This week marks the Coalition for the Homeless’ “Hunger and Homelessness ” week.One of the projects in the curriculum for Americans Who Tell the Truth involves asking students to research the “state” of the world. This project falls under the area of economic justice because it asks for a study of access to resources such as water and food.This week, ask your students to contact their local homeless shelters, organizations and research how many students in their own school are homeless and/or hungry.If you are in a school where there is a large population of students who experience (d) homeless and/or hunger, ask then to write about that, create art work sharing this experience and post these with their permission in places such as public libraries or other parts of the community where these stories can be read/heard. Record students’ speaking about these concerns and let folks in your own community hear them; take their stories out. Give their truths an audience.I would like to also suggest that students study the biography and life’s work of Sister Lucy Poulin-have them read the biography and description of how she works with homelessness and hunger in a way that provides hope and maintains dignity.

See this video and watch as a faculty. Can your school adopt a Charter of Compassion?Can your classroom? Can  a student’s family? Can  a student?

At the heart of Americans Who Tell the Truth is compassion. Compassionate action. Action rooted in compassion. For many human beings, religion/faith is a source of learning compassion.Have students watch this video and share their views of the “golden rule” and the notion of a “Charter for Compassion.”  Share examples of what students have seen as compassionate acts.  Make a place on your classroom bulletin board for these acts and update it , honor it regularly.Each of the truth tellers was so overcome with compassion for those , many of whom he/she would never know, that action was the only course.

Truth teller Coleen Rowley is possibly one of the most important voices students should hear when considering the nature  of war in our country and how our government acts in regards to it.  Her biography is an important one because she made decisions very much out of her comfort zone in order to do the right thing. Use the link by clicking her name to allow students to read , in her own words, what she was thinking and why she did what she did when her “moment of truth” arrived. I have also posted it here.

At the time of 9-11, I had been an FBI agent for over 20 years.  My main responsibilities had become teaching criminal procedure to FBI agents and other law enforcement officers, mostly about 4th Amendment search and seizure, 5th and 6th Amendment law of interrogation, right to attorney and constitutional protection of rights to “free speech”, due process, habeas corpus, and against cruel and unusual punishment.  A week before 9-11, I and the rest of the FBI’s ethics instructors were mandated (as a result of an earlier public FBI scandal) to give a one hour PowerPoint presentation, a form of remedial training on “law enforcement ethics” which I accomplished in a fairly perfunctory way, just reading the slides.  After 9-11, with the knowledge I had of the bitter internal dispute inside the FBI that was being hushed up but had kept some of our better agents from possibly uncovering more of the 9-11 plot before it happened, I couldn’t forget two of the slides in that Law Enforcement ethics curriculum:  “DO NOT:  Puff, Shade, Tailor, Firm up, Stretch, Massage, or Tidy up statements of fact.”  And “Misplaced Loyalties:  As employees of the FBI, we must be aware that our highest loyalty is to the United States Constitution.  We should never sacrifice the truth in order to obtain a desired result (e.g. conviction of a defendant) or to avoid personal or institutional embarrassment.” 

 

The official dissembling and excuse-making about the true causes and prior mistakes that allowed the terrorist attacks to happen, almost immediately ushered in the Bush-Cheney Administration’s egregious and lawless “war on terror” post 9-11 agenda which bore no connection to the original causes and no connection to the goal of reducing terrorism and making the world safer.  When I got a chance, about 8 ½ months after 9-11 to tell what I knew, I did so and my disclosures led to further investigation by the Department of Justice Inspector General and figured in the 9-11 Commission Report.  But it was way too late for this emerging bit of truth to have any impact.  Having seen the cost of remaining silent, I publicly warned, a few months after my first memo, against launching the pre-emptive invasion of Iraq.  I was ultimately forced to step down from my legal position and I retired from the FBI in 2004.  But I have continued to speak out about the counter-productiveness of this misbegotten “war on terror” (which has now been re-termed the “long war” and/or “permanent war”) in every way I can think of, including an unsuccessful run for Congress and engaging in various forms of peace activism. 

 

This 3-part series of  interviews with her allow students to hear the story in her own words. She is an important example for our students today as they try to sort out what is true and what is not and determine in whom they should trust related to their government.  In the interview, the journalist jokes that it reminds him of a “24′ episode. But in this case, these were real world events. When lines between television and real life blur for students, this story in particular can be of real use to help them understand the dilemma. NOTE : If you are limited for time in the classroom, see the third interview part. In this section  Coleen talks eloquently about the need for TRUTH and how we, as a country, must pursue and honor it. 

I thought it appropriate to share some truth tellers and their relationship to the military as we once again visit the Veteran’s Day holiday in our country. In the past, veterans from the Vietnam War have honored Rob Shetterly by using the portraits to create a calendar for their organization.Be sure to have students consider the military and its role today in our country. Here is a link to an article that suggests five things we can all do for those in the military. Within these suggestions like serious issues for our veterans today. It might surprise your students to learn about the homelessness, suicides, emotional problems, financial problems and other matters listed in this article.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/11/5-facts-about-veterans-an_n_351065.html Read what Paul Rieckhoff , a veteran and leader/founder of  Iraq and Afghanistans Veterans of America and author of Chasing Ghosts:  says in this article and hear him speak in the video.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-rieckhoff/veterans-week-2009-weve-g_b_352551.html 

This week I have posted things about war and a student’s personal relationship to it and what it costs.  This young woman says in the most powerful way what I never could.Let students watch this speech made to United Nations delegates. Let them discuss, process, respond, write their own declarations and truths! 

It might surprise your students to see this biography and the time in history General Butler represents. His courageous protest and willingness to speak publicly to those in power were acts that others since his time , no doubt, found their inspiration.As students read the biography, be sure to go to the link at the end of the article to learn much more about the intriguing circumstance in which he found himself. http://www.ahealedplanet.net/war.htm#butlerAnd to read a copy of his work “War is A Racket”  be sure to go to http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html 

In order for students to fully understand the objections of so many to the current wars, beyond the incredible funds that are used, they will need to find a way to comprehend   the loss of life and quality of life, the occupation of the countries in which the United States places troops and what it means for those citizens and the associated issues such as torture, treatment of women and covert activity.A few biographies from the Truth Tellers series will give students a window into the issues as a beginning study and personalize it for them. I believe that even students who know someone serving in a war or someone who has died in a war still find enormity of its meaning too abstract. What do our students really know about war? Unless they were part of the generation that witnessed Vietnam, it is very likely that they are actually very desensitized to the aspects of war that earlier generations found horrifying. With the elimination of the draft, the nature of objection to war changed as well. Therefore, it might become even more crucial that we personalize these stories and try to reinstate the sense of outrage that ought to come with seeing war in photos, films and news programs. We must not allow our students to continue to view these images as part of a movie, a video game or computer image. I dont’ think we do this by shocking them or instilling fear but rather by humanizing the costs.And so , I list here the truth tellers whose lives I believe bear studying when beginning to offer an alternative look for our students.Muhammad Ali- A favorite of many students to this day because of his tremendous impact on the world- studying his objections to the Vietnam War offer great insight into what was so very wrong about this war and why it matters now.

Daniel Ellsberg-  Risked his own personal freedom by revealing papers he stumbled upon that revealed truths about the Vietnam War and the real intentions of the United States presence and escalated involvement. He now speaks out to those in positions like the one he once had to be “truth tellers” and save our country from the actions of its government and the corporations who profit from the wars.  In the interview below he shares what he believes the misperceptions about the Vietnam War that persist today and influence the thinking of many people about our current military activities.

http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=404&splcnewsletter=newsgen-110509

This week we began by creating an offering to the dead , who have fallen as a result of war or children who have lost parents, loved ones, or their own short lives.There are many portraits in the series that illuminate various aspects of war in our current times and recent past.Henry David Thoreau determined not to pay taxes based upon his objection to the Mexican American War.  (Click on Mexican American War for a great essay on how governments build up wars and justify their expense. In a step by step description, each of the wars is examined truthfully. There will be more on this in future posts! ) What do your students understand about the role of taxes, funding and war? Do they know what percentage of their tax dollars ( or parents) go to pay for war? Go ot the website The National Priority Project. While there, have students research what your state’s portion of the bill for the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost. They will be astounded.Now have them find alternative uses for the funds. Let them see what could be done if that money were freed from the need to engage it this way.See Dwight Eisenhower’s quote and his warning about the role of the Pentagon, economics and what has come to be.Watch this trailer with your students to hear Eisenhower speak and more. If you have the time, this film is the one I’d choose to educate students about the real meaning of war.