By Debora Gordon Many, perhaps most, parts of this story have been hard to tell. I often imagine someone who might be personally affected by a particular part of the story looking over my shoulder. […]
By Debora Gordon Thi Bui, an art and digital media teacher at Oakland International High School, described herself as “a little reckless. I break a lot of rules. I’m very comfortable letting go of the […]
By Debora Gordon Every time a student does poorly in school, or drops out, there is likely a great increase in the chances he will wind up in prison. I recall in my discussion with […]
By Debora Gordon On Sunday, December 9th, I headed back to prison. When I arrived, I learned the previous day’s lock down had been lifted. Many of the same visitors were there again. The woman […]
By Debora Gordon After my visit with Lt. Smith, I had some time to kill that Friday evening in Delano, California. While there may be more than meets the tourist eye, what the casual passer-through […]
By Debora Gordon One of the coolest things happening in the Oakland Unified School District right now is the high tech mobile adult education classroom, an RV outfitted with Wi-Fi and laptops, driven by Teacher […]
By Debora Gordon I drove down to visit Lam in the Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) the weekend of December 7ththrough December 10th. I checked in by phone and email with the Public Information Officer, […]
By Debora Gordon Gaylynne Hudson and her husband bought their East Oakland home at the height of the real estate boom. They paid about $370,000 for their home off Foothill Boulevard in February 2005. Both […]
Some of Jill’s students have terminal conditions, which affects her deeply. “I get incredibly emotional,” she said. “There is often all sorts of other things going on in the family. You’re in their house. You get very involved with these kids. I had a student who was getting dialysis six days a week, and there were four other sons. I couldn’t help but try to do all sorts of things. I bought groceries, helped with their other kids.”
Jill often finds herself offering comfort to the family. “The mothers cry, and I cry. A lot of students are dealing not only with being ill, they feel like they’re being punished. And the parents often feel so guilty, feeling ‘how come I, as a mother, couldn’t have prevented this?’” […]
By Debora Gordon Rachel-Anne Palacios’ grandmother was the spark that lit Rachel’s artistic fire. “I never did any kind of serious art,” she says, “but I would make things for my grandma for her birthday […]
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