Voting Station

Geoffrey Canada

Please vote to return to collections.

Advocate

The Resume

    (January 13, 1952- )
    Born in Bronx, New York
    American educator, social activist and author
    Founder, President (1990 - 2014), & CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, formerly the Rheedlen Centers for Children & Families, in Harlem, New York (est. 1970)
    Chairman of Children's Defense Fund's Board of Directors
    Served on the Board of Directors of The After-School Corporation
    Featured prominently in the award-winning documentaries, 'Waiting for Superman' (2010) and 'The Lottery' (2010)
    Wrote 'Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America' (1995) and 'Reaching Up For Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America' (1998)
    Instrumental in the development of Rheedlen's Beacon School, Community Pride, the Harlem Freedom Schools, HCZ's Promise Academy, and Peacemakers
    Was appointed to the New York State Governor’s Council of Economic and Fiscal Advisors (2011)
    Was appointed co-chair of the Commission on Economic Opportunity (2006)

Why he might be annoying:

    He appeared in a commercial for American Express.
    He claims the turning point in his life was when he was eight and his mother told him Superman 'wasn't real,' at which point he burst out crying because he realized 'no hero was coming to rescue us.'
    He was offered the job of NYC Chancellor of Schools by Mayor Bloomberg, but he turned it down (allegedly because it would involve taking a huge pay-cut).
    His modus operandi is to plug Harlem Children's Zone's Promise Academy by claiming that 100% of his students graduate and go to college (when not all of them do).
    He frequently bemoans 'our failing public schools' but his schools' Common Core/MCAS test scores, while higher in some cases, generally don't stand out as that exemplary either.
    He has been known to expel entire school cohorts if they do not satisfy the HCZ academic standards (call it 'charter school cherry picking').
    He has become the spokesperson for privatized schooling.
    He is close associates with convicted hedge fund felon, Raj Rajaratnam, having bailed him out of jail when he was arrested for insider training and testified at his trial (2009, 2011).
    Controversy ensued when the New York City leadership allotted millions in tax-payer funds for the building of new Harlem Children's Zone schools instead of allotting them for public education.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is both an engaging and entertaining public speaker.
    He was raised by a single mom in a tough South Bronx neighborhood.
    He earned a Master's Degree in Education from Harvard University.
    He devised an actual solution to inner city violence by establishing the link between businesses, education, and the overall community.
    Barack Obama was an early admirer of his program, and talked of replicating his strategy on a national level as early as 2007.
    A year into his Presidency, Obama announced plans to replicate the HCZ model in 20 cities throughout the United States.
    He was named 'one of America's Best Leaders' by US News & World Report (Oct. 2005).
    He received the National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged (2007).
    He was awarded the 'Local Hero' Honor at 2010 BET Awards.
    He received the First Annual Heinz Award in the Human Condition (2010).
    He was named to the TIME 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World (2011).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 14 Votes: 92.86% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 19 Votes: 63.16% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 113 Votes: 47.79% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 158 Votes: 55.06% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 408 Votes: 54.41% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 316 Votes: 50.95% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 223 Votes: 78.03% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 187 Votes: 52.94% Annoying