It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
Not failure, but low aim is the sin. – Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

When I was a li’l gul, 3450 Sewell Road was just a big old hill with a bunch of trees next to I-285 expressway that we passed if we took the long way to Southwest Hospital. A couple of years and a street name change later, it became Mays High School.

I went to its feeder middle school, but I didn’t go to Mays because I was lazy. While they cleared a number of the trees, the school was built at the tip top of that dang-on hill. My momma didn’t have reliable transportation, so if I had to (or chose to) stay afterschool, I had to hike “The Hill” to get home. Do that in 90 degree August and May Atlanta heat, get on a MARTA bus and then do some homework:

But I digress…

Back in my day, Mays was virtually an all African-American institution at the pinnacle of urban public education. It was located in one of the more affluent neighborhoods in the city and the Math and Science Academy magnet program was literally churning out rocket scientists. Continue Reading…