Who Polices the Police?

It has been an awful few days in America and it is important, as my friend, Jimmy Friday, says in his reflection below, “Is it nice to look away?” In the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, a white woman in New York City calls the police on a Black man who asked her to leash

This Teacher Appreciates Teachers

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher. I’ve had some great teachers and I’ve had some weak ones. Both influenced me for the good. Sometimes, seeing something done poorly can be a powerful motivation to do it well. But mostly, teachers who stirred up something inside me have had

JosephRoss.net Gets a Fresh Cut!

With Raising King coming out in September, I wanted for my website to get a fresh cut! It’s been a while in the making, but it’s finally done. Big Thanks to Robert Waxman. Without his skill and patience it would never have happened. The site has many of the same elements as the old one

Raising King on 9/15/2020

Raising King invites readers to journey with Martin Luther King, Jr. from Montgomery to Memphis. These poems, some in Dr. King’s voice, some in other voices from his time, offer the reader a new way to understand the compassionate and prophetic life of Dr. King. I’m excited to say that Raising King will be available

From Home: “A Single Garment of Destiny”

Friends: Today I begin a series of reflections titled “From Home.” While I, like millions of others during this pandemic, am working and writing from home, I want to use some of my time to reflect on our times, our world, my country, my own days. I begin this series exploring one of Dr. Martin Luther

Christmas 2019: A Wounded World

In the northern hemisphere, these are the darkest days of the year. The hours of daylight drop to their smallest number until the Solstice, on December 22nd. Until then, the light in the world dims. The world’s darkness isn’t only physical, of course. In Washington, D.C. where I live, the physical world is darkening with

Using Winter – Using Darkness

I often dread the winter. I don’t know if it’s undiagnosed Seasonal Mood Disorder or just my Southern California upbringing disliking the cold. But I do. I don’t want less sunlight. I want more. I don’t want to wear sweaters and coats. I want warmth. Recently, I’ve been making a more deliberate effort to find

Remember the Martyrs of Birmingham

September 15, 1963 was a dreadful day in America. It was an especially brutal day in Birmingham, Alabama. Just a few weeks after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when Dr. King spoke of “The Dream” and peoples’ hopes for civil rights victories soared, Birmingham, Alabama reminded America how painful and costly the

Teaching Year 31: Questions & Hope

Last week, I began my thirty-first year teaching. That number sounds a little jarring to me sometimes, but I have loved this profession so much that the number thirty-one actually sounds about right. I’ve been at this “for a minute,” as some of my students would say. This year has begun very well. After seven

The Healing Ocean

It has always been a healing place for me. When I was a boy my family would go to Corona del Mar and Newport Beach, both less than an hour from where we lived outside of Los Angeles. As little kids we would play in the sand and my parents taught us how to swim