Dorald Knowles
Born Tuesday, March 27th, ‘73 in Foxhill Village on the Island of Nassau, in the Bahamas. Island boy for the first 14 years, New Yawka ever since. Poet, artist, father, son, brother, uncle, Principal in the Boogy Down Bronx. Love, laughter, movement bring me joy.
I was law school bound when I joined Teach For America, a national corps of young people who commit to teaching in urban or rural school districts where teacher recruitment is a challenge. The Plan was to teach for two years in Baltimore, Maryland then move on to study criminal law or public policy. I had a fantasy of someday working alongside Morris Dees and the folks at the Southern Poverty Law Center. But plans changed once I discovered that education was the REAL FRONTLINE where the granular work for justice and civil rights gets done. Subsequently, my two-year commitment turned into six – during which I picked up a Master’s Degree in Education at John’s Hopkins University. I grew immensely homesick and I couldn’t stand one more train ride north to make my court-scheduled visit to see my daughter, so I transported myself back to NYC.
I landed a fantastic teaching job uptown in Harlem where I enjoyed going to work every day for three years until I grew unbearably restless. I wanted to sink my teeth deeper into the work at a level where I could actualize change and inspire others to achieve – no excuses. I linked up with the New York City Leadership Academy, survived the rigor of their program and landed my first job as principal in a tough (understatement, trust me) neighborhood school. This is what I told myself I wanted, and I remind myself daily as I dress to step foot into a new day of wild, exhaustively unbridled possibilities. I am raising the level of student achievement in a small middle school in the Boogy Down that I love beyond words. It’s treacherous work, but I love the challenge and, moreover, I love working for young people ‘cause nothing else gives me hope.
