And hundreds of students, educators and scholars from across the country have sent a letter to city authorities in Orange, New Jersey, urging them reinstate a teacher suspended for letting her third grade students write get-well cards to imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer, but Amnesty International has found he was deprived of a fair trial. Speaking before the school board last week after her suspension, Marilyn Zuniga said her students wanted to send letters to Abu-Jamal after learning he was seriously ill.

Marilyn Zuniga: “On February 5th, I presented a 'Do Now' that stated, 'What is the main idea of this quote: So long as one just person is silenced, there is no justice.' This quote is by Mumia Abu-Jamal. In April, I mentioned to my students that Mumia was very ill, and they told me they would like to write get-well letters to Mumia. The most important fact to highlight in this entire matter is my love for and commitment to my students.”

In their letter urging Zuniga’s reinstatement, top educators and scholars, including Noam Chomsky, Marc Lamont Hill and Kevin Kumashiro, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Education, wrote, “It seems to us that we are at a moment in world history where it is important to encourage teachers to help their students develop empathy for others, and to see themselves as people who want to strive to make the world a better place. How we pursue these aims is a legitimate question, but threatening to fire teachers who are trying to engage students’ hearts seems to us to be profoundly wrongheaded.”