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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"
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