I grabbed my teacher bag and a bag of books about co-teaching to give away, (trying to downsize) and headed to campus amidst the sounds of a helicopter overhead. It's midtown Manhattan and anything is possible, but as I got closer, it was clearly not just another day. There were megaphones, protesters, police, and protests everywhere. It was very loud, very scary, and I could not have gotten into the building to teach; nor, could I have expected my students to have faced that crowd of protesters.
I had a flashback to when I was in a HS bridge program and witnessed a protest about another controversial war.
Yet, this felt different. I was afraid, not just for me, but also for my students. My university had not yet cancelled classes, although to be honest, most undergrads are long gone and only those of us who observe the public school calendar (the Graduate School of Education) are still in classes. I could not fathom why program administrators had not told us to go remote (although they did shortly before my class was to begin). Anyway, thinking about my graduate students who represent the diversity of America and include those who wear kippahs, those who wear hijabs, and those who are totally blind, I made a QUICK decision standing alongside riot geared Police to go remote. In fact, as I watched the crowd invade the building, I envisioned the headline, "Graying Professor Dies During Invasion."
I share this slice of my life because I was really scared as well as scared for my students. THIS time, I am not just responsible for me, but also for my students.
I have protested myself. I stood PEACEFULLY holding signs about a district that refused to negotiate a pay increase for many years. I have also protested thought my votes, many times.
Protests are a part of free speech. They should provide a forum to make others think about another point of view. Protests should not make others feel their lives are in jeopardy.
3 comments:
I have just seen it from the TV screen. Thank you for giving us this in person perspective. Your last paragraph sums up my thinking. I am grateful we are in a nation where we are free to think and express opinions. But freedom is not freedom to harm others. Ideas can be discussed, understanding gained, even if disagreements remain. Peaceful protests have power to bring change.
I feel all of this.
As a Jew, it's been hard to witness. I attended two of the universities where there have been huge protests and Jewish students have been threatened or attacked. Yet, my time there was idyllic. Oh, those halcyon days... so different from now.
Oof. Thank you for this firsthand account. These protests are so complicated. It's hard to untangle all of it into a single clear message.
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