Hooks

My first victim was a woman — white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties. I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street in Hyde Park, a relatively affluent neighborhood in an otherwise mean, impoverished section of Chicago. As I swung onto the avenue behind her, there seemed to be a discreet, uninflammatory distance between us. Not so. She cast back a worried glance. To her, the youngish black man — a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket—seemed menacingly close. After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds she disappeared into a cross street. From “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples

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The criminal justice system has a set of rights created to protect you. But do you think it’s really protecting us? You had a right to remain silent, but that really means you had a right to be silenced, doubted, interrogated, suspected. The color of your skin can and will be used against you in a court of law. From “Prisoners Deserve a New Set of Rights” by Meek Mill

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CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CORNELIUS, Ore. — Scholars call it the “Hispanic Paradox”: Despite poverty and discrimination, Hispanic Americans live significantly longer than white or black Americans. From “Now Is a Time to Learn From Hispanic Americans” By Nicholas Kristof

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.8.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

When I arrived at the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico recently, the first thing I heard was this exchange:

“Cómo estás, brother?”

“Muy cool!”

“Y la situación?”

“Ya tú sabes, stinky.”

(Or, roughly, “How are you?” “Really cool.” “How are things?” and “You know, stinky.”)

From “For the Love of Spanglish” by Ilan Stavans

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

"In the Brazilian film Central Station, Dora is a retired schoolteacher who makes ends meet by sitting at the station writing letters for illiterate people. Suddenly she has an opportunity to pocket $1,000. All she has to do is persuade a homeless 9-year-old boy to follow her to an address she has been given. From "Solution to Poverty” by Pete Singer

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CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

CCSS.RI. 9-10.8

CCSS.RI.8.8

Your phone is pretty much a high-tech bucket of germs. Thousands of microscopic bugs crawl around on its surface. Remnants of dirty, old skin cells smudge its cover. Tiny hairs stick inside its buttons. And your hands have smeared hundreds of chemicals across its surface. The foundation on your face, the antidepressants you take, the shampoo in your shower and even the hard-core mosquito repellent you applied down in Panama four months ago: All of these things leave traces on your hands and phone. (from NYTimes)

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CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

Are friendships formed with those we truly like? Or do we settle for whoever happens to be around? (from NY Times)

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CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.8.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

Kristen Lewis is the assistant principal at Boulder High School in Colorado. A large cardboard box sits in her office. It’s where she tosses the spoils of her ongoing battle with the newest student addiction: vaping. “This is what I call the Box of Death,” she explains. Inside it “is everything that we’ve confiscated.” From NY Times

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

Let me start with a confession. I am addicted to soap operas. From the minute I get up until it’s time to go to bed, I think about my favorite characters. At work I recount the scenes of the latest episodes and try to think of better solutions to my favorite characters’ many problems. Even my job schedule is planned around the hours of my favorite soaps. (from NY Times)

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CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.L.6.5B

CCSS.L.8.5B

A lichen is what happens when a fungus hugs an algae and doesn’t let go. It’s a sweet arrangement: The fungus offers shelter, and algae feed the fungus. They’re still separate species, but tear them apart and the fungi typically can’t survive. So they’ve long been studied as a single organism. (from NY Times)

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CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5