Journal of a Black Teacher

By Don Allen The uproar over dress codes at historically Black colleges and universities is not really about bonnets, durags, bedroom shoes, suits, or hemlines. Those items have become symbols in a much larger argument about Black identity, respectability, professionalism and, ultimately, who gets to define what respectable Black culture looks like. While universities have every right to establish reasonable standards for students, the debate becomes much more complicated when those standards begin to suggest that certain forms of Black cultural expression are inherently incompatible with professionalism. There is a legitimate argument for standards. Colleges and universities have a responsibility to prepare students for professional environments, and that preparation includes understanding that different settings carry different expectations. HBCUs have historically understood this tension better than almost any other educational institution because generations of Black students enter...

Why does this happen? Because outrage generates attention, attention generates influence, and influence can translate into political power. I say the danger is that ordinary ‘us’ begin consuming politics as entertainment rather than examining policies, budgets, results, and leadership. The loudest voices become the trusted voices, even when they are wrong. By Don Allen The dolls, called MyGender Dolls , are paper-cutout therapeutic toys with swappable bodies, clothes, and genitalia. They’re designed for kids ages 4 to 10 who are transgender or gender diverse, to help them explore and express their gender identity in a clinical setting.  The project started at the University of Minnesota’s Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health . It began as an idea from psychologist Rachel Becker-Warner . The main creators and leaders who developed it are Dianne Berg, PhD,  and G. Nic Rider, PhD , both faculty in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. They got a...

Disclaimer: This editorial is not an attack on Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham. Rather, it is an academic examination of the broader meanings and implications that extend beyond the immediate event. It explores issues of social engineering, historical context, and the experiences of a people who have been both historically Black and historically American while continuing to grapple with promises that many believe remain unfulfilled, an "unsigned check" in the moral and civic sense. That gesture carries a heavy, often silent history of racial and gendered power in America. It might look like simple bravado on the court, but through the lens of race, that pointing finger starts to feel like a much more complicated symbol.  Keywords : Black safety, weaponizing privilege, gendered power, historical subjugation, white woman pointing, symbols.  By Don Allen  I have never been to a WNBA or NBA game at the Target Center in Minneapolis; it’s not my thing, and I don’t feel li...

A good teacher looks beyond the main character to help students discover that every person in a story has a purpose. Focusing on Alice's unnamed sister teaches students to read critically instead of simply following the plot. Her brief appearance frames the entire novel, representing the real world while Alice explores the world of imagination. By asking why Lewis Carroll included a sister without giving her a name, students begin to analyze symbolism, author's purpose, characterization, and theme. They learn that even minor characters can carry major ideas. This approach also encourages discussion about the role of mentors, caregivers, and quiet leaders whose influence often goes unnoticed. Rather than asking only, "What happened to Alice?" a skilled teacher asks, "Why did Carroll begin and end with her sister?" That single question moves students from remembering facts to interpreting literature, evaluating meaning, and appreciating how great authors use e...

By Don Allen We live in a nation frozen in a cycle of deep denial. As our national debt rapidly marches toward $39 trillion, and annual interest payments surpass the staggering $1 trillion threshold, the traditional political class offers no viable solutions [406, 815]. Instead, we are presented with a false choice: raise taxes on a struggling middle class or print more fiat money, diluting the purchasing power of the very citizens we claim to protect [1, 139]. Meanwhile, the social fabric of our communities continues to fray [424]. Disparities in educational readiness and long-term opportunity widen by zip code [577], and government bureaucratic programs consistently fail to deliver the high-quality early childhood outcomes necessary to break the cycle of generational poverty [424, 650]. As Strauss and Howe warned in The Fourth Turning, we are in a decisive era of upheaval where the old civic order must be replaced with a fresh lens of Western civilization values [134]. To break this...

  By Don Allen  Saturday night left me thinking about a question that educators, parents, and community leaders should all be asking: What is happening to our children? As I looked outside my home, I noticed five teenagers running from house to house in my neighborhood. They eventually entered an apartment building before making their way into my neighbor's backyard. Concerned about what I was seeing, I walked outside and asked, "Hey, you guys, what are you doing back there? What's going on?" One of the teenagers replied, "We're hiding. Someone's trying to kill us." I responded by telling them they couldn't be hiding in someone else's backyard because it was private property. I asked whether they wanted me to call the police. Instead of hearing respect or even an explanation, one of the teenagers responded by cursing at me. That encounter lasted less than a minute, but it represented something much larger than five young people trespassing...