Author

Gabe Hart
Gabe Hart is chief communications officer for Haywood County Schools and a former teacher of English and Literature. He writes a monthly op-ed column for The Jackson Sun as well as feature stories for the quarterly journal, "Our Jackson Home." He also serves on the education committee for the newly formed Jackson Equity Project which seeks to advocate for equity and justice for marginalized, disenfranchised, and oppressed people living in Jackson. Beyond writing and teaching, Gabe enjoys spending time with his fourteen year old daughter, exercising, and listening to music (specifically The National and Jason Isbell.)
Madison County “culture war” is a fight worth having
By: Gabe Hart - June 21, 2022
Since the beginning of time, relationships between humans have existed in many other forms and fashions other than monogamous, heterosexual affiliations. Until recently, however, those relationships were not equally recognized from a legal perspective or carried the same weight of acceptance from a broad portion of society. The strides that have been made over the […]
Commentary: Southern Baptist Convention silences women
By: Gabe Hart - May 31, 2022
For the first 25 years of my life, I attended church religiously. I was an active member of the youth group in a Southern Baptist church. I enrolled in college at Union University—a conservative, Southern Baptist institution. When I graduated, I became the youth minister at my home church, and eventually a deacon at the […]
Commentary: Threatening voters in open primaries is anti-democratic
By: Gabe Hart - May 2, 2022
My first active experience in the election process was voting in the presidential election in 2000 when George W. Bush was running against Al Gore. I was a senior at Union University — a highly conservative, Southern Baptist university in Jackson, Tenn. I didn’t really do any research on the candidates because as a good […]
Commentary: Investing in Tennessee’s children is long overdue
By: Gabe Hart - April 19, 2022
My girlfriend lives in southeast Pennsylvania, so every other Friday I hop on a plane in Nashville and fly up. This past weekend, we were at a party in Philadelphia and during the course of conversation with a group of people, I mentioned that I lived in Tennessee. I got a side-eye from one person, […]
Commentary: That’s what the money’s for
By: Gabe Hart - January 5, 2022
There’s a scene in an episode of the television series “Mad Men” that I haven’t been able to get out of my head recently. In the scene, anti-hero Don Draper is working late on a Friday night because he’s miserable and wants to make everyone else miserable, too. Copywriter Peggy Olsen is also staying late […]
Commentary: Regressive discipline policy in Jackson-Madison County Schools is wrong direction
By: Gabe Hart - November 8, 2021
Up until about a month ago, my work days were spent in the presence of 20-25 adolescents who were navigating changing bodies, volatile emotions, teen angst, and the best way to learn the latest TikTok dances. In other words, I was a middle school teacher – arguably the most challenging job in the world of […]
Commentary: ‘Unapologetic American exceptionalism’ exists in a whitewashed world
By: Gabe Hart - September 7, 2021
I follow Gov. Bill Lee on Instagram. He’s probably not the first person that comes to mind when one thinks of cutting edge, visual social media. I don’t follow him because I’m a fan of his policies or his plaid shirts or even his folksy, staged pictures in Anytown, Tennessee. I definitely don’t follow him […]
Commentary: Our children will bear the brunt of state’s mishandling of COVID-19 crisis
By: Gabe Hart - August 9, 2021
As a teacher, I can pinpoint distinct feelings associated with each part of the year. The obvious excitement of the end of the school year in late spring with students wrapping up exams and desks being pushed to the perimeter of the room for the annual waxing of the floor over the summer. The tired, […]
Commentary: Educators will continue to teach the truth of America’s racial history
By: Gabe Hart - July 12, 2021
As a West Tennessee public school teacher of 18 years, my life has taken on a rhythmic pattern – pedal to the floor, hair on fire for ten months and then two months of rest during the summer. The same process year in and year out. June and July have always afforded me a time […]