Using my voice in a different (harder) way

How I handled racism at my local post office

Do you remember when you first felt that your voice and words mattered?

I felt this initial glimmer in fifth grade, when my teacher, Paul Joyce, laid out pens in the little wells at the top of our desks. In the face of the class’s collective confusion, he explained that he wanted us to understand the importance—and permanence—of our words by using a pen.…