This morning, I spontaneously awoke before five. In my mind was the image of Philando Castille, bleeding to death in the passenger seat of a car, a gun still pointed at him. The world watched his last breaths alongside his fiancee, with their little girl in the backseat. He was executed by an officer who was sworn to protect the Constitution. His crime was making the officer afraid--so afraid that he unloaded seven rounds from his state-issued weapon. Yesterday, a jury acqui

A few months ago, I was talking to an old friend of mine about his daughter’s experience in Kindergarten. Nick told me about his daughter confronting her teacher about George Washington. The teacher told the class that Washington was a great man. My friend’s daughter piped up, “but he owned slaves!” The teacher responded, “he was still a great man!” and expected the conversation to be over. As we stood in line waiting for sandwiches, Nick, who is Black, proceeded to express h

Ta-Nehisi Coates rose to the nation’s attention when his book, Between the World and Me won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction. I selected that book for our reading discussion group in March of 2016, and then in April we read Coates’ Atlantic article, The Case for Reparations , published in 2014. I have found Coates to be a master of our shared language and an insightful commentator on race and history, so I read hungrily when, in the January/February issue of the

After a powerful address by Dr. Homayra Ziad at the BHC Sisterhood's Interfaith Institute earlier this year, I decided to continue to pursue the stories of Muslims making their way in a world that regards them with suspicion. Dr. Ziad's talk was compelling, in part, because it skillfully wove personal stories with a sociological and historical analysis of the geopolitical reality that created Al Quaeda and ISIS. Since my goal is always greater empathy, I decided to assign an

On Tuesday March 7, a small group gathered at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation to discuss two essays by our fellow-Baltimorean, D. Watkins. Together, we read Stoop Stories and Too Poor for Pop Culture. Those of us gathered that evening were all relatively privileged--middle to upper-middle class, white skin, cis gendered. We all noted the stark difference between the Baltimore we know and the one that Watkins describes in his essays. Our group spent a good deal of time talking

This post marks the end of my participation in the I nstitute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies ' Imagining Justice in Baltimore program . It was originally published on the Huffington Post and the ICJS blog . Dear Daughter, I know sometimes it feels like I'm always away at meetings. For three nights this week alone, I will not be home for dinner with you. When you get a little older, perhaps I will bring you with me to some of my meetings. For now, I want you to k

Kathryn Edin Reveals the Lives of People Who Live on $2 a Day For our discussion on February 7, 2017, my fellow travelers and I read this article , which reviews the research and work of Hopkins scholar, Kathryn Edin. Edin is a sociologist who, not unlike Matthew Desmond, the author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City , combines statistical analysis with old-fashioned story telling. Edin works with folks in extreme poverty. People who, prior to her work, wer

I started this trip with a few other travelers right after the Uprising in Baltimore. Here are the books and articles we've read together between then and now: 1. Irving, Debby, Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race . 2. Alexander, Michelle, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 3. Coates, Ta-Nehisi, Between the World and Me , 4. Coates, Ta-Nehisi, " The Case for Reparations " in The Atlantic 5. Cracking the Codes: The Syste

I wanted to start B'more Incremental here, because it helps you understand why I am working for incremental change in the first place. This post was originally written as a part of my participation in the Institute for Islamic Christian and Jewish Studies ' I magining Justice in Baltimore project. It was originally published on ICJS's blog on the Huffington Post. Dear God, I have been asked to write an essay about how religion fits into imagining justice in Baltimore. I’v