Upstander Reflections

This week one of my students vanished. A Mexican-American student. This is not an uncommon event at my school. Family emergencies happen and students are whisked away to Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, etc… to visit an ailing relative or whatever. However, this time was different for a couple of reasons. There was no notice. Usually the student and the family let the school know what’s going on. We heard nothing and were unable to get a hold of him for 6 days. There were rumors. Some students said he was deported or that a family member of his was. Others said that the family went back to Mexico in fear of deportation. You hear on the news that immigrants both documented and undocumented are scared but this week at school we witnessed this fear first hand. Rumors ran rampant. Students, teachers and staff tried to figure out the truth. After 6 days we finally got a text from the student. He said, everything is fine and that he will be back to school next week. No other

This is the first week since the inauguration that I felt helpless. In past weeks I’ve been encouraged by all the backlash from the American people in defense if their neighbors. We have made some stands and I am proud of those stands. However, if you are anything like me, things seemed to spiral out of control this week. I think the reality of our country’s current situation is finally settling in. As it did, a sense of helplessness settled in with me.   The departure of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn early this week reminded us that we are not alone in this world. Not only are we not alone but we happen to be the main player in the “world order” since 1945. Who knows the real truth behind the story? I’m not sure that matters. What does matter though; is that Russia is posturing and Donald Trump is our president.            Flynn resigns from his post after 24 days. The shortest tenure of a National Security Advisor in American History. When Trump signed a flurr

My school started off with some difficult news this week. In our 8am Monday morning meeting we were told that one of our students had been shot. Our minds quickly turned away from the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history to the realities of life in Chicago for many of the young people we work with everyday. The student is going to be OK. Only one bullet entered and exited the leg. We don’t really know a lot about the details but according to our principal it was a drive-by shooting right around the time of Super Bowl kickoff. Our student was walking down the street with a group of people when a car drove up and started shooting. No one else was injured. According to the police it is not being investigated as a “gang related” shooting because none of the people they interviewed were known gang members, including our student.    Do you have a picture of the student in your head? I used no pronouns to describe the student, but do you picture the student as a male? I probably w

Like most Americans I have always been proud to be an American. We were taught at an early age that we (Americans) have inherited the dream that was Athens and Rome. We read about Enlightenment thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu and we beamed with pride knowing that the Founding Fathers bled for those ideas and our country was born. Walsh-Lunkes cousins on the 4th of July. The next generation of proud Americans. (From Left: Audrey, Maddie and Pete, Nate, Dottie, Leah) The funny thing is, for most Americans, even White ones like me, we have no ancestral ties to those Founding Fathers. Most of our ancestors weren’t here yet. Mine didn’t start coming until the late 19th century, with the last ones arriving at Ellis Island in the 1930s. Should I not feel that pride? Should African Americans not feel the pride because their ancestors were enslaved by those same Founding Fathers? What about Native Americans? Their ancestors were already here and then mistreated beyond belief.