Students and LGBTQ+ advocates rally at Florida Capitol building on March 31, 2023. Credit: Danielle J. Brown
Quality Journalism for Critical Times
As we watch the sustained attacks, the pain and the suffering Florida’s so-called leaders continue to inflict on our children, I often think of the African proverb, “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
A major part of our responsibility as adults is to care, protect, feed, nurture and raise them to be decent, considerate, loving and compassionate human beings. Which is why caring adults across the Sunshine State should be deeply distressed and infuriated at what is transpiring. Distressed and angry to witness the spate of multi-pronged attacks against teens, children and young people, but more importantly, the concern about the psychological, emotional and psychic damage these attacks are causing.
Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector
Florida’s children and teens are enduring intense pressure on several fronts: the evisceration of public education; the reluctance by Gov. Ron DeSantis and far-right conservatives to even consider sensible gun-safety policies and legislation; banning of books about and by African American, Latino and LGBTQ authors; working to systematically erase Black history; gagging and attacking teachers with threats of prosecution or running them from their jobs; incessant bullying and intimidating of students and young people; pulling apart of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in colleges and businesses and more.