Will I right-click on them and allow the computer to fix my words, or will I remember how they are spelled and re-write them myself? By habit I’ve been relying on memory as it seems that we lose cognitive ability little by little when we allow an artificial intelligence to replace our own. As it turns out, a lot has already been written by others exploring the same notion.
This inability exists because while the individual oxygen and hydrogen molecules of water can bind themselves to each other infinitely, they do not connect with the hydrocarbon (hydrogen and carbon) molecules found in oil. Immiscibility also describes my prior unwillingness to accept the version of America described by certain high school historians and college political scientists. To defend a purist view of history, they would often offer the life and works of Thomas Jefferson. Ironically, Jefferson also has something to offer those seeking a more comprehensive historical view.
When my oldest son graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in computer science…
..earlier in May, he signified the kind of intergenerational momentum I discussed in a 2020 blog post. To state that part of his momentum comes from his grandparents is perhaps to state the obvious. What wouldn’t be obvious is the specificity of a connection that he shares with one of his grandmothers.
Now imagine seeing small wooden mallets spaced about three feet apart where plates might go. Focusing in, you then see two identical containers of spice sitting the middle of the table. What kind of spice is it? What is about to happen? If you have spent even one summer in Maryland, you were likely able to conjure up in your mind two small shakers of Old Bay seasoning, that shall be sprinkled on the blue shell crabs about to hit the table. Your prior experience has prepared you to anticipate what would be appropriate given the setting you observed.
early experiments in African American education, with a history of educators offering progressive commentary on them. Instead, I can’t get past a recent self-discovery and reflection. While I have been doing some light coding for years to automate small features on MS Access databases, or to build data visualizations, there was always something about coding loops (iterative processes) that always took time for my mind to process.
Suddenly this week, as I was working on a small challenge to clean up data in a database field, my mind presented to me a loop that would fix the problem. How does this happen?
Yet, the historic record of what was likely to be the first school in the nation founded to educate Black students is revelatory. That record opens a narrative showing how for more than 260 years and counting, ambitious Black families seeking excellence have had to settle for the educational equivalent of “hog maws”.
Continue reading Historical Perspectives On Achievement, Part I
…was the shifting context in which Dr. King uttered them. The Deep South back then thought him “uppity” and “militant” because of his eloquent insistence for equal justice. He stood up to their constant saber rattling, gainsaying, and eventual fire-bombing with a piercing intellect. Grudgingly, the South along with the rest of America eventually accepted that his thoughts on race and class should be heard. But once he tied Vietnam to his principled stance on non-violence and the status of Blacks in America, again, pundits promptly pounced.
So many have lost so much during 2020. At times, writing about academic achievement almost seems trite by comparison. Yet, students are still studying and still applying to school. Despite the travails of today, our collective future will still come, and our children need to be ready.
As such, the details that we’ve written find deeper meaning when we look back at what came before them. Where were our grandparents raised? What were their ambitions? Who were they and how did they define success? What if we are unwittingly living out their unfulfilled dreams? Knowing the answers to these questions might bring our image of achievement into focus.
Recently I was at a Home Depot when a young African American man was helping me with a propane gas purchase. To get to where I was waiting for him, he sprinted like a running back I would have blocked for if we were on the same team (so long ago). Releasing the mental image into the air I said, “someone give that brother a football!” We both laughed. Then, in response he said, “Can I ask you a question?”
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