Diversify, Equalize, Include.

Two thousand twenty five

On the twentieth day of March

The President of the United States

Donald J.Trump

Sat at his desk

Picked up a pen

And signed another Executive Order

He moved to shut down the United States Department of Education

Claiming “Power to the Parents”

And the states and communities

He ordered Secretary McMahon to facilitate the shut down

She promised that funds would not be cut off from those 

Who depend on them

But Donald had started attacking

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies 

Long before this

Diversify.

Don’t defund us

Who’s skin is not white

Whose sex is not male

You may not teach the history of my people,

But you will at least teach us 

Equalize.

Don’t defund us

Who find it hard to find funds

Who are working to provide

You may think we’re undeserving,

But you will give us the same opportunities as our peers

Include.

Don’t defund us

Who aren’t as able

Who rely on Article 504

You may see us as different,

But you will maintain an environment we can thrive in

You will never understand

What it is like to not fit in

To your societies structure

Our history books leave us out 

But you will not

Diversity

Equity

And Inclusion

Are not a privilege you get to take away

The color of my skin

My financial situation

The limits on my body

Do not hinder my ability to learn

The potency of knowledge

The power of the pen

The persistence of the brain

Are a force unmatched

13,253 districts

99,409 schools

49.6 million students

What if one of them can cure cancer(?)-

fix climate change(?)-

restore food security(?)-

You think you’re superior

But you just have it easy 

You’ve never been asked 

why your skin looks like that

Or why you don’t get new shoes

Or why you have that brace on your leg

You’ve never had to think

About if your teacher assumes you’re trouble

Or if what’s for lunch will hold you over through the night

Or what you’re going to do at recess

We aren’t crying over spilled milk

We’re weeping over exploited cows 

DEI affects more people than it doesn’t

Just because you are privileged doesn't mean

The rest of us don’t matter 

When I was younger, I knew I was different 

The people in my second grade class weren’t like me

And they knew I was different

But we could never really put a pin into it

I had things they didn’t / They had things I didn’t 

And my parents always told me I was privileged

That there once was a time school wasn’t for people like me / people like us / people like us

You never know what you have until you’ve lost it

And we're about to lose it

Diversify, Equalize, Include