Fighting the supervillains of Racism, Militarism, Poverty, Sexism and Ecocide

Yesterday, we had a two-fer!  We tabled over the lunch hour at Travis HS and then in the evening at a career fair at Akins HS.  We appreciated all the thoughtful responses to the reflection question about how to overcome the supervillains of racism, poverty, militarism, sexism and ecocide.  Most students chose racism as the supervillain they chose to fight, while several Travis students noted they didn't feel that racism was a particular problem they faced at school.  A few students asked what "militarism" meant.  Just before our Travis visit, Hart had shown me the "toy" in this photo:  soldier figures holding automatic weapons and described as "world peacekeepers" -- marketed, as noted, for ages 3 and up.  This is an Exhibit A for what militarism means.

Here are some of the responses from the two high schools:

At both Travis and Akins, the Penny Poll showed a priority for spending on Education, with 38% of the penny vote at Travis and 31% of the vote at Akins.  As one young man said at Akins, with enough funding for education, all our other needs can be met.
Penny Poll results at Travis:  38% for Education, 25% for Health Care, 17% for Humanitarian Aid, 14% for the Environment, 5% for the Military, 1% for NASA

Penny Poll results at Akins:  31% for Education, 21% for Health Care, 17% for the Military, 14% for the Environment, 10% for Humanitarian Aid, 7% for NASA.

We appreciated meeting some of the other tablers at the Akins career fair, including young adults from a cosmetology school, Americorps members working with an after-school 4-H program, and a representative for a study-abroad college program.

It was also good to see this book display in the Akins HS Library for African-American History Month.

Thanks, Travis Rebels and Akins Eagles!