The rage, violence, and injustice highlighted over the past week reveals to me the need for more of the one thing that this weekly email is centered around: education. Knowledge alone is not a panacea, but it is a requisite for awareness and action.

Below, I'll share three links that I've explored or acted on this week to step away from the constant news & social media cycle, and to reflect on where the country is, how we got here, and how we can move forward.

Excerpt from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - "Learning to read and write" - It is no secret that those in power seek to maintain power through means of limiting information and education. That was built into the fabric of our nation as African slaves in America were banned from learning to read and write for centuries. In this famous excerpt that my students recently read, Douglass reveals the physical and emotional horrors of slavery, as well as the unimaginable resolve and dedication that he had to learn.

As we deal with misinformation, propaganda, and sound-bite thinking, I am reminded of the importance of treating education as a responsibility and privilege, and maintaining a determination to move closer to the truth.

Police Union Privileges - Being a police officer is an unimaginably difficult job. So much so, that I believe systems need to change in order to raise the level of training and standards for admission into the profession.

Without these changes, reckless violence and murder will happen at the same or an increased rate. When these instances do happen, there is another injustice that occurs, which I recently learned about. That is the unequal treatment of police and civilians in the criminal justice system due to the impact of police unions.

As a teacher, I've often struggled with the negative effects that unions have on systems, and I do believe that they often get in the way of positive change. It seems the same goes for the way police unions inhibit change in the criminal justice system. This article opened my eyes to some of the changes that need to be made and how entrenched interests are bad for our country.

Help kids get diverse books - We all see the world through our own frame, and I often view things through the way schools, teachers, students, and education technology are both impacted and can impact situations. Admittedly, that's a limited frame at times.

This week, though, I thought of how to support individual students, and my thoughts turned to Donors Choose. In particular, Literacy, Civics & History-related projects for Distance Learning.

I donated to this project, and if you have the means, I thought it'd be cool if sending this email to all of you might result in this teacher receiving the ~$250 or so more that she needs to get the books for her students. Consider donating if you can.

Thanks for reading,

Gerard Dawson