Swing In A Tree: 2018-02-18

Monday, February 19, 2018

"Resist This!"

Not long after Trump announced his candidacy for President, I began following him on Twitter. My logical, fact-bound brain couldn’t absorb the ridiculous tweets attributed to this man, and I had to witness first hand that the racist, misogynistic and narcissistic beliefs truly belong to him. They did.

When Trump’ campaign came to San Antonio, I joined hundreds of protestors outside the country club at which he spoke. My fellow demonstrators chanted and picketed. We participated in peaceful dissent. At that time, hints of Russian involvement within our election process didn’t seem believable. Robert Mueller’s indictment of thirteen Russian nationals this week means we’ll soon learn more about the exact way Trump and his cohorts manipulated media and voting. With 2018 midterms looming, I find it necessary to email and call my Congressional representatives to beg them to do their jobs to safeguard future elections within our country. Also, in response to this I’ve joined a local chapter of Indivisible and completed the training to register voters within my county.

Many of the Executive Orders signed by Trump will prove harmful to my family, community and environment. I’ve written emails and made phone calls to protest. I’ve used social media to educate those within my radius. I joined the San Antonio March for Science after it became apparent this administration wants key Cabinet positions filled with unqualified, small-minded personnel.

This week’s slaughter, so close to the lives lost in Los Vegas, wrapped my mind in foggy disbelief. I will make another round of emails and phone calls to remind my representatives that the miniscule progress made on gun reform has been stripped by this president. I will March for Our Lives in a few weeks. I will hit Twitter and Facebook. I will write through my tears and heartache. I worry that nothing will change. That my generation’s failure to protect everything (our environment, our health, our security, our children) will overburden me. That I will give up. I realized today that’s the goal of the opponents. They want us overwhelmed and off-balanced as they pummel at rights and regulations.

I am tired.

But Emma Gonzalez isn’t. David Hogg isn’t. Cameron Kasky isn’t. Delaney Tarr isn’t. Annabel Claprood isn't. These survivors, a year away from voting, will rip apart the current political system. They will save us all.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

“Put God Back into Schools”

The battle cry of conservatives whenever slain children’s bodies hallow hallways, “Put God Back into Schools” mystifies me. For thirty-five years I’ve worked within the public-school systems. I’ve stood reverently through daily rituals of moments of silence and respectfully kept mute as faculty members and staff openly pray “in Jesus’s name.” I’ve watched students bow their heads before taking major exams and preach personal beliefs to their friends.

These people don’t understand that the business of public schools isn’t to proselytize. That responsibility lies with parents, family, communities—religious leaders. Many educators’ strong beliefs seep out of their pores. They may not sermon while in front of the classroom, but their religious agenda pervades and influences how they approach everything they do. Anyone observing within the public-school system knows that the students most oppressed are those with no faith.

I feel confused that anyone’s religion professes that if the Ten Commandments aren’t posted in the classrooms of public schools, the punishment of an avenging God is a logical result.

What kind of God do these people believe in?