The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is not the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The BLM movement started because of excess use of force and militarized policing that result in the deaths of Black people. It has evolved to also address the systemic racism that leads to inequities (healthcare, income, & education) and injustices (lack of police transparency, accountability, mass incarceration, bail & jail, and housing, etc.).

The BDS movement started because Israel did not elect to follow the advisory opinion of the international court that results in quality of life issues for the Palestinian people. Palestinian people feel…

I want to clarify a few things about a recent article written about me that seemingly favors the incumbent:

1) I am not just a “self-described” activist. I am an activist and advocate. I also earned a doctorate degree in education with a focus on educational leadership and management. My dissertation (I also published a book) focused on multicultural and multilingual education (an educational resource related to cultural diversity and educational equity). I am a published author, artist, educator, entrepreneur, diversity & inclusion expert, and I founded a few schools with other dynamic individuals. I also earned an MPA from…

Poor people of all races are vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Black and Brown people are dying at a disproportionate rate across our nation from this indiscriminate virus.

Incarcerated people are disproportionately Black, the homeless population is disproportionately Black, and the majority of the people detained by ICE are Brown.

I hope for no human to die and it is sad to see the data and actually witness in real-time the systemic inequities and injustices Black/Brown and poor people continue to experience.

This unprecedented pandemic in our lifetime is forcing a new revolution. Unfortunately, many people will die, lose wealth, and some will suffer physically and emotionally.

My hope is for healing, safety, and wellness. I hope for everyone to equitably thrive. This may require personal sacrifices, giving up & sharing, collective collaboration, and reallocation/reprioritization of resources. I realize there is a lot of uncertainty and people are fighting for their health, lives, and livelihood. Sadness and suffering are inevitable, and I hope we can all safely manage our health (physical/mental/emotional/spiritual) and survive this challenging time.

My hope is that when we…

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, and it has revealed educational gaps that must be addressed now and for the future. Many educational leaders were not prepared to close schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and this resulted in slow decisions and inadequate rollout of distance/virtual learning. As educational leaders, it behooves us to do what we can to ensure we may equitably meet the needs of our students, teachers, and support staff especially during a viral pandemic.

Below is an eight-point plan to help educational leaders manage current gaps and be better prepared in the future:

1. Equity

When leaders consider…

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was considered controversial. Contrary to what many people believe today, Dr. King was not well liked at the time of his death. His popularity declined as he spoke more against war and economic inequities. Today, Dr. King is revered as one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders in the world. Indeed, Dr. King was an exceptional individual… he was also an imperfect human being.

Some people consider Dr. King as the “Moses of the Movement”, and like Moses, Martin was not perfect. Martin was addicted to smoking cigarettes and he made mistakes. In the…

Authentic solidarity can’t exist without respect and truth

Solidarity can only exist between Black people and Jews when there is respect and truth. Black and Jewish people share a story that has the same introduction, but different chapters. We started at the same line, and this line sometimes intersects, yet it separates… somehow.

From Egypt to other parts of Africa, to other areas around the world, we Jews have experienced enslavement, persecution, oppression, segregation, and discrimination. We have built a resilience that maintains our survival. Over time our stories have changed, Black Jews continued on a different path from non-Black…

The increasing and recent attacks against Jews are deplorable. My thought, prayers, and actions are with my Jewish brothers and sisters.

Systemic injustice, structural racism, threats for existing, and violence from law enforcement against Black/Brown people are disgraceful. The missing and murdered Indigenous women and the inhumane treatment of people at the southern US border are shameful. The Islamophobia, targeting, and oppression of Muslims are lamentable.

No human life is greater or more valuable than the next and we should condemn all forms of hate and protect humanity. …