Black Lives Matter In Schools

Yesterday, more than 2000 Seattle Public School teachers wore t-shirts that read "Black Lives Matter/We Stand Together," an action that was unanimously supported by their union as well as dozens of prominent citizens and civic organizations. Thousands of parents and students joined their teachers in solidarity for "Black Lives Matter in Schools" rallies before classes. 

Last month, inspired by professional football player Colin Kaepernick, the entire Garfield High School volleyball and football teams began taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem in protest of discriminatory academic and police practices, an action that made national news and in turn inspired other high school students across the city to take similar action.

As Garfield history teacher and author Jesse Hagopian said, "You can only understand the Seattle educator's union unanimous vote for this action in the context of the Garfield High School football and girls' volleyball teams who are taking a knee for Black lives during the national anthem and helping to inspire people across the city and the country to take action against racial injustice." 

This is one of those remarkable moments when our youth are taking the lead. Needless to say, I'm extremely proud of the students and teachers in our city. Despite threats of violence, they are taking a leadership role in the non-violent movement to bring justice to our black and brown citizens. People often criticize me for injecting politics into this blog, but I don't see how I can not, especially when I see our children and their teachers taking such a prominent role in creating a better future for our country.

As I watched the final Presidential debate last night, it occurred to me that despite the high stakes, it was still a mere sideshow to what has been happening in Seattle schools and elsewhere around our nation. It's one thing to vote, but from where I sit, that is the bare minimum responsibility of citizenship. Too many Americans looked at Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump last night and believed that they were seeing one of the two people who will be the "leader" of the free world for the next four years, but they are wrong. We don't elect leaders in our country: we elect representatives. If they are behaving as leaders then we aren't doing our job as citizens.

These Seattle students, parents and teachers are showing us what democracy is meant to be about: speaking out, standing together, and taking the lead. And if our elected representatives are worth anything, they will join our parade or be left behind.

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