Post by Erika Conner (Bellefonte) on Apr 6, 2016 14:50:22 GMT -6
The entire town - and the entire school, students included had been invited to this event. Erika had been passive during most of the incidents with AMA, the anti-mutant activists, whose leader was one Elizabeth Fisher, but it had all gone on for too long now. She couldn't keep the school safe by telling her students to hide up at the academy. The activists were getting too aggressive and someone, somewhere, had to stand up to them, publicly. Someone with power, someone who had something to say; Who was better for that job than the headmistress of the biggest, most known mutant school? The first mutant school to be made, who set the grounds for every other mutant school ever to be made?
Standing on the podium outside city hall, the brunette looked out over the crowd; She could see some of her students and staff members, some locals and various people she'd never, ever seen before.
Still, here she stood, in front of all these people, ready to hold her speech.
"Thank you all for coming," she said into the mic as she offered the crowd a light smile. "I'm sure you're all curious about what I'm doing here." She paused and issued a light chuckle with her comment. "Mutants live among you and us. This hasn't always been public knowledge, but for the past years, we have. In a short time, we became known to the entire world and naturally, that's the kind of thing that raises eyes. Who could possibly think that something so supernatural could actually exist? People with powers, powers that once used to only exist in your imaginations and fantasies. We can create fire out of thin air, lift things with our minds and even create illusions that seem more real than anything you've ever seen." She paused again and turned to look at her husband standing at the end of the podium. Their eyes met and she could feel his smile reach her, even over the muttering crowd. He mouthed something and she continued.
"We're not here to harm you. We've already lived in peace with you long before many of you even knew we existed. Why would we suddenly rise up now? Does us having powers we never asked for suddenly make us into monsters? Does these powers mean we suddenly, after all this time, wish to take over mankind? No, they do not. Change has come and it's about damn time we start learning to co-exist -- again-" she made sure to put a lot of weight on again, to get her point across. "-I know that I can't speak for all of us, but I can speak for all of us as a community. We don't want you any harm. We just wish to belong and be ourselves. We don't want to hide or be chased away from our homes and neither do any of you. It's okay to be afraid and angry. It's okay to question us - because let's face the facts; We have powers that could be dangerous. But that's why we have the schools, the trained staff and recruiters to handle this - to ensure the safety of not only you, but mutants as a whole."
"I don't know what AMA's trying to achieve by shunning us, prodding us or attacking us, because that's what they've been doing. Have we ever, intentionally caused you people any harm? For the people of Kalispell, who have lived here your entire lives; Many of you have already been aware of our existence and yet, here you are. Still living among us."
"We might not be the same, but we're people too. Just because we're different, it doesn't mean we deserve to be mistreated or judged. We have existed for hundreds of years - as have this school. The schools were made to train mutants - to give them a chance to live a normal life with control of their powers - a control that ensures you that their powers won't be used for evil. But the reality is, you have to let us do our job. We're not going anywhere and imagine a world where mutant children don't get the appropriate guidance and training. Is that what you want? Children with powerful abilities without the ability to control them? Children with powers they haven't learn to know?"
She paused again as she looked out over the crowd; Her voice didn't waver, even if her speech was clearly passionate. "We have rights. The same rights as anyone else in this world. We exist and no one gets to decide our worth but us, same as we do not get to decide yours." She looked over at her husband again. "History have a funny way of repeating itself. Slavery, wars, greed, ignorance... Well, it's time many of you start educating yourself and that is why Bellefonte Academy offers evening classes for non-mutants to learn about us, our powers and everything we stand for. Fear is only as deep as the mind allows." Folding her hands, the brunette lifted her chin. "We're not going anywhere," she repeated. "We're a part of this world, and you can either accept that, or, well," she chuckled, "continue down the path of blissful ignorance and self-made ideals that benefits no one."
"And that is why I'm voting Drew Conner for the first mutant mayor of Kalispell. Myself, Bellefonte Academy and I hope all of you, will do the same and stand beside us. People like us-" She gestured at everyone. -"we've gotta stick together."
She then stepped aside, allowing her husband to take the podium.