Jay Asher, author, Thirteen Reasons Why and The Future of Us
Fernando Bermudez, criminal justice advocate
Rachael Chong, founder and CEO, Catchafire
Andrew Dosunmu, director, Restless City and Mother of George
Amanda Hesser, co-founder and CEO, Food52
David Karp, founder and CEO, Tumblr
Kellee Khalil, founder and CEO, lover.ly
Creston Lea, author, Wild Punch
Rachel Llyod, author, Girls Like Us
Caren Maio, CEO, Nestio
Gabriel Stulman, restaurant owner, the little owl and Market Table
Jose Vargas, founder, Define American campaign

LREI twelfth grader Max shares his experience of presenting during assembly. He wrote this reflection ftothethirdpower.com, the official blog of LREI’s Feminism Class.

When I first learned that our feminism class was going to be sharing our intersectionality essays in front of the whole school for International Day of the Girl, my heart skipped a beat. It was not that I hadn’t been proud of my work, but rather, I did not feel comfortable sharing what I had written in front of the whole school; it was hard enough reading aloud to the class during our workshops.

But after watching a video introduced to us by our feminism teacher, Ileana Jiménez, I looked at sharing my poem on intersectionality in a whole new way. The video was about a girl named Malala, and as Jon Stewart put it when she was on his show, she is an “inspiration to all of us.” When Malala came on The Daily Show, she brought a sense of enlightenment. The love she transferred from the screen went into the hearts of many around the world. She is so proud of what she stands for: the education of girls and young women around the world.

After watching her video speaking at the UN, I was amazed. Her voice is so strong, even after the Taliban shot her last year. During her speech at the UN, the crowd was in absolute awe. Her confidence and maturity are truly magnificent. After learning a bit about Malala, and watching some more clips of her speaking, I had completely changed my mind about reading at our assembly. I realized how much change you can make by speaking up. By spreading awareness, change can happen.

When I was reading my poem in front of the school, I looked around and saw faces that had questions. People wanted to learn more about girls around the world, which was the best possible reaction we could have gotten as a class. I have been to assemblies during which people are dozing off and playing on their phones, but we received a completely different reaction. Turning language into action feels great, and I am now more encouraged to speak up. Here is the poem I read during the assembly:

Race, class, gender
What do they really mean?
Embedded in each other
While separated by a screen
Black white, rich, poor, boy, girl, even they
Straight, cute, ugly, pretty, fat, skinny, even gay
Why can’t we all just play
Why do transgender people get killed?
Why do people rape? I simply don’t see the thrill
You can’t be a slut if someone slipped you a pill
It’s time for us to take action, I’m done sitting still

During one of our feminism classes, I was introduced to Statistics Used In Girl Rising. One of the facts featured on this resource says: “66 million girls are out of school globally.” I asked my teacher about the source of these statistics and felt that it couldn’t possibly be true. What I soon found out was that these facts were all true, and that this was not the worst.

Other statistics included, “In a single year, an estimated 150 million girls are victims of sexual violence” and “a girl with an extra year of education can earn 2% more as an adult.” I was shocked, confused, and speechless. The first reason was because I couldn’t believe some of these things were happening in the world, and second, that I had not heard these facts before.

As I have reflected on this class, I have started to realize that if I had not read these statistics before, then neither have a lot of people. If people do not know what is going on, there is nothing for them to change, and therefore there will be no change. People need to take action, but we have to spread the word first.

Even by writing this blog post, I am informing the public about certain problems that I believe need to be further examined and ultimately changed. In a piece called “The Transformation of Silence into Action” by Audre Lorde, it reads, in the cause of silence, each of us draws the face of her own fear, fear of contempt, or some judgement.

People are often scared to speak up because they are scared of being judged. In the past, I have felt that I act differently in different environments. When black feminist activist Jasmine Burnett came to our class, she asked us what we would do if we knew that no one would judge us. Some students said they would dress differently, but I think this question goes a lot deeper. I think she was trying to ask, what do you want to do?

I know that this question sounds simple, but doing what you want to do is not simple. When a gay couple walks down the street, they have to worry about people following them and being harassed. When an African-American walks into a store, they are often followed by staff to make sure they do not take anything.

Sometimes we let things go by, and we do not even notice them. I have made it my mission to act. From now on, when I see something I don’t agree with, I am not going to let it slide, but instead, by putting myself in their shoes, I can make a difference. I want to turn my silence into action.