WASHINGTON POST 02/22/13 By Michael Shank At the corner of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, in Anacostia, a totem pole will rise from a plain patch of vacant ground this spring. It may seem odd that a Native American totem pole was the piece of public […]
DIANE RAVITCH 02/18/13 By Diane Ravitch During Michelle Rhee’s book tour, the nation will hear a lot of claims about the dramatic changes she imposed on the D.C. schools, which qualifies her to export her ideas to the rest of the nation. What should other states and cities seek to […]
DOCTORAL DISSERTATION 02/2013 By Michael Shank ABSTRACT Researchers and practitioners in the field of conflict analysis and resolution have realized the important contribution environmental conflict plays in the ever-evolving field of conflict theory and conflict practice. Simultaneously, conflict researchers trained in positioning theory, identity theory, discourse and narrative analysis, are […]
WASHINGTON POST 02/11/13 By Michael Shank When it comes to forecasting the educational future of District youth, especially for those living in low-income communities, there are some impressive words and initiatives being thrown around by past and present city leadership. Whether it’s Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s “Raise D.C.,” a recently […]
WASHINGTON POST 02/06/13 By Michael Shank This month marks one year since my next-door neighbors in Anacostia moved out. They didn’t want to leave. They left because they couldn’t afford it. It was a single mother and her 15-year-old son, and for the purposes of confidentiality, I’ll call them Roz […]
WASHINGTON POST 02/04/13 By Michael Shank As Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated last month with community service ads and intimations in President Obama’s inauguration speech, I wondered, as I do every year, how the nation can commemorate a leader so disingenuously. We will likely do the same during […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 01/24/13 By Michael Shank With New York State legislature laying down the law on gun control, and with the White House taskforce announcing similar measures, it is clear that the National Rifle Association isn’t ruling this roost—at least at the state legislature and executive branch […]
THE GUARDIAN 01/23/13 By Michael Shank GOP hawks who defend the US military’s budget from Chuck Hagel’s charge of ‘bloated’ must account for why it isn’t audited No matter how much Congress softens the sequestration’s austerity footprint, everyone in government will have to nip-and-tuck in order to balance budgets. And […]
WASHINGTON POST 01/04/13 By Lisa Miller The week before Christmas, 3 million people watched the Discovery Channel’s new reality show, “Amish Mafia,” making it the second-most-viewed cable show that night, after the trashy hit “Moonshiners.” This is surprising for two reasons: First, it reveals Americans’ enduring fetish with all things […]
NEW JERSEY NEWSROOM 12/29/13 By Bob Holt The three police officers being shot in Gloucester Township on Friday only renews the debates about gun control. One of the questions has been whether the NRA is listening to the debates since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. The four million member […]