ago, and I'll never forget the moment.

Shonda and I were seated across from each other in the shabby chairs of the teachers' lounge at the public high school of a small town in the Deep South. It was the only place I'd been able to find for our impromptu conference, and the matter at hand was urgent. Shonda wanted to drop out of the gifted program; in fact, she had already stopped coming to class. She had been vague with the counselor about her reasons, and she had not discussed the decision with me.

In our conference, I bombarded her with well-intentioned questions: What's going on? Is anything wrong at home? Why didn't you tell me you were having problems?

Her quiet answer shocked me: "I hate you."

"What?" I asked, even though I had heard quite clearly what she said.

"I hate you," she repeated without embellishment.

"Wh . . . Why?" I asked. But the conference was over because Shonda ran out of the room. Stunned, I couldn't even get out of my chair to go after her.

So Shonda dropped out of the program. Her parents didn't argue with her about her decision because they knew how strong-willed she was, and they wanted her to be happy. She simply stopped talking to me. For nearly a year I was left with unanswered questions. What had I done to elicit such hatred from her? How could I have failed her so miserably?

Stamp honors Fitzgerald, First Lady of Song - MUSIC - MSNBC.com

Stamp honors Fitzgerald, First Lady of Song - MUSIC - MSNBC.com

Ella Fitzgerald — the First Lady of Song — is being honored on a new postage stamp.

The 39-cent stamp will be released Wednesday at ceremonies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and will be on sale across the country. It’s the 30th stamp in the agency’s Black Heritage series.

“She would be very honored, very pleased and a little surprised,” said Ray Brown Jr., Fitzgerald’s son. “She didn’t go through life expecting all the accolades that she got. She was just happy to do her thing and be the best that she could be.”

An Educator's Stirring Coda - washingtonpost.com

An Educator's Stirring Coda - washingtonpost.com: More than 200 musicians came dressed in their concert black, toting trumpets, saxophones and violins that many had first picked up at age 11. Now with some in high school or college and others in their 20s and 30s, many had barely met before performing yesterday for about 1,200 people at Bethesda's Walt Whitman High School auditorium.

But they all wanted to please Frankie Ball, the tall, sharply dressed man in the front row bobbing his head to the beat.

Ball, 61, instrumental music teacher at nearby Thomas W. Pyle Middle School for 26 years, is retiring this month to focus on his cancer treatments. In a concert featuring a band, a string orchestra and two jazz ensembles, Ball's former students gathered to honor the beloved teacher credited with instilling musical appreciation in thousands of Bethesda children. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit cancer research.

U.S. Education Officials Question Diversity Standard - washingtonpost.com

U.S. Education Officials Question Diversity Standard - washingtonpost.com: The Education Department's general counsel is challenging the American Bar Association's new standard on diversity in enrollment and hiring, which calls for the law schools it accredits to take 'concrete action' to attract more minority students, faculty and staff.

The 400,000-member law association, which has accredited nearly 200 law schools nationwide, said it updated its standards last year after a 2003 Supreme Court ruling that said law schools could use race and ethnicity as factors in admissions with certain restrictions.

NCCRESt - National Forum 2007

NCCRESt - National Forum 2007

This year’s conference, Leadership for Equity and Excellence: Transforming Education, will be held in Washington D.C. at the Crystal Gateway Marriott on February 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2007. Educators, policy makers, advocacy groups, parents, and community members from across the United States will gather to explore how educational systems can assure equity in educational outcomes for all students through school improvement, leadership, family and community partnerships, policy, and teaching.

The focus for the three days will be to share current research, best practices, and tools for transforming educational systems. Last years conference drew over 500 of the nation’s top education experts, leading educators, policy makers, advocacy groups, parents, and community members. Comments from conference participants were…

This is the best conference I’ve attended in 10 years!

General education leaders need to attend this conference!

The sessions were outstanding!

NCCRESt will have more information posted as soon as it is available. Check the site often for information on call for proposals, online registration and keynote speakers.

Minorities and Science and Engineering Degrees: Attainment Statistics

Minorities and Science and Engineering Degrees: Attainment Statistics: Women have made significant progress in science and engineering, having earned half of bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent of master’s degrees and 37 percent of doctorates in science and engineering in 2003-2004. African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians continue to be under-represented, collectively earning 16 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 11 percent of master’s and barely 6 percent of doctorates for the same period, according to a report released Wednesday.

Other key highlights of the 16th edition of Professional Women and Minorities from the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology include:

· Since 1966, the percentage of bachelor’s degrees earned by women in science and engineering doubled from 24.8 percent to 50.4 percent in 2004.

· In 1966, women only earned 13.3 percent S&E master’s, but that figure tripled to 43.6 percent in 2004.

· Women earning doctorates showed the most growth; 37.4 percent of doctorates went to women in 2004, compared to 8.0 percent in 1966.

Despite their gains in degree attainment, women represented 25 percent of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics labor force in 2005. Women were mostly represented in social sciences, biological sciences, and psychology related occupations, but least represented in mechanical and civil engineering occupations.