| Teach-in for Black and Palestinian Liberation Black Lives Matter at School stands in solidarity with Palestine |
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| Join us for a teach-in led by educators connecting the Black Lives Matter at School Week organizing to stopping the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Recently, information (more info below) was leaked that Seattle Public Schools (SPS) planned to stop its support of Black Lives Matter at School Week because of the national Black Lives Matter at School coalition “supporting pro-Palestinian resistance movements and organizing.” Instead, SPS plans to call this the “Black Excellence in Schools Week of Action”. We can’t allow SPS to betray both movements. What: Black Lives Matter and Palestine Solidarity Teach-in When: Thursday, February 1 at 6pm PSTZoom: Register here Info on all the Seattle area BLM at School week events February 5-9: linktr.ee/BLMatSchoolSeattle Help us raise money: Support BLM@School Week! Speakers: Wafa’ Safi is a first generation Palestinian-American. She has been in education for over 23 years. She is currently a middle school Science teacher and served as an equity coach in her district. She is the co-chair for the Racial Affairs Committee in her State Affiliate, ISTA (Indiana State Teachers Association) and is the Vice-President of Secondary Ed in her local HSEA (Hamilton Southeastern Education Association). She has served on various Social and Racial Justice committees at the National Education Association and is currently the Secretary for the NEA Arab American Caucus. She’s made it her life’s work to amplify the voices of students and educators of color & bring awareness to the issues that affect them. Diana Fakhoury is a Palestinian multidisciplinary designer, entrepreneur, and mother of two. She was born in Kuwait, but due to the Gulf War became a child refugee when her family was unexpectedly displaced during a vacation in the US. She spent the rest of her childhood in Asheville, NC. Diana received a Bachelor of Art & Design from North Carolina State University and recently completed a User-Centered Design program at the University of Washington. She has lived and worked in Ballard since 2009. Miriam is a diasporic Palestinian living and organizing at the intersections of gender justice and anti-colonialism in so-called Seattle. Miriam is a core organizer with multiple grassroots Palestinian liberation organizations, who continues to fight for a liberated Palestine, so we can all one day return to our homeland. Jesse Hagopian’s African ancestors endured the middle passage and enslavement on plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana. His Armenian ancestors were killed in the genocide of 1915 by the Turkish government. Jesse is an educator and the author of the forthcoming book, Teach Truth: The Attack on Critical Race Theory and the Struggle for Antiracist Education. In 2011, Jesse participated in the Interfaith Peace Builder’s first African Heritage delegation that brought 14 African Americans ages 28-70 years old to Israel and Palestine to meet with civil society organizations, human rights groups, and grassroots activists. Jesse’s article, “Israel’s War on Gaza Is Also a War on History,” was recently published in The Progressive. Jeff Treistman is a retired Seattle Public Schools librarian and Seattle Education Association board member. He is the founding director of the Jewish Comics Library of Seattle and Madrikh/Vegvayser candidate with the Society for Humanistic Judaism. He recorded a three part interview with Washington Ethnic Studies Now on “Jewishness and Ethnic Studies: A Dialogue”. Part 1 Identity of Jewish Folks: Are They White? Part 2 Zionism and the “Jewish Question”. Part 3 Identity and Positionality. For more background information: Soon after October 7, 2023, Israel began a genocidal bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Since then Israel has killed over 25,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, with over 62,000 injured according to the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip. 85% of Gaza’s residents have been displaced, some 1.9 million people, according to the United Nations. As of mid-December, The Guardian reported that 352 school buildings had been damaged, more than 70% of Gaza’s educational infrastructure. On October 17, the national Black Lives Matter at School released a statement that read in part: “BLM@School wants to be clear in our recognition that this unfolding loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives is the direct result of decades of Israeli settler colonialism, land dispossession, occupation, blockade, apartheid, and attempted genocide of millions of Palestinians. Palestinians are reminding us that decolonization is not a metaphor or abstraction, but requires real, daily struggle. Education should be wielded in service of struggle. The ongoing fight to #TeachTruth in the U.S. must include Palestinian existence, resistance, culture, global contributions, and the ongoing struggle to realize a free Palestine. It also must directly name the ways that U.S. imperialism has fueled and supported apartheid and war crimes. Educators need resources, support, and protection that honor the enduring struggle for realizing Palestinian justice.” Recently, the following information was leaked by district staff that: “SPS is planning to scrub BLM@S title and language from communication and publications for the week of action in February and instead are calling it “Black Excellence in Schools Week of Action”… the rationale being because SPS senior leadership raised red flags about BLM@S supporting pro-Palestinian resistance movements and organizing.” We can’t allow SPS to betray both movements. Join educators and youth as the Black Lives Matter in Schools movement stands in solidarity with Palestinians! |
| Teach-in Now! |
