FALL 2008 - UW-Milwaukee

F A C U L T Y / S T A F FP R O F I L EMichael BondsBy Alicia HaywoodSpend just a few minutes withMichael Bonds and you’re boundto walk away from the encounterfeeling charged to make a difference— somewhere. Between his roles asassociate professor of EducationalPolicy and Community Studies andvice president of the Milwaukee PublicSchool Board, his life’s work is quiteclear. As he puts it, “I literally liveeducation and social change.”With an emphasis on ways in whichrace and ethnicity affect communitydevelop ment, Bonds structures hiscourses at UWM around informationstudents don’t typically get in otherclasses. “I’m trying to prepare warriors,”he says. “I teach my students that asdetermined as you are to bring aboutchange, the opponent is just asdeter mined to main tain things as theyare; there’s always someone benefitingfrom inequality.” Bonds is particularlydedicated to calling attention to issuesthat plague the city of Milwaukee,from health and housing concerns tothe struggles of local businesses. Andsince April 2007, a great deal of hisenergy has been directed towardsshaking up the vastly underperformingMilwaukee Public Schools (MPS) system.A tenured professor with two sonsalready in college, Bonds submits thathe didn’t need to run for the schoolboard. But it was his conscience as aneducator that left him compelled totake on the troubles of MPS. Out ofnecessity, Bonds says he spends asignificant amount of time helping hisstudents who lack university-levelreading and writing skills. Many ofthem he acknowledges are productsof MPS.Balancing his teaching responsibilitieswith school board and familycommitments keeps Bonds on themove. As he fields persistent phonecalls and maneuvers between classesand back-to-back meetings, Bondswholeheartedly embraces the demands.Speaking on how his mode ofoperation differs from that of manypublic servants, Bonds asserts, “Youhave only so many hours in a day. Youcould either use them to try to be inthe limelight while nothing gets done,or you could use your time to changethings. I chose the latter option.”In addition to serving as vicepresident of MPS Board, Bonds is alsochair of its Finance/Personnel Committeewhich manages a budget of $1.2billion. Now in his second year of afour-year term, Bonds has been behinda flurry of budget amendments andresolutions that emphasize access to acomprehen sive education and bringingresources back into the classrooms.“My only interest is what’s right for thekids…I want to be remembered as aguy who tried to make a differenceand who tried to do the right thing.That’s what keeps me going.”For Bonds, motivation to do what’sright stems from the drastic 180-degreeshift he made from his waywardyounger days. “People who knew meas a teenager don’t believe the life Ihave now, and people who know menow don’t believe the life I led in thepast. I lost a lot of friends to drugs,jail, and even death. I was headeddown the wrong path. But it wasn’tbecause I didn’t have people aroundme telling me right from wrong.”Bonds grew up in Milwaukee withfive brothers and five sisters, raised byworking-class parents (his father anauto worker, his mother a custodian)who migrated from Tennessee. “Theytaught us the value of an educationand left it to us to pursue it,” he says.“It was the choice I made. I was busykeeping up with the crowd.”After graduating from Rufus KingHigh School in 1976, Bonds says hefloated around for a while working asa busboy and dishwasher beforejoining the Army. It was during hisbrief stint stationed in Fort Sill,Oklahoma, that Bonds says his life’sdirection became clear. “I met peoplein the Army who exposed me to lots ofbooks by black authors…and showedme how detrimental some of my rolemodels were. After that, I had a desireto go to school.”In 1978, Bonds showed up atUWM and kicked his education intohigh gear, earning a Bachelor’s Degreein Criminal Justice in less than threeyears. His ultimate PhD in UrbanStudies was preceded by two master’sdegrees — one in Urban Studies andthe other in Public Administration.“People look in disbelief at all thedegrees I have now. I graduated fromhigh school with a 1.3.” Bonds creditsfriends and family members for urginghim to make something of himself.“Some of them have skills and academictalent I only dreamed of having, I wasjust the one who went to school. I owea huge debt to them and that debt willnever end.”By all accounts, Michael Bonds isusing his positions as an educator andpublic servant to pay it forward.Fall 2008/Myriad 21