Classrooms should be spaces of learning, empowerment, and change-making—not fear. Yet students and teachers face a multi-layered crisis: gun violence, the far-right’s censorship of Critical Race Theory, the presence of ICE (immigration officers) in schools, and the criminalization of students.
We must demand policies that address this violence—so often perpetrated by white men—while protecting schools as spaces for free expression, critical thinking, and historical truth. In the world’s wealthiest country, safety in classrooms should be a right, not a privilege.
This artwork is a call to defend students and teachers, reminding us that schools exist to free our minds and shape the future. Originally inspired by classrooms lacking PPE during COVID, its message extends far beyond that moment.
