Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge
Yesterday I joined March for our Lives in Lafayette, LA. It did not even come close to the numbers marching in other places. I would estimate 200 or so people. The message was clear, and the march was a peaceful walk around the park. We chatted with people we knew. We cheered for the kids who bravely stood and spoke on stage.
On the advice of fellow slicer, Elisabeth Ellington, I listened to an On Being podcast with Naomi Shihab Nye. She suggests writing three lines every day. The three lines I wrote in my notebook yesterday:
The violence of our times is unacceptable.
My faith tells me that the answer is love.
Not everyone is going to accept me. I need to accept this.
As I watched the video of kids speaking in DC and beyond, Emma Gonzales, Naomi Wadler, and Georgia VanDerwater, I was moved to tears. How could I be afraid when these kids were so brave?
As a teacher, I am afraid to stay quiet. I cannot stand by and watch young children frisked with a metal detector. I cannot stand by and accept teachers being armed. These actions are band-aids to a problem our politicians are afraid to address, gun regulations and the lack of mental health care.
Band-aids are being placed on a broken system, a system with empty counselors’ offices, a system without adequate response to children in trauma, a system stripped of the arts. Long term solutions are available if we are only willing to fight for them.
I will carry a sign. I will not carry a gun.
Reflections on the Teche 