“I had to speak up and use my voice to help.”
That’s what Ty’ray Walters-Mullins said when asked why he came to the picket line at Mission High School for 2 days during the strike. Ty’ray is a freshman and his mom, former Mission staff Gigi Hasley, is a member of the United Educators of San Francisco. He recalls picketing with his teachers and community as “a very fun experience” that allowed him to realize how important it is to show up for your community.
Ty’ray compared all the music and dancing on the picket line to a block party, expressing how joy fueled the strike’s momentum and uplifted the school community. But he also learned more about his teachers, the school system and advocating for change, including that
“the new superintendent [Maria Su] doesn’t know how to do her job,” and that “if something don’t seem right, you gotta stand up and fight for it.”
He thinks it’s great that other students also used their voices to advocate for better pay and conditions for their teachers, and that the strike, both the joy and tensions of it, “made us [our school community] stronger as one.”
