Three Roads Diverge In The Woods and I...I Find The One I Have Traveled On. Syracuse is Home.

I grew up in Syracuse. I left, but I returned to do a doctorate. I left again, but I met a Rooster while visiting Syracuse. He was presenting at a literacy conference near the campus, in Liverpool actually.

I brought the Rooster, Kwame Alexander, to Connecticut. I love the guy: his books, his brain, his presentations, his charisma, his personality and his friendship.

I knew he needed to meet Dr. Marcelle Haddix and they were able to collaborate together. Syracuse University brought Kwame to Syracuse last night and I was happy to bring my mom as my date and to snap this photograph of three VIPs in my life all in one setting: home, intellect, and creativity.

There is a lot I'm taking from the 60-minutes he spoke to the Syracuse crowd, especially in terms of the power of language. Kwame deconstructed the word "marginalization," and followed this with an interrogation of the word "slave." He emphasized that the word should not exist, because it was people who were enslaved. People.

This is what I love most about Kwame, the writer, speaker, and thinker. He doesn't let his mind get consumed with other ways of knowing - he is too busy working through what his mind is knowing.

Yes, last night was a great night in Syracuse, New York. What an honor to experience with my mom and to be invited by Marcelle.