Radicals are not born; they are made. They are forged in movement. And this is a particularly time in our national and global history where the piercing tongues and burning presence of Radicals is needed. My use of Radical has nothing to do with being extreme. It has to do with being just. It has to do with going to the root of the problem and devoting our vital energies to justice and democracy from the root. It has to do with Radical Democracy. In a society moving backwards puting down your feet and digging your heels in is radical. Taking a step forward is radical. Breaking the silence is radical. So, let's speak out. Let's protest. Let's be loud. In an unjust society silence is confused with peace. But we know that there is not peace without justice.

When we reclaim our rights as demcractic subjects--as human beings capable of speaking for ourselves we are talking about Radical Democracy. And Radical Democracy, isn't merely a spoken idea. It is something that exist only when it is practiced. It is practiced every time people stand up against some injustice and put forward a more humane course of action. A Radical or a Radical Democrat is a person who goes into the root of injustice--of oppression and fights. Radicals are the mothers and fathers who go to meetings to make themselves heard when they hear that their children's schools are faiing--when they hear that their children and their communities aren't worth saving. These are Radicals.

Public Education is a Right. We must not allow this Right to taken from us. We MUST reclaim this Right among the many that have alrady been denied us. This is what Radicals do. Radicals are like Cherubims that wield a burning sword safeguarding the DIGNITY, the RIGHTS, and HUMANITY of people. We must make ourselves heard. We must make presence felt. Every chance we have to speak we must do so. Everytime we can meet we should meet. This is what Democracy looks like!