Dear editor,
I am writing to speak about the recent protest at Marshall prior to the winter break. For context, I joined MSA in the tenth grade, but hadn’t been much involved until I became a social media officer this semester. To my surprise, I found MSA to have a very welcoming, enjoyable atmosphere and an outlet to express my identity. As a Muslim student at Marshall, I sometimes felt that my beliefs, as well as those of many others, seemed overshadowed.
Especially since typical Muslim holidays weren’t recognized. Furthermore, many “religious observance days” were a dumbed down way to acknowledge diversity at Marshall, while simultaneously, not following through with these promises (several Statesmen have complained about teachers continuing to assign work on the observance days). This led me to assume that there wouldn’t be much support for the event, but I thought wrong. At the protest, many students, regardless of racial or religious background, came to support our cause, a sentiment I felt very grateful to. These walk-outs demonstrated that even though FCPS may give a pass to heinous behavior, we students will never tolerate racist and xenophobic actions. MSA will continue to promote civic service. Currently, we have Volunteer opportunities linked in our Instagram bio (@gcm.msa). Though I will graduate this year, I hope the underclassmen at MSA continue to support respect in the following years to come.
– senior and MSA Social Media Officer Maha Azam