Why is a white girl writing about black history? 

This all started when I taught at a residential treatment center and school for boys age 11-22. These boys/men were from inner cities with high crime and scary streets.

Many never learned to read or write until they came our way. Sometimes it was because they didn't go to school, and other times they were embarrassed and shy, and simply shut down never learning.

I taught a class to "hook them in" teaching about unknown (or little known), and famous black heroes in US history. The way I did this was with guided reading programs I created for books with these topics.  In guided reading, I write questions about the story line and they read to find the answers. This helps with focus, reading comprehension, building vocabulary and spelling, and sharing with a group.

Once they finished with the book (as a group) we watched a movie about the same topic and they wrote comparative essays, defending why they liked either the book or the movie better.  These boys/men gained confidence and ended up having great conversations and learned how to take constructive criticism and edit their writing for better results. They were proud of their work.

One of my students, a young man named Levi said "Miss Lady, I'm sorry to say this but I hate reading!" I said, "Mr. Man, you just haven't read the right books yet. By the time we're finished you will love it."

At the end of the semester, and before he graduated high school, Levi said to me that I was right and he loved to read and write now. He became a rapper in his own right.

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After all this, I wrote these articles for the Examiner.com from 2010-2014.