Miami Dade had a virtual visit yesterday from the incoming Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, to a MLK breakfast with the 5000 Role Models of Excellence group, which provides mentorship, scholarships and more for our children. So that was a special treat. The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project is a dropout prevention, mentoring program committed to closing the minority male achievement (access) gap by guiding minority male students along a carefully charted path through grades K-12 and college or ensuring the attainment of other post-secondary credentials, and increasing their employability in higher wage, high skills jobs within high demand industries. Presently, the program serves approximately 8,000 students in 105 schools, including 37 Elementary, 24 Middle, 33 Senior High, and 11 K-8 Centers in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Find out more at www.5000rolemodels.com

Tomorrow is inauguration day so we are feeling pretty, pretty good about that. After four years of Donald Trump as President, we are looking forward to an administration were at least education advocates, labor unionists, social justice seekers in all fields should be able to have a dialog with the resident of the White House and the people who work with him. So let’s take a minute to reflect, give thanks and celebrate the will of the majority.

On this Day in history:  January 19, 1966... the Georgia State House of Representatives refused to seat state representative Julian Bond despite his election the previous November. Their stated objection was his endorsement of a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee statement accusing the United States of violating international law in Vietnam. In December 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Bond’s exclusion unconstitutional, and Bond was finally sworn in the following month.