Nathalie has been an educator in the Little Rock Public Schools for > 30 years.During that time Americans have seemingly accepted that school shootings are a uniquely American tragedy that our children, teachers, and parents should accept as unavoidable. We owe them more.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate the Fletcher Library’s 50th anniversary! We had face painting, music, bubbles, balloons, and of course the CALS Cruiser. We appreciate the community for supporting us and look forward to Fletcher’s next 50 years.

#OnThisDay in 1950, President Harry S. Truman appointed Chicago lawyer Edith Sampson to the permanent U.S. delegation to the United Nations. She became the first Black woman to ever serve in that capacity. Because of financial difficulties her family faced, she had to drop out of school at age 14 and work. She later returned to school and graduated from a Pittsburgh high school. When she studied at New York School of Social Work, she received the highest grade in a criminology course, and her instructor encouraged her to pursue law. Working by day as a social worker, she attended John Marshall Law School, where she graduated with honors. In 1927, she became the first woman to earn a Master of Laws from Loyola University’s Graduate Law School. In 1943, she became one of the first Black members of the National Association of Women Lawyers, and four years later, she became an assistant state attorney in Cook County. During her three years as a U.N. delegate, she called on the Soviet Union to repatriate the remainder of its POWs from World War II. She went on to serve as the first Black U.S. representative to NATO. After this, she became a municipal judge in Chicago, the first Black woman elected as a judge in Illinois. Sampson supported the burgeoning civil rights movement and continuing protests: “We have convinced ourselves, because it seemed so necessary, that the battle against injustice could be won piece by piece through changes in law, through court appeals, through persistent but cautious pressures. We were mistaken. No, we were wrong. Ours was not the only way.” She retired in 1978 after serving 16 years as a judge and died the next year. She is now honored with a painting in the Smithsonian. mississippitoday.org/2024/08…

Providence Park is a product of the vision of County Judge Barry Hyde and Errin Stanger. @barryhyde4judge

He also owns the best taco joint in nearby Black Mountain, NC where a picture of Willie Nelson in Lone Star gym shorts adorns the wall.

Thanks Skip! Credit the wisdom and support of LR voters and taxpayers who funded the newest version of our library on wheels. And the wonderful staff of @CALibrarySystem who help everyone using any part of the public library find paths to creativity, entertainment, and learning.

She’s a remarkable woman!

My wife and I are so impressed with this idea that we are planning to implement it when our 19 mo old grandson turns 12. Thanks ⁦@JamesFallows⁩ for inspiring us. open.substack.com/pub/fallow…

Awesome night last night in Little Rock talking about The Wolves of K Street with the Clinton Presidential Library and the Central Arkansas Library System. It was the biggest crowd yet at 150 people! Special thanks to Jay Barth and Nate Coulter for making it happen ...

Thanks to reporter and author ⁦@BrodyMullinsDC⁩ for coming to ⁦LR last night to tells us about his book, a history of lobbying that reads like a novel. ⁦@jbarth4arkansas⁩ moderated the ⁦@CALibrarySystem⁩ & ⁦@ClintonCenter⁩ program that delighted >150!

ICYMI: CALS Executive Director @ArkNate Nate Coulter in conversation w/ author Tim Alberta about his rigorously reported & deeply personal examination of the divisions that threaten to destroy the American evangelical movement. youtu.be/1iGA1yqRfa8?si=Yv-G…

Thanks to @NateBell4AR and @sealsolar of NLR, our electric bills are now < $15/month. The Saudis, Russians, and Venezuelans — or Exxon Mobil —- can’t affect that. 🤓

This hypothetical commencement speech by ⁦@steve_straessle⁩ is full of sage advice for new high school graduates and the rest of us. One fine example: “Understand that weaponized faith is hypocritical and that spirituality should always be the fuel that improves humanity.”

Thanks to ⁦@TimAlberta⁩ who captivated > 330 with his program ⁦@CALibrarySystem⁩ last night about his best selling book. His experiences as an evangelical give him credibility and insight to report courageously the perils of Christians worshipping politics and America

My brother died two years ago yesterday. Today he would have been 58. Most days I encounter something that reminds me of him and how much we lost.

Tim Alberta will talk about his book in Little Rock at the @CALibrarySystem Ron Robinson Theater on May 9 at 6:30pm. Come hear @TimAlberta and get him to sign your copy of his book.

One of the kindest souls to ever hold high office in Arkansas has died.Someone once said that David Pryor could tell you to go to hell and you’d look forward to the trip. He was decent, intelligent, resilient, and honorable. I was blessed to know and admire him for > 44 years.

So many people worked tirelessly to make this great day a reality for the greater Dunbar neighborhood. Thanks especially to AMR architects, Clark Construction, Latina Sheard and her dedicated Williams staff, the CALS facilities staff, & taxpayers of Little Rock. @CALibrarySystem

My youngest child, a 2019 University of Missouri journalism grad, and product of Little Rock public schools, is a member of his newsroom Union’s negotiating team. Today Gannett reached an agreement with Tom’s local to end their strike that began yesterday. kesq.com/news/2024/03/01/des…

2018 trip to @CALibrarySystem library by @JamesFallows to talk about his and his wife’s book, “Our Towns: A 100,000 Mile Journey Into the Heart of America,” still resonates. Local leaders who elevate pragmatic problem solving over national politics are making a difference.