Dante

by Fanny Fernandez

First day of class, senior year, We, were all excited to be back, wondering what this final year may bring. We, gathered around each other, talking about our summer adventures, waiting for the first period to begin. Boom! The sound of the door being slammed shot, came rushing through our ears, leaving us paralyzed. We, were slowly descending into the first circle of hell. A man, average height, dark nappy hair, and orange peel texture skin, entered, with a fashion sense taken directly from Cuba’s golden 50’s. We, squinted, as another loud boom filled the air,   coming from his silver metal briefcasebanged on the teacher’s desk. All seats were occupied promptly; We, could hear our own hearts beat, when, a couple of knocks interrupted the thick silence. He, opened the door and observed three smiling faces requesting if they could  come in. We, perceived how those smiles vanished when the  following statement was pronounced: “Were you having fun out there? Keep at it!  He, closed the door right on their noses. Tension kept building up. We, did not dare to blink, worried about our fate. He, proceeded to write his name on the blackboard. We, noticed how the chalk residue created an aura as portrayed in the movies when, Satan himself, makes a grand entrance. “I’m Dante, your new world history teacher.” He, continued to enumerate the do’s and don’ts required in his class. After first period was over, We, were all outraged. He, shouldn’t be teaching kids, We, all agreed.

Next history class, We, were quiet and stoically seated. No one was missing this time. He, arrived and asked us to take out our history books. We, obeyed without hesitation. “Lesson one, pre-Columbian history, chapter one, page five.” We, followed the instructions almost in unison. He, pointed out at the map of the American continent and read the introduction. “Rip up pages six, seven and eight” We, were perplexed, unable to act by this command, He, repeated his request a second time We, timidly complied. The following statement was pronounced: “The information on those pages are lies”  He, proclaimed and proceeded to explain why,referencing some time to a beat up notebook. We, listened attentively. “History has been written by those in power, thus, you need to develop critical thinking, learn to ask the right questions, be eager to listen to different voices.” We, were astonished, no one has ever talked to us with such honesty. The final message was blunt. “Societies should know and understand their history not to repeat the same mistakes from the past.  Individuals must learn how to question atrocities such as the ones mentioned in this textbook.” Dante’s teaching became instrumental in shaping how we, viewed the world. He, planted the seed of seeking different perspectives in a time when our textbooks were the only source of information. In the end, Dante was our Virgil walking some of us through the purgatory of ignorance into the realm of better understanding the complexities of the world around us. For this, we, will be eternally grateful.