Ava DuVernay inspires Twitter to share childhood photos in response to Trump’s family separation policy

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Ava DuVernay is asking her followers to think back to their own childhoods when speaking about the Trump Administration’s devestating “zero tolerance” policy.

Tuesday, the Wrinkle in Time director inspired her legions of fans to pull out old pictures of themselves after she tweeted a photo of herself as a child to protest the president’s family-separation policy.

“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 that shares an adorable childhood photo of herself.

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

“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 tactics, which rips apart families who cross the U.S. border illegally. Reporters who have seen the conditions of the shelters have taken video crying children being held in cages like small animals.

Pretty soon copycat posts were popping up, 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,” another fan chimed in. “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.”

“This is me & my mother when she MOVED us from the dangers of drugs & crime in DC to Seattle,” posted another follower. “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!”

Check out some of the sobering messages below.

https://twitter.com/ava/status/1009239307935240195

https://twitter.com/margslucia/status/1009259567082024960

https://twitter.com/DrYolandaMD/status/1009255590995087360