Gun Violence
The day after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was running for President, appeared at a Cleveland event and said instead of talking about politics he had to speak about the “mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.”
Early Childhood
Head Start began as an eight-week summer program; it has since served nearly 40 million children and families across the United States. But today, like other basic needs programs millions of children, young people, and families rely on, Head Start has been under attack.
Education
During this season I like to share some of the lessons for life I offered my own children and many of the extraordinary young graduates I’ve had the privilege of meeting over the years.
On this Mother’s Day weekend I share again special prayers for all mothers and all those who are tirelessly sowing seeds of life and hope for the future.
Education
Every year, the first full week of May is a chance to show special gratitude and thanks to America’s teachers. This year Teacher Appreciation Week comes at a moment when the nation’s Department of Education itself is under attack.
Education
This month marked a Civil Rights Movement anniversary: the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in April 1960.
Child Poverty
In 2020, when the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a holy season like no other, Pope Francis published an Easter Sunday letter directed to movements and organizations working for justice for people with low incomes and those experiencing poverty.
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act."
The night before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his prophetic final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a speech he almost didn’t give.
As Women’s History Month draws to a close, there’s been one more broad attack on methods of sharing our nation’s history: on March 27, President Donald Trump issued a new executive order affecting the 21 museums and 14 education and research centers that are part of the Smithsonian Institution, including the American Women’s History Museum, which is still years away from breaking ground on its official site, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Zoo.