What if......

by a veteran teacher and chapter leader, unaffiliated with any political group in the UFT.

what if they gave a rally to replace the one now on the back burner, and
everybody came.
no, not the usual suspects.
no, not the union folks.
nor the coalition of political personalities that arrive in time for the
rally and then scurry away, back into the shadows.

what if they held a rally for the disenfranchised
the teachers,
the parents,
and the children that are never really part of the equation anyways.

what if the all came together from near and far
by train, by bus, by car, by feet
what if they came enmasse,

and their shouts echoed in the canyons of the city.
and said we don't accept the duplicity.
we don't accept the deals made in darkness.
we wont accept the use of our children as pawns in some elaborate power
driven chess game.
we reject the denigration of our lives, our hopes, and our dreams
we do not agree to the scorn heaped upon us by those we used to trust.

we want the cleansing action of sunlight, on a new day, on a new idea
we want to birth a new reality

what if....