Ragina Rage Details the Struggles of Raising Abolitionist Children During COVID-19

Story By: Bruce Poinsette

Illustration By: Desarea Guyton

Ragina Rage was already struggling to pay for daycare for their children before the pandemic. With two children, a 10-year-old son and 5-year-old non-binary child, Rage was trying to supplement their day job with side gigs and then their job started cutting their hours. At a certain point, Rage had to pull their kids from school altogether.

“Ultimately I had to decide to be with my kids because I couldn’t even afford to have them at daycare for the few hours that I could get at work,” they say.

Going from sending their kids to daycare at 6am and picking them up after work at 5 or 6pm at night, to taking care of their children all day long was a major transition for Rage.

“I really had to remember what it was like being a 10-year-old trying to learn,” they say. “We’re both learning about each other in different ways.”

While social isolation has been an obstacle, especially for Rage’s oldest, who was taking an interest in sports prior to the pandemic, Rage’s role as a prominent community activist has provided a number of experiential learning opportunities out of necessity. They say it’s been hard to find people to look after their children and some even look down on them for bringing their children to protests in the first place. Rage contends these experiences are necessary in raising abolitionist children.

“Eventually my children are going to be people who are actively working to build an abolitionist society,” they say. “How are they going to do that if they’re stuck in a building somewhere, behind a screen?”

Rage’s passion for abolition and Black liberation was sparked at an early age when they were sent to live with their grandparents in Milwaukie and got bullied by white children. They recall often being invited outside and being tortured, along with their sister, by their white peers. On one day in particular, Rage remembers being tied to a tree and whipped with jump ropes.

“From the moment I stepped into that space, it was made very, very clear to me that I was not welcome,” they say. “They made sure to let me know that I looked different from all of them.”

While Rage was going through these traumatic experiences, their grandfather made a point of taking them to the library and teaching them about the civil rights movement. These lessons helped inspire Rage’s activism today, as well as their vision for a more equitable education system.

In an ideal world, they envision educational spaces where Black and Brown children can learn about themselves and their heritage, as well as learn about practical skills like mutual aid, building fires and growing food. They also would like to see employers provide more support so workers can bring their children with them if needed.

“I think [about] being in community with your community,” says Rage. “So it’s more like a family than just being sent off to some stranger until your parents or your caregiver comes back for you.”