Dr. T. Smith

Stevie Wonder recording "As" during the making of Songs in the Key of Life, 1976. A song about unconditional love, and one of the most transcendent recordings of his career.

The United States has only been genuinely a democracy since 1965. Today the Supreme Court gutted the legislation that made it possible.

North Carolina ranks 46th in teacher pay, and now Wake County teachers are protesting May 1st just for basic support. GOP leaders still can’t pass a real budget with meaningful raises. We should be paying teachers enough to stay, not pushing them out.

Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities - so long as they do it under the guise of “partisanship” rather than explicit “racial bias.” And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach. The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers - not just in the upcoming midterms or in high profile races, but in every election and every level.

“It just means everything”: Congratulations to the National Teacher of the Year, Leon Smith, a social studies educator at Haverford High School in Havertown, Pennsylvania! Mr. Smith, who also coaches the school’s freshman basketball team, gets a surprise from a very special basketball legend, whom he’s long looked up to.