Womens March In Chicago Essay

686 Words2 Pages

From an early age, American children are taught about the Constitution and one very important amendment; the first. We are taught that we have the freedom of speech, religion, the press, and the right to assemble. I’ve seen media coverage of riots and fights and burning buildings. I’ve seen pictures in my history textbooks of marches for civil rights and suffrage. But the belief that my voice has an impact didn’t peak until this year. On January 20, 2018, my friend and I attended the Women’s March in Chicago. We took the 5:45 AM train into Chicago. I questioned this choice a lot, especially when my alarm started going off at four in the morning, but when we reached the speaking area for the rally, we were at the front, literally standing …show more content…

When there was a student who came to school wearing a sweatshirt with the print of the Confederate flag, many students and I were upset that it was okay for someone to wear such a blatant symbol of hate and oppression to school. Our administration has taken steps to ensure that there is a safe learning environment for all students, but when no administrator did anything, I decided something needed to be done. I started a petition to change our dress code; specifically to add a clause stating that clothing bearing symbols of hate, including (but not limited to) the Confederate flag, Nazi swastikas, and burning crosses, is not permitted. However, there were a lot of questions I had to grapple with. How many signatures was I trying to get? What was I going to do with it when I got them? Do people really care about this? If my principals found out before I was ready to present it, would they stop me? Would I face punishment at school for this? Who was going to disagree, and why? Would anyone even want to sign? I didn’t know what other people would say, but I knew, whether anyone stood behind me or not, I wanted to take a step towards change. After typing my petition, I posted a picture on my Instagram story and invited my followers to ask me about it. A few people messaged me, asked me what it was about, and said they would sign it. I brought my petition to school

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