Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Angela Tseng | Fullerton, CA
students deserve to know the truth and how to better each day toward equality for all.
Tessa Prendergast | Swampscott, MA
Jennifer Martin | San Diego, CA
Black history and truth matter to me and telling the truth is integral to education.
Liv Avery | Longmont, CO
Jim Loveland | Saint Petersburg, FL
Debra Vitt | Bellmead, TX
Jomo Fowlkes | Ellicott City, MD
Kiara Reyes | Rohnert Park, CA
I believe in teaching the truth to create empathy for all humanity.
Crystal Shelley | Columbia, MD
Mjiole Ogbonnaya | Brooklyn, NY
Students already feel the discrimination and hatred in this country, so hiding the truth and not fixing any of the issues only makes you look cowardly and makes them feel abandoned as next generation in this country. The sins of this country will not be resolved by turn a blind eye and never addressing it. It will be resolved when the people in power can acknowledge the issue and make active changes towards a better equity in schools and society.
Cassandra Adjagodo | Saint Francis, MN
Sandra Ramsey | Columbia, MD
our students deserve to know that truth about out nation's history - the good and the bad.
Kathleen MacLaughlin | Columbia, MD
acknowledging the truth is first step in helping students and their families heal from the generational trauma that prejudicial practices and racist policies have inflicted on people of color. We can't bring about change if no one is willing to see what is wrong.
Abigail Snellbacher | Kennesaw, GA
“One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” – Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 1963 We, the undersigned educators, refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events.
Sybil Kessinger | Sykesville, MD
Teachers should never be told to lie about history or an other subject matter.
Christine Pearman | Columbia, MD
If we want students to think critically, we need to share our history honestly. When the truth of our past is painful or harmful, it is still our history. As we process current events and problems in society, we must draw understanding from past mistakes.
Margaret Mitchell | Baltimore, MD
June Monroe | Savannah, GA
I am committed to the true history of Blacks on the continent and diaspora be told.
Dominique Edwards | Columbia, MD
Diana McNelis | Skokie, IL
When we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it. It is important for students to understand what has brought us to the place we are now. People and circumstances are complex and students need to learn that. These lessons are important to help students understand the present and create the critical thinkers we need to lead us into a more just future.
Sue Donaldson | West Friendship, MD
The only way not to repeat history is to learn from it.
Leah Rotkin-Ellman | Brooklyn, NY
People who don't learn history will repeat it!
John Brown | Philadelphia, PA
I represent my Black young people and people of color who have been denied access to the truth of the history of America's racist problem. I want my students to know the truth and be able to hold collegiate conversations around Critical Race Theory and America's racism. In addition, my students need to know how racism was embedded into the education and religious fabrics of the United States. So many twisted lies and hidden truths.
Angela Johnson | Fulton, MD
Teachers should not be placed in a position to lie to students. In addition, the teaching of experiences from various people is a part of the American history. It's a shame that in 2022, this country still has the mindset that existed long ago.
Jen Wilson | Columbia, MD
if we do not understand our past, we will continue to make the same mistakes. Learning history helps us to understand people better.
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.