A year ago, this week, George Floyd lost his life at the hands of a man whose role should have been to protect him. This, sadly, is not the first death of a black man at the hands of a policeman in the USA but it was videoed and shared at speed. That lit a fire – a fire which continues to burn today.
We must never stop reaching out to make our community at Oxford High School the most inclusive that we can. The vision for our school is that everyone feels that they belong, that we reach out to difference, seek it out and embrace it to learn and understand. We do not need to agree but a school such as Oxford High, represented by every one of the minds within it, must be a place where we listen to other, where we celebrate and where we use our luck in being able to share such an education to amplify those voices who do not have the opportunities that we do.
That day in Minneapolis there were three other police officers around George Floyd; they did not speak out or stop what happened to him. A great education is not just about appreciating the best of what is past, it is also about moral strength and courage – about doing the right thing and not being afraid to speak up and speak out in pursuit of it. That is the ultimate vision at the heart of our school, however difficult and uncomfortable it feels, and we will strive to do all we can to do the right thing and to work towards the light.
Ad lucem,
Marina Gardiner Legge