This book is a classic in education. The work that Shelley Harwayne has done  in Education has stayed with all of us which is the reason why this book is in my "reread pile." You are never really done with this book. If you are feeling uninspired, Shelley's words will redirect your energy to the right place. If you are feeling lost, Shelley's philosophical beliefs will keep you grounded and will invite you to dig out yours. There are so many things to share about this book. It deserves it's own blog post which I will. For now, this is the book that I am taking with me everywhere. 

"What has become my turf is how best to support the efforts of students, teachers and parents who are determined to lead literate lives" Shelley Harwayne

Patrisse Khan-Cullors is one of the co-founder of Black Lives Matter and along with Asha Bandele, wrote a book that reveals the heartbreaking stories of so many Black families seeking justice and acknowledgment. I admit that my knowledge of Black Lives Matter is basic. I knew what it was written on newspaper and shared on podcast but I didn't have the deep understanding that I have now after reading this amazing book. I believe this should be a mandatory reading for ALL American citizens because to be discriminated, to be invisible by your own country, by your own fellow Americans it's not acceptable. I invite you to feel uncomfortable, to cringe while reading the true stories shared in this book. I invite you to widen your perspective so that we, as educators, can do a better job of servicing all of the children and youth that walks into our classroom. 

Here are some quotes from the book that moved me, marked me, and changed me.  I can't do justice to this book by writing a little bit about it. You'll just have to read it. And then let me know how it changed you because that is a guaranteed. 

Later when I hear others dismissing our voices, our protest for equity, by saying All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter, I will wonder how many white Americans are dragged out of their beds in the middle of the night because they fit a vague description offered up by God know who. How many skinny, short, blond men were rounded up when Dylann Roof massacred people in prayer? How many brown-haired white men were snatched out of bed when Bundy was killing women for sport?  How many  gawky white teens were stopped and frisked after Columbine, or any of the mass shootings that have occurred in this nation, the immeasurably wide margin of them by young, white men?

We know that if we can get the nation to see, say and understand that Black Lives Matter, then every life would stand a chance. Black people are the only humans in this nation ever legally designated, after all, as not human. Which is not to erase any group’s harm or ongoing pain, in particular the genocide carried out against First Nation peoples. But it is to say that there is something quite basic that has to be addressed in the culture, in the hearts and minds of people who have benefited from, and were raised up on, the notion that Black people are not fully human.