As I write my blog this morning, I think of those who cannot. I think of those who are not allowed to talk. I mean the people, young and old, who cannot say what they believe, who cannot see what see, who cannot know what they know, who cannot share their thoughs.

This is on my mind because on April 21, Mihael told the story of Ariel, a Romanian student who was expelled for blogging. She describes what she found out Ariel this way.

Distressed, I clicked on the link provided by Alina to see: is this teenager an uneducated brat who deserved his punishment? To my surprise, I read the words of a smart, erudite young man, who uses rhetoric in the most surprising manner to disapprove of some disturbing comings and goings. Then he blogs about his family, about religion and school, he describes funny situations: a colleague sleeps during class, another gives a witty answer to a not so witty question asked by a teacher. Teenage fun. No harm in his words. In short: there was nothing to justify the actions of the teachers.

I sit here and think. I type what I want and what I fear most is embarrassing myself with a stupid thought or a typographical error. I don’t worry that family will lose something they need.

Being aware of what I’ve got opens my eyes to those who have not.

If we know what we’ve got, we will see what we see. Then maybe we can find a way to start fixing things that are broken.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss