Last weekend I attended the Save Our Schools' Peoples March in Washington DC. Teachers, parents, public education activists, and civil rights activists from all over the country were on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, on a hot and humid day, to tell the country that we have had enough. I brought my family with me. What better place to have my 17-year-old daughter see, live, participate in a living democracy? What better place to hear, firsthand, people like Jitu Brown and Reverend Barber speak? What better place for her to understand that when your government is not working, when the systems meant lift up all of us - especially public education - are not, then it is not only your right, her right, to speak up, it is also our duty to do so.
It is not radical to speak up. As a country, we've forgotten this.
The quote above is from Rev. Barber's speech. I wanted to run up and hug him when he said it. It's the reason why I brought my daughter, had her volunteer as an info officer, and had her march with us to the Ellipse. Our children must see us trying. I don't ever want to be that person, have her ever be that person, who saw wrong, complained about it, and then did nothing.
Silence is not an option.
I like to think that in hard times our children are more likely to be exposed to a clear call for inclusive social justice; when many were living the "high life" on subprime mortgages and unpaid credit cards just fifteen/twenty years ago, our children only knew greed, greed, greed.
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