Common Ground • In Washington • January 2009
  Letters to the President | We Were There | Pledges
   
 

On Martin Luther King Day, Common Ground's bus -- loaded with 11 students, 3 teachers, and a stow-away photographer -- left New Haven to participate in one of the most consequential events of our lifetimes, and perhaps in all of U.S. history. Before leaving students shared their expectations of Barack Obama through letters to the new president. Read some of what they had to say below.

Photo credits: Wil Potvin, Alexis Wilcox, Aisha.
   

"I have to honestly say that even though I am only sixteen years old, I would have never though that I would see the day when an African American would become president. I always knew it was possible, but I would have never imagined that it would be occurring in my lifetime. It means a great deal for me personally, being a mixed child as well; my mother is Cherokee and African American,and Puerto Rican, my father is Cherokee and Portuguese. Its been hard for me to try and prove myself; either I wasn't black enough, Puerto Rican enough, or so on. I constantly had to prove to people that it shouldn't be about what I am, or what I was raised as, but about the work I do, how well I do it , and my experience and skills. You have made that so much easier..."

" I also want to say how much of an impact you had on my school. Common Ground is a small, environmental-based public charter school and we covered the political campaign like no other school has ever done before! It was absolutely incredible; we would come to school the day after the debates between you and Senator John McCain and talk about them as if we were there that night. We would even sit around our lunch tables and discuss it at lunch. Then, on Election Day, every single student over 18 went out and voted. I made me feel so proud to see the students and faculty walking around with their "I Voted!" stickers on."
- Aisha

"I have been watching the debates from the beginning, so I understand and have faith in what you are planning to do with this country. I am honored to a be a part of it..."
"I expect that you will make college tuition more affordable. Knowing that college is within reach will help young people be more serious about their education."
- Mekayla
"I feel privileged to be able to call you my President. You give all minorities, including myself, a sense of pride that will live within us forever ...."
"I would like to see poverty-stricken young people have an equal opportunity to a college education ... As a senior in high school myself, it will be very difficult for me to be able to pay for a good college. My mother is a single mom, who won't be able to help me. So I will have to find my own means to pay for an education. It will be twice as hard for me, compared to a person who comes from a wealthy family ..."
"My cousin, who is like a brother to me, is a Marine who is being deployed to Iraq next month. He is a newlywed who has his whole life ahead of him. We love him so much, and our whole family is praying for his safe return. I hope you can end this war, so we can make amends and bring our soldiers home where they belong. "
- Yvannie
"I strongly believe that abortion is murder and should be illegal ... Equal opportunity is one of the defining elements of America's political culture. The child that is aborted does not get any opportunity. The opportunity to live is taken away from the child. The opportunity to feel love, remorse, and joy. The opportunity to take on the world's challenges. The opportunity to say, 'mom.' All of these opportunities that the child could have are taken away by the mother's opportunity to have an abortion."
- Dahiana
"Both my parents work in the construction business. Because so many others cannot afford to build and fix their homes, my family struggled to pay the bills. Yet my family is very lucky compared to so many others who need your help. Please help those families who cannot make ends meet. They need your guidance..."
"I think that your idea is wonderful: to create green jobs that improve the condition of our environment, and to create more jobs for U.S. citizens. We all need to remember that the environment is not ours to keep; we need to pass it along and we need to keep it healthy so that our children and grandchildren have a beautiful world to live in .... According to the Herald Tribune, we are the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. I know as our president you can change, and I ask that you do."
- Samantha
"I think that you should concentrate your efforts on education ... I think that charter schools should get the same amount of money as public schools. Public schools get $15,000 while charter schools get $9000 per student. It's not fair for my school to have to struggle for money. It's not as if students in charter schools need to learn 45% less than students in public schools."
- Leticia
"When our troops return home, too many are homeless, jobless, or have nothing to return to at all. The money being wasted in Iraq could be used for housing and treating our troops. They deserve nothing less, after doing their part in protectign the citizens of the United States."
- Keith
"In this country, people pay enormous bills every time they see a doctor. It doesn't matter if you are shot, need surgery, or need to remove a tooth; you are always charged. This may be the part of history you can change. Every American citizen should have a free medical plan ... There are people who avoid hospitals and doctors because they have less than others. If I lose my job, how will I be able to pay for health care?"
- Arturo

"I know that everyone in the world has hopes, dreams, and expectations for you. I will share mine. My hope is that we finally finish with this war, because we don't want any more of our loved ones to die for the mistakes Bush made. I also hope that you will support gay marriage. You have said that you are for rights for homosexuals, and so I will hold you to that."
- Cynthia

"Drilling in Alaska is a major issue. As a student an an environmental high school, I'm very concerned about the environment, and believe that oil drilling will harm the environment, and not lower gas prices significantly. It just won't produce much oil..."
- Markell