I love the story of quilts and the Underground Railroad
and I love making quilts with students (and myself.)Deb and I just talked about the unclear
history of quilts and the Underground Railroad. I was very disappointed a few
years ago, after collecting picture books and teaching about the role of
quilts, to find a good bit of information that says this is all a myth. I hate to give up the story but
maybe indeed it’s not true. Below is a link and quote from one website.
The reality of the Underground Railroad
was much less romantic. Escaping enslaved individuals often had no help or
guidance from anyone throughout the majority of their journey. While it is a
common belief that white Northerners were going into the South and bringing
slaves from the farms and plantations into the North, the truth is that most
enslaved individuals left on their own. When the enslaved did have assistance,
the aid they received varied from being given a place to rest in barns and
sheds to being provided with a small amount of food and sent on to the next
location. Those seeking freedom would have had to place a good amount of trust
in the people who were assisting them, for at any moment their safety could be
compromised, leading to recapture.
It is also
a common misconception that all people working to assist escaping individuals
were white Northerners. The fact is that the majority of the conductors on the
Underground Railroad in the South were Black, often still enslaved themselves.
Many people today are familiar with songs and symbols
that were supposedly used by people involved with the Underground Railroad.
Songs include, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Wade in the
Water," "Steal Away," and most famously, "Follow the
Drinking Gourd." Current scholarship is debating the songs being used on
the Underground Railroad or the time / origins of them. There is little to no
historical evidence to suggest that these songs were sung by slaves to help
disseminate knowledge about Underground Railroad routes, safe places, or code
words. Despite this, these songs continue to be cited as key components of the
Underground Railroad.
One of the most
famous symbols of the Underground Railroad is the quilt. Supposedly used as an
indicator of a safe place, it is claimed that quilts were hung from roofs,
barns, and fences to signal to enslaved individuals the location was a station
on the Underground Railroad. There are two pieces of evidence that allow many
historians to question the validity of Underground Railroad quilts. The first
being that no former enslaved individuals accounts mentioned these quilts in
the Works Progress Administration Slave Narratives from the 1930s. Second, that
quilts also were not mentioned in any 19th Century slave narratives. Had these
quilts been utilized by those participating in the Underground Railroad, it is
likely that they would have appeared in at least a few of these narratives.
There is also no hard evidence of their existence; no quilt with proven
Underground Railroad usage has been found. Still, these quilts remain one of
the most famous symbols of the Underground Railroad.
What do the panelists say about Mursi's supporter, Higazi, and the Muslim Brotherhood?
Who was Gamal Abd Al-Nasser?
What did Higazi mean by stating "We are all Hamas?"
Summarize each of the panelists and their position:
Farid Zahran, Egyptian Democratic Party
TV Host, Hala Sarhan
Farida Al-Shubashi, Egyptian Journalist
Egyptian Lawyer, Essam Al-Hafnawi
Egyptian MP, Sha'ban Abd Al-Alim
Dr. Tharwat Al-Badawi, expert on Constitutional Law
http://youtu.be/_9MnLbsGPtg
Caliphate Unit
Time: Five 42 minute lessons (or more for more extended research)
Grades: 9-12
Lesson 1: What is a Caliphate?
Goals:
to describe the term Caliphate
to show the ways Caliphate have risen and fallen during Islamic history
to show how the Caliphate plays a role in how Islamic societies answer questions of authority
to modernize the Caliphate in order for Egypt to redefine itself after the dictatorship of Mubarak has been eliminated
Students will be able to:
Identify the components of a Caliphate (Complex religion, Cities, Trade, Labor specialization, Social stratification, Centralized gov, Laws, arts/architecture, Public works, Record keeping)
Analyze, interpret videos of Caliphate discussion
Students will be able to identify the components of a Caliphate throughout the various time periods, rise and fall, by reviewing their Notebook material.
Think critically about the terms “caliphate” and social “authority”
Materials: Umayyad Caliphs Build an Empire (students may refer to their Notebooks)
Checkpoint (these Questions are in their Notebook as well)
What caused the Abbassid dynasty to decline?
Describe the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the last Caliphate.
Preparatory homework: Students will ask a parent or adult to define “caliphate” or the
religious and civil authority in a society in his/her own words the night prior to this lesson.
Activities:
1. Pair/Share of definitions of “caliphate” or religious and civil authority in society that students gathered as homework. As they share, record definitions on the board and ask students to identify patterns in the definitions and think about/discuss which components are recurring and most essential, as well as to add in any missing components.
2. Where does religious and civil authority come from? Who holds power?
3. Introduce videos and explain that students will be working in small groups or pairs to discuss and comment on current newsworthy videos. Students will analyze the videos with the Beyond the Sound Bites analysis and identify the components of the class definition of a Caliphate. Based on their analysis, students will make a decision about whether the videos reflect an historical caliphate, some combination of former caliphates, or a new type of caliphate altogether.
4. Regroup and discuss small group determinations of the status of the caliphate as a class.
Homework: Students answer textbook questions based on the unit, Caliphate.
Thinking about some of the posts I've been reading: Peace isn't always nice. Peace may rest on a false calm dependent on repression and injustice. A revolution may have moments of joy in it, though also a great deal of pain, fear, and loss. Perhaps--I'm glad I can't speak from experience--those who have been in a long revolution may be glad in the end to accept an imperfect peace for the sake of not having to fight anymore. This is a reason why we study history, those of us who do--to help us consider answers others have given to questions like that, answers which are sometimes written in blood.
This carries me back to our early discussion of the meaning of revolution. A student once asked me how you know if you're in a revolution. I'm embarrassed to remember that I gave a rather flippant answer--It's like being in love. If you are, you know. (I was younger then.) Now I think the answer depends partly on whether the challengers win. If they win, they write the history, and it becomes our glorious revolution of sacred memory. If they lose, it wasn't a revolution. Maybe a rebellion, or a riot. Maybe just street crime. If the struggle goes on evenly matched for a very long time, maybe then it's a civil war. I'm not sure.
Like many of you, I will need to digest this week's material in the coming weeks and begin to apply it to my classroom. I feel that the possibilities are truly endless, and it invigorates me as I prepare for another year. Seeing and hearing educators from across the globe was beautiful and affirmed my belief in the power of cross-cultural collaboration.
I wanted to share an article about a youth conference I helped organize in Los Angeles this past year. The workshops were entirely student-led (with support from teachers and community organizations). Students were asked in a survey to identify issues of interest and relevance to their lives, and the workshops ranged from topics as varied as gender and sexuality, immigration, police presence on campus, health and so on. You can read an article about the conference here: East Side Stories: Youth Transformation Across Los Angeles If you have any questions or would like to see the program, let me know. Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles (which is not where I teach; however, I'm part of their Politics & Pedagogy Collective of teachers and students) is a historic high school; most notably, in 1968, Chicano students walked out of school in what sparked the Chicano Movement and started an important period of school reform.
In light of what I have learned at the institute, I plan to encourage students to incorporate global issues in their workshops next year (and perhaps even Skype with students across the world!)
I look forward to debriefing the week with you tomorrow. I am humbled by the brain power, dedication and experience of the group. It has been especially refreshing to work with and learn from veteran teachers. The age divide in education is unfortunate and I will be the first to admit that young teachers often assume that veteran teachers have lost their vigor and passion for the profession. Oh how you have proven me wrong!! Thank you for that.
Can I start a Jacques deLisle fan club? Every time I've heard him speak, he has been supremely knowledgeable, prepared and, despite his obvious brilliance, able to relate to those of us who are much more rudimentary in our understanding of China. What a great discussion. Ishmael's comment was a reminder for us to not be too smug about our media... something important to keep in mind when students can default to a "we live in the greatest country that ever existed" mentality.
And I give Sarah serious props for her attempt to answer the question about how we define revolutions. Her answer was more eloquent than what I would have given... but right on target... I found it SO interesting that Sarah was shut down in such a right/wrong... black/white... yes/no manner. Maybe one of the learnings we can take is that we really do look at things a bit more critically and less didactically in our classes? What do you think???????
Day 4:
When I think of revolution and peace now, I think of a coin - one side revolution and the other side peace. If I stand the coin on it's edge, it's in the middle of the two opposing sides. It's this middle "path" that I try to walk, trying to observe both sides. The difficulty for me is that the revolution side seems to be fueled by anger and hatred (towards rulers, politics, injustices, etc.) and the peace side fueled by those looking for peaceful solutions that could benefit all.
Both revolution and peace are active, yet revolution seems to me to be more reactive. Peace, though more of thoughtful action, can have a violent reaction to it. However, when I have done something that hurts someone else, I feel heavy inside; conversely, when I take an action that helps someone or some situation, I feel light inside. I think it's a similar "footprint" in our world. If our world is made up of vibrations, then the vibrations of anger ripple out and the heaviness brings people down; when the vibrations of joy ripple out, the lightness brings people up.
In thinking about repression and oppression, people feel the weight of it and over time, it becomes too heavy to carry. I think it's the same in a classroom where a teacher yells at the students. The environment is so much warmer, more caring, respectful when there is joy in the air! However, I still am grappling with political situations where that heaviness is there and seems like it will never go away (like in China with words and actions being monitored). Maybe you have to shake things up to get the attention of those in control.
Did anyone read/watch The Hunger Games? Once they got rid of President Snow, the next "leader" wanted retaliation which would have kept the Hunger Games alive (and possibly worse). Still, those "Tributes" that went through the Games were never the same. I think the same is true for all those who go to war, and fight in violent situations. Sue Cannon spoke about the affects of war on her father. Our guests (refugees and those displaced by the political upheavals) lost their country of birth, loved ones, a culture in a way that was intact and more.
I want to inspire the children I teach to look for ways in which everyone can win.
Day 4 - Elva Card
Today we saw the upside and the downside of Skype! It was amazing to be able to talk to teachers in India! But the technical problems with the Egyptian connection showed the limitations.
I really enjoyed the presentation about China. I am fascinated with Chinese history and the question of where China is headed. I got to go to China once, and I remember so clearly when the guide met us at the airport, he said, "Well, we're not really Communist any more, but we're not Capitalist. We're trying to figure it out." We got to visit a "traditional" home of a retired Chinese Army captain in Beijing. It was in the hutongs, old style, not as nice as any of us have. I thought, as I looked at the old man, just how much the world has changed. I was married for twenty some years to an Air Force officer. Had war come he might have bombed the place, yet there I sat, feeling sorry for a retired officer whose financial status had reduced him to having tourists troop through his house.
Dr. Aguilar's talk took me back to those happy childhood days of the cold war. It's a sobering thought that the threat of nuclear annihilation is still with us. "Dr. Strangelove" is a film I sometimes show to my classes in those l-o-n-g 6 weeks at the end of the year when the standardized tests are over but we have to at least appear productively occupied. Some years they like it, but other years they hate it.
I was glad to gain more insight into modern Chinese life in Dr. deLisle's talk, since we, or at least I, tend to think everything ended with Mao. My students have sometimes asked whether China today is still Communist, so I was glad to hear Dr. deLisle's answer to this.
The Skype session I found more discouraging. I don't think my class of 15-year-olds would wait as patiently as we 22 teachers did while someone tried for 30 minutes to get the session up and running. The Egyptian speakers seemed understandably frustrated when we broke off the talk from our end just 10 minutes after finally getting things to work. Do people usually do this in such large groups? It was intriguing, though, to realize that we were actually speaking, almost in person, to people so far away.
Today was a great day! I loved speaking to the teachers in India via skype this morning. It was great to see how excited they were to work with us to help all learners get the best educational opportunities. I'm so looking forward to building a partnership with them to help my students work with their students.
Thank you to Labaron, Anastasia, Melissa and Raili for a wonderfully planned week.
The following are two quotes I found online that pretty much sum up what I learned from this week:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
"If we are to reach real peace in the
world, we shall have to begin with the children." (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)
"The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." (William James)
It was great meeting and learning with all of you; Enjoy the rest of your summer vacation!
Love, Peace and Happiness ALWAYS,
Bernie:)
Once again, the session was great. The opportunity to speak with teachers and professors from India and Egypt was over the top. The ideas that my students will be able to see and talk to students from the countries that we are studying will make "history come alive" for them. This method will help my students understand that we are truly a part of the global society. It will help them make choices about their place in the world.
The power chairs event was great. I plan to use this in my advisory are well as my classes.
It was also good to hear from Professor Jacques deLisle about the media and China and from Ed Aquilar on Revolution, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament. This seminar has given me a lot to think about and present to my students. Thank you........Jerry
Again, I was impressed by the speakers. After listening to Cheikh Anta Babou, I want to take his his course. Probably, like a lot of other Americans, I have a limited vision of Islam. It wasn't necessarily negative, but it did not incorporate the wide divisions and philosophy of the Muslim faith. I am enriched by acquiring this knowledge.
Also, like an earlier blogger, I understand that their is an element of diversity among our participants and I appreciate their candor. Jerry
I affirm human diversity in noting that different people liked different parts of Wednesday's program. One person's favorite activity was often the part that someone else especially disliked. We illustrate infinite diversity in infinite combinations, as Mr. Spock used to say on Star Trek--IDIC.
I especially liked the talk on Nigeria. It clarified things I have only partly understood, about religion and regionalism in that region. Unfortunately, my pen ran out of ink so my notes are incomplete. I wish we had heard more from Dr. Patel on South Asia.
On the other hand, I was less fond of the Theater of the Oppressed. Perhaps I mentioned it. I react in the worst possible way to being directed to take physical action. It evokes all my worst memories of high school gym class. The only inner self I get in touch with is the inner 15-year-old who hated volleyball. I never could snap my fingers and make any sound at all. I also can't whistle.
Cheikh Anta Babou explained that religions are expressed in multi-various ways. There are institutional expressions, popular spirituality, religion as protest, religion as violent, it can not fairly be reduced to any one component expression. Thus, a Christian and a Muslim may have much more in common than a Muslim, and another Muslim, or a Christian and another Christian. Often, to say a person is a Christian, or a Muslim does not reveal much about their religious expression. Outsider terms such as moderate, or fundamentalist are often also not very revealing. Moderate, as opposed to what? Fundamental, as opposed to what? The crux of the issue in South Sudan, in a post-colonial period is, now what? He also interestingly pointed out that most violence in Islamic history has been Muslim on Muslim violence, despite the prohibitions by institutional Islam against the practice.
Historically informed persons have been commenting on the Arab Spring which may provoke stimulating thought.
In "Egypt: How Obama Blew It," by Niall Ferguson, in Newsweek, the Egyptian revolution and the coming Caliphate was analyzed.
An army in control is not a democratic, liberal, revolution. Moreover, Obama was taken completely by surprise. The only organized organization is the Muslim Brotherhood advocating sharia law and the restoration of the Caliphate. Any appearance of a liberal, peaceful, democratic revolution is extremely unlikely. The Egyptian revolution is most similar to the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. Almost all revolutions are characterized by internal chaos and foreign aggression.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmr1uUZae6Q
In a 2011 interview Niall Ferguson spoke with The Telegraph about what he believes the world may look like in ten years.
His two key points to consider for the Middle East include:
Tiny possibility we get western-style democracies in the Middle East
More alarming to think about a "restored caliphate"
Victor Davis Hanson and Peter Berkowitz analyze the causes of Middle Eastern events (including the role of social networking), rise of the Caliphate, and discuss possible outcomes for the Middle East states enmeshed in popular unrest. They evaluate the implications for Israel and conclude with an assessment of Obama's handling of these events and how the United States should respond to the ongoing unrest.
The Arab Spring may be analyzed more correctly, according to Hanson and Berkowitz, as bereft of Western-style liberal democratic ideas in favor of Islamist characteristics. First-hand evidence on the ground confirms this impression. Abu George, a Christian resident of Aleppo's Aziza district stated: "We saw what happened to the Christians in Iraq. What is going on in Aleppo is not a popular revolution for democracy and freedom. The fighters of the so-called Free Syrian Army are radical Sunnis who want to establish an Islamic state." The prominent Middle Eastern historian Bernard Lewis has pointed out that in Egypt for example the language of Western-style democracy has only recently been translated, there are no Arabic equivalents for these words, and Islamist Middle Eastern countries have produced "zero" democracies in a thousand years. It seems unlikely that the Arab Spring will result in a Western-style democracy. The ordinary person on the street in Egypt will more likely result in a regime that is anti-Semitic, anti-American, and an Islamist motivated regime. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is analogous to the Jacobins during the French Revolution.
The extent of the Abbasids Dynastic Caliphate, 750 - 1258 A.D.
Khilafah Conference Map
Iran has called for a Unified Muslim World Coalition, or a Caliphate.
The term caliphate "dominion of a caliph ('successor,')," (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa, Turkish: Halife ) refers to the first system of government established in Islam, and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah (nation).
According to Berkowitz and Hanson, American policy should re-assert the decades old, bi-partisan, Truman Doctrine affirmed through the Bush administration which was to promote a freedom agenda. Obama has abandoned the bi-partisan, historic American principled approach to Middle Eastern policy. Obama's transformation in U.S. policy will most likely promote the two examples of theocratic regimes in the Middle East: Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Saudis invited Iran for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting, 5 August 2012.
The Caliphate is unlikely to be workable in practice but the death and destruction that will accompany the aspirations of those who favor a Caliphate will be catastrophic.
Cf. http://www.aina.org/news/20120802194350.htm
Cf. Victor Hanson and Peter Berkowitz -- Revolution in the Arab World
This morning I felt like I was back in school and I absolutely loved it. I was inspired to consider (again!) pursuing a PhD, despite the fact that it's not a very practical choice in our society. I am a bit concerned that we did not get to unpack our own bias around religion. I feel there are many things left unsaid and that it's important that we take the time to NOT be politically correct and do the difficult work of coming to terms with our varying perspectives. I realize this is difficult when we are not very familiar with each other and time is scarce. I feel that already we have made strong connections based on a common foundation of dedication as teachers.
I also concur with other participants who expressed the need to address spirituality in a less academic context. Bringing peace into our classrooms is itself an expression of spirituality and does not have to be based in institutionalized religion. As someone who was raised to be culturally Christian, however, I realize that my spirituality is colored through that lens. I would love to hear ideas about bringing students' faith into the classroom in a meaningful way (I teach many Buddhist students, for example, and while I don't want to ask them to be our in-house experts, I would love to bring their traditions into our shared space).
Finally, I suggest we take a few minutes at the end of each day to DEBRIEF the day. I think this could be very valuable, and hopefully there will be time for that at least on Friday before we part.
THANK YOU to all of you for teaching me so much over the past few days. I feel that my brain is expanding and I love that feeling.
Today I was a little lost in the conversations about mystical Islam and South Asia. There is a lot of history there that I really don't have a lot of background knowledge on, which would have helped my comprehension and would have facilitated my making the connections to our Peace & Revolution theme. While the panel this morning was very interesting, it was hard to hear and see the seated panelists. I would have liked to have heard more from Dr. Patel then we did. I struggled to find enough connections to our theme and useful material for my classroom.
The presentation by Mallick was short but great. I look forward to exploring the archive for solely personal reasons. No one has ever offered me such a resource before and I can't wait to find some connections with in it. Even though my adoptive parents brought me back to my birth country twice and remain connected to many people and the culture they experienced there...there is relatively little I know about day to day Bangladeshi culture, politics or history. My father and mother know a lot of this information, but I've been quite the typical USAmerican raised child in that I've not really picked their brains for more authentic bits of information. It could be there is little dialogue about Bangladesh because there is always potential for questions about birth-parents--to which there are no real answers to. But the good new is that our family is planning a trip to take everyone to Bangladesh by 2015!
The afternoon session was a lot of fun. I really liked the chance to get up and interact with everyone. I wish that it had been an all day workshop though because it felt a little crammed in. I could totally see myself using some of those activities to get my kinesthetic active learners involved and excited about learning and to test my intellectual pencil/book learners ability to "learn out side the box." When I was younger I loved fun opportunities to express my creativity and imagination. Now I enjoy pushing myself to take risks and embarrass myself a bit because the humility grounds me.
Day 3 - Elva Card
I was very impressed by Stanford Thompson, the young man who is bringing music to the students at one of the paroachial schools in Phildelphia. How wonderful it would be if we could enrich the lives of those young people so that they could grow up to be gainful and happy citizens! Unfortunaely the economic incentive is tilted toward building and staffing prisons rather than preventing young people from filling them. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I saw that quote of Benjamin Franklin written in stone someplace around this campus. But right now the cure creates jobs. How can we convince society to invest in prevention?
Janet and I went down to Independence Hall this afternoon. I had never been there. It's so impressive to think of those men in funny clothers and powdered hair coming up with a document that created this wonderful country of ours. Surely we of the internet go, who dress so much better!, can come up more intelligent ways to manage our priorities!
In terms of this morning's session, I'm perplexed over the Wahabi's somewhat romanticized view of Islam. I understand other ideologies did not work and the notion to go back to a stricter view of Islam perhaps initially being a solution, including the introduction of Takfir, but has the Wahabi view worked for the masses? Improved the health and welfare of their societies? Improved economic and class mobility? Provided equal access for the education of women? Any thoughts?
What a great day. The morning discussion gave me new information, some helpful constructs, a lexicon to talk to my students about Islam (political Islam vs. mystical Islam vs....) and deeper insights into India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Then I was blown away by PlayOnPhilly - an inspirational music-academic marriage that seems to offer a solution for at least some youth. It was refreshing to leave a discussion about the overwhelming issues facing so many of our youths feeling inspired and hopeful (and, as Labaron said, when someone mentions "Curtis" your ears perk up). Our interdisciplinary afternoon took me way out of my comfort zone and gave me a LOT to think about... how to shake up and spice up my classroom not to mention dealing with the topics we juggle in our advisories. Oh, and don't forget the delicious lunch of which I had... was it thirds or fourths? No dinner tonight!
In addition to the content of the day, I also appreciated the fact that I feel I finally "met" each of you in the afternoon session. What a great exercise to break downn barriers of shyness and to get people to cross-groups. A peace process. I also loved the end of the afternoon when we stood in the circle and offered ideas about how we could implement the tactics. That final exercise served to offer summary and closure to the afternoon as well as gave me so many ideas that I would never have thought of on my own. You are all very creative in reaching the students where they are as I saw in the ideas you shared. So thank you to Raili, Labaron, Melissa and Anastasia and to each of you for broadening my thinking.
Today's Word of the Day is Overwhelmed. I am learning as much as I can from the sessions, but today I felt like I was grasping and snatching little tidbits out of context and conversation as often as I could. By the time we started the movement session in the afternoon, I really couldn't come up with a physical representation of "progress". I could feel myself fading slowly and surely and felt SO sorry for my poor group afterwards, as I tried to speak in complete sentences and be present as well as contribute to our lessons for the unit. Sorry gals!
I think, I KNOW that I am not the type of learner that can sit for very long periods of time, and absorb information. It is very hard to be on the other side of the classroom, and I am so glad for this experience and exposure as I consider applying to PhD programs in the next 2 years..I don't know. It just felt like there was quite a bit of monologue today, and not as much dialogue with my peers. I am very thankful to learn from the panels we have been provided with, but I yearn to spend time with you teachers and learn about how they meet their students needs, or dialogue with some of you to see how you plan on implementing the enormous amount of information and experiences we have shared this week. I wish there was time to digest and reflect, before we have to marathon think-pair-share our thoughts into lesson plans. I do not even feel that I have been able to fully process the very, very important experiences, opinions and insights of our panelists yesterday, and I am having to make room for more today's content.
I also felt that I was not a very good audience this morning, as I felt the discussion evolving into an in depth explanation of Islam in Nigeria, and a little about theocracies, but not as much as I would have hoped about faith, spirituality and religion and it's place in revolution and peace. It is ABSOLUTELY possible that it was discussed, and I was simply not able to process that information. I was hoping for a more global discussion.
I hope that there is more time to hear about how you are all are processing what you are experiencing and learning, as I am so interested and blown away by the conversations that I am having within my group. I am reading the blog, but it just aint the same... And KUDOS to you brave souls that volunteered to participate in the Theater of the Oppressed. I bow down to you...I think that I was too intimidated to TRULY participate. Way to take one for the team!
I feel like I've learned so much in the past few days; more than I've learned in undergrad and graduate school combined. The information that I've learned so far this week culminates a lot of the philosophies that are important to me as an educator. As I've said before, I like to look and think about words. I believe that a word or words can either uplift or destroy an individual or a group. I now realize that when I talk about peace and revolution I should think about and choose my words wisely, so that I can have a positive impact on my students' lives and so that I can challenge their thinking. The following are some quotes from some of the presenters/articles that I took away in the past two days. I hope to keep these phrases in mind as I teach and learn from my students this coming school year.
"We as teachers can be that empowering force that gives students the tools to feel empowered" (Sue Gelbert Cannon-Think, Care Act)
"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart" (Anne Frank)
"what keeps me together is my faith"(Ayuen Ajok-Panel member)
"...break down the victim and perpetrator mentality..."(Jamal Alsarraj-panel member)
"Get children to thinking and asking 'why did this end up being'?" (Jamal Alsarraj-panel member)
"...use a strength-based approach to teaching...see the resilience in people..." (Jessica E. Lee-panel member)
"...they may be poor, but they have morals..." (Chelkh Anta Babou-UPenn professor)
"...words are living entities and should be treated with the same tenderness as human beings." (Theatre of the Oppressed reading)
"...the arts explain something about humanity...the student becomes a model for what that family can embody..." (Stanford Thompson-Play on Philly)
" A community without its records is a community under siege, defending itself, its identity and its version of history without a firm foundation of which to stand." (Jeannette Bastian)
Link to a song that fits perfectly with this morning's lecture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsWAXvfN3eY
Holly NEar is a folk singer I first heard in the 70s, she took a break when she turned 60 years old, and is now back to song writing and performing. I don't know whether you need to be a folk music fan to enjoy this, but check it out.
I ain't afraid of your Yahweh I ain't afraid of your Allah I ain't afraid of your Jesus I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God I ain't afraid of your churches I ain't afraid of your temples I ain't afraid of your praying I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God verse Rise up to your higher power Free up from fear, it will devour you Watch out for the ego of the hour The ones who say they know it Are the ones who will impose it on you I ain't afraid of your Yahweh I ain't afraid of your Allah I ain't afraid of your Jesus I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God I ain't afraid of your churches I ain't afraid of your temples I ain't afraid of your praying I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God verse Rise up, and see /find/ know/ hear a higher story Free up from the gods of war and glory Watch out for the threats of purgatory The spirit of the wind won’t make a killing off of sin and satan I ain't afraid of your Bible I ain't afraid of your Torah I ain't afraid of your Koran Dont let the letter of the law Obsure the spirit of the your love--it's killing us I ain't afraid of your Yahweh I ain't afraid of your Allah I ain't afraid of your Jesus I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God I ain't afraid of your churches I ain't afraid of your temples I ain't afraid of your praying I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God Money Culture Choices I’m afraid of what you do in the name of your God Sunday Spirit Teachers I’m afraid of what you do in the name of your God Sabbath Borders Dances I’m afraid of what you do in the name of your God double Children Music Stories I’m afraid of what you do in the name of your God Rise up to your higher power Free up Rise up to your higher power Free up Let's try to be highly evolved I aint afraid
"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.
They make one story become the only story.”
Though I have not had much full-time teaching experience, after community-building activities, one of the best and most
powerful ways I have started off the semester included showing this < 20
minute TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie, on “The Danger of a Single Story.”
In light of our discussion with
the wonderful panelists about immigrants and refugees, and “Youth Perspectives on Peace & Revolution,” I thought about this
TED Talk I showed my students and how it set the tone for the rest of the
semester. Jamal advocated for educators to not present any individual or group
as “static,” unchanging, or one-dimensional. As a daughter of first-generation immigrants
from India, I have faced and been asked about numerous stereotypes given to
Indians. We as educators also have to be careful and think critically about how we incorporate students’
experiences into the classroom, avoiding the situation where a student is
called on to discuss “Indian culture, heritage and religion” merely because she is the
only Indian in the classroom.
I provided my students with four
reflection and discussion questions to go through during and after the talk:
1.
Who is Chimamanda Adichie and what is her message?
2.
What is the danger of a single story?
3.
Can you give an example of an instance when you bought into the single story of
a group of individuals? At what point did you realize that this story was
incomplete?
4.
Are you aware of a “single story” about an aspect of your identity? What is it
and how does it make you feel?
Students were so willing to talk
about stereotypes and labels that have been put on them and were able to
empathize with the speaker. This set the philosophy and tone of our future
class sessions and it helped them understand how I wanted them to examine the world and its people.
Good Morning All...Since I have been told I have a flair for the obvious, I'll not disappoint and state I am so impressed with the passion and dedication of all members involved with the institute. It has been such a pleasure to be with you all.
Still perplexed about student names and the discussion about same. I might just be honest and ask what they prefer and go from there and do what is best for them. Names begin to define us so essentially I would work to pronounce their name.
Nonviolent
Campaigns: Who, What, Where, When, How and Why
So
you’ve seen Gene Sharp's list of 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action in our binders, and you've heard a lot about the powers and successes of nonviolent action but are
ready to move beyond teaching about Gandhi and Dr. King. Thanks to a project
lead by George Lakey at Swarthmore College, there is now a Global
Nonviolent Action Database that provides free access to the
hundreds of cases of nonviolent campaigns around the world! The intention of
this database is, “to assist researchers and activists to better understand the special
features of nonviolent struggle that make it different from both violent and institutional
politics.”
Lakey,
the Director of Training for Change and 2010 Peace Educator of the Year, explains
that “nonviolent action” is also commonly known as:
People Power
Civil Resistance
Satyagraha
Nonviolent
Resistance
Direct Action
Pacifica Militancia
Positive Action
The
database includes cases that are identified as “campaigns”, not “movements” because they consider
movements to typically consist of a number of campaigns aimed at achieving
large goals. Also, the campaigns researched are ones that have reached their
point of completion. Each “case” is presented as a database file and narrative
that describes the issues behind the campaign.
The
database can be searched by country, issue, or method used. The campaigns are
grouped by the following categories: democracy, economic justice, environment,
human rights (religious and women’s rights), national/ethnic identity (and
anti-colonial struggles), and peace. You can learn about nonviolent action that
took place everywhere from Afghanistan to Norway to Zimbabwe. You can even find
campaigns that occurred as early as Before A.D. in Italy to present-day in
Egypt. If you are interested in learning about the larger movements, you can
search under “Waves of Campaigns” to find information about:
On
this page you will find the time period, the description of the location, the
goals, methods and classification of the case. You can also find information
about the campaign’s influences, leaders, partners, allies and opponents, order
of social groups and the success outcome. Lastly, everyone also has access to
the sources used to compile the information to learn even more about the study!
This
resource: 1) Explores Approaches to
Peace; 2) Re-frames History; and 3) Transforms Conflict Nonviolently.
Students can learn how people around the world aim to achieve peace.
Furthermore, they can look at history through the lens of nonviolent actions –
narratives that are often left out in schools’ historical texts. Lastly, the
database acknowledges that conflicts do
exist, and it provides examples of a variety of methods that people use to
approach conflict alternatively—nonviolently.
With regard to the uses of the
database, the team included this wonderful message: “Strategists, activist organizers, scholars, and teachers
will find many uses for the database, as well as citizens wanting to expand
their horizons. Even before release to the public, for example, a teacher who
knew the database team was using our cases to assist middle school pupils to
develop plays. Any school that teaches about the environment, civil rights, or
other issues may find the curriculum enlivened by sending students to the
database. History students might enjoy doing the detective work of finding the
hidden stories in their local area that could be developed into cases. The
database also offers an invitation to geographical learning.”
I
would recommend this database to be used by students starting in middle school.
Though I believe that educators can incorporate this across the curriculum, it
may be most welcome in a Social Studies course. The information provided
can truly open students’ eyes and deepen their understanding of nonviolence,
people power, and the struggle for justice, peace, democracy or human rights
around the world. It may also help students to better grasp the tactics and
motivations of the ongoing “Occupy” movements across the nation. The database can
be utilized in formal or community education settings. It can also be
beneficial for organizers of future movements to scan through this database to
examine the advantages or limitations of strategies of previous campaigns.
One of our afternoon panelists commented that sometimes people tend to posit a simplistic victim-oppressor analysis. We examine the past and determine who has been victimized and who is oppressed. Some educators perform this exercise in the case of Egypt, and the Middle East generally: i.e., Mubarak, bad, what he is replaced with, good. This analysis suggests that if the Muslim Brotherhood replaces Mubarak this could be a good thing. But as I consider covering the Caliphate in my World History classes I am reminded of what is stated in, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens.
Hitchens states that the Koran is a rehash of Jewish and Christian myths. Islam, with no Reformation, and no internal self-critical tradition, is the least adjusted world religion to the obvious contradictions of living in the modern world with a pre-modern mindset. Any historical example to critically examine the claims of Islam has resulted in repression (p. 125). The accounts of Muhammad (d. 632) "are hopelessly corrupted into incoherence by self-interest, rumor, and illiteracy" (p. 127). "The first full account of his life was set down a full hundred and twenty years later by Ibn Ishaq, whose original was lost and can only be consulted through its reworked form, authored by Ibn Hisham, who died in 834" (p. 129). In addition, there is no way of determining how the competing accounts and traditions were collated and edited to form the text of the Koran. We are left with conjecture and hearsay as to the actual message of Muhammad.
The chaotic manner in which the Koran was assembled gave rise to the more pressing issue of succession, a controversy characterizing Islam and one in which Muslims have never solved. Continuously Islam has strenuously opposed critical examination of the Koranic text. The apparent unity of Islam masks a great insecurity and anxiety about the text not shared by other religious traditions (p. 126). "But Islam when examined is not much more a rather obvious and ill-arranged set of of plagiarisms, helping itself from earlier books and traditions as occasion appeared to require" (p. 129). With its lack of originality Islam nonetheless demands obeisance from non-believers yet "there is nothing--absolutely nothing--in its teachings that can begin to justify such arrogance and presumption" (p. 129).
The primary issue of a critical and scholarly account of Islam based on the Koran requires a similar willingness, as Jews and Christians have allowed and benefited from, to examine the Scriptural claims to objective, scholarly examination. The consensus of religious obscurantism though has precluded "free inquiry and the emancipating consequences that it might bring" (p. 137).
Meanwhile, rogues, terrorists, mullahs, and misguided Islamists predominate and prey unmolested upon unwary victims.
As a result, the question of authority looms large since there is no program to critically examine the Koran, religion poisons everything, but an institution could politically unify Islamists.
The Caliphate
It is important to understand what the caliphate is, its place in Muslim majority countries, and its significance.
The cornerstone of Islamic theology, the caliphate, or khilafah, is the central, authoritarian government that was implemented after the death of Muhammad by his disciples in 632 AD. It derives its authority from and governs by Shariah law, and is presided over by a “caliph,“ or ”successor” who holds both legislative and spiritual power.
Per the tenets of Islam, this “state” is not limited to encompassing only Muslims across Muslim lands, rather, the goal is to ultimately establish a global caliphate that would mandate people of all walks to embrace Islam or to at least to submit to being governed by Islamic law. The khilafah is also the form of government endorsed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
In March 1924, reformer and president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, constitutionally destroyed the “Khilafah State.” Today, an organization dedicated to the reestablishment of a global caliphate, Khilafah.com, stated that Ataturk’s move marked the end of “an illustrious era of Islamic rule” and that, since then, “the dark shadow of the West has engulfed the world.”
Prince Orhan Aal Othman, the Grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, blames Theodore Herzl, the Jewish Zionist, as the cause of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Caliphate
#3250 - Prince Orhan Aal Othman, Grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II: Herzl Was the Cause of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Transcript
http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3250.htm
To illustrate what Islamists believe regarding Islam and the caliphate, consider the following passage from one of their sources:
"We assert, without compromise, that it is only by the establishment of the Khilafah State, that the practical solutions of Islam can once again provide a real alternative for the entire world. The ‘Clash of Civilisations’ first discussed by Samuel Huntington is real and inevitable. We endorse the notion that there is a civilisational difference between Islam and the West and that the problem for the West is Islam and the problem for Islam is the West. By arguing this, we also maintain Islam, as a universal ideology, came for all of humankind, Muslim and Non-Muslims, and as such it is only Islam that serves as a Rahma (mercy) for all mankind."
Khilafah.com goes on to assert that “the only challenge” to encroaching Western dominance “must come from Islam.” Thus, to Islamists, the caliphate is vitally important in their fight against Western democracy and to ensure the adoption of Islam and the implementation of Shariah law across the world.
For example, Sheik Ahmad Abu Quddum, of the Jordanian Tahrir Party, states that jihad will spread Islam, and non-Muslims will be second-class citizens in the coming Caliphate
Those who closely follow the words and deeds of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda will recall that establishing a global caliphate founded upon Islamic law has been among the militants’ most fervently declared goals.
Hamas MP and Cleric Yunis Al-Astal: The Jews Were Brought to Palestine for the 'Great Massacre' through which Allah Will 'Relieve Humanity of Their Evil'
Yunis al-Astal, the cleric in question, told his listeners that “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam…”
Al-Astal preached in June of 2010 that it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview. Al-Astal also called Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death” in the interview.
The parliamentarian returned to this slur recently, saying that Rome “has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.”
Writing for the New York Sun in 2005, Daniel Pipes noted that the Islamists who assassinated former Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 adorned their holding cages with banners that read: “caliphate or death.” He continued:
Bin Laden spoke of ensuring that “the pious caliphate will start from Afghanistan.” His chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also dreamed of re-establishing the caliphate, for then, he wrote, “history would make a new turn, God willing, in the opposite direction against the empire of the United States and the world’s Jewish government.” Another Al-Qaeda leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, publishes a magazine that has declared “Due to the blessings of jihad, America’s countdown has begun. It will declare defeat soon,” to be followed by the creation of a caliphate.
While some might argue that there is a difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and state-recognized terrorist organizations, consider that the Brotherhood is no innocent lamb. Founded by an Adolf Hitler admirer, the Islamic militant group is the predecessor of Hamas, Hezbollah and even al Qaeda, and is often cited as a parent to each of the terrorist groups.
One of the reasons some believe the Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate group is via its seemingly extensive community service work. It operates under the veneer of a socially-conscious organization focused on youth-outreach, school and mosque development, and even the coordination of sporting events for the “good” of the community.
Once examined under a more discerning lens, however, the true colors of the Muslim Brotherhood emerge. Of the militant Islamist group’s dual identity, scholar Martin Kramer stated: “On one level, they operated openly, as a membership organization of social and political awakening. Banna preached moral revival, and the Muslim Brethren engaged in good works. On another level, however, the Muslim Brethren created a ‘secret apparatus’ that acquired weapons and trained adepts in their use. Some of its guns were deployed against the Zionists in Palestine in 1948, but the Muslim Brethren also resorted to violence in Egypt.
Kramer goes on to explain that the Brotherhood enforced their own moral teachings “by intimidation, and they initiated attacks against Egypt’s Jews.”
My final installment as a review of this issue will be posted tomorrow; it will review contemporary analysts who comment on the revival of a Caliphate.
Finally, however, for my in-class final version I will need Islamist examples akin to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa to present examples of peaceful leaders within the Islamist tradition.
Dr. G. Mick Smith
I enjoyed today's discussion. My take-away is that so many of the topics we approach are personally-defined. Do we insist that people learn and pronounce our name precisely? Do we reach out to people to recognize that pronunciation and inflection may be challenging to some given their ability to hear (physical disability)... to aborb details... to pronounce accurately? For what it's worth, I think that if we want to move people to a different place, as opposed to just asserting our own needs to others, we need to listen more... figure out where someone is at the moment... and adapt our philosophy to what is most meaningful to them. It is fairly easy to go on about what we think about a given issue. If we just want a soapbox to hear ourselves, fine. But if we want change, we need to be more patient, listen more and preach less, and be willing to do what it takes to meet each person where he or she is rather than where we are. I'm not good at that. It's hard. But it is my take-away from today.
I too am thinking about names. This afternoon I drove to an assisted living community (25 miles away but took me an hour and a half to get there given traffic leaving Philly, ugh) to visit friends of mine who are now 91 and 94 years old. Rennie and I taught together for 9 years at the beginning of my career and the end of hers. She was my closest colleague friend for those years. I shared with them the overall theme of the institute and this afternoon's panel discussion. When he was a young boy Si's family had fled from Poland to Germany and then managed to get out of Germany to the US even though the US was not taking Jewish refugees. (His family had a US government contact who owed them a favor,) Si then went back to Germany in the US army and was with the army group that liberated Buchenwald. He was telling me that actually his birth name was NOT Si but rather a very Jewish/Polish sounding name. When he arrived in Germany one reason he was constantly bullied and beaten was because his name "marked" him. He changed it to Si and never went back to his original name.
One of the reasons I like this overall topic is because I don't think there are clear answers on this. I'm always more interested in dilemmas that aren't absolute. If someone immigrating to the US wants to change her name to one that sounds more "American" it might be for ease of not always having to tell people how to pronounce her name, it might be to assimilate... Part of what I want to understand is whether she is trying to "deny" her birth/childhood culture or "embrace" a new culture. Are those different? Are they contradictory? I'm wondering what it takes to understand if this choice is "voluntary." And if we're teachers with children who are or aren't changing their names what's our role in responding to this, particularly in whether we're actively encouraging them to keep their birth names.
Day Two-I really enjoyed the panel discussion, I wish we'd had more time to talk with individuals in smaller groups. The assimilation issue was interesting. I was thinking about the "names" issue and how that's a concern for people who aren't even immigrants. "Get the interview" names, is what my friends and I call them. I have an extremely European name, and have had phone interviews just to arrive at the interview to find that "the position was filled already".
I wish that we had more time to work with our groups, an hour at the end of the day doesn't seem to be enough time. I'm starting to feel concerned about having a unit ready by Friday.
Today, I was particularly caught by our discussion about Names.
For 5 months before I went to grad school, I was substitute teaching in the "inner city" districts of Harrisburg and Lancaster, PA. Even though these cities are smaller, the schools I worked in were not much different than those here in Philadelphia or any other large city in the country--it was poorly funded, resources were limited, students came from difficult economic living situations, school climate was strained. I had already had two years of ESOL-pull out teaching in Harrisburg, so I was prepare to roll with the punches of kids who really made you earn their respect. Not every substituting position was rewarding, but I knew from the start that the best way to maintain discipline and stay on track as a lowly substitute teacher was to connect with the kids as quick as I could.
Given my experience with my own name and identity, I knew that kids, especially the little ones, really appreciated it if you took the time to learn their names. So I challenged myself to learn every child's name by heart before 10 am. At first I did this on my own (without the student's knowledge) and I saw right away what a difference it made when instead of saying "hey, stop hitting your friend," I could say, "Jamir, stop hitting Keisha." After the first few classrooms of playing this game with myself, I realized it would be fun to let the kids in on it. I remember a particular class of first graders in Lancaster who laughed and thought there was no possible way I could remember all 22 of their unique, complicated, phonetically spelled, 4 syllable names in just 2 hours. At ten o'clock, the kids did not hesitate to remind me of my challenge and they all covered their name tags. I got 22 correct and for the rest of the day, they were mine. We got every activity on the teacher's plans done and even had time to go outside and play.
Learning to pronounce a kid's name and remembering it seems like such a trivial thing, but to a kid it's the primary source of their identity. The youngest ones are just learning to write it and the older ones have learned the stories of where it comes from. For many--not all--it is the first source of pride. Learning to pronounce a complicated non-American-English or an African-American name shows that you care enough to take the time and that you're interested and invested in the student from the moment they walk through that classroom door--even if it's not yours.
Even now as a classroom teacher, I still memorize each student's name by 10 o'clock. I love to see the surprised looks on their faces when I attach their name to the praise or reprimand I am giving out which always says, "man, this lady knows my name already?!" It shows the kids that I'm immediately engaged and it encourages them to be so too!
First day thoughts: I was curious why I was accepted to
participate in this conference. Everyone else, besides my new friend Erica,
seems to be teaching history in some way or another. Here I am, an ESL teacher.
What can I contribute? Then, after returning home and discussing with my
husband, I realized (because he reminded me) that for almost every country
mentioned today, I can connect the information presented with a face and a name
of a student. In the classes I teach, I have formed very intimate connections
with most of my students. When you speak of the lost boys of Sudan, I remember
yelling at one to do his homework. When you name the different Arab “Springs,”
I can name a person for each country. I can remember his or her writing about
the experience. And so it goes with the other countries mentioned… With each
abstract thought, I have a personal memory. I felt some comfort in this very
personal connection to the topic of “Revolution,” so now I also feel a part of
this 2012 Summer Institute even if I really joined because the title was
“Teaching Peace…” I didn’t even realize that “Revolution” was part of the title
until the materials were sent to us.
Day Two (Elva Card)
I really enjoyed the panel discussion of what it is to be a refugee. I read an article about the "Lost Boys" when they first arrived. Three teenagers had been given an apartment and a stipend on which to live, but other than that pretty much left on their own. The article showed some of the problems they faced in trying to adapt to this wonderful, but very strange to them, country. I guess after you've survived lions and disease and hunger, your survival skills are pretty well honed. Still all that the panelists have accomplished is very impressive.
Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
This morning my work partner, Zach and I had the opportunity to facilitate a thoughtful discussion among some wonderful educators who are all working to bring a broader historical narrative to their students. To our participants, let me say thank you. I really appreciate the chance to work with you even though our time together was brief. Hearing a bit of your struggle to step out of the mainstream and create critical thinkers in your classrooms was inspiring. It's a good reminder of how many brave and dedicated people there are in this profession who are willing to take the risk, take a stand and shake up the status quo. It's individuals such as yourselves who give me hope that civil society building is still alive.
We can accomplish so much when we share our knowledge and support one another.
In Peace,
Charlotte DiBartolomeo
Red Kite Project
I had not thought for a long time of the incident I mentioned in our morning discussion, in which an 11th-grade classmate of mine remarked that Thoreau would have supported the Vietnam war, obviously, because he was a great American writer and great Americans support their government. For me, that was a moment which nudged me into a slightly different and more critical line of thinking. (I remember now that in elementary school, his parents wouldn't allow him to go on a field trip where parents were driving, because he would have had to ride in a car driven by a ---WOMAN!) Not dramatic, but who knows when one of our students might experience a similar insight, and we might never even know.
Greetings, All,
It was a pleasure joining you today. I appreciated learning about your work, sharing ideas, and pondering issues with you.
Here are some resources that may be helpful:
1. Media Literacy: On my peace ed website, find links to various media literacy curricula, as well as links to varied news outlets that may be helpful in gaining multiple perspectives on news. At the bottom of the page is a link to Refdesk, featuring state and international newspapers. Listening the the conversation this afternoon, it seems these links may be useful.
4. Visit my website Teach for Peace: Numerous peace education resources for critical and creative thinking, local and global care, and effective social action are here.
5. On my blog, look at Memorial Day & July 4th and other posts to find elaborations on the Lakey and Nonviolent Action database, as well as links to Gene Sharp's work, and more.
