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I graduated from Bowdoin College and went to the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Then I left and took a job teaching really poor inner-city white kids in Boston. It was interesting to me because I'd never been around poor whites before.

Geoffrey Canada

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Geoffrey Canada
Age: 72
Born: 1952
Born: January 13
Social Activist
Writer
The Bronx
New York City
Left
College
Graduate
Kids
Cities
Harvard
Around
Went
Graduates
School
Education
Boston
Really
Poor
Inner
Never
Interesting
City
White
Took
Graduated
Jobs
Teaching
Whites

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Monsters work seven days a week and don't take vacations.
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Why is it that when we had rotary phones, when we were having folks being crippled by polio, that we were teaching the same way then that we're doing right now?
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One of the things that sells music is when the artist is looked at as someone who's come up from the streets. Not just any streets, but the toughest, meanest streets of the urban ghetto. And that's called 'street credibility'.
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It's easy to have faith when everything is going great. The real test of faith is when you're facing something that only your faith in God will get you through.
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One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist. I was like what do you mean he's not real. And she thought I was crying because it’s like Santa Claus is not real and I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.
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Many schools today are sacrificing social studies, the arts and physical education so children can cover basic subjects like math, English and science.
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There is an educational cliff we are walking over right this very second.
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You have to be prepared to think outside the box...Stand back and think about what we could do creativity. We've got to do that to push the field forward.
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When I was growing up, kids used to talk about snitching... It never extended as a cultural norm outside of the gangsters.
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When the safety of America is threatened, we will spend any amount of money. The real safety of our nation is preparing this next generation so that they can take our place [in] thinking and technology and democracy.
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An extended school day gives administrators the ability to ensure children get a well-rounded education.
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Over the past five years, I've met several presidents, several secretaries of education ... and there is no plan. If you want to save your children, you're going to have to do it yourself. It's just us.
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When kids know that you refuse to let them fail ... they don't give up as easy. So sometimes they don't have it inside, [but] they're like,'You know, I don't want to do this, but I know my mother's going to be mad.'That matters to kids, and it helps get them through.
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Osama Bin Laden is not going to come here and destroy America. Our education system is doing that just fine.
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Build an organization that can tackle the tough things and keep moving.
Geoffrey Canada