SEATTLE – Thousands of Seattle teachers came to school Wednesday wearing “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts in an attempt to use the divisive movement to highlight race issues.

A teachers group that calls itself “Social Equality Educators” organized the “Black Lives Matter to Educators” event to coincide with Seattle Public Schools’ “day of unity.” And while the Black Lives Matter protest isn’t officially sponsored by the school district, it seems to have the blessing of district officials.

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“We are united in our commitment to eliminate opportunity gaps. Teachers have a First Amendment right to wear their speech. We respect our teachers’ rights and desire to express themselves,” a district spokesman told WGRZ in a statement. “T-shirts are a good visual. We hope the message inspires people to do the work on eliminating opportunity gaps.”

Black Lives Matter protest organizer and high school teacher Jesse Hagopian told the news site teachers are using the day of unity to highlight problems black students face as a result of institutional racism, such as lower graduation rates and higher suspension rates than white students.

The Seattle Education Association, the teachers union representing 5,000 Seattle teachers, is also backing the protest, WGRZ reports.

Videos and pictures posted to Twitter on the day’s festivities show educators mulling around a courtyard at Denny Intermediate Middle School, where they signed a banner, and held up posters and closed fists.

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Others posed with pictures of their social justice classroom materials they prepared to educate the city’s youth about the racist white supremacist school system.

“Our objective today,” Susan DuFresne posted, “We can learn about social justice.”

“Day of #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool brings lessons on racism and Central District rallies,” Breaking SEA News posted with several images of students and educators posing with the special shirts.

Mayor Ed Murray also tweeted support, as did numerous far left social justice groups like Democracy Now! And Zinn Ed Project.

“Today thousands of Seattle teachers stand together for racial justice, reminding us that #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool,” Murray posted.

Others like Jesse Hagopain, the Black Student Union adviser at Garfield High School and founding member of Social Equality Educators, shared their stories about how they are inspiring students to become social justice warriors.

“Well it’s really moving to see young people decide that they’re going to act to make our world better and in the face of ongoing state violence, it seems to be so unaccountable. These young people on the Garfield High School football team chose to unanimously to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem in support of black lives and it spread,” Hagopain, an associate editor of the radical left Rethinking Schools magazine, told “The Real News Network.”

“The girls volleyball team at Garfield is now taking a knee as well as the marching band and the cheerleaders and the Black Student Union and rarely do you see all those disparate groups come together in common cause but in a cause this important you’re seeing I think a new social movement in the Seattle public schools but really across the country with more and more high school students demanding to be heard and demanding that black lives matter in a myriad of different approaches whether it’s on the football field or it’s in the schools or at rallies, people have had enough with the institutional racism they’re seeing all over society and it’s really exciting,” he said.

The Black Lives Matter Seattle teachers protest will conclude with a rally at Washington Hall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. that will feature singer Kimya Dawson and Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, The Seattle Times reports.