Geoffrey Canada Biography

Social activist and educator, Geoffrey Canada grew up in poverty and in a neighborhood that was unsafe (biography.com, 2011). In the movie, Waiting for Superman, Canada tells how he was an avid reader of comic books and one of his favorite characters was superman because superman always helped the “good” people. Canada stated, “When my mother told me that superman was not real, I began to cry. My tears were not like those of a child who just found out that Santa Claus is not real; but I cried because I became conscious of the fact that no one was coming with enough power to save us from this life of poverty.” Canada goes on to say, “At nine years old, I realized that I wanted to come back and help kids like those of us growing up in these conditions.” Canada, who grew up in a single family home in the Bronx, told The Daily News, “Every class I took from that point forward was really in preparation for trying to come back and make a difference with children in poor communities.” Through his life work, Canada’s goal is to not let poverty get in the way of success (Jones, 2011).

In Geoffrey Canada Biography, found online at Biography.com, the author informed us that Canada’s under graduate degree is in psychology and sociology from Bowdoin College and he received his Masters in Education from Harvard. The author reported, “Inspired by his formative years, Canada began his career as a teacher in an alternative high school for troubled youth in Boston, Massachusetts.” The author further reported, “In 1983, Canada returned to Harlem to help the children in his old neighborhood. He found work as the program director for the Rheedlen Institute’s Truancy Prevention Program. The program was geared specifically for children be...

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