Give Us Education.

Black teens are gunned down one too many times. A man in the running for presidency refers to Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and thieves on national television. Transgendered people are violently killed. Women have yet to reach pay equality among men. We live in fear of foreign and domestic terrorism. Perhaps education is the last thing on anyone’s mind, but it shouldn’t be. Are you aware that 1 in 5 persons, globally, are illiterate? Did you know that 2/3 of them are women? In the United States alone 93 million people have less than the basic literacy skills. We wonder why people flee their country in hope of finding something more here. We wonder how so many of us lack compassion for fellow human beings who perhaps look, speak, or even love differently than us. It is my honest opinion that lack of education is a giant monstrous crisis that our government, the world, and we seem to be ignoring. It is the elite who receive exclusive education, possibly by their fellow elite, and go on to lead in our country. How much diversity do we see in congress? Can we be surprised by the lack there of? What we need is that our world leaders give more importance to the education system. I don’t believe that during this time and age it should matter where you live, everyone deserves a prime education. During a time when information is only a click away and when gossip magazines are paying millions of dollars for a first look at some reality stars baby, is it too much to invest in schools? As a mother whose daughters are not fair skinned blondes, I fear for them. As an aunt of black children, I fear for them. As a descendant of illegal immigrants, I fear for them. This is my country and I don’t deserve to live in fear. A person who reads sees beyond their societal borders. They see life through different eyes, creating compassion and understanding in them. They begin to realize that there is more than they know out there, more than their parents or guardians are teaching them. Education creates leaders; persons who are going to take matters into their own hands and build a better world. Leaders who can rebuild their countries, make them prosperous, somewhere people want to live, can live, that’s what we need. Our leaders today have to help make that change, the education systems need more money not fund cuts. We, the people, need to put pressure on them. We need to realize that this benefits all of us. In this land of diversity we ought to see familiar faces leading our country: black, white and every shade in between. We need someone who can, not only, stand up for those of us who are considered a minority, but who understand our struggles and afflictions. Imagine what can come from the sticks, hoods or the barrios; all the undiscovered genius. Imagine how much violence and ignorance we can abolish, simply by educating.