I have always wanted to visit Colombia, to stroll through the streets of the walled city of

Cartagena, to take in panoramic views of the capital Bogota, to commune with nature at

Tehrona National Park, perhaps even to take one of those tours of Merein that explores the

life in times of the notorious Pablo Escobar. And this summer,

things were actually lining up perfectly for me to steal away to Colombia, meaning that my

mother-in-law was taking my kids to Disney World for an entire week at the end of July.

But alas, it wasn't to be.

My girls made it to Disney,

but I didn't get to take my bucket list trip to the Gateway to South America.

I did get to go to Columbia, Missouri, though.

On July 26 and 27, the Carter Center for K-12 Black History

Education at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, hosted its second annual

Teaching Black History Conference. Dr. LaGarrett King, the founding director of the Carter Center,

had invited me to deliver a keynote address,

which I entitled, Teaching Hard History During Hard Times.

I wasn't scheduled to speak until the second day of the conference, so I spent the first day

attending sessions. In the morning, I learned about Black Power Children's Books and about using young adult fiction to teach middle and high school students about police violence.

In the afternoon, I sat in on a presentation by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, who skillfully deconstructed teaching slavery through children's literature.

It was a rich and rewarding day.

When I spoke the next morning, I shared my experience from this past fall of taking students

from the Ohio State University to James Madison's Montpelier to explore slavery and freedom in America.

I talked about why slavery is hard history, why it's so difficult to think about, talk about,

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