By Noah Martinez
“No ICE! No KKK! No Fascist USA!” That chant, among many others, echoed down the roads of Alvarado Niles and H-Street. Organized by students, with over two hundred participants, the January 20th “Free America” walkout commenced following the conclusion of 6th period.
“I am here in solidarity with the beautiful immigrants of the country, and the citizens of the United States, and the students of James Logan,” said Isabella Faria, senior and key organizer of the walkout.
Worldwide political discontent has been fueling student activism, Faria says. “…If you’ve seen Iran, there’s students everywhere. People are… protesting, the cities are on fire… It’s honestly inspiring us. It was one of the events that actually… led me to… come up the idea of the walkout today.”
For young activists like Faria, this walkout is just one of their many political actions. Sophomore Melany Soto Espinoza said, “Community can be really strong. I think all these people out here, I think that every single group can make a change, and seeing all these people out here, they’re fighting for a change.”
These students recognize the importance of student voice to make political change. We often stay stagnant in our actions as young people. We feel that our actions lack the potential to make material movement, a sentiment previously reflected in our student body. However, this particular walkout, something changed. It even surprised the main organizer.
“I thought… only a few people would show up.” Faria added, “and I told [Principal] Polk, ‘oh yeah, only, like, 50 people are gonna show up,’ but… [it] turned out to be…[about] 200 people.”
Many students who showed up wouldn’t typically have shown up to civically engage. An anonymous student stated, “I personally am a student that never really skips class. I never really leave class, but I think that when it affects our community, my grandparents, my parents, my classmates, my best friend—my best friend is an immigrant in this country—and I think that people like me who never really come out here, it says so much for us to be out here, and it makes a difference, and it shows that it doesn’t matter who you are.”
With everything happening today, many groups of students who would typically stay out of the limelight are finally showing face because the issues are, at last, hitting close to home. Most importantly, the importance of civic engagement is finally spreading because students feel like they have no other choice.
“It is so timely and so appropriate for us to start speaking out… because we’ve seen the irreparable damage… We can’t let this keep happening,” an anonymous student said.
Although the walkout was student-organized, there was participation from other age groups. Whether it be to participate in solidarity, or to act as supervisors to make sure students don’t get hit by cars when they are attempting to get photographs on the street (my experience), multiple teachers and administrators showed their faces. And they weren’t just Logan teachers. New Haven Middle, Elementary, and Continuation school staff members showed up as well.
Ethnic Studies and Social Science teacher, Ivan Santos, gave us insight into the position that teachers take regarding political issues like these:
“I would say that me being a teacher, being an employee of the state, I definitely have to play the middle—show both sides of every single argument… [Although] we have our own opinions, politically, socially, we definitely want to make sure that our students see both sides of the story, and it is our job to make sure that they know how to advocate for themselves… As a teacher… it’s kind of our job to allow young people to form their own opinions and not just kind of abide by what might be in a textbook or what might be on social media,”
This is likely a position shared by many teachers at Logan, with many of the current staff having grown up in the area, rich in political and civic engagement. Santos continued, “There’s a whole lot of teachers in the district that grew up in this area, and I think politically in the Bay Area, we’ve always had a strong voice and a strong desire to represent our communities… Ever since I’ve taught here for over 20 years, almost every single year, there’s… students that [want] to have everyone be heard.”
Off to the side, down by the corner of the football field entrance, stood two individuals slightly isolated from the rest of the group. Visible in their hands were two signs with messages of solidarity for the youth.
As the only two non-faculty adults at the walkout, partners Steve Holly and Lori Blue wanted to demonstrate the importance of the current state of the United States to them. “Well, this isn’t our first protest, and this just seems so important right now. What’s going on in the United States, and the future of all of you students is hanging in the balance.”
Steve and Lori aren’t unfamiliar with being civically engaged either. “We protested with Union City Resist… and we were in Hayward with Hayward Indivisible Group a couple of weekends ago. So just during this year, the first year of the Trump presidency.”
As veteran activists, they recognize the importance of youth voices being heard. The couple stood out among the students as a shining representation of continued advocacy and a beautiful showcase to the youth of how the fight for justice doesn’t stop after the first protest. “Don’t get up, keep speaking. Don’t give up. Keep speaking up, showing up. and letting your voice be heard. Turn on all sides. Find out what you think, and act on it.
In the midst of the support from teachers and other adults in the community, the adults in administration act as a reminder that not all of the Logan community is truly unified yet. New Haven Superintendent John Thompson and Logan Principal Ron Polk were also at the walkout location, surrounded by the vigor and energy of the gathering of students. They stood in their own, isolated from the action, attending less in support and more in observance. However, some rays of inspiration peer through their interview answers despite their responsibilities to keep students in class.
Q: How do you feel about students missing class today?
A: Polk – Obviously, it’s not ideal, but… students do have the right to protest what they believe in, which is good, as long as it’s for a good cause, but… we want all of our students to remain in the class, and that they can get their education. Unfortunately… this is not helping with that, but I do understand, so… it’s kind of one of those scales and balances you have to kind of deal with, but as long as everybody’s safe and peaceful, I’m good.
A: Thompson – Well, I’m not a fan of students missing class. period. However, I understand the desire to participate in this. I mean it’s a national event, and I can understand why. My preference is to everybody in class, though.
The contrast between how the teachers and administration answer is a reasonable one, especially because student attendance more directly affects their positions. Funding and job evaluations are more contingent on attendance for district administration. They’d rationally prefer the better option for their school. The principal and superintendent acknowledge the importance of, at the very least, allowing students to express themselves.
Thompson also acknowledges that the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as one of the issues being protested, impacts his job as an administrator. Thompson stated, “They definitely are having an impact. The whole ICE activity– thankfully, we haven’t had any around here yet. But if [so]… That’s definitely impacting work.”
In a follow up interview, Principal Polk gave kind regards to the students participating in the “walk-in” at colt court that followed the walkout. He voiced his support for students using their platform without missing class.
Even with many of the adults running the school having their justifications to oppose walkouts, it may seem like all of Logan’s student body seems to be in support of the goals determined by our young student activists like Garcia and Faria. But, some students have expressed their distaste for the calls against the United States. Probably the most notable of which is sophomore Gursimrat “Simi” Singh.
In a now-deleted Instagram Reel, Singh, who goes by “@simi_the_punjab” on Instagram, publicly made several comments condemning the walkout (Singh noted that he took down the post for his family and not because of the backlash):
“This is just disgusting to me… [to the] people [who] wanna wave around the flag upside down… utter disgrace, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
This led to intense backlash from the Union City and James Logan community and caused lots of back-and-forth discourse online. Wanting to know more, I was able to get an exclusive interview with Singh to follow up on his comments to civilly listen to his alternative perspective.
On students generally being civically involved, Singh said, “I’m not gonna say anybody doesn’t have the right to protest… I think it’s amazing that people know that they have the right to speak out against what they believe is wrong… but I got the right to… preach… what I think is wrong.”
In fact, Singh’s comments drastically contrast the hostile tone he employs online. Screens act as barriers of communication, causing many people to adopt conversational habits that they wouldn’t use in a regular discussion. When those walls are removed, productive conversations about these important issues become all the more possible.
Regardless of his contrasting opinions on particular issues, he shares a belief encouraging the discourse with a message for all students who want their voice heard, including those who share his position but also those who disagree with him “I have so many friends that I do not put like personally, agree politically, but I’m still best friends with them… I’m not going to be judging people off their political views… No matter what people say, there’s going to be people against you, but speak up. ”
Students must continue to speak up. When everything else is taken, student voices become the last line of hope—the last thing that students can hold on to to maintain any power to make change.
“I see a lot of the students that are in my classes out here today, so that gives me a whole lot of hope.” – Santos
“I hope that at least one more person will realize that what ICE is doing and what all these horrible things are happening, is not okay, and that we can take one more step to a better future of America.” – Espinoza
“One day, it’s gonna get to a point where they are going to have to listen to us, and they are gonna have to take action.” – Anonymous Student
