Drick Boyd's Blog
Seeing the Whole Picture with AQAL
For the last six months I have been exploring Integral Theory as articulated by philosopher Ken Wilber. Over the past 20 years Wilber has been attempting to create a framework in which all the major theories of human development, religions, and philosophical...
Tenative Support for the School District Re-Structuring Plan
I have long been an advocate for high quality urban public schools and an opponent of PA Republican Tom Corbett’s wholesale slashing of financial support for poor urban school districts like the Chester-Upland and Philadelphia School Districts. The former is facing...
Easter Reflection-The Christ Who Keeps Moving
Every Easter I read a meditation written by Thomas Merton entitled He is Risen. Here is an excerpt from the book that always seems to move me Christ is the Lord of a history that moves. He not only holds the beginning and the end in his hands. But he is in history...
Hunger Games: Trayvon Martin, Racism and Gun Violence
The tragic shooting of 17 year old Trayvon Martin has reached all corners of the nation, and has jolted us back to the realities of racism and violence in our country. Were we to use the words “racism” and “violence” in the same sentence 50 years ago, most likely we...
2042 and the Transforming Race Conference
Certain dates such as 1984, Y2K, and 9/11 carry literal and symbolic significance. A less well known but equally significant date is 2042, the year the U.S. Census predicts that white Americans will comprise less than 50% of the U.S. population. Thus, it was...
The Destruction of Public Education and the Conservative Agenda
For some time now, I have suspected that the Conservative agenda involved the systematic dismantling and undermining of public education. Conservatives have repeatedly belittled public school teachers, fought the increase property taxes (which are the primary source...
Balancing the Budget on the Backs of the Poor: Chester-Upland School District
While the fiscal conservatives say that we must “tighten our belts” and “everyone must sacrifice,” the recent news that the Chester-Upland(PA) school district has run out of money and can no longer operate their schools is yet another example that the ones who...
Christmas and Gratitude
Every Thanksgiving, I take time to list all the people, events and other things in my life from the previous year, for which I am grateful. This allows me to enter into Advent with a sense of gratitude and hope for the year to come. As in past years I conducted my...
Yes, Freedom Can Be Expensive
Now that the Occupy Philly protesters have been removed from Dilworth Plaza surrounding City Hall, the city has estimated that the 8 week occupation cost the city $1,052,000, mostly in police overtime. While this number is accurate, its prominence in the media (such...
A Priest, an Economist and An Occupier Went into a Bar….
What do a 15th century priest, a deceased British economist, and the Occupy Wall Street Movement have in common? This question came to me as I reflected on a sermon by Chris Hershberger Esh this past Sunday at West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship (WPMF). Using...
What if Zaccheus was a Wall Street Banker?
Readers of the New Testament are well acquainted with the story in Luke 19 of Zaccheus the tax collector who made a radical change in his life after an encounter with Jesus. For those not familiar with the story, let me give a brief summary. Zaccheus was short,...
The Questions Raised by the Occupy Movement
Like many of you I have been watching, reading and listening to the news about the Occupy Wall Street movement that is sweeping the country and indeed the world. Despite the attempts of critics to characterize the “occupiers” as leftist radicals, at least in the...
Could "Occupy Wall Street" Be a Sign of Things to Come?
Early on Sunday morning, the New York Times reported that 700 protesters of the group "Occupy Wall Street" had been arrested attempting to cross the Brooklyn Bridge to Lower Manhattan where there have been a week of demonstrations in New York's financial sector. While...
If This is Class Warfare, Who Started the War?
Republican Congressional leaders John Boehner and Mitch MConnell have criticized President Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on people earning over $1 million per year and called it “class warfare.” The comment would be laughable, if the Republican leaders had not...
A Beginning and New Era for a Troubled School
On Tuesday, September 6 I attended the opening ceremonies for the new West Philadelphia High School (WPHS), best known to most folks as the alma materof actor-singer Will Smith. However, the school has had long and, more recently, a troubled history characterized...