o words can possibly convey the tragedy unfolding in Chicago. In this moving interview, a high school principal reflects on the last 13 months of heartbreak at her school where 27 current or former students have been shot and 8 killed. If there was ever a perfect case study of all that is wrong with the War on Drugs and the “get tough” movement, Chicago would be it. As I note in my book, in 1999, just 992 black men received a bachelor’s degree from Illinois state universities while roughly 7000 black men were released from state prison the following year— just for drug offenses! This is astonishing given that African Americans are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites. Those black men released from prison (branded felons and permanently locked out out of employment, housing, and education) are among the fathers of the children who are shooting in the streets today. If we want young people to see themselves and others as valuable — as really worth something — we must stop treating them and their parents as disposable, like yesterday’s garbage. It will take a radical shift in policy and consciousness to break this cycle; nothing less will do. - via Michelle Alexander