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In fact, education doesn鈥檛 save children from preventable diseases in India. Education isn鈥檛 saving people from being slaughtered in Syria. Education didn鈥檛 save college students on Tiannenman Square.

Racism, discrimination, hatred, fear killed them. What鈥檚 allowing them to keep going on is apathy. Silence. Disengagement. Denial.

When I worked in China, I was cautious with what I said and did. I was a guest and needed to respect the country鈥檚 rules - for my own sake as well as my organization鈥檚. This meant not stepping in when witnessing police beating a homeless man in the streets and not raising my voice to big and small issues of inequity, free speech and corruption. I slowly silenced myself. Became apathetic. Disengaged. And at times, in denial to all the things that I believed were wrong.

This past week, I鈥檝e been most struck by the lack of discussion about Ferguson among most of my family and friends. I鈥檓 floored by the degree of denial that racism was involved in Michael鈥檚 death. I鈥檓 sad by our own .

But mostly, I鈥檓 frustrated by my own repressive silence about these human rights issues in my daily life. Beyond re-posting articles on Ferguson on Facebook and discussing issues with like-minded friends at work, I haven鈥檛 engaged in hard conversations about the role racism plays in our lives. I haven鈥檛 taken a public stand about the fact that the deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Renisha Martin, Eric Garner and so many more unnamed and around the world are unnecessary, wrong and rooted in racism that is real, everywhere and affects me and my beloved friends, family, students and colleagues in America and worldwide right now.

When we don鈥檛 take a public stand and do something about it, we create a silence that allows apathy to flourish. This is the perfect breeding ground for the racism, discrimination, hatred and fear that is killing our children around the world.

Fortunately, good educators know all about taking a stand and doing something about it. After reading the latest news updates everyday on Ferguson, Israel and Syria, I find myself turning to Education Week and education blogs to be reinvigorated by the outpouring of lessons, resources and love from colleagues everywhere who are doing something to end racism, no matter what their role is in education.

I鈥檝e been inspired by the teaching resources on and for how to teach children of all colors how to stand up against prejudice and injustice. I鈥檓 moved by the discussions on this sites by teachers around the country about how they鈥檙e approaching it with their own students.

I鈥檓 reoriented by the wise and on the blog Practical Theory, written by veteran teacher and principal, Chris Lehmann, as he reminds us that there is no such thing as 鈥減assive anti-racism鈥�.

I鈥檓 energized by the North Carolina teacher who raised more than $139,000 for the food banks in St. Louis so that to eat while school openings are delayed.

I鈥檓 grounded by Teach For America colleagues and so many others like and and Holocaust survivor as they participate peacefully in Ferguson and share their reflections to the world.

I鈥檓 humbled by teachers in Ferguson who came out to after days of clashes.

Most of all, I鈥檓 finally feeling brave enough to take a stand after all these time of being far too silent and thinking that simply working in education was enough.

For me, this means I鈥檓 taking a stand to support myself, and the teachers, teacher coaches and kids I get to work with in understanding their identities, racism, discrimination and the power to act. This means having opening up conversations with my family about this. And finding ways to take part more in anti-racism work to show that as a middle-class Asian American woman, this matters.

This isn鈥檛 just a Ferguson problem. This is a global problem that affects us in rural New Mexico, the mountains of China and the bustling city of Mexico City. And unless we start here, people will continue dying unnecessarily all around the world.