I was in the 5th grade, living deep in the Age of Mad Men, Evel Knievel and Benign Neglect. Based on pictures from that era, there’s irrefutable evidence that I was sporting a big Jewfro, wearing plaid bell bottoms, and hiding a set of mismatched front teeth behind swollen lips. You see, one of them … Continue reading AWARDS (Berkeley Freight & Salvage, April 2022)

Please enjoy the video of this winning story told at the San Francisco Moth StorySlam: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cGXDSqCteArcJEzTu0BGRJKOBjUjtmlF/view?usp=sharing

Before I dropped out of the University of Michigan, I tried to see how many different ways I could make my way home from Ann Arbor to Glenview, Illinois. I carpooled, took the train, motorcycled, bicycled (without the gun my Uncle Mikey offered to lend me… just in case). Then, one subzero December day, I … Continue reading TRANSIT (Berkeley Freight and Salvage, February 2020)

As a supervisor of principals in a large urban district, my job was simply to ensure middle school students who’d been quashed by institutional racism and smothered by low expectations would realize better learning outcomes.  I had no idea how immense the operational barriers were ‘til I opened a padlock and crawled into the belly … Continue reading BARRIERS (Berkeley Freight & Salvage, April 2018)