Since Trump’s election, the president has given executive orders that have been called anti-immigrant. In response, the Students Organized Against Racism (SOAR) club at Park has been working on a new project. The project includes bracelets made by the club’s members in an attempt to build community in light of the new presidential administration.
SOAR advisor and Park social studies teacher Tom Parks said the idea for bracelets was developed when SOAR students discussed discrimination at Park. SOAR wanted to find a way to deal with emotions caused by the political climate.
“SOAR was beginning to have conversations around how our recent immigrant students felt maybe safe or not safe,” Parks said. “It began as support for some heavy feelings even within the organization, we had a lot of conversations about how anti-immigrant sentiment is tied to racism and xenophobia.”
According to freshman Teraysa Rombalski, SOAR shared ideas to develop programs to help Park and make students feel safer in the context of new policies in the US.
“We were brainstorming ways that we can combat the policy changes and the danger and (lack of) safety that people are feeling in the world right now,” Rombalski said.
Junior Otoha Masaki said the bracelets are meant to provide support and care to those who need it. She said the bracelets have notes to encourage positivity.
“The bracelets (have) words of encouragement that are meant to make students feel seen and supported by others wearing them,” Masaki said. “They are made with colorful beads that have messages on them like ‘we see you’ and ‘we love you’.”
According to Rombalski, the hope is that the bracelets, along with teach-ins, will help SOAR educate students about policies that relate to the new presidential administration and apply to students at Park.
“Teach-ins is a two-hour program that SOAR wants to do where we as SOAR members would host and be able to teach and have students ask questions about certain topics that are related to the current politics and the history of the politics in the US right now,” Rombalski said.
Parks said the bracelets were a reaction to the new presidential administration, student questions, and the desire to represent SOAR’s values. He said SOAR wants the bracelets to symbolize the speculation of students in the current situation.
“It felt like there was so much happening so fast with the new administration,” Parks said. “There’s so many questions and so much curiosity. We as a student group wanted to be clear on how any of our work was tied to how racism could show up in the school so we could represent our organization and who we are as a student group to be students working against racism.”
According to Masaki, the bracelets are aimed towards students at Park from all backgrounds, but especially those who are immigrants or come from immigrant families because of the nationwide policies targeting these minority groups with anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“Our bracelets are for anyone (at Park),” Masaki said. “We want everyone in SLP to feel seen regardless of their background or identity. We hope this lets students know that they are welcome in SLP regardless of their background. Students might feel scared because minorities are being targeted in the US right now, but we want to ensure that we create a strong community where students can feel seen.”
Parks said he wants the bracelets to remind the student body of the joy in the community at Park. He said he hopes the project will create unity around Park and provide support to those who need it.
“The hope is that students would be reminded that we are glad that they are here, and that this is a community of learners and a community of students, regardless of immigration status,” Parks said. “Part of that, the joy and emotional support part, was we want students to know that they’re welcome here and that we stand with them as classmates, friends and supporters.”
