Parker old times: May 2008

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Frogs marching

One of the reasons our children are who they are

Catie and Ricky learned how to trust and love those outside their family here. They learned to share and get along with others. They were treated with love and respect. They would not be the caring, independent, confident kids they are today without their time here.

A note on the randomness of life: I was working down the street from this place and happened to see my old boss Katy heading inside. Ricky wasn't born yet -- due in a few months. I adored Katy and she invited me inside. I fell in love from the first moment. All over the walls were posters the kids made. Inside each classroom were loving teachers and comfortable kids. There was a peace and strength inside the building. Staff was calm and so were the kids. I put my name on the waiting list and never regreted it for a moment.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Ricky visits with living history

Fifty years ago Minniejean Brown made history.

Minnijean Brown-Trickey (born September 11, 1941)[1] was one of a group of African-American teenagers known as the "Little Rock Nine." On September 25, 1957, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience, Minnijean Brown-Trickey faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate Central High. She was later expelled from Little Rock Central High School in 1958 for several reasons, among them an incident in which she dropped her tray which had chili on it and the chili splattered on the white students in the cafeteria where they had been verbally abusing her. The chili incident was a clear expression of the meeting to stop integration and get one of the Little Rock Nine expelled.
This seminal event in to American history was just the beginning of Brown-Trickey's long career as a crusader for civil rights. She has spent her life fighting for the rights of minority groups and the dispossessed. For her work, she has received the Congressional Gold Medal, the Wolf Award, the Spingarn Medal, and many other citations and awards. Under the Clinton administration, she served for a time as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior responsible for diversity. Currently, she lives in Maryland, and is continuing her work for civil rights and social equality. She is also working on her autobiography, tentatively entitled Mixed Blessing: Living Black in North America.