Skip to main content

Fight With Maria

These past few days have been the hardest days of our lives. The world has turned upside down; yet, it hasn’t. We’ve known all along that racism, sexism, and bigotry in all forms still exists. The two things that have changed is that (1) our so-called president-elect, “future leader of our nation,” is a blatantly outspoken racist, permitting and encouraging hatred to fuel our nation, and (2) racists everywhere now feel it is within their rights to “put us in our place.” It breaks my heart to see images of hate on the news—but it also fuels my own anger at this injustice, as it should fuel yours too.

The time of lamentation is over. The time of action and perseverance has begun. I’m proud of my fellow minority brothers and sisters and white ally friends who have wasted no time in taking action. They fight in the name of love and justice, accepting the consequences that comes with it. I’m especially speaking to my teachers, parents, and mentors of students here:  we should all join in and fight alongside.

The day after, that Difficult Dark Day when we faced our students with tears in all our eyes will be one that will haunt us forever. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I knew the best thing I could do was be present. That’s the best thing we can all do is be present. Let’s stop saying we are moving to Canada or Mexico. Running away shouldn’t be an option. We need to stand our ground, keep fighting, and fix this mistake. My students and their parents are more affected by this mistake than I am, and yet, here they are and here they will stay.

One of my students, a smart, kind, generous girl named Maria, wrote me a note at the end of last year in which she ended with “soon I can be president.” I’m ending this note the same way. Instead of losing myself in despair, I’m going to learn from Maria. She still has some fight left in her. And she’s not alone. I’m making damn sure of it. You should too.


#FightwithMaria
Here Maria writes "You are a good teacher who is very nice.
I'm going to miss everyone. Have a good day. Soon you can be president"
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#NewJobNewMe

"Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life," I thought that Sunday night, eager for morning to come.   Okay maybe not that intense. But it is the first day of my new job as a journalist/writer and I couldn’t be more excited. See, this isn’t just any ordinary job. It’s the career transition I have been wanting for a long time. It’s my move back to my greatest passion in life—writing. All my life, all I ever wanted to do was write. I wrote in my personal journal through my elementary, middle, and high school years. I wrote for the school paper in college. I worked as an editor for a couple of years after college, and I always continued to write here and there. Back to the cubicle life, but I'm cool with it :) But life derails, as it so often does. And I found myself needing to make more money, wanting to challenge my knowledge and skills, and become my own financially-stable person. So I did want any normal person does when career options see...
2 comments
Read more

Young Professionals Rise Over Competition With New Secret Weapon—Me!

You've seen me as an editor, catching pesky typos and streamlining book and newsletter content to perfection. You've seen me as a writing and professional communications teacher, assigning writing prompt after writing prompt, enough to foster an appreciation for the written word in my students. You've seen me as a copywriter, pitching ideas and pushing past any and all creative boundaries. But yet, there is more I can offer. More I can do. That's why I am excited to announce the launch of my new writing and editing freelance business! Nice to meet you. I'm Alejandra Torres, I help young professionals and small businesses write the precise copy they need to achieve their career and business goals. Throughout the years, I have served as a writing resource to friends and family. They come to me seeking a second pair of eyes or they come to me with only thoughts and a vision and ask me to piece together the rest. And so I do. "Alejandra helped me...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stop Using Candy to Motivate Students

Looks like it is my unpopular belief that candy is one of the worst motivators in teaching. Let’s just think about this for a bit. Candy, literally pure SUGAR, is a common method teachers use to motivate students to work. Forget the fact that candy is a direct way to harm a child’s health; candy is no different than any other type of currency for children. You are paying them to be students. Teachers using the candy-motivation strategy are failing their students. They are sending the wrong message. If your goal is to help students motivate themselves, it won’t be accomplished by throwing candy their way. It is such a short-term effect that using it in the classroom won’t make any difference in student motivation. If, in fact, student motivation is your goal, then you need to create an atmosphere of positive learning. If you want students to care, if you want students to motivate themselves, the motivators you offer them as a teacher should not be extrinsic, but rather intrinsi...
1 comment
Read more