Whatever It Takes

More required reading for my teacher residency. In the words of my cohort coordinator:

"This book will serve to provide the big-picture background for the work we do at (...). It is an engaging discussion of the achievement gap and the exciting narrative of a particular approach to it. It’s well aligned with our mission, because Mr. Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone embraces the idea of preparing children and families for college success from a very young age." 


I concur. Geoffrey Canada is an inspiration. But Paul Tough's excellent narration is equally inspiring . 

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

As provocative as this title sounds today, James Weldon Johnson's raw memoir must have sparked even more controversy when first published in 1912.  This is a commentary on race-relations in turn of the century New York. Johnson was the first black executive secretary o f the NAACP; his conversational voice invites the reader into his experience as comrades do over coffee in the corner of a city cafe.