To the editor: After I read guest contributor Faisal Kutty’s recent op-ed, I began to think of the students I worked with over 31 years (“We celebrate civil rights heroes only after they stop making us uncomfortable,” Feb. 8).
My students were predominantly Black and Chicano. They were exposed to year-long lessons in Black history and Chicano studies. They also underwent continuous study of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, with emphasis on our “pursuit of happiness.”
Between 1987 and 2018, I saw my students, among other activities, petition their principal for a “Free Dress Friday.” They also organized and implemented an anti-bullying assembly and rally. One of them wrote an opinion letter to the Board of Education to adopt a new state exam because the one she had just taken was “inefficient and ineffective.”
I hope they are living happy and meaningful lives. Thank you to Malcolm X and the Chicano movement for inspiring us!
Bill Corey, Whittier
