At first I thought that the letter said he was in “n-th grade.” I was starting to feel like:
A) School has changed since I last attended.
and
B) I would love it if schools had an n-th grade.
Not to take away from the letter’s main thrust, but he wants school school supplies for Christmas? It made me look up why a 13 year-old was writing to Santa, and I realized that it’s part of a charity program. (Good on him if he just really likes school supplies, I’m with you there, man.)
Silly Xeni. Obama can’t be Santa Claus because everybody (or at least everybody who watches Fox News) knows that Santa is white.
Also, can santa be Muslim?
Obama obviously isn’t Santa, because here’s a picture of the two of them together!
Different handwriting, so I’d guess that’s the selected gift.
I can explain the back story a bit.
There’s a program in Chicago public schools that pairs schools in wealthier areas with poorer ones in late November. The kids in the poorer schools write a letter such as you see (the really young ones get help from their teachers). The teachers then add practical info to aid the receivers of these letters. Families from the receiving schools are supposed to get one age/gender/interest-appropriate fun item (maximum dollar amount is set) and then also something practical like winter accessories, school supplies, etc. These are then sent from one school to the other around mid-December. Obviously, there are poorer and richer families in every school, so it is not required of any family to participate.
Englewood and West Englewood are extremely dangerous neighborhoods for children. This young man has as much to fear from local gangs and drug lords as he does from the police. In fact, locals have been working closely with the police for years to deal with the situation here…it’s one place in the country where African Americans are in support of local law enforcement because they are doing more good than harm here.
Malik would have been expected to ask for something like a game or CD for his fun gift. The practical suggestions from his teacher you can see at the bottom. So he really did sacrifice something by asking for an intangible like “safety”. That’s very mature for a 13-year-old.
A place to stay
Enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud
About your doubts and fears
And what’s more no-one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door.
http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/the-gunner-dream-final-lyrics.html
Oh come on, that guy is obviously an Obama lookalike! Probably Louis Ortiz.
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