All of our kids, ready for life
Rise Up for Students is a blog advocating for racial equity and radical empathy in our schools, in Seattle and beyond
Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people like Shirley Franklin who are boldly shaping the future. The 2024 installment marks the sixth Black History Today series published on Rise Up for Students since 2018.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people like Josephine Howell who are boldly shaping the future. The 2024 installment marks the sixth Black History Today series published on Rise Up for Students since 2018.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in celebration of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Eddie Francis who are shaping the future.
Read MoreWalker left the University of Michigan after one season and started playing ball for a minor league team in Toledo. After winning a league championship in 1883, the Toledo team joined the American Association, which was one of the “major leagues” of the time.
So, on May 1, 1884 — Opening Day of the American Association season — Walker started at catcher and became the first Black player to play in the big leagues.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Proofntheplay who are shaping the future.
Read MoreI had a letter to the editor published in the Seattle Times on July 5, 2019, about the school board appointing Betty Patu’s successor.
Read MoreThis is the year, if there ever was one, to really change Seattle Public Schools. In addition to the four seats up for election this fall, two additional school board members in Seattle (Betty Patu and Zachary DeWolf) have announced their desire to resign this year and vacate their seats early.
The school board only has seven members to begin with. By the end of this year, we could essentially have a completely new school board.
Read MoreThe quintessential question is, how are we shaping our legacies as educators every single day? How are we cultivating minds early that aim to create change in and for their own communities? Are we dream-keepers or are we gatekeepers?
Read MoreOne evening, sitting on the floor in our hotel room in Oakland, Zeke started drumming on a plastic cup.
“This song is about a town where everything is white,” he told me after a few minutes. “White, white, white. Everything used to be rainbow colored, but something happened to turn it all white. Now they can’t tell what house is theirs. Everything looks the same.”
Then he sang for a while as he drummed.
Read MoreI was lucky enough to participate in the first Indigenous Peoples March in Washington DC on Friday. Listen to the sounds that surrounded me and join me in considering your place in all of this.
Read MoreDon’t forget that it’s up to us, all of it. All of this. If we don’t upend the current state of affairs, who will? If we don’t fight oppression, who will?
We know what we know. I hope that if nothing else, this might inspire you to think hard. If you saw a movie with yourself as the main character, knowing what you know, what you would expect that character to do? What would that character find him or herself doing in the name of living out your principles?
Read MoreOur house is bursting at the seams in all kinds of ways these days, and we are particularly lucky to be overflowing with books of all kinds — especially for kids. We have shelves filled with kids books written by people of color, and it’s fun to sift through them. (I’d love to keep sharing them with you, incidentally.)
We also have some that are like this one: books written about people of one race by people of another, or about one gender by another, as is the case with “Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics,” written by Jason Porath. The question of why he, a self-described "random white guy from Kentucky,” was writing a book about women, is probably best answered by his dedication page, which reads, “
I suppose you want a mix, in the end, but it remains important to be conscious of this dynamic, and that we are intentional about hearing authentic storytellers.
What do you think?
Read MoreRight now, at this moment, I have two kids: a nine-year-old who is technically my stepson, and a three-year-old who is my biological son.
Julian and I met just before he turned two, so we’ve been together a long time now. Loving and parenting him have changed my life in ways that were immediate and ways that have turned out to be gradual.
When Zeke came, change struck in a bewildering flash.
Read MoreMeet one of the founding teachers at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy High School in South Seattle: Sylvia Hadnot, multicultural educator extraordinaire. From jazz to ecological history to art leadership and more, Sylvia brings real-world knowledge and experience into her classroom.
Read MoreBack in 2010, I saw the band Frightened Rabbit play a beautiful show at a little venue in Portland called Berbati’s Pan.
I’d been listening to their album, The Midnight Organ Fight, almost non-stop for a long time at that point. It’s such a sad set of songs, but so earnest. So beautiful in their vulnerability and in lead singer/songwriter Scott Hutchison’s way of describing heartbreak, loss, depression and thoughts of suicide that is intimately relatable and also unlike I’ve ever heard it said before.
Scott went missing a couple days ago, with friends and family describing him as having been in a “fragile state.” Police in Scotland found his body today. A few days ago, he and I were both 36. Now he was 36, and I still am.
Read MoreWhen I think about powerful leaders, I think about those who are constantly in the mode of service. Utilizing their gifts and talents for the benefit of others.
When I think of one of those people I am always struck by the talent and deep humility of Jacqueline Hardy. She comes from an incredible line in the same last name but is a musical icon in the Pacific Northwest and around the country.
Read MoreCheck out music from Matt Halvorson
