education

Speaking as one of the few women at the Pan-African Congress conference in London, 1900, founding the Colored Women’s YWCA in 1905, and pushing W.E.B Du Bois to write Black Reconstruction are only three of Anna Julia Cooper's achievements. Sure, when you live to be 105, you can set your sights high, but in an era of progressive depravity when it came to race and gender, Cooper's position as one of America's formidable scholars and educators is no small feat.

But seriously. "Daring to Discuss Women in Science" by John Tierney ran in the New York Times two days ago. In it, Tierney announces a proposed national law that would require the White House science adviser to oversee workshops aimed to close the gender gap in science and engineering. But rather than express support for the proposal ("Fulfilling the potential of women in academic science and engineering," section 124 out of 700-section bill, brief the 248-page PDF here), Tierney in so many words says, "You guys, I hate to be the buzzkill, but girls are worse at math than boys. I can prove it."

The supermarket where I shop plays music of a certain vintage (which, as we’ve recently discussed, could be anything from last year's Billboard Top 40 to ditties from the War of 1812). The other day it happened to be Fleetwood Mac’s "Don’t Stop". As I browsed the selection of veggie sushi, I thought of how appropriate this particular song is for the commencement season (forget about Clinton campaigning to it back in the 90s), especially a commencement season in which there isn’t exactly a lot of cockeyed optimism being dished out for the class of 2010.


Photo by bitzcelt

Of course, my brain started whirring and I tried to think of other oldies radio staples and bona fide pop classics (very loosely defined as songs at least as old as the kids I’d dedicate them to) that would suit the occasion. I came up with the following mental mix tape that I’d offer up to the country’s newest crop of college grads. Feel free to chime in in the comments section with your own (more current/eclectic) selections.