The Elephant in the room?
It wasn't until I entered my freshman year at Booker T Washington High School in Tulsa Oklahoma,
that I discovered what inequity meant.  Even though it was a magnet school many of my friends and
classmates were recruited into the school for other reasons including myself (track and field). Many
of my friends and classmates were members of the elite and legacies.  I am unable to count how
many times I was unable to go out with my friends because my primary mission after school and 
practice was to get home,assist in preparing dinner for my younger brothers and sisters and do my
homework. Inequity as always existed when it comes to academics, that's why schools were created to
accommodate African Americans such as Tuskegee, Howard, Prairie View, and Southern
Universities(shoutouts to Dr. A. Smothers, Ms. V. Williams). Inequity has now reared its head in another
form, technology and internet access.  The coronavirus pandemic has opened their eyes to this inequity
or has it?   I believe that this new inequality is the elephant in the room that few people have  ever 
wanted to discuss. Surely if a student qualifies for free or reduced lunch and an SAT waiver it's safe
to say they lack many more of the comforts of home. To expect a student who does not have internet
access to complete an assignment on Google classroom, Nearpod, or Schoology is programming that
student for failure on many levels. Many of my students, in fact some of my best and brightest
students are DACA recipients, and even though many of them lack things they get the job done time
and time again. The next step in the digital revolution is for governments at the state or local level to
offer low band internet to families across America. It does not have to be top tier, just enough to allow
them to apply for jobs, and complete their coursework. One of the songs that I listen to on the way to
school is wake up everybody by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes to quote a line:

“Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
'Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children teach em the very best you can”
This song was written in 1975, and is more relevant now than ever before. The only way to intervene
and stop the poverty cycle is at school, offering families internet access can help bridge that gap. 

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