My America is a blend of hard labor and kickback ease, peppered with a wide array of choices for an even wider array of people. My America is open to new ideas and change, although elders are still sought out for their grounded wisdom. My America supports public educators to do what they have been trained to do, with all the books at their disposal. My America isn’t afraid to give a helping hand to those who have fallen down, who have been held down, who have gotten lost or who have arrived from a nightmare. My America is only as strong as the weakest link, therefore we forge bonds to shore up the fragile among us. My America would ask everyone to pay taxes even if they are clever enough not to because we really need that level of support to provide a stable infrastructure for this great nation. My America would cancel military weapons from the hands of all these crazy white guys who are misguided into believing they are saviors. I know there is plenty I don’t understand about how this whole world spins but in My America I would stop believing the long list of lies that some people can’t resist telling us.
Hold on to Pride Month
Before June slips away, I do want to join the joyous joy that honors the LGBTQIA community, and join in those celebrations of love. Being an out lesbian who walked into her public school classroom for over three decades supported by administration, parents and students alike is certainly not something I ever took for granted, (although wouldn’t it be amazing if I could?). My small town USA allowed me to discuss Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Woolf, Harper Lee, Ellison, Wiesel and more, and in doing so explore the flaws and strengths of humankind, making connection from centuries past right up to our present doorstep. Teaching readers to acknowledge the vein of evil that flows along side that of kindness, the pitfalls of greed and deception that chip away at honor and responsibility, and through text feel the difference. Understanding these traits don’t belong more so to a religious right but come from a questioning mind and are worthy of pondering. Tonight, as two men take the debate stage, I can only hope that the electorate considers the whole of our nation. That what is at stake is more than a convicted felon and a proven gentleman making their case to America, it is the rights for people like me to continue wearing a gold band on my left hand.
An Irish Goodbye
After 31 years of walking into this almost hundred year-old regal school building greeting all those doing the same, and spending a day discussing excellent texts and fostering student responses I find myself driving away one final time on this hot June day. The waterfall of complicated emotions I’ve felt since I turned in my resignation is Niagara Falls in proportion. Finding myself unable to say a lengthy farewell to students or colleagues, instead overcome by the whole convergence of my living and breathing within this mighty vocation, I slipped away, opting for an Irish goodbye.


