2025: Because We Had To Do Something About It
How did a bad encounter with two wayward teenagers after Trump’s inauguration transformed my outlook for the rest…Pick A School, Every School (On the NYC High School Admissions Process)
How many synonyms for the word “confusing” are there? I might have used them all as we navigated…Until We Get It Done (On My Meeting with Zohran Mamdani)
A couple of Saturdays ago, I had an existential question that I couldn’t grapple over. “Do you think…The Genius of Our Students
Yesterday, the MacArthur Foundation named 22 people to their hallowed fellowship program, often referred to as the “Genius…Why Teaching Math for Test Results Is Not Enough
Over the last year, New York City has had a fascinating discussion about teaching math. In particular, NYC…The Curriculum of Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
“¿Esto lo que tu queria?” The scene with Bad Bunny in the Spike Lee-inspired Double Dolly shot was the wink…2025: Because We Had To Do Something About It
How did a bad encounter with two wayward teenagers after Trump’s inauguration transformed my outlook for the rest of the…Pick A School, Every School (On the NYC High School Admissions Process)
How many synonyms for the word “confusing” are there? I might have used them all as we navigated the NYC…The Jose Vilson Blog
Education. Math. The Culture. For us.
The Math Was Within Us All Along
Now that I finished my second book, let me tell you a story that won’t make it into the manuscript:…
![Featured image for “On Dignity [On CEC3 And The Racial Justice Work Ahead Of Us]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pexels-photo-4801188.jpeg?fit=1040%2C1300&quality=100&ssl=1)
On Dignity [On CEC3 And The Racial Justice Work Ahead Of Us]
A few weeks ago, I found myself underneath a dead whale. For New Yorkers, they know I’m talking about the…
The Curriculum of Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
“¿Esto lo que tu queria?” The scene with Bad Bunny in the Spike Lee-inspired Double Dolly shot was the wink…
2025: Because We Had To Do Something About It
How did a bad encounter with two wayward teenagers after Trump’s inauguration transformed my outlook for the rest of the…
The Newsletter
This newsletter isn't just about math.
It's about the work we do for and with schools to illuminate the math. Subscribe to my work as I share stories, insights, and advice that (hopefully) transform and inspire people to do the math now and forever.
Millions of views later, this blog serves as a testament to the transcendent work teachers must do now on issues of race, class, and education in this country and around the world. For us.
Join 11.4K other subscribers
All Posts
And Suddenly, There’s a Math Book (You Already Know)
Note: This is a reminder that, if you became a paid subscriber to this blog, you’ll get a signed copy of You Already Know from
The Math Was Within Us All Along
Now that I finished my second book, let me tell you a story that won’t make it into the manuscript: A few weeks ago, I
On Dignity [On CEC3 And The Racial Justice Work Ahead Of Us]
A few weeks ago, I found myself underneath a dead whale. For New Yorkers, they know I’m talking about the American Museum of Natural History
The Curriculum of Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
“¿Esto lo que tu queria?” The scene with Bad Bunny in the Spike Lee-inspired Double Dolly shot was the wink to the audience that pulled
2025: Because We Had To Do Something About It
How did a bad encounter with two wayward teenagers after Trump’s inauguration transformed my outlook for the rest of the year?
Read more here and let me know what you think!
Pick A School, Every School (On the NYC High School Admissions Process)
How many synonyms for the word “confusing” are there? I might have used them all as we navigated the NYC high school admissions process over
Until We Get It Done (On My Meeting with Zohran Mamdani)
A couple of Saturdays ago, I had an existential question that I couldn’t grapple over. “Do you think I should go canvass?” My wife, knowing
The Genius of Our Students
Yesterday, the MacArthur Foundation named 22 people to their hallowed fellowship program, often referred to as the “Genius Grant.” The foundation awards $800,000 grant to
Why Teaching Math for Test Results Is Not Enough
Over the last year, New York City has had a fascinating discussion about teaching math. In particular, NYC Department of Education has started to implement
Rows and Aisles (DC and Washington, Too)
DC is one of my favorite cities in the country. That’s different than me saying Washington, of course. I’ve visited Washington on multiple occasions in
Getting Beyond Our Discomfort Zones
I have a story to tell about comfort zones. In late June, the High School for Environmental Studies invited me to be their special guest
What Lessons Are We Learning from Our Students?
“Mr. Vilson, I’m in a doctoral program, just like you.” One of my former students posted a picture of a quad at an established university.
Rubby Peréz and The Ties That Bind Us All
Let me take it back to 1994. I was in the seventh grade and, at the time, my mom took our family to her first
New York and The Fight For Truly Public Schools
A few days ago, the New York State Education Department rebuked the Trump administration’s efforts to pull federal funding. Namely, the federal administration has ratcheted
Three Pillars for Decimating Public Education
What do we do when our public schools are under attack? A couple of weeks ago, the new Secretary of Education Linda McMahon leveled significant
The Pedagogy of Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
Can we talk about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime performance for a bit? Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show stirred America’s cultural pot over the
Some Notes about Joy Amid The Tyranny
As President Trump dropped executive orders at an alarming rate, I celebrated my life. On January 24th, I took time to sit with myself and
A Lesson About Identity and Culture in Bad Bunny’s New Album
Recently, rapper/singer Bad Bunny released his sixth solo album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, a homage to his homeland Puerto Rico. Upon first listen, it took
![Featured image for “II Hands II Heaven, A Reprise [2024 Year-In-Review]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/3241E7AD-854D-48A1-B54A-A902D579FEDB_1_201_a.jpeg?fit=2199%2C1237&quality=100&ssl=1)
II Hands II Heaven, A Reprise [2024 Year-In-Review]
On August 6th, 2024, I had a solid draft of a 260-page dissertation in my hands. That whole week, I pored through so many of
Reconsidering The Kai Cenat Union Square Incident of 2023
I’ve been trying to write this post for about a year, but the words have escaped me. Until now. On August 4th, a Twitch streamer
![Featured image for “Write It Down Somewhere [Some Advice For New Teachers]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pexels-photo-3059747.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1254&quality=100&ssl=1)
Write It Down Somewhere [Some Advice For New Teachers]
No excerpt
An Open Letter to the Listeners (The Heart pt. 5.5)
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been asked that, honestly.” As I sat to analyze all my mixed-methods data from my eventual dissertation, I kept
Building Community Amid Uncertain Doom
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had good opportunities to be “in community.” One of those opportunities happened at The Cutting Room, where School of
Don’t Obey In Advance
Last week, I hopped off a bus and voted early. It was quick, convenient, and came with two stickers: one for me and one for
Juan Soto and the Trouble with Progressive Education
No excerpt
Building The Bridge Between Old and New Math
No excerpt
Something Bigger Than Me (Recruiting Teachers with Students and Teachers)
No excerpt
On Being Haitian and What We Teach Ourselves
No excerpt
Middle School Prepares Us For Social Science Thinking, Too
I got a story to tell. Yesterday, I was running errands when one of my former students stopped me at the local supermarket. She’s a
A Brief Reflection on My Dissertation and Teachers’ Labor
A few weeks ago, after skimming through the formatting of my dissertation one last time, I said a little prayer. The last call was, “God,
They’re Still Not Like Us (Math and Our Values)
In 2015, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal invited me to discuss education reform and my book, This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class,
Critical Race Theory Is About You, and All of Us
Recently, Christina Cross, a Black woman sociologist at Harvard, found her work at the crosshairs of the same person who brought us the bastardization of
![Featured image for “What Choice Do We Have? [On School Choice]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/pexels-photo-4631066.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&quality=100&ssl=1)
What Choice Do We Have? [On School Choice]
Here’s something I never got to tell you. About seven years ago, I wrote this post that went viral. I didn’t expect to see some
Professional Development Done With Us, Not To Us
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending my fourth SXSW EDU in Austin, TX. As Ron Reed mentioned before introducing scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw as
Professional: A Word That Means Nothing and Everything to Teachers
Sometime in the summer of 2020, a small, vocal set of parents and advocates decided that teachers should get back to work. They overshadowed the
![Featured image for “Educators Get To Imagine Bigger, Too [On TED]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ted-world-theatre.webp?fit=1300%2C866&quality=100&ssl=1)
![Featured image for “Scenes from an Unopened Curriculum Binder [Pt. 1]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pexels-photo-171183.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&quality=100&ssl=1)
![Featured image for “What It Means To Stick With Love [About King and Us]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pexels-photo-10449794.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1254&quality=100&ssl=1)
![Featured image for “What I Get To See In Us [2023 Year-In-Review]”](https://i0.wp.com/thejosevilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/C2377DE8-7B93-4BA6-B870-42D09C4A7D4A_1_105_c.jpeg?fit=768%2C1024&quality=100&ssl=1)
About Me
I'm José Vilson, educator, author, and sociologist, among many other roles. This blog documents how everything I've learned, documented so people can steal these lessons. I'm still the educator that Gotham deserves. It just looks different now. Find out how we got here.
