This counter rally is targeting folks who are our opposition, but not our enemy.

Local community leaders, parents, students and advocates came together May Day for “Our Children Are Not Your Props: A Counter Protest To the Racist Reopen Schools Rally.” There were many amazing speakers that day. This is the transcript for Emma’s speech; you can also see the video. To get an overivew of the event, check out the press release.

My name is Emma Rehac. My pronouns are her/she (like the chocolate bar!) they is good too. I am a public school alumni and Harlem resident here with IntegrateNYC and New Yorkers for Racial Just Public Schools.

When I was asked to speak at this event, I was initially kind of hesitant. I moved to Harlem in the beginning of highschool with my white single mom and Asian sister. I am part of the social gentrification of this neighborhood and I cannot represent or speak for the families and students of this community. But so, as a young Asian womxn living in Harlem, I thought I could speak on standing in solidarity with and following the Black and Brown families who are the leaders of this community.

It is shameful that fierce community leaders (like Kaliris!) had to put their time and energy and labor into organizing this counter rally to defend the integrity and interests of East Harlem.

Their time and energy should be going toward assessing their community’s needs, toward building a better future, toward elevating the solutions to the injustices they face, because as some wise person once said, those closest to the issues are closest to the solutions.

To folks who identify as white or Asian, or to anyone who traveled out of your neighborhood to be here, our time and energy should be spent listening to the stakeholders of this community, and supporting and following their lead, not just as an ally, but as a comrade and accomplice in this struggle toward liberation.

But for Keep NYC Schools Open and mayoral candidates Garcia and Yang- instead they are spending their time and energy on taking a trip to East Harlem for a photo-op to tokenize Black and Brown people and use them as props to advance their own racist, selfish, and dangerous agenda.

If Kathryn Garcia or Andrew Yang actually cared about this community, if they actually wanted to hear what this community has to say, if they were actually concerned about safely and equitably reopening our schools, they would be with us, not a predatory group led by white moms who have never been active in Harlem, are not from Harlem, and think they can speak for Harlem.

Keep NYC Schools Open wants to fully reopen our schools. They want things to return to “normal” but “normal” was pretty fucked up. Fully reopening athletics to how they were before will mean that more than 17,000 Black and Brown students will have no access to any sports teams. Before schools shut down, Black and Latinx students were 3x more likely to walk through metal detectors to enter their school building than white students. (That ain’t right!)

We refuse to return to the status quo. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated so many existing inequities, and we must take advantage of this moment to reopen our schools in a way that centers the voices and experiences of historically marginalized communities, so young people can return to a more equitable, more just school than they attended before.

I just want to end by saying that this counter rally is targeting folks who are our opposition, but not our enemy. White supremacy and racial capitalism is our enemy. The people we are responding to are just not as liberated in their minds, in their hearts, or in their spirits as we are. Like- they invited the police to their event today! They do not understand that their safety and healing is dependent on our safety and healing. None of us are liberated until all of us are liberated. And so, I hope that all clout chasing capitalists, and bureaucrats, and political candidates, and white supremacists, and oppressors can feel… will be overcome by our love and solidarity. I hope they will be overcome by the power of the people’s love and the people’s solidarity.

Thank you.

Emma Rehac is a first-year college student from New York City. Emma is an avid photographer and total foodie who is addicted to Dutch black licorice. She is currently a Youth Director and Coach at IntegrateNYC as well as a founding member and lead organizer of The Coalition for Student Transit Justice and Youth Alliance for Housing. Emma previously worked at a restorative justice program, the Harlem Youth Impact, for two years and taught photography composition and Adobe Photoshop to elementary schoolers for seven years.

As an Asian womxn living in Harlem who was raised by a white, immigrant, single mother, Emma has had a strong sense of social awareness from a young age. She wishes to explore the crossroads between culture and policy and uses her intersectional perspective to amplify the voices of those historically neglected by the status quo.