Teaching Our Children What Matters

“What do we want?”

“Justice”

‘When do we want it?”

“Now!”

Eight years old—yet masters of the call-and-response protest—their high-pitched voices were full energy, and on-point.

12:30 PM

The army of little people felt the calling. They tasted their future.

2060, do you hear me? Are you ready for our contributions?

I am the next A.O.C. I am the next Amy Klobuchar. I am the next Stacy Abrams.

I am ready to change the world. In my 8-year-old wisdom, I bring messages of justice and passion from my school. Today, my school is a place of civil action.

We may be 8 years old, but together we use our voices for what we know to be right—in our hearts. And we know that what our hearts tell us is very different than some messages we get from society. We may be 8 years old, but we know what happened to George Flloyd – and many others like him – is not OK.

Injustice against people of color has gone on for way too long. Our parents protested. As did our grandparents. And our great-grandparents. And we feel all those people marching with us today.

Our generation is going to be different. We have to be different.

We know:

· It doesn’t matter the color of your skin. You are human.

We know:

· Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy onto a friend.

(MLK, Jr.)

We know:

· Even though the city is shut down, love is not.

6:00 PM

A very little girl with a dinosaur backpack ran up to her school gate, paused, and scrunched up her face to try to take it all in. Something was very different.

“Can you read this?” her mother asked. “Let’s read this together. What does this say?”

“Bla….ck Lives. Ma…??”

“’Black lives Matter.’ Excellent job! What does this next sign say?”

“I see you.”

“Nice!”

“I hear you.”

“Very good!”

“I stand wi??? ”

“I stand with you.”

“Let’s look over here – there are so many signs on your school gate! So many things to read!”

“Love Matters”

“You’ve got it! High five!”

Learning how to read with words that teach love matters.

Teaching our children to respect other human beings matters.

Teaching our children to stand up for what is right matters.

Teaching our children about civil disobedience matters.

Dear 8-year olds:

I see you.

I hear you.

I stand with you.