As someone who idolized Kobe Bryant growing up, I was hurting yesterday. My first thoughts after hearing about his passing were all the times I would copy his footwork in the gym, hit the little shoulder shimmy and fadeaway, in my mind hitting game winners, like Kobe.
With the death of the legend, and personal icon, the latest 8 Black Hands education episode was truly therapeutic.
The fellas started the show with reflections on fatherhood, family, and the fragility of life. All this in the wake of the untimely passing of Kobe Bean Bryant at the age of 41, along with his daughter Gigi and the families and pilot with them on a fateful helicopter ride in Calabasas, California.
In a poignant transition, Dr. Charles Cole Ed.D and Chris “Citizen” Stewart discuss the importance of dedicating your life to work that you believe in, and how even in those waning moments, you can know that you were focused on the right things. In this case, for all of the 8 Black hands crew, it’s the fight to liberate black minds.
For the rest of the show, they discuss a new report from brightbeam (Citizen Ed’s parent organization) titled “The Secret Shame: How America’s Most Progressive Cities Betray Their Commitment to Educational Opportunity for All.” The guys have some solid back and forth on what the report means as far as progressive values and how they translate to results for students of color across the country.
Listen to the full episode below:
