I lost my youngest brother this summer. His passing was unexpected, and its causes are unknown.

The loss of him and the knowledge that this mystery will never be unraveled have almost crushed me. His absence, more like a vanishing, and the inordinate frustration of not knowing why constituting a weight like higher g-forces on a roller coaster during acceleration or sharp turns.

Feeling unmoored, I turned to my personal totem: storytelling. I immersed myself in writing my brother’s eulogy and planning his celebration of life. Reminiscing with family and friends. Gathering memories.

But as I lived that celebration with those who loved him and reflected in its wake, I came away with so much more…

When the July Zinn Education Project newsletter featuring “What Teachers Are Saying” about teaching People’s History appeared in my Inbox, I was thrilled to find Cristina Tosto using the “Teaching SNCC” lesson at Pascagoula High School in Mississippi.

I immediately reached out to ask if we might speak. I wanted to know how she was faring in these challenging times for the American public education system and what I could do to support her.

Our conversation did not disappoint. But I learned some hard truths. Among Cristina’s peers, many were giving up teaching. And, though ever hopeful, Cristina acknowledged experiencing disheartenment over increasing student apathy.

And so, I determined to write this post, in the hope that at least one reader will resolve to act—on behalf of our magnificent teachers and precious children. To learn more about active learning and critical thinking. To become involved in local school boards. To speak out in support and encouragement. … To be part of building—becoming “another brick in the wall”—a public education system that works for the betterment of our children and our society.

On July 14, I witnessed the end of an era.

Near tiny Pomeroy, Ohio, I experienced THE last Fur Peace Ranch acoustic concert by Hot Tuna—the duo of fingerstyle guitarist and vocalist Jorma Kaukonen, and creator of his own style of bass playing Jack Casady.

I couldn't have known when I agreed to travel to the concert that I would experience magic there...

I love freedom schools! I love everything about them.

I wish I could have attended a freedom school. And I wish our public education system incorporated the essential aspects of freedom schools. Perhaps that’s why, in writing The FOG MACHINE, I chose to have my character twelve-year-old Joan Barnes visit the Meridian Freedom School with her physician father.

Freedom Summer created martyrs and heroes as it laid the foundation for the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But since the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision gutted Section 5 of the act, more and more states have enacted laws restricting voter access. At least 29 states have enacted 62 restrictive voting laws since the 2020 election alone, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. This whittling away of what is arguably the most significant piece of civil rights legislation ever passed underscores the need to know the history of Freedom Summer 1964.