50 days to 50 - Lesson 33: Im sorry, I missed yesterdays lesson. I fell asleep very early for a nap and that nap turned into morning. Its called age. LOL!! Todays lesson: If you dont stand for something youll fall for anything. I learned this powerful lesson as a teenager when one of my classmates and life long friend (who will remain nameless) was faced with deportation during our senior year in high school. His family had moved to San Diego from a foreign country when we were in the 6th grade. They were wonderful contributors to our country in many ways. And yet, they were faced with being tossed out of their home...and to add insult to injury, threatened to have to leave their American born youngest child/sibling here. The lesson came when my classmates from San Diego Academy and I found out that this terrible thing could honestly happen...and we went into action. We decided to stage a silent protest at the Immigration and Naturalization Offices in downtown San Diego. We made our picket signs, and organized ourselves to walk around the front of the building silently but making our objections known...simply by our presence. We had no idea what kind of impact that day would have but we wanted to, had to do something. And, something we definitely did. First, we were met at the INS with armed guards, ready to act if we, little 12th grade students, got out of hand. That was my first indication that someone was taking us seriously. Second, we got quite a bit of press coverage. My college English professor (I did my freshman year of college and senior yr of high school simultaneously) excitedly brought me a copy of the article from the Los Angeles Times...big article. So, someone heard our silent pleas. The outcome?? Their deportation was stopped and THEY continue to live and contribute to this country, as always or even more. Now, I am not naive to think that our little protest was what ultimately saved our friend and his family from eviction from our country. I know full well that some rather connected and powerful parents in our school moved heaven and earth (congress, that is) to get the matter resolved favorably...fairly, however I strongly believe that our actions motivated every person in the school to get involved, to care about more than themselves...because they saw that in us. It also made us, a group of kids who had for the most part, been together as friends since first grade, even closer. And it allowed us to see the power of unity and collective action. At least it did for me. The experience had a deep impact on me. It taught me that when convicted of some injustice, I must stand up, for justice delayed is justice denied. I honestly live by that day in and day out. Injustice is my achilles heel, and that is one thing I cannot/ will not stand for!! #countdownto50
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 03:15:45 +0000
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