This morning, Jeanine and I were treated to a fourth grade presentation on the civil rights movement in the southeast region of the country. It was a timeline of PowerPoint presentations, from slavery to the civil rights movement.
Our son Zachary presented the book he read with a classmate. Excellent work.
What struck me though, was the two parents that came up to me and mentioned that Zachary had told their son that he was going to be silent one day at school. That it was a protest.
I was surprised. We had talked about the Day of Silence and what it was for over dinner the other night. Jeanine is organizing the students at Berklee who want to participate.
Zachary, obviously, soaked it in.
He told his friend that it was about the violence against gays and lesbians- he didn't understand the bisexual or transgender piece- and it was about being silent in protest of that violence.
Then, I was proud. Yes, I explained. It is... and we talked about it as we walked out over the school yard.
I found this video on the Day of Silence site.
It is wrong. I've emailed Zachary's teachers and offered to go speak about why Zachary will be silent that day.
My son made me so proud today.
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4 Comments
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I want to update this, because I asked the teachers if I could come in and explain what Zachary was doing.
They were very supportive but... the principal is out of town until after vacation and there would need to be a notice sent home and... could it wait?
My appearing in the classroom will wait until the notices are signed and parents notified.
But my son is still going in next week...
Sara Whitman | April 11, 2008 2:30 PM
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Sarah;
You must be very proud of your son.
My daughter witnessed a gay bashing on her University Campus and spearheaded the drive to have the University react appropriately, acknowledge it and take action. She then joined the campus LGBT association and works on campaigns for them.
Our children are the best hope for the future..
MauraHennessey | April 11, 2008 4:03 PM
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Right on! What a little rock star!
Serena Freewomyn | April 11, 2008 4:26 PM
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I've peeked ahead and see your update post scheduled for later this afternoon, but I wanted to stick my head into this comment thread to say: "Zachary is such a cool kid."
Bil Browning | April 12, 2008 12:03 PM
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