[This story was originally the Valedictorian speech at The Center School’s 2018 graduation ceremony on June 20. It has been lightly edited for clarity.]
As the end of eighth grade grew closer, I was filled with trepidation for what the next four years might bring. I fantasized about failing all my classes on purpose so I’d have to stay at South Shore PreK-8. But that wouldn’t work because the rest of my class would be gone, and I’d have to make friends with the seventh graders.
(This article originally appeared in Real Change and has been republished with permission.)
Never is America’s hypocrisy and exclusionary nature more visible than on the Fourth of July. Since its inception, this country has largely disregarded the highly aspirational human rights decree, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Are these renowned words from the Declaration of Independence truths? Are they self-evident?
So much of the rhetoric surrounding those attempting to cross US Borders has sought to criminalize them rather than to contextualize what is happening in the countries from which they are seeking asylum. This isn’t an accident.Continue reading U.S. Building Blocks of the Border Crisis→
My days start with voicemails from grandmothers asking for resources to feed their grandbabies, school counselors lamenting another student’s family was evicted, pushed out, and could I find an apartment for them to rent for less than $1,000/month in this neighborhood? (They really want to stay in this neighborhood).Continue reading A Day In The Life of A Youth Worker→
I’ve been arrested two weeks in a row for practicing nonviolent civil disobedience as part of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival. The first arrest happened in the second week of the campaign. When the building closed at 5:30, the other protestors left peacefully and respectfully. The Washington State Patrol then gave the remaining 19 of us multiple warnings over a 3-hour time period. They then cuffed us, read us our Miranda rights and gently escorted us to the basement of the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, where they booked us and charged us with criminal trespassing (Misdemeanor 2). Continue reading Profiting Off The Poor→
