Growing up in America, like anywhere else, we learn about our history in school. We learn that our country was built on slavery and inequality, but also that we have grown, changed, and become a nation worth being proud of.
But America did not grow and change on its own. It changed only when challenged by the bravery of activists like Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez, and Angela Davis.
I am proud to be an activist and follow the paths of those who came before me. Like them, I fight for an America without racism, without sexism, without prisons and punishment. I fight for an America that prioritizes kindness and community.
I have joined rallies for refugee rights, protests against police violence, and marches to take action against climate change. I have called on my university to support students who are sexually assaulted. It has not always been easy to speak up about injustice, but I know the world I dream of will never be real if I don’t fight for it.
In 2020, I was one of five activists arrested for protesting at a factory that makes tear gas. This company’s tear gas is used to repress protests in America and all over the world. In fact, their product killed two members of a family I stayed with in 2017 in Bil’in, Palestine.
The experience taught me that the things that happen here in America, with my tax dollars and in my name, can impact people everywhere on Earth. It taught me that it is my responsibility to speak up when injustice is being done in my name.
My dream is one shared by people everywhere: peace, justice, and happiness. But it is not enough to just dream of a world without injustice; I must act to make it a reality.
Sometimes people tell me I am brave, or that they couldn’t do what I do. The truth is I am also scared, and angry, and sad, and very often I worry I’m not making a difference at all. But we can all fight, in big and small ways.
The first step is knowing that what you do does make a difference. Telling your story makes a difference. Talking to your friends and family makes a difference. Donating money makes a difference. Attending a protest makes a difference. Speaking up at your workplace makes a difference. Anyone can be an activist. All you have to do is decide.
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