Sources

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the folks who are my lifeline when it comes to writing this blog. You just can’t do a local thing like this without connections. And advice. And second opinions. This put me in mind of an old family story I shared years ago on the blog:

19 Closest Friends

Years ago, my sister's high school boyfriend came to her with a story of a nightmare. He dreamed that she had died and had left everything to her "19 Closest Friends." He spent the whole dream trying to find out if he was one of them. For some reason, the story of the 19 Closest Friends became legendary in my family. It still means something to me, many years later.

Or maybe I could think of them like BoE Member Vicky Cutroneo’s “Unusual Coalition”. I like that concept, too.

During the campaign someone referred to my supporters as unusual coalition. I take that as a compliment and I’d like to thank my unusual coalition for their support.

Except they’re not really any kind of coalition. You might be surprised who they are. You might not. But I’m definitely grateful for their support.

The thing is, as fascinating and as valuable as these people are (and worthy of praise, I might add) it would be just the wrong thing to do to thrust them out on the public stage for the purposes of a good blog post. This is not the “kiss cam” or a roving spotlight bent on creating celebrity or notoriety. “Outing” them without their consent would hardly be a way to show my heartfelt appreciation.

They know who they are. And you’ll just have to take my word for it.

There are some very good people I know I can reach out to for a piece of information or a judgement call. They help me make connections and sometimes ask questions to make me think more. They are a valuable part of what makes Village Green/Town² tick.

Today’s post is a thank you note to them, as well as an admission that no good community writer can do it alone.

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Teacher Gifts

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Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

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