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My retirement certificate
from Jefferson High School
in South-Central Los Angeles
was still wet
around the edges
:::
In 2004,
I moved from California
to Virginia
to be close to my
Sister
+
her family
:::
For something to compromise
my disturbing surplus
of free time,
I got a job
teaching math
at a school named for
a Confederate General
:::
The most serious subject
discussed
in the faculty lounge
had to do with
"The Process"
as in
How many of your chickens
were processed this week?
:::
was within walking distance
of the school
where I fit in
like a brown shoe
on a warm hand
:::
Out of 250 students
in my roster,
only one has been
remembered
by both
first name
+
surname:
That student was
TOBY KNIGHT
which was the same name
as a Long Island student of mine
whose basketball skills
were good enough
for him to play
professionally for
:::
The student photographed here
is named
"Antonio"
He was a bit of a wise ass
in every class
but mine
:::
I earned
genuine gratitude
from numerous
Turner Ashby teachers
because
whenever Antonio
misbehaved
in their classroom,
they sent the Mexican boy
to Mr. Oliverio
Then
he would sit quietly
in the back of my classroom
and draw cartoons
:::
Like a real idiot,
I never saved any
of the ones
he gave me
BUT
they did make me
laugh
:::
The one year
I was there,
the student body
of Turner Ashby
was 95% white,
3% Negro,
2% Latino,
+
3 Asian students
The faculty was virtually
all white
with the exception
of Oliverio
whose heart and soul
was as black
as Harlem
where my father
had lived
and
where my mother
had some wonderful
experiences
BUT
not as many
as I would have,
fresh out of college
:::
:::
:::
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