This is my very first post on this blog, P1, titled “The Skin You’re In,” and it certainly won’t be the last. The reader may ask, why the skin you’re in? As this blog continues to evolve over time, the unduly inquisitive answers will become evident. First, let me introduce myself to the readers of this blog. My age and appearance are not a true reflection of what lies behind my youthful, bright blue eyes. Some say that I see things much differently than others. Some say that I don’t live in the reality of my time. However, I will share a quote that I live by and have repeated many times in the course of many public speaking appearances. The following quote consists of powerful words spoken by a very wise and charismatic man, which helped shape my early public and social life: “There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not?” Robert Kennedy played a key role during my early teens, at a time when this country was in a social war with itself. I found those words to be a truly inspirational beacon of hope for myself as I struggled to understand and grapple with living and coming of age in an all-white southern small town. For a town that was so small, it was filled with racial hatred toward people of color. The N-Word and other racial slurs were heard so often that they were just an accepted form of speech, not only in private but also in public and echoed throughout the school hallways, even though there were no people of color living within miles of this tiny corner of the world. My Mama always said that I was different from most of the other boys in town. Different, meaning that I showed a great deal of sensitivity and compassion for others. She may have been right about me. To this day, I still cringe just as much as I did back in that tiny town when I hear the N-Word being used. The sound of the word leaves me with the feeling of scratching fingernails across a chalkboard. The screeching is almost unbearable. I have to admit that I pretty much hated growing up in that little town. However, the few times that I have gone back to visit have made me realize that those early experiences have helped shape my beliefs regarding how I value others and how I want others to value me. Those experiences and more like them have given me the inspiration to begin to share my untold story of a White Man who has stood up and spoken out against social and racial injustices, and more specifically, educational justice and reform, even though I have paid a steep price both personally and professionally for doing so.