“The kids are gonna save us all. They have so much heart, and they gave me so much hope.” Valerie Jean
Editor’s note: This story is by Valerie Jean Blakely, a Detroit-based photo-journalist and activist for water and environmental rights about her experience photographing the Wayne State University’s 2nd Annual Student Walk Out for Palestine.
When I arrived at Wayne State University, Gullen Mall at 12:30 today, there was a group of queer kids wearing kaffiyas, standing in the rain. As soon as I walked up to them, they introduced themselves, and one of them invited me to walk with them a little way down the road, under their umbrella, so I wouldn’t get my cameras wet.
Students could be seen walking out of all the surrounding buildings and gathering close to a big rock they had painted a Palestinian flag on, that read, “The ppl united will never be defeated!”
I sat at a table nearby waiting for the march to start, and two young Palestinian ladies joined me. We talked about how cruel the zionists on campus were and how unsafe they made things for them. One of them gave me a sticker with a watermelon on it, and when I got up to start photographing the march, the other one gave me her umbrella to keep my cameras safe. I was shown kindness and love from the moment I arrived until I left.
The kids are gonna save us all. They have so much heart, and they gave me so much hope.
I came home with that umbrella, and I am still on a vibrational high because of it.
You could hear the students chanting FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE for blocks. My heart is full. Resistance is beautiful.
All power to the people!
