Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Maryann Dreas-Shaikha | Karachi, PK
Elizabeth Zizzo | Milwaukee, WI
You can not deny our history.
Melvin Osborne | Mount Washington, KY
The truth matters and the knowledge of American History is crucial for our culture today and for tomorrow! This is especially true for groups who have been traditionally oppressed including students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, and students who are from religious minorities.
Elke Lerman | Elmhurst, NY
Marsha Kroeger | Milwaukee, WI
As a Black educator, mother and grandmother, I'm angered that this country has not been honest about how it has treated people of color. I want all students to know the truth.
Sequoia Carr-Brown | Honolulu, HI
Those who proscribe history will endanger the community.
Simone Roemhild | Houston, TX
Truth and facts matter to achieve a fair, open and caring society in which every person can actualize their innate potential for the good of the universe.
Lisa Kawalek | Bayonne, NJ
Students need to know the truth about our country. It isn't anti-American or unpatriotic to learn and understand that there is a lot in our history as a nation that is uncomfortable to discuss, and may be upsetting, but it needs to be talked about.
Elyse Max | Kansas City, MO
Laurie Roberts | Albany, CA
teaching truth is the only way to educate!
Kerrilee Wing | Phoenix, AZ
Jennifer Gaye | Independence, MO
I advocate for all students. I advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in our schools, curriculum, and community.
Amy Epstein | San Francisco, CA
lying feeds delusion and undermines humanity and democracy. We jeopardize our future if we will not honestly face and learn from our past and present.
Holly Ferraro | Seattle, WA
The narratives and lived experience of all people, throughout the history of the United States, must be taught to enable us to live lives of meaning and dismantle oppression.
Anna Schottenstein | Columbus, OH
While feelings of discomfort can make people think as topic is controversial, discomfort leads to learning. The facts are NOT controversial. We must acknowledge our past and truth in history. Legislation should NOT be based on feelings but based on facts. We need to stop politicizing historical facts and spreading disinformation.
Scott Ward | Spokane, WA
A curriculum that centers the struggle, resistance, and triumph of marginalized groups is critical in building thinkers capable of interrogating our current systems and fighting for a future in which every person is free.
Mandy Wintink | Toronto, ON, CA
I believe in sharing truth, I believe in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Calls to Action here in Canada, and I believe in supporting our neighbours in the US with truth and reconciliation and more immediately dismantling the lies and the suppression of the truth happening now.
Cindy Gross | Issaquah, WA
Equity, fairness, and community are key personal values for me.
JENDINA BOWERS | Columbus, OH
M community and children need to know about their history and stop feeling insecure about their identity because they do not fit in America's culture.
Matthew Vaughn-Smith | Baltimore, MD
children deserve to know the truth so that oppressive systems are not perpetuated. Let’s begin to dismantle white supremacy by shedding light on it's atrocities.
Nilufar Rezai | Chicago, IL
The disease of racism and white supremacy must be eradicated!
David Hernandez Saca | Waterloo, IA
Chloe Croke | Milwaukee, WI
I believe in teaching the truth!
Margaret Schmidt | Milwaukee, WI
We must teach the truth. Only then can we begin to heal.
Azhar McNeal | Ypsilanti, MI
It is a just and righteous cause! I have responsibility endowed by my Creator (Allah) to teach the truth.
Selected Pledges
Click on pledge below to read many more.
As an educator who is serious about teaching the truth I will not be bullied into silence. I will do my part in the fight for equity and equality by making sure my students are most equipped to fight this ugliness in the real world.
Yes, the truth of American history needs to be taught, but also its impact on the rest of the world, such as its role in WWII. I just finished teaching a college-level course on the Holocaust, and could not believe how little the students knew about the rest of the world’s participation in the war! They seemed to believe that WWII was ended by the US alone!
“When you begin to do things that raise the achievement of the poorest and disenfranchised students, you may not always get applause. You need to be ready for that.” Dr. Asa Hilliard
“Resistance is a powerful motivator precisely because it enables us to fulfill our longing to achieve our goals while letting us boldly recognize and name the obstacles to those achievements.”
Dr. Derrick Bell
Our young people deserve the truth and it is our kuleana (responsibility) to give space and opportunity for the truth and the difficult conversations.
If we don’t teach it all, we teach nothing…
Social justice is a major theme of my Humanities 7 course, and my school uses Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s HILL framework (development of identity, skills, knowledge, Criticality) to frame our entire curriculum. Student agency through research work and essay writing, and action-oriented civic engagement work, define what we “cover” in my course.