CHAPTER 3: A Few Good Allies: Developing Educational Leadership in a Community that Needs You

My first home was a cozy double-wide trailer near the coast of Maryland, walking distance from a convenience store where you could pick up fresh liver or a piece of chocolate, depending on your mood and the cash at hand. My two brothers, parents, grandparents, and I lived in the stiff formality that is required of such tight quarters. Blankets were put down in the bathtub at night, which doubled as my little brother’s bed. Looking at him sleeping while I brushed my teeth was one of those nightly pleasures that brings satisfaction for a lifetime. With fortitude, determination, and the good graces of a solid economy, my parents saved enough money to buy their own home in a working-class neighborhood outside of Washington D.C. in the early 1970s. Everyone had a car, owned a home, worked, and went to church. A brown three-legged dog walked me home from school most days. It was a quiet life.