Dear COSEBOC friends,
I’m sure you have heard the old saying, “The more things seem to change,The more they stay the same”. Recently, while taking some time to shred old documents and review files, I stumbled upon a treasure. It was video footage recorded on January 14,1992 when I was a principal in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. I hosted a district wide gathering around the topic, The Plight of African American Males.
This summit was designed around and rooted in a question posed to me when I was interviewed as a candidate for principal of the Peabody Elementary School. The question, If hired, Mr. Walker what will you do with black boys has remained etched in my mind, over all these years. My reply was immediate, the same thing that I will do with white boys and all students, Teach them.
This video shows the discussion that was emerging at the time around the education and development of black male students. It was facilitated by the outstanding attorney, professor and friend Charles Ogletree. As ou view it think about the things that have changed and those that have remained the same regarding the education and development of black boys.