Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
William Sparks | Pasadena, CA
We won't be able to work together until we "know" each other.
Liz Pappas | San Diego, CA
Pili Burkett | Albuquerque, NM
Tardaney Addison | Suitland, MD
It is imperative that our young people learn the truth about the "real" history our ancestors lived through. If we as adults are educating properly, we are doomed to relive the past without our youth knowing it shouldn't be their future and it definitely affects the present. We have a moral obligation to the future leaders of this country to prepare and arm them with factual knowledge of our past existence and experiences as an entire human race.
Lindsey Allard Agnamba | KENSINGTON, MD
Telling the truth to our youngest citizens is one of the most important ways we can begin to heal and change our world to a just society that is free from oppression and marginalization in all forms. I support the work of liberating and empowering our children and ultimately our society with truth, love and towards an equitable future.
Elishia McAllister | New Orleans, LA
The only way to dismantle oppressive systems is to expose their history and foundation *accurately*.
Heather Lorenz | Danbury, CT
Erica Siskind | Davis, CA
I answer children's questions, purchase materials, and help teachers & parents find materials so they can understand the world we live in. To limit my access or the topics I might speak about with our patrons would undermine the mission of our organization. Telling teachers & librarians to lie to children will not succeed in covering up the truth of our history and our current circumstances. Those lies will not solve any of our problems; they will only make it harder to address the pain we are all feeling at the inequity in our country.
Layla Cable | Cambridge, MA
I believe children can deal with learning facts and figuring out for themselves and peers, families and communities what is fair and just. Lying to them only leads them to mistrust the adults and or does not help them work out problems on the personal or societal level. Peaceful resolutions come from knowing and facing problems not hiding issues and letting them fester.
Lyn Hawks | Chapel Hill, NC
Students deserve the truth. Justice is telling the full story of America and hearing myriad voices.
Brittany king | Plain City, OH
True history should be taught. Not just the pretty summaries, but all of the good and bad.
Tamara Heldman | Shaker Heights, OH
I care about my students and know that they must learn the truth about our country so that they we all may have justice.
Adele Maze | San Rafael, CA
I am signing my name because I believe in racial equality and my energy and efforts will be directed toward achieving this. I will teach with my heart and mind wide open and with a strong passionate voice. Through image and word, color, texture and bold visual art, we will publicly communicate and portray the serious problems in our communities AND the solutions that will benefit all people.
Amber Van Dyne | Oakdale, CT
Students deserve to learn the history that has shaped the present and how to deconstruct single-narratives of the past through perspective taking and empathy.
Lisa Bishop | San Francisco, CA
I believe students need to be educated to know the truth, know their sources of their opinions, understand points of view and who is writing history and from whose point of view so they can be well informed people in this diverse nation.
Alice Cook | Baltimore, MD
This is important! My students and my own children nedd to be taught the truth. The pushback is blatantly racist and I don't accept it.
Emmy Talian | Philadelphia, PA
My students deserve the opportunity to read about and discuss the key issues of the day, as well as understand the historic roots of these issues. We need to trust our young people to form their own views with all the facts. Only then can they lead us into a more just and equitable future.
Julie Hempson | Moravia Town of, NY
I want my students to become inspired, civically engaged Americans working toward social justice for all Americans.
Stacey Smith-Clark | Long Beach, CA
Katie Jones | Kansas City, KS
Peggy Bruno-Block | Montgomery, TX
We are seeing the negative effects of the failing Texas education system and it’s critical that students are taught all American history.
Julie Fanucchi | Eureka, CA
we must teach the truth!
Dawn Carney | Arlington, MA
I did not learn our country's history in k-12 and am still learning today at age 52! A
Marta Fuertes | Brookline Town of, MA
It is our responsibility and obligation as educators to teach future generations to think and to challenge the intention of oficial versions and political interests.
JV Bippus | Washington, DC
I strongly believe this..
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.