Sixty years ago, as President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to college students at Ohio University and the University of Michigan in May 1964, he spoke publicly for the first time about the idea of a “Great Society”—and told students that young people could be its builders.
This is the joyous time of year when families, friends, and teachers are cheering on graduates of all ages who have worked so hard and made them all so proud.
Education
May 17 marks the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Like so many Black families, mine spent the spring of 1954 waiting anxiously for news of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case.
Early Childhood
May 6-10 is Teacher Appreciation Week this year, but in an era of headlines and concern about burnout and stress, I join many others who believe teachers should be applauded and deeply appreciated all year long.
On April 2, 109-year-olds Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle appeared together at a Tulsa courthouse in a hearing before Oklahoma’s Supreme Court. Mother Fletcher and Mother Randle, as they are known in their communities, are the last two known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
On March 27, the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park officially opened in Montgomery, Alabama—the newest extraordinary Legacy Site created by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).
As Christians prepare to celebrate Easter, in the midst of this holy season for so many faith traditions, I return again to the Easter Sunday service Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached in April 1957 at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, titled “Questions that Easter Answers.”