Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Kevin Shearer | Cincinnati, OH
My students deserve and need to know the true history of their country. We can’t expect our leaders of tomorrow to lead without being given all the necessary information.
Kristen Gunning | Kingston, RI
Noah Johnson-Greenough | Portland, OR
I believe that students should know the true history of racism and other forms of discrimination in this country, if we are truly able to heal and grow as a nation.
Autumn Francesca | Johnston, RI
The truth must be brought to light so we can all heal and move forward in peace
Joshua Jacobs | Bronx, NY
Jennifer Russ | Hackettstown, NJ
the truth empowers my students to live better lives.
Rann Miller | Camden, NJ
Because teaching the truth of American and world history is vital to the transformation of our nation
Philip Hall | Providence, RI
at a time when we (I'm speaking as a white person) are finally starting to come to terms with our past and present, the attempts to keep students locked in ignorance and ill-equipped to work for change must not stand.
Sharif El-Mekki | Philadelphia, PA
Educational and racial justice are forever inextricably linked and to use education as a lever to pursue both, truth must be centered.
Cody Rosenberg | Springfield, OR
Laura Jaffee | Hamilton, NY
Anthony Jennaro | Madison, WI
I believe education is the best path towards creating a more just, equitable society and teaching the truth is an essential tenet of education.
Angela Der Ramos | Salinas, CA
I believe in truth!
Crystal Arnold | Honea Path, SC
I am not going to lie about history. Lying is essentially changing history to make those whose ancestors were wrong feel better about the cruelty that was imposed on ethnic races of people.
Anita Cox | Hammond, IN
too many people have only been taught one side of the story. Students need to know about the mistakes that have been made and the crimes that have been committed and the struggles that people have experienced so that we can build a better future.
Johari Malik | Washington, DC
Albertina Valdez | El Paso, TX
Joyce Williams | Cary, NC
The truth needs to be taught.
Kacey Edgar | Lafayette, LA
Our Children deserve the truth... all of the truth!
Ling-Se Chesnakas | Framingham, MA
Our students deserve to know the complex truth of our country's history, which was founded on the genocide of indigenous folx and enslavement of Black people. The truth will set us free.
Micah Jackson | Pfafftown, NC
Bettie Rabb | Apex, NC
I am honoring my ethical commitment to my students to share the truth about the past and about the history of humanity. I want students to be critical thinkers fully capable of making informed decisions using the power of truth.
Morgan Baker | Boise, ID
I will not be bullied into pretending systemic/structural inequity doesn’t exist when teaching my students about our world.
Tomas Soto-Garcia | Woodstock, IL
as a social studies teacher, I have the responsibility to teach history to my students in an accurate and factual way.
Jen Presley | Winston Salem, NC
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.