You guys! Today was the first day of school in Oakland. It was such a beautiful sight this morning—so many families lined up to drop off their kids for the first time in a year+ or ever. So many little masked faces, new backpacks, and wiggly limbs. So many hopes and dreams for a safe day of connection and curiosity.
Courtney - I so enjoyed your thoughtful (and thought-provoking) talk with Garrett this evening. Can't wait to read the book! Thanks for putting it out into the world. - Darcey
I have not been able to stop listening to the book on Audio. I so loved listening to Courtney's voice. It is as if she is right next to me during my long journeys between NM and CO, coffee stops and all. The book is a work of moral courage without self-righteousness, a true deep dive into the core of one's values and contradictions. So many parts spoke to me - and I am still reading it-. I get stomach cramps when I feel deep disconnects in me between spoused values and my actual actions. I am feeling the familiar cramping that tells me something in me is existentially unsettled from reading the book. I also felt the paradoxical mix of compassion and exasperation for the anguish so many parents feel when thinking of their own chid's education as a decision that must be landed perfectly from the first time. Courtney reminds us that there is no division between the personal and the political, that spoused progressive values mean nothing to everyone watching us when we fail to live by them. I am both inspired and also troubled by my own contradictions. Courtney makes her journey so transparent and accessible, giving it a depth of emotion that keeps me engaged as if I am reading a suspense novel with the greater good as a goal. The lack of perspective of many racially and materially privileged families, even those with powerful educations, is brilliantly unpacked without a heavy hand. I see Courtney's book as giving us a watershed moment from which we will hopefully not turned away. I can't wait to get back the final pages. Thank you Court!!
Courtney - I so enjoyed your thoughtful (and thought-provoking) talk with Garrett this evening. Can't wait to read the book! Thanks for putting it out into the world. - Darcey
I have not been able to stop listening to the book on Audio. I so loved listening to Courtney's voice. It is as if she is right next to me during my long journeys between NM and CO, coffee stops and all. The book is a work of moral courage without self-righteousness, a true deep dive into the core of one's values and contradictions. So many parts spoke to me - and I am still reading it-. I get stomach cramps when I feel deep disconnects in me between spoused values and my actual actions. I am feeling the familiar cramping that tells me something in me is existentially unsettled from reading the book. I also felt the paradoxical mix of compassion and exasperation for the anguish so many parents feel when thinking of their own chid's education as a decision that must be landed perfectly from the first time. Courtney reminds us that there is no division between the personal and the political, that spoused progressive values mean nothing to everyone watching us when we fail to live by them. I am both inspired and also troubled by my own contradictions. Courtney makes her journey so transparent and accessible, giving it a depth of emotion that keeps me engaged as if I am reading a suspense novel with the greater good as a goal. The lack of perspective of many racially and materially privileged families, even those with powerful educations, is brilliantly unpacked without a heavy hand. I see Courtney's book as giving us a watershed moment from which we will hopefully not turned away. I can't wait to get back the final pages. Thank you Court!!