Don't Criticize Have a Conversation

 

Nikole Hannah-Jones seems very smart and very honest. Americans are basically not very honest when discussing public education. I rarely hear a discussion about the history, the purpose, and reality of public education in the United States. 

Nikole Hannah-Jones should not be criticized for not choosing a better school for her child, but exposing how hopeless public education is for most working class families.

Marc Sims

Chicago

PBS

Nikole Hannah-Jones responds to the controversy over her new essay

Nikole Hannah-Jones sent her daughter, to a local high-poverty, predominantly Black elementary school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr3ny2ok8Vs

My daughter is in an all Black school, and culturally it is amazing, educationally, it is a bit of a sacrifice.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVIWFgCvcjQ&feature=youtu.be&t=2993

An Argument

Nikole Hannah-Jones

This American Life

https://www.thisamericanlife.org

Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own

Nikole Hannah-Jones

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html

Success

 A few thoughts on success

Success is a gift. "It is not the brightest who succeed . . . Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf”. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities - and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them." 

Malcolm Gladwell Outliers

"The tragedy is that society (your school, your boss, your government, your family) keeps drumming the genius part out. The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain, in which we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability." 

Seth Godin Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

You can't be successful all by yourself. Other people make you successful. That's why you have to focus on other people, not yourself. 

Al Ries & Jack Trout: HORSE SENSE 

I believe, as I suspect most people do, that the potential for change among human beings is virtually limitless. But I also believe----- and my work on this book has strengthened this belief---- that it takes a truly exceptional person to transcend his or her social environment and that we are shaped (and limited) by our backgrounds and by the thinking of our generation more than we know or are comfortable admitting, even to ourselves. 

Ellis Cose The End of Anger

Marc Sims

Chicago

Teach Money

 

I ain't mad at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. I want to teach CPS students how to get a six figure income and multi-million dollar pension.

Marc Sims

Chicago

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is currently set to receive a pension worth an estimated $3.8 million through the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund and the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-public-pensions-to-be-worth-3-8m-5-5m-thanks-loopholes