Rising Above: Anni's Campaign Against Intolerance

From Triumph to Tragedy

In the weeks preceding the parade, Anni seized the opportunity afforded by her position in the City to delve deeper into the root causes of Florida's book bans and anti-Woke legislation. Utilizing the City's website and hosting workshops, she provided platforms for parents and teachers to express their concerns and perspectives in a respectful environment.

On the day of the parade, Anni found herself seated on a small float beside a student LGBTQ club representative named Christie. Overwhelmed with excitement, Christie expressed her admiration for Anni, introducing herself as her biggest fan. Behind them, adorned in an elaborate nurse's costume, sat Victor, who introduced himself as Nurse Victoria for the occasion. Anni engaged him in conversation, learning that he was a nurse in the hospital ER and a military veteran. Expressing her gratitude for his service, Anni ensured they were placed at the back of the parade to witness all participants as they proceeded them.

As their float traversed the parade route, they were greeted with enthusiasm by the crowd, despite a handful of protesters. Suddenly, the tranquility was shattered by a gunshot. Their driver collapsed, mortally wounded, and chaos ensued as the float careened into a light post. Anni instinctively shielded Christie with her own body as more shots rang out. Nurse Victoria yelled for them to stay down as he swiftly moved to protect them, and amidst the gunfire, Anni felt a searing pain in her leg and chest.

In and out of consciousness, Anni heard Nurse Victoria's urgent instructions to Christie to apply pressure to her leg wound as he elevate Anni's legs. The gun battle raged on, with SWAT teams engaging the assailants. Eventually, Anni was transported to the hospital, her life saved by the heroic actions of Nurse Victoria and Christie.

Upon regaining consciousness, Anni found herself under the care of now Nurse Victor and Doctor Cindy Sanchez.  Doctor Sanchez told Anni that if were not for the quick actions of Nurse Victor and Christie that she would not be talking to her today.  Grateful for their efforts, Anni requested to see Christie who had been waiting outside.   When Christie entered the room she tearfully expressed her relief at Anni's recovery.  Anni held out her hand as Christie handed her  a card she had made.  The card had a picture of Anni on the cover with the caption, "Some heroes don't wear capes."  Before departing Anni thanked her one more time and requested that she come visit her again.

Anni received many visitors during her hospital stay, among them Pastor Vic, who offered a heartfelt apology for his previous actions. He expressed a newfound understanding of the sway extremist groups had on his thinking while observing Anni's leadership during City Council meetings via the Cities' live stream. Pastor Vic disclosed that his trial resulted in acquittal due to evidence tampering and shared that he had returned to the City Council after making a public apology for his past actions and statements.   With a revitalized commitment to his faith Pastor Vic had new purpose in his life and thanked Anni once more.

There was a knock at the door and Father Dunkin popped in,  greeting Anni and Pastor Vic. Father Dunkin extended his hand to Pastor Vic and asked if he would like to join him in a prayer for Anni's quick recovery, to which Pastor Vic beamed, of course.

While recuperating from her injuries, Anni dedicated time to reviewing the results of her surveys and workshops, incorporating them into her research. A picture of how book bans and anti-woke policies evolved in the State of Florida began to crystallize in her mind.

Her research revealed that the drive to ban books in Florida's schools and libraries stems from various factors, including legislative actions such as Florida's Anti-Woke and Parental Rights act legislations, parental concerns, and conservative media and groups advocating for the removal of books they perceive as promoting leftist ideologies or challenging traditional values.

Delving deeper, she found that the push for Anti-Woke and Parental Rights act legislation in Florida was propelled by Conservative Advocacy Groups, Conservative Lawmakers, Parent and Community Activists, and Conservative politicians and Media personalities. They championed legislation to combat what they perceived as leftist ideologies infiltrating education and government institutions, framing it as a response to the perceived indoctrination of students with leftist ideologies.

Anni pondered the trigger that initiated these actions, and further research revealed it began with Critical Race Theory (CRT). This academic framework originated in legal studies during the 1970s and 1980s as a response to the inadequacies of traditional legal approaches in addressing racial inequality and discrimination. CRT seeks to examine how race intersects with systems of power and privilege, especially within legal and social structures.

Anni uncovered that Conservative media and extremist groups have vilified CRT, turning it into the boogey man they had so eagerly sought to advance their legislative agenda and influence public opinion. They distorted CRT, misrepresenting it as a liberal attack on traditional American values. Anni learned that some of the ways these groups misled the public about CRT included falsely equating it with diversity training or sensitivity programs. Diversity training aims to educate individuals and organizations about diversity, equity, and inclusion, fostering understanding and respect for people of diverse backgrounds in the work environment, while CRT does address issues of race and diversity, it is a specific academic framework rooted in legal theory and social science research, rather than a training and education program.  Additionally, they falsely claimed CRT teaches white guilt or blames individuals for historical injustices based on their race. However, CRT critiques institutional structures and systemic inequalities, rather than assigning blame or guilt to individuals.

In the next chapter Former president Donald Trump mentions Anni in a campaign speech.