Ava DuVernay inspired some social media users to unearth old pictures of themselves after she tweeted a photo of herself as a child to protest the Trump Administration’s family-separation policy on Tuesday.
“I look at myself as a girl and imagine having to travel unsafely in a quest for safety,” the Wrinkle in Time director wrote in a tweet showing a childhood portrait of herself on Tuesday evening. “Be forcibly separated from my mother. Caged with people I don’t know and who don’t know me. Alone in a world I don’t understand. Imagine this for the child you were. We cannot allow this.”
DuVernay was referring to the Justice Department’s “zero tolerance” policy, which separates families who cross the U.S. border illegally in order to criminally prosecute the parents, while children are sent to shelters. Reporters who have seen the conditions of the shelters have reported and taken video of cages and crying children.
The tweet was soon met with copycat posts, where Twitter users shared images of themselves as children. “Inspired by @ava: this is me & my mom. She immigrated alone in her late teens. This was the greatest sacrifice,” one user wrote.
“Here I am with my mom at my preschool graduation. I cried for three months straight every time she would drop me off because the thought of being away from her terrified me. I can’t imagine what these babies must be going through. It literally pains me,” another added.
Since May, 2,342 children have been separated from their families, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
See DuVernay’s tweet and other posts below.
I look at myself as a girl and imagine having to travel unsafely in a quest for safety. Be forcibly separated from my mother. Caged with people I don’t know and who don’t know me. Alone in a world I don’t understand. Imagine this for the child you were. We cannot allow this. pic.twitter.com/JIWOiWDXvu
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) June 20, 2018
Inspired by @ava: this is me & my mom. She immigrated alone in her late teens. This was the greatest sacrifice. I can’t imagine not knowing where she is today when I’m 40. I would not have survived being torn from her at 4. #FamiliesBelongTogether pic.twitter.com/uib731IEkg
— Carmen Rojas, PhD (@crojasphd) June 20, 2018
?@Ava? This is me & my mother when she MOVED us from the dangers of drugs & crime in DC to Seattle. I can’t imagine being RIPPED from her arms at that border! As a pediatrician I am disgusted & armed with real knowledge of the dangers facing these babies…this is horrific! pic.twitter.com/BS1A2azXEM
— Dr. Yolanda Lewis-Ragland (@DrYolandaMD) June 20, 2018
This is me with my mom at that age. My great-grandmother is sitting behind us. My other mother is taking the picture. We are all there to watch my sister skate. Family was EVERYTHING to me. All that I knew, all my safety, and joy. We cannot allow this. pic.twitter.com/lO2AOiUgv9
— Capable Citizen (@CapableCitizen) June 20, 2018
I can’t imagine myself at this age being ripped away from my mom and thrown in a cage surrounded my men with guns, staring and telling me to stop crying. My hearts breaks for these precious kids who only want to be with their families! pic.twitter.com/UvvjoLs1xR
— ‘Since 82’ (@since82kid) June 20, 2018
Here I am with my mom at my preschool graduation. I cried for three months straight every time she would drop me off because the thought of being away from her terrified me. I can’t imagine what these babies must be going through. It literally pains me pic.twitter.com/WP5eXF3hvs
— margarita (@margslucia) June 20, 2018
@ava I was so terrified of getting separated from my parents in a store that I would refuse to let go of my mom’s hand so that she could shop. I cannot fathom what being ripped from her and put in a cage would have done to me and my little sister. #KeepFamilesTogether pic.twitter.com/mS2v04jE9q
— Holly Black (@hollyrie81) June 20, 2018
