This week I was struck all over again by the power and courage of a very simple act: four young people who decided to take matters into their own hands and make an epic journey from Florida to Washington DC, on foot. Their goal? To raise awareness about the Dream Act and show the urgency of real immigration reform for youth who were brought to the U.S. at a young age.
Gaby, Carlos, Felipe, and Juan are the four bold young people who make up the “Trail of Dreams,” but they are also facing challenges along the way. An email I got from their website yesterday suggests that they are entering hostile anti-immigrant territory as we speak. Just last weekend, they came head to head with the KKK in Georgia. The assembeled clansmen were protesting what they call the “Latino invasion” of the United States.
In a post called “Contradictions,” Juan writes about the jarring encounter:
Ultimately, the success of today was to be able to stand hand in hand with our friends from the NAACP; singing liberation songs together and acknowledging our united struggle for racial justice. We ALL deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We all deserve to be acknowledged for our humanity.
Tweeting from the rally, the marchers commented about how sad it was to see young kids wearing the KKK robes. These children were already being taught to fear and hate.