BULLY Screened in Cleveland to Increase Awareness Among Teens</h1> <article> <h1>BULLY Screened in Cleveland to Increase Awareness Among Teens</h1> <p>EmilyBlackie — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:49:02 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-press-type"> <div class="field-label">press_type: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> In the News </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">May 12, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <p>Nearly 100 Cleveland-area students came together to watch the new documentary film BULLY and discuss ways that they can increase teen awareness of bullying behavior. Facing History and Ourselves is an educational partner for the film and has produced its official facilitator’s guide. The screening was sponsored by the international Jewish youth organization, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO).<br><br>Ahead of the community screening at the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 50 staff from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District also viewed the film. Facing History staff facilitated discussions following both events. “The opportunity to add to the staff’s understanding and awareness of bullying by viewing this powerful documentary was an important step improving our efforts to address bullying in our schools,” Jeffrey W. Johnston, director of student services for the school district, told the <em>Sun News</em>.<br><br>Already schools in the district are participating in “Tiger Proud & Bully Free,” a year-long anti-bullying initiative. “It can’t just stop with us showing a movie,” said Todd Kay of the BBYO. “I think the goal is to really get awareness out there.” <br><br><a href="http://safeschools.facinghistory.org/">Download</a> Facing History’s official facilitator’s guide for the documentary,<em> Guide to the film BULLY: Fostering Empathy and Action in Schools</em>. <br><br><a href="http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heights/index.ssf/2012/05/bnai_brith_youth_organization.html" target="_blank">Read</a> “B’nai B’rith Youth Organization Uses Documentary to Increase Teen Awareness of Bullying Problem,” by Brian Byrne, in the <em>Sun News</em>. <br><br><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/Cleveland">Learn</a> more about our work in Cleveland. </p> </article> <article> <h1>Facing History is a Family Affair for Cleveland Board Chair</h1> <p>AdamBernstein — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:19:03 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">May 4, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-portal"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> For everyone to view </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-profile-type"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Board Member </div> </div> </div> <p>For Heather Ross Lowenstein and her brother David Ross, Facing History and Ourselves is a family affair.</p><p>The siblings grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but blazed their own trails after attending college – Heather returned to Cleveland to start a private psychotherapy practice and David moved to New York City where he mediates employment disputes and teaches law. Heather discovered Facing History about eight years ago, as her children reached the age when they would begin to learn about the Holocaust at school. As a mother with young children, she was concerned about how to speak with her children about this complicated history – and thought other parents might be, too. She reached out to Mark SwaimFox, director of Facing History’s <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland" target="_blank">Cleveland office</a>, for help planning an educational event at her home. “I wanted [the conversation] to be humanitarian. I wanted this history to be talked about in a more global context. Also, I was looking to have a more meaningful conversation with my friends,” Heather said by phone recently from her home in Cleveland. “Mark put together a list of books that we could use. About 30 people came and we had a whole range. It was diverse. And what we all ended up talking about was the baggage we carry from the generations that came before us and how that was passed on. It became a conversation about identity.”</p><p>Heather stayed involved and in 2006, she joined the organization’s Cleveland Advisory Board. Three years later, she became the board chair.</p><p>When she and her brother would speak on the phone, Heather began bringing up her work with Facing History more and more. “She was so passionate and excited about it,” David said by telephone from his New York office. “She sent me materials about the organization and she told me about the events they held. It was the first time that we really started having conversations like that.” Out of curiosity, David started seeking out Facing History events in the northeast – he heard a Holocaust survivor speak, attended a benefit dinner, and took his children (who are taught Facing History at their school) to a Facing History-sponsored book signing for <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/about/who/profiles/dr-terrence-roberts" target="_blank">Terrence Roberts</a> of the Little Rock Nine.</p><p>This fall, David deepened his involvement. A lecturer at Columbia University Law School, David partnered with the <a href="http://www.facinghistoryschool.org/" target="_blank">Facing History School</a> in Manhattan to teach a three-month elective conflict resolution course for ninth, tenth, eleventh graders. “We explored how important it is in any phase of life to understand what it means to be in conflict, and to think hard about choices and consequences when you’re in a situation that involves strong feelings – whether it’s between you and your family, you and your friends, or you and classmates,” David said.</p><p>When Heather and her children (who also are in Facing History classes back in Cleveland) visited <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/ny" target="_blank">New York</a> this fall, she took the opportunity to guest teach one of David’s classes – and she brought her kids along, too. She began the day by asking the Facing History School students to finish the sentence, “By looking at me, you wouldn’t be able to tell…”</p><p>“By just looking at each other, you wouldn’t know these things,” Heather told the students after everyone answered. “And you’ve been in class with each other since the beginning of the year.” She then presented the Facing History resource <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/video/arn-chorn-pond-everyone-has-story" target="_blank"><em>Everyone Has a Story</em></a> and talked with the students about the importance of knowing someone’s story when you have a conflict and want it resolved. “They’re learning history in a much more meaningful, productive way,” Heather said. “It can really become a tool for understanding themselves and helping them to grow their moral compass.”</p><p>“I think the students became more aware of who they were and what their triggers are,” said David, shortly after the course ended. “They also began to understand, through their conversations with each other, the consequences of acting out on strong feelings.” David plans to teach the conflict resolution class at the Facing History School again next year. “Whenever someone chooses to be an upstander, almost by definition they are in a situation involving strong emotions. They’re in a situation that is either in a state of conflict, or could become one. This class was part of the conversation on how to be an upstander – how to execute that decision,” he said.</p><p>Both siblings said the experience deepened their appreciation for Facing History – and for each other. “It was a great opportunity to build my relationship with her,” David said.</p><p>“My hope is that people will learn history in a way that touches them and that they will retain it and use it – that they will see history as a resource and look at all of the players in history, not just the ones who wrote the history books,” Heather said. “We both have this vision of using Facing History to try and make the world a better place.”</p><p style="text-align: center;">***************</p><p><em>Learn more about our work in <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland" target="_blank">Cleveland</a>.<a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland" target="_blank"><br></a></em></p><p><em>Learn more about our work in <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/ny" target="_blank">New York City</a>. </em></p><p><em>Facing History’s Julia Rappaport wrote this article. For questions or tips on what Facing History is doing in your community, email her at <a href="mailto:Julia_Rappaport@facing.org"><em>Julia_Rappaport@facing.org</em></a><em>.</em></em></p><p><em> </em></p> </article> <article> <h1>Facing History Student Speaks at Yom Ha Shoah Event in Ohio</h1> <p>EmilyBlackie — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:47:56 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-press-type"> <div class="field-label">press_type: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> In the News </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">April 17, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <p>Facing History and Ourselves student Caroline K. spoke at the Holocaust Remembrance Day at Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, Ohio, this week. A sophomore at Westlake High School, Caroline is part of Facing History teacher Beth Noren’s American History class. <br><br>Below is an excerpt from Caroline’s speech:<br><br>“Bullies are simply people who don't take the time to attempt to understand someone who are different than themselves. If we all simply open up to something outside of our perspective of "normal," we wouldn't have modern day genocides such as the Ugandan children, Rwanda, and Darfur.”<br><br>A version of Caroline's speech was published in the <em>Plain Dealer</em> and in the <em>Westlake Patch</em>. <br><br><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland">Learn</a> more about our work in Cleveland, Ohio. </p> </article> <article> <h1>New Restaurant Opens in Cleveland Heights, Donating Portion of Proceeds to Facing History</h1> <p>EmilyBlackie — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:12:44 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-press-type"> <div class="field-label">press_type: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> In the News </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">April 3, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <p>A new restaurant, Barle Soup and Sandwich, has opened in the Heights Rockefeller Building in Cleveland Heights, and will donate a portion of its proceeds to Facing History and Ourselves. Coffee and tea are complimentary with the purchase of a meal and suggestion dollar donation to Facing History. <br><br><a href="http://www.heightsobserver.org/read/2012/04/03/new-sandwich-shop-opens-in-heights-rockefeller-building%20" target="_blank">Read</a> the article by Chris Hanson in the <em>Heights Observer</em>. <br><br><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland">Learn</a> more about our work in Cleveland. </p> </article> <article> <h1>'The Rescuers' Comes to Cleveland Film Festival</h1> <p>EmilyBlackie — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:44:15 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-press-type"> <div class="field-label">press_type: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Web Update </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">March 22, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <p>Join Facing History and Ourselves in Cleveland for a conversation with Emmy award-winning film director Michael King after the Sunday, April 1 at 1:30 p.m. showing of his poignant documentary <em>The Rescuers</em>. This compelling work explores many Facing History themes. Hear and participate in a post-film discussion about how the concepts of rescuers, resistors, bystanders and upstanders resonate in today's world as powerfully as they did in World War II Europe and civil-war torn Rwanda of the 1990s.<br><br>The discussion, scheduled to begin at approximately 3:30 p.m., will be held in the law offices of Ulmer & Berne in the Skylight Tower. Seating is limited and on a first come-first served basis, so RSVPs are required. If you are interested in attending, please respond to Tracey Frierson at <a href="mailto:%20tracey_frierson@facing.org" target="_blank">tracey_frierson@facing.org</a> or (216) 321-9220 x224.<br><br>View the trailer for <em>The Rescuers</em>:</p><table style="width: 609px; height: 175px;" align="left" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.rescuersdoc.com/" target="_blank"></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br><br><br><strong><br><br>Additional Details about the Screenings:</strong><br>Receive $2 off admission to the film:<br><br>Online: Use the code "FHAO" when purchasing tickets at <a href="http://www.clevelandfilm.org" target="_blank">www.clevelandfilm.org</a>.<br>Phone: Use the code "FHAO" when calling the Ulmer & Berne Film Festival Box Office at 877.304.FILM (3456).<br>Store: Use the code "FHAO" at the Ulmer & Berne Film Festival Box Office in the lobby of Tower City Cinemas.<br><br>Visit www.clevelandfilm.org for Film Festival program updates and comprehensive information about the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival.<br><br>FREE PARKING WHEN AVAILABLE is offered to CIFF patrons in the Tower City Center Self-Parking Garage and Tower City Amphitheater Parking at Riverview (off Canal Road). Patrons must have their parking ticket validated in the Tower City Cinemas lobby. Visit www.towercitycenter.com for additional parking options.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Buy at Saks Fifth Avenue, Support Facing History</h1> <p>EmilyBlackie — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:09:44 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-press-type"> <div class="field-label">press_type: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> In the News </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">January 18, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <p>This February, make a purchase at Saks Fifth Avenue on a store credit card and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Facing History and Ourselves office in Cleveland, Ohio. The initiative is part of a newly created program that steers 5% of all registered purchases made on Saks credit cards to local community organizations. <br><br>Facing History will host an exclusive event at Saks in the Beachwood Place Mall on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This is an opportunity to learn informally about Facing History’s work in Cleveland with teachers and students. <br><br>"Saks Fifth Avenue is committed to our local communities. We appreciate our customers' charitable involvement and look forward to giving back locally with this exciting and newly implemented national program," Chairman and CEO of Sakes Inc. Steve Sadove said in a recent press release. <br><br><a href="http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/stores/stores.jsp?cn1=SiteBuilder&act1=View&crt1=SiteKey=542%26PageKey=27639&label1=default" target="_blank">Learn</a> more about this partnership. <br><br><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland">Learn</a> about our work in Cleveland.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Susan Levitan: Ohio Teacher Rebuilds an English Curriculum with Lessons from Facing History</h1> <p>Nicky Enriquez — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:34:33 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">February 1, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-portal"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> For everyone to view </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-profile-type"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> MSS Award Winner </div> <div class="field-item even"> Teacher </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <div class="filefield-file"><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/sites/facinghistory.org/files/Susan.JPG" type="image/jpeg; length=35664">Susan.JPG</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <p><em>This month, Facing History and Ourselves will present $40,000 to educators around the world as part of its annual Margot Stern Strom Teaching Awards. Facing History board members David and Nina Fialkow founded the awards in 2006. “The crux of it for us is the teachers,” Mrs. Fialkow said recently. “Teachers really are unsung heroes too often.”</em></p><p><em>The awards put funds directly into the hands of teachers and administrators, allowing them to further incorporate Facing History themes into – and outside of – the classroom. Last year 22 awards allowed for a range of initiatives from a teach-in in San Francisco to a memorial art project in Chicago. An educator in the UK used the money to bring a traveling exhibit called the Forgiveness Project to her school and a teacher in New York bought digital media tools for an oral history unit.</em></p><p><em>As Facing History prepares to announce the 2012 Margot Stern Strom Teaching Awards later this month, we checked in with four educators who won in 2007, the first year the awards were available organization-wide.</em></p><p>Susan Levitan has taught eighth grade English at the all-girls Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, for over 30 years. Her relationship with Facing History goes back more than a decade. In 1996, she travelled to Boston to take her first seminar – three years before Facing History opened an office in nearby Cleveland. Sixteen years later, she still remembers that first workshop clearly.</p><p>“Of all of the professional development I’ve ever done, this was the most inspirational, the most meaningful, the thing that really changed how I saw teaching and how I saw the world,” she said recently. Following the training, Susan partnered with a Hathaway Brown history teacher and together they created a new offering at the school – a four-week interdisciplinary class that focused on Facing History themes. But Susan wanted to dig deeper than four weeks would allow. She was frustrated. As a teacher whose curriculum was based in literature rather than history, she did not know how to bring the material into her classroom.</p><p>When her former colleague Mark SwaimFox, currently the director of the Facing History office in Cleveland, called and encouraged her to apply for the Margot Stern Strom Teaching Awards, she hesitated. “I told him I couldn’t because I had this [English] curriculum I had to teach,” Susan said. “Well, then why don’t you change it,” Mark asked her. In 2007, Facing History awarded Susan a $1,000 grant, which Hathaway Brown matched. She spent that summer overhauling the school’s eighth grade English curriculum. She brought in books such as <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>, <em>The Chocolate War</em>, and <em>The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks</em> – texts through which she could explore key Facing History themes like upstander/bystander behavior and choosing to participate.</p><p>Today, every eighth grade student at the school takes the class. “The chance to overhaul the curriculum gave me a better vocabulary – and gave the girls a better vocabulary – to talk about the issues,” Susan said. She sees her students bringing the lessons outside of the classroom as well. This year’s eighth grade class president spearheaded a group called Operation Sledgehammer: Breaking Down the Barriers, which is working to create an open and safe school environment. “Here’s an opportunity to really participate,” Susan said.</p><p>“Her curriculum continues to be a model not only for our other teachers – she’s our go-to teacher when we talk about integrating Facing History into Language Arts – but also a model for our staff,” Mark said. “Students walk away knowing they’ve had one of the best teachers they’ll ever have.”</p><p>Five years after winning her Margot Stern Teaching Award, Susan recognizes the impact the award had on her teaching. “It was something that allowed me to do something that I had always wanted to do, but hadn’t quite figured out how to do,” she said. “Having the support of the Facing History office gave me the tools and the lens that I needed to really refine what I was doing.”</p><p style="text-align: center;">***************</p><p><em>Learn more about our work in the <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland">Cleveland area</a>.</em></p><p><em>This is the first in a <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/five-years-first-winners-margot-stern-strom-teachi">series</a> of profiles on the Margot Stern Strom Teaching Award winners. Check our <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org">homepage</a> often to learn more about other past recipients, and look for the announcement of this year’s winners.</em></p><p><em>Facing History's Julia Rappaport wrote this article. For questions or tips on what Facing History is doing in your community, email her at <a href="mailto:">Julia_Rappaport@facing.org</a>.</em></p> </article> <article> <h1>Position Announcement: School Leadership Opportunity</h1> <p>Nicky Enriquez — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:05:40 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-subtitle"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Founding Principal, Facing History-New Tech High School </div> </div> </div> <p>Cleveland, OH</p><p>The Cleveland Metropolitan School District, in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves and the New Tech Network, seeks a Founding Principal to launch and lead a first-in-the-nation Facing History-New Tech High School, opening in August 2012 with an inaugural class of 100 ninth grade students. The school will combine the curriculum developed by the Facing History organization with the project-based, integrated technology approach pioneered by the New Tech Network. This is a unique opportunity to design and launch a school that will engage urban high school students in a program focusing on civic responsibility, tolerance and social action taught in a project-based learning environment. The school will grow to a full 9th through 12th grade school serving 400 students by 2015. It will join a growing portfolio of CMSD New and Innovative Schools and will be part of the Facing History Schools Network.</p><p>The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to build a strong, cooperative school culture and curriculum from scratch, and will bring successful experience as a teacher and instructional program leader in an urban setting. The Search Team is especially interested in candidates who have the flexibility to join in the design process and participate in trainings offered by Facing History and the New Tech Network beginning as early as March 2012. This is an exciting time to join a team that is dedicated to making a significant impact for Cleveland high school students, and for urban education more broadly.</p><p><strong>Background Required and Performance Benchmarks</strong></p><p>Candidates must have a strong understanding of the Facing History and New Tech models and the ability to build a high school culture where everyone is energetically focused on learning and performing at high levels. The Founding Principal will be accountable for the start-up and ongoing success of the school. Specifically, he or she will:</p><ul><li>Implement school-wide, student-centered project-based learning, using the New Technology High School Learning System™, tied to state and district standards;<br><br></li><li>Lead the pilot site in the integration of the Facing History and Ourselves curriculum, advisory themes, and whole staff development with the New Tech model; and<br><br></li><li>Work with the New Tech Network, Facing History and Ourselves, and private and public donors to implement a program of community relations as a means of garnering community and parent support.</li></ul><p>The successful candidate will have a minimum of five years of demonstrated successful experience in a leadership role in an urban high school setting, and some or all of the following:</p><ul><li>Deep determination to create a school of excellence that graduates all of its students<br><br></li><li>Commitment to the value of introducing high school students to a technology-rich, social justice and civic participation curriculum<br><br></li><li>Instructional depth and a true commitment to driving instruction through project-based learning<br><br></li><li>Success in hiring, developing and retaining faculty<br><br></li><li>Stamina to work longer days and a longer school year; a strong work ethic and capacity for problem-solving<br><br></li><li>Bachelor’s degree required, Masters degree preferred, School Administrator Certification or Alternative Certification required</li></ul><p><strong>To Apply:</strong></p><p>Résumés and letters of interest may be directed in strict confidence to: <a href="mailto:lead@gelberleadershipassociates.com">lead@gelberleadershipassociates.com</a>. Please include NTN-Facing History in the subject line.</p><p><em>For more information about Facing History and Ourselves, please visit our website at <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org">www.facinghistory.org</a>. Learn more about the <a href="http://www.cmsdnet.net/" target="_blank">Cleveland Metropolitan School District</a>, and visit the <a href="http://www.newtechnetwork.org" target="_blank">New Tech Network website</a> today.</em></p><p><a href="/files/FH_New_Tech_Principal.pdf">Download Job Description (PDF)</a><em><br></em></p> </article> <article> <h1>Allstate Foundation Awards $35,000 to Student Leadership Project in Cleveland</h1> <p>EmilyBlackie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:55:31 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-press-type"> <div class="field-label">press_type: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> In the News </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">January 19, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <p>The Facing History and Ourselves office in Cleveland, Ohio, received $35,000 from The Allstate Foundation in 2011 in recognition of its work supporting student leaders. The foundation awarded a total of $296,500 to seven different Ohio community organizations that promote safe communities, tolerance, inclusion, and diversity. <br><br>"We believe it’s our responsibility and in our best interest to build partnerships to support the communities where we live, work and do business," Allstate Field Senior Vice President Thomas F. Clarkson said in a press release issued Thursday.<br><br>The student leadership work helps to build the bridge between Facing History classrooms and the promotion of dialogue, leadership, and participation. Student leaders, called "student senators," are chosen from Facing History classrooms from across the Northeast Ohio area. Senators meet three times during the school year on Saturdays. Additionally, the senators facilitate sessions during two full-day retreats for students from the represented schools to go deeper into Facing History content and themes. Senators are nominated by their Facing History teachers and selected based on their essays, leadership, and participation skills. <br><a href="http://www.investorpoint.com/news/MARKCOMM/47657863/"><br>Read</a> the press release "Allstate Foundation Awards $296,500 to Ohio Community Organizations."</p><p><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/cleveland">Learn</a> more about our work in the Cleveland area.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Fundamental Freedoms: Dr. Allida Black on Human Rights in Our Time</h1> <p>Nicky Enriquez — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:10:10 +0000</p> <div class="field field-type-date field-field-published-on"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">May 22, 2012</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-portal"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> For everyone to view </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-profile-type"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Scholar </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-image"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <div class="filefield-file"><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/sites/facinghistory.org/files/AllidaBlack.jpg" type="image/jpeg; length=90675">AllidaBlack.jpg</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <p><em>“[T]he advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief, and freedom from fear and want, has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.” – preamble to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” 1948</em></p><p>Scholar and social activist Dr. Allida M. Black does not hesitate when asked what the most pressing issue of our time is.</p><p><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/fundamentalfreedoms"></a>“Human rights,” said Dr. Black, executive editor at the fdr4freedoms Digital Initiative and a partner with Facing History and Ourselves on the 2010 <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/fundamentalfreedoms">resource guide</a> <em>Fundamental Freedoms: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</em></p><p>In a series of visits to Facing History classrooms and teacher workshops across the country this winter, Dr. Black shed light on the history of human rights worldwide and the impact of that history today for students and educators. On June 6, Dr. Black will join Facing History educators for “<em><a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?FacingHistoryandOurs/5c177aa1b5/8e8cab3afc/9a581cd1f5/Opendocument&utm_content=julia_rappaport@facing.org&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Register%20today%20for%20a%20free%20webinar%20Teaching%20for%20Human%20Dignity%3A%20Eleanor%20Roosevelt%20and%20The%20Universal%20Declaration%20of%20Human%20Rights&utm_campaign=Registration%20Opens%20Today%3A%20Eleanor%20Roosevelt%20and%20the%20Universal%20Declaration%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Webinar"><em>Teaching for Human Dignity: Eleanor Roosevelt and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights</em></a></em>,” a free online webinar. In teaching about choosing to participate and the power of upstanders in history, Dr. Black hopes to get kids and teachers on board for that world-changing journey.<br><br>“If young people get it – and they really honest to God get it and understand the work that it takes [to make change] – there’s not a force on the planet that can stop them,” said Dr. Black in a telephone interview from her home office in Arlington, Virginia, fresh from a visit to the Facing History School in New York City. “I think students need to be engaged in this material in kindergarten. If we don’t get to them by high school, a lot of their courage will be stamped out, their dreams will be forgotten, and they will turn into something that is confining and disappointing rather than something that is empowering and courageous.”<br><br>At the Facing History School this winter, Dr. Black led a group of 10th graders in a discussion about human rights and how those rights are – or are not – carried out in various parts of the world today. The lesson piggybacked on history teacher Lisa Dadush’s unit on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</p><p></p><p>“We need to figure out how we came to have those rights and how we’re living in this century because of those rights – how we’re able to express ourselves and live without fear,” student Natalie Ruiz said following the visit.</p><p>Ms. Dadush could see the light bulbs going off for students almost immediately. “The conversation was an important one for them because they started realizing their rights as humans and citizens,” she said. “It was the first time they were realizing that even though you’re not seen as an adult, you still have rights.”</p><p>Dr. Black credits her own teachers with setting off those light bulbs when she was in high school. At the private, all-girls school Dr. Black attended in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, history meant maps and memorizing facts. “You’d get to the part where something happened, but then you just skipped over all the debate and the struggle. You skipped over the ‘Why?’ to get to the ‘What?’ That, to me, was frustrating,” Dr. Black said. Bucking the school’s traditional approach to the subject, two of her history teachers loaded Dr. Black up with extra readings and assigned her independent studies outside of class. “I owe them a great deal,” Dr. Black said. “They challenged the powers that be to say, ‘It’s important to answer a student’s curiosity. It’s important to be an active citizen.’”</p><p>That experience has stayed with her and today she works to educate learners of all ages – especially teachers. “In some ways I believe it’s more important to reach teachers than to reach students because if the teachers get it, they can create a classroom environment of true learning, debate, and painful examination,” she said. “I think teachers are at the frontlines of democracy and if teachers don’t get this then the classroom is a complacent place. And complacency is the handmaiden of defeat.”</p><p>As a scholar who has made a career out of studying Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Black – who refers to the first lady as Eleanor or simply ER - has learned a thing or two about avoiding defeat. In the forward to Fundamental Freedoms, part of Facing History’s <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/making-history-series">Making History series</a>, Dr. Black wrote: “ER devoted…her life to the creation of a culture of human dignity at home and abroad. She believed that no one’s rights were safe unless everyone’s rights were respected. She argued repeatedly that ‘human rights began in small places close to home,’ that these rights were political and civil rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights, and that their implementation required ‘concerted citizen action.’”</p><p>Dr. Black’s current position, which she assumed in July 2011, puts her in charge of a free, multi-media digital educational resource that will launch in conjunction with the opening of the <a href="http://www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org/">Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park</a> on Roosevelt Island in New York this fall. “This project represents a pioneering effort to transform a significant public space, the Four Freedoms Park, into a twenty-first century classroom of history,” Dr. Black said. “[It] will bring understanding about…the Roosevelt legacy to all park visitors in an unprecedented way. It will also contain engaging narratives, timelines, and historical audio and video footage, as well as films for use by teachers, students, and the general public.”</p><p>“If you look at where we are now and compare that with where we were in 1948, it is a march of historic proportions,” Dr. Black said as she reflected on the lasting impact of universal human rights. “It’s the progress women have made. It’s the progress people of color have made. It’s the fact that my partner and I, who have been together 20 years, can get married in February. That is revolutionary. It is the fact that the vast majority of Americans today can look past religious bias,” she continued. “Look at Kosovo. Look at South Africa post-apartheid. Look at Liberia where Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was the first woman democratically elected president in the history of Africa.</p><p>“You can either say, ‘The world sucks’ and you can get complacent, or you can say, ‘We’ve come a long way. We still have a long way to go, but let’s work together and see how we can go forward.’ And that’s what human rights is,” Dr. Black concluded. “It’s going forward. It’s not easy, but it is a journey that changes the world.”</p><p style="text-align: center;">***************</p><p><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><em>Purchase a copy of <a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/fundamentalfreedoms">Fundamental Freedoms: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a></em></span></em></p><p><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><em><a href="http://www.facinghistory.org/fundamentalfreedoms"></a></em></span>Facing History is offering a complimentary, interactive webinar on June 6, 2012 to allow educators to learn about Fundamental Freedoms, where Allida Black will join us in a live discussion. Spaces are limited, so <a href="http://www2.facinghistory.org/Campus/Events.nsf/HTMLProfessionalDevelopment/08DFA5A54E4DCF25852579F800695D48?Opendocument">RSVP today</a>!</em></p><p><em>This article was written by Facing History’s Julia Rappaport. For questions or tips on what Facing History is doing in your community, email her at </em><a href="mailto:Julia_Rappaport@facing.org"><em>Julia_Rappaport@facing.org</em></a><em>.</em></p> </article> </main></body></html>