drjvh

[drjvh]

The Fog of Lies: How Instagram Reels Became the Gospel

How do you know what information to trust? It’s a deceptively simple question. And lately, it’s one I hear more and more—especially from MAGA-leaning friends and family who claim that “you can’t trust any of it anymore.” They talk about fake news, media manipulation, and digital censorship. They doubt the Census, question school data, and dismiss mainstream research. And then, in the same…

[drjvh]

The Uppity Minority: Radioactive or Ready for this Moment?

They don’t always say it out loud. But if you’ve been in higher education or K–12 leadership long enough, you learn to read the signs. The soft smiles. The slow blinks. The way people praise your convictions in private—right before distancing themselves. It’s the same pattern that leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. faced: celebrated for their ideals, shunned for their demands. Institutions…

[drjvh]

Free Speech for Right Wing, Punishment for Protesters: A Two-Step of Hypocrisy

According to media reports and other sources circulating widely on the internet, a disturbing and deeply revealing incident has taken place at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. A student has allegedly submitted a final paper in a constitutional law class arguing that the U.S. Constitution applies only to white people and Jews—and that nonwhite people should be “abolished by any…

[drjvh]

From Moscow to Tallahassee: The Global Authoritarian Playbook is Being Executed

Turkey, Hungary, China, Russia, Egypt—and Florida. The names of these places might evoke different geographies, languages, and histories, but in one crucial area they increasingly speak the same language: authoritarian control over universities. In each, political power has been used to reshape higher education into a compliant tool of state ideology. Once autonomous institutions—grounded in…

[drjvh]

Code Red: How AI Is Set to Supercharge Racism, Rewrite History, and Hijack Learning

Artificial Intelligence didn’t fall from the sky. It wasn’t born in a vacuum or descended from some neutral cloud of innovation. It didn’t arrive pure and untainted, ready to solve all of humanity’s problems. No—AI was trained on us. On our failures. On our history. On our data. On our bias. On the systems we tolerate and the structures we’ve allowed to stand for far too long. And that should…

[drjvh]

Silencing Your Liberty: The De-Civil Rights Movement

In the 1960s, brave Americans—many young, many Black, many poor—put their bodies on the line to claim a seat at the table of democracy. They fought for rights long denied: the right to vote without barriers, to protest without fear, to attend school without segregation, to worship without restriction, and to speak truth to power. Those rights were not given—they were won. They were bled for. They…

[drjvh]

The Blame Game: How Trump, University Leaders, et al. Dodge Accountability

There is perhaps no figure more adept at the art of deflection than Donald J. Trump. He has turned scapegoating into a political art form, lobbing blame like confetti at rallies, press conferences, and now on his social media platform. Economic woes? Blame immigrants. Public health failures? Blame governors. Electoral losses? Blame rigged machines. Legal troubles? Blame a “deep state.” At every…

[drjvh]

Liberty Requires Patriots: Why I Support the NAACP’s Decision Not to Invite Trump

Let me begin with a clear disclaimer: I do not speak for the NAACP. I speak only for myself—as a scholar, citizen, and patriot committed to constitutional democracy and civil rights. But I unequivocally support the NAACP’s decision not to invite Donald Trump to its 116th National Convention. The organization’s stance is not partisan. It is principled. And in this moment, principles are…

[drjvh]

Recycling Bad Ideas: Right Wing War on Public Education (Again)

The Republican Party used to tout itself as the party of ideas. But in Michigan—and across the country—it has devolved into the party of recycled failures. This week, Michigan Senate Republicans introduced a package of education bills so stale, so regressive, and so wildly out of step with research and reality that you could be forgiven for thinking it was a legislative time capsule from 2009.…

[drjvh]

The Uppity Minority: When the Betrayal Comes From Inside the House

In every movement, there are enemies outside the gate—and then there’s Stephen. You may remember him. Samuel L. Jackson’s unforgettable character in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained—not just the most dangerous villain in the film, but perhaps the most haunting. Because Stephen wasn’t the slave master. He wasn’t the bounty hunter. He wasn’t the man with the whip. He was the loyal house…

[drjvh]

The Big Lie: What They Say in Public vs. What Happens Behind Closed Doors

We’ve come to recognize gaslighting in politics with unsettling clarity. It’s the classic authoritarian sleight of hand: say one thing while doing another, accuse your critics of the very abuses you commit, and weaponize language to invert reality itself. Donald Trump has elevated this to a political doctrine—claiming to be the champion of free speech while attacking universities, labeling…

[drjvh]

“Day One” Was a Lie: The Goal of Conflict, Abroad and at Home

Donald Trump said there would be peace on Day One. That’s what he promised: an end to war in Ukraine. A ceasefire in Gaza. Diplomacy with Iran. Calm in American cities. Trump declared he’d bring strength and unity back to the nation and the world. But now that he’s been reelected and is firmly back in power, we’re living the truth behind that lie. And that truth is blood-soaked. This past…

[drjvh]

They’re Coming for the Colleges: IRS Issues More Threats

What if I told you that the next front in America’s war on student success isn’t a classroom—but a tax form? This week, Bloomberg broke the story: the U.S. Treasury Department is weighing a proposal to strip tax-exempt status from colleges and universities that “favor any racial group” in admissions, scholarships, student services, or even the use of campus facilities. According to sources…

[drjvh]

The Drip of Authoritarianism Becomes a Flood: Democracy at a Crossroads

If you’ve ever wondered how authoritarianism creeps in—how democracy dies not with a bang, but a series of rationalizations and repressive policies—then stop wondering. Watch this or Read this. And understand: it’s happening here. This is why I’ve been writing furiously. This is why I cannot stay silent. Because we’re in the middle of the slow, calculated erosion of American democracy. One…

[drjvh]

They Want to Use My Ex-Girlfriend’s Awful Cookie Recipe—And Call It Equity

This title will make sense by the end of the article. I promise. I recently faced an ideological struggle—not the kind that makes headlines, but the quiet, deeply personal kind on Zoom that unsettles your spirit. It wasn’t marked by shouting matches or viral soundbites—just the slow, sobering realization that people who meant good were actually building something that contradicted what I’ve…

[drjvh]

Fail Fast, Learn Deep: Reckless vs. Responsible Failure in Education

The opening question at the Schott Foundation governing board meeting stopped me in my tracks. It didn’t come from a superintendent or a consultant. It came from Kyle Serrette, a national education strategist with the NEA and someone who’s spent decades pushing for equity-centered systems change. He asked: “What have you failed at?” Let that sit with you for a minute. We talk a lot about…

[drjvh]

The National Guard Has Arrived to Make Sure You Shut Up Safely—Survival Not Guaranteed

They show up during floods. They show up during wildfires. And if you’re really lucky, they show up when you’re holding a cardboard sign asking not to be tear-gassed. Yes, we’re talking about the National Guard—Trump’s most predictable tantrum accessory since Sharpie edits on hurricane maps. The National Guard is once again making headlines by standing stone-faced and heavily armed in the…