Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Solomon in proverbs 25:11 #theBronx African, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Hatian, Irish & Italian Fordham University Caucasian and Asian #theBronx A melting pot filled with flavor and sazon Fordham University All salt and no pepper! ……… So goes my poem created yesterday at the White Castle on Holmes Street. Just yesterday I ventured in to technicolor borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is a fascinating land filled with action, sound and bustling. As many of us know, it has a beautiful botanical garden deep in its heart providing the opportunity of respite to all who want to move away from the concrete for a change. Past it is the door to its ‘downtown’ area with Fordham University’s sprawling campus which is also serene and expansive in its own right. It is Jesuit school like the one I graduated from, Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. I am we...

What propels someone to use physical force, with maximum strength and unleash it on someone else?  Knockout of Elderly Man in Paterson, New York What happened in the family upbringing of the boy who 'knocked out' the bystander in Paterson, New Jersey just days ago? Apparently, an adolescent boy was caught on video walking up to an elderly person waiting to cross the street and with as much force as possible... punched and totally knocked out the senior of small frame. The victim blew backwards immobile and unconscious crashing on to the ground head first.  What was this boys home life with his parents? What has to change so that we no longer are breeding a culture of apathy, anarchy and cruelty? How does this 'knockout' culture reflect macro events and current global situations in the world today?  A chess player gains know-how through experience and consistency, regardless of winning or losing games. Their mind rewires and is able to better app...

updated 1/31/16 In Afghanistan, Russia fought over a decade on the ground, then America came and fought for way over another decade on its grounds. Now there are children, boys and girls skateboarding on the streets where soldiers, fighter and warriors brandished heavy machinery. The renegades of the heart have come out to play. They are the children of the soldiers and people of the community. All that is in their DNA. In their story. That is why the rise of Skateistan, a skateboarding school in Afghanistan and its popularity amongst girls is astounding and so peculiar also. Almost half a century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed, "Let freedom ring!"  His dream which is a continuation of the dream of all the immigrants that have come to our shores, is a dream shared by the founding members of the United States of America back in 1776.  Every  American should be able to pursue happiness, but that we achieve happiness together as a community, rather than b...

“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour , when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine headman ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.” Proverbs of Solomon 4:5-9 How do we change a culture to ensure that powerful forces are used benevolently to serve people and their communities?  What is might and strength good for if it is not used benevolently?  Can it become a hindrance if not used purposefully to do the will of nation-states and its peoples and to operate under God’s universal law written in our hearts to do that which is right and fair?  Surely, might and force has been used in ill-advised ways by individuals, organizatio...

Ideas like servant leadership when applied to activities that can develop physical health and cognitive development can become a catalyst for others once it is put into action in a consistent manner. To find such an activity that is engaging for people of all ages and still keep it local is hard. Dancing comes close, but we still don't have designated dancing areas at parks, so in the mean time, consider what skateboarding offers and how it is directly connected to Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr. An activity like skateboarding at a skatepark welcomes people from any nationality, ethnicity, or age and is a sport of growth and development for the brain and body when practiced consistently.  From an Special Educator standpoint, skateboarding also happens to be an excellent vehicle as an early intervention tool and strategy for the social-cognitive-physical development of children on the autism spectrum, ADHD, or any special need. Knowing this is not enough though....

"Tensions over race and policing in Chicago and Cleveland come amid intense scrutiny of police killings in the United States over the past 18 months, especially of black men. Protests have taken place around the country and the issue has fueled a civil rights movement under the name Black Lives Matter. Cleveland police will review the fatal shooting of Rice from start to finish to determine if the two officers involved or others should face disciplinary action, officials said on Tuesday. Protests over the shooting of Laquan McDonald led to the resignation of Chicago's police chief and a Justice Department probe into whether the city's police use lethal force too often, especially against minorities. Meanwhile, protesters demonstrated outside the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office in Cleveland, a day after a grand jury decided not to charge two white police officers in the 2014 shooting death of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy who was playing in ...

Being a teacher requires equal measures of ‘know-how,’ nurturing love and innovation, in order to stay relevant and effective in repeatedly producing successful educative outcomes. My graduate degree is in Special Education from Fairfield University and my bachelor’s is in Political Science from UMass-Boston affording me a special mix of insight for a Special Educator and Executive Function Skills Coach who works with children and adults with attentional deficits, behavioral concerns or identified as being on the autism spectrum. Does it give me somewhat of a special micro and macro lens at viewing and understanding my work? I believe so, though it does not mean I am always right. Just ask my ex-wife. Like the artists of old I have had three main families, or patrons for half a decade each of whom has been my base of financial support throughout my time in the U.S. northeast. A Muslim family, a Jewish family and a Christian family.. all with at least one child on the a...

How do we pay as individuals and as a community when we tune out?   How can the tides be reversed?  What can one person do? Does the social fabric of society begin to unravel when we just look out for ourselves and only our own? The issues before our community appear gargantuan in scope.  Caught up in the daily grind of making ends meet it may seem like a luxury to stop and afford our own time to positively impact another life. What shall we do?How do we do that? No one requires us to care. At some point down the line though, not exercising empathy for others takes a toll on each of us. Not caring closes up your heart and changes your mind. Children ‘grow up’ and take matters into their own hands…sometimes with guns. Soon enough,  low-income neighborhoods begin to look like the wild west. Adolescent boys and young men band together for security and second-rate love within gangs. Their mindset is not one of how to make their community...

Once we understand what our executive function skills are, we move to streamlining how well we use them, how they show up/ don't show up in our life. As we move through our understanding of how to better manage our ideas, feelings and actions, can their be soft and hard forces which are orchestrated with the focus of instilling in us..how to think...how to act... how to respond? Or is 'man' so free in mind, so independent, and so ahead of these forces that he is not affected, not thwarted in his goals, and not redirected easily? If we are to polish and tone these executive function skills so that we can harness the ability of our mind (a tool) to facilitate successful outcomes for ourselves, should we not start by bringing a critical eye to why we think the way we think? Is this not metacognition, or how we use our thought process to approach the world?  Using systems theory, any system that is accepted into a larger system invariably begins to affect tha...

The 'knockout game:' The manifestation of apathy, anger,  and impulsive response to a feeling of disenfranchisement. The active use of calculated rage against someone  perceived as not being disenfranchised by rendering them   dead or in a comatose state of existence. An attempt to gain respect by peers. To create and promote this openess to this kind of behavior in a young person requires years of fine-tuning. A variety of parameters need to coexist to usher in a moral individual breakdown. Included within these can be being neglected love and a nurturing home environment, not having a Father and Mother present in the house, having a broken home caused by a divorce, lack of access to a fair education, and a lack of community support systems to provide consistent support to help each new generation of kids do well.   The 'knockout game' is but the tip of an iceberg whose name is not Racism in America, but Socio-Economic disenfranchisement that is cu...