In This Issue:
- From the Director
- Tell Us Your Stories!
- Thulani Davis
- Classes
- Andrea’s Column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette
There are many things I love about social change activists but one characteristic of us as a group that I especially admire is that we keep on keeping on. We face discouragement, setbacks, losses, external challenges, internal upsets, funding struggles, and more, and we pause, lament, and we go on. It is rather stunning. Note that we remained active and even (on our good days) hopeful through FOUR YEARS of Trump and Trumpism.
Activists far and wide: the Truth School salutes you! And we appreciate you! And we trust that our classes, all free and all on Zoom, are providing inspiration, guidance, support, and even community during these difficult times. We hear from you that the School is making a difference, on many levels, in many lives. That is our purpose and goal: to help you all keep on keeping on.
Because this spring semester all 51 classes are on Zoom, we have trainers from across the country teaching for us, and participants from (thus far) 28 states tuning in, as well as folks from Canada, Europe, India, and Brazil. For the first time, some classes have well over 100 participants and somehow our skilled trainers are managing the big crowds, responding to questions, and effectively using break-out rooms. It is all a challenge, but we are rising to the challenge, and YOU are rising to the challenge, and onward we go.
So thank you, all you strong but tired activists out there. Thank you for your stamina, thank you for holding the vision of a better world, thank you for engaging in our classes on Zoom, thank you for spreading the word about our spunky and feisty little School. Thank you for doing the work that needs to be done in this beautiful but broken world.
Hats off to all of you! We are honored to be part of your journey.
Ever thankful, and ever onward!
Andrea
Thank you, the Truth School Team
Thulani Davis
We are thrilled to congratulate Thulani, a long-time Truth School trainer and friend, on her recent appointment to the Northampton Arts Council. Her term will run from February 2021 to June 2024.
Thulani is the Director of Programming for Spectrum in Motion Dance Theater Ensemble in Hartford, CT, and is an activist working on struggles for women’s rights, quality education for all children, and civil rights for all.
Congratulations, Thulani!
* MARCH 2021 CLASSES *
For complete information on our classes, and to register for a class, visit truthschool.org/events/
with Dr. Sut Jhally and Dr. Michael Klare / March 4, 7:00-8:30 PMPositive Social Change Through Education: Views From Inside an Elementary School
with Tom Chang and Gwen Agna / March 6, 1:00-3:00 PMRaising Anti-Bias Children
with Tiffany Jewell and Gwen Agna / March 7, 3:00-5:00 PMClaudia Rankin Speaking in Poetry
with Rose Sackey-Milligan / March 8, 4:30-6:00 PMMentoring Young People of Color, a three-part series
with Steven Hernandez / March 9 & 23, & April 6, 7:00-8:30 PMMovement-Building and the Arts: How Music, Poetry, and Dance Inform, Inspire, and Energize Social Movements for Change
with Leti Bueno / March 11, 6:00-8:00 PMCross-Generational Dialogue: Talking and Listening So That Others Will Talk and Listen
with Thulani David and Rev. Sarah Buteux / March 13, 3:30-5:30 PMReparations and Reconciliation: The Road to Healing
with Amihan Matias and Marcia Gomes / March 14, 4:00-6:00 PM
Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism: What You Need to Know, What You Can Do
with Mehlaqa Samdani and Rabbi Devorah Jacobson / March 16, 6:30-8:30 PM
Who Is Hip Hop? I Am Hip Hop!
with Tem Blessed / March 18, 6:30-8:00 PM
Cross-racial Friendships:
A Conversation with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum and Dr. Andrea Ayvazian
March 20, 1:00-2:00 PM
Circle Practice to Mark the Beginning of Spring
with Strong Oak Lefebvre / March 20, 4:00-5:30 PM
Anti-Racism For Activists
with Cate Woolner and Jade Barker / March 21, 1:00-4:00 PM
Men of Excellence
with Dr. Carlton Pickron and Kris Rhim / March 24, 6:00-8:30 PM
Schools, Kids, Meals, and Justice:
What You Can Do to Create Positive Change Within the System
with Sam Icklan and Kali Ransom / March 25, 6:00-8:00 PM
Many thanks to Broadside Bookshop in Northampton, which featured the work of the Truth School as part of their window display this month. If you live locally, we hope you will visit the store and check it out!
When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Think of it, always.
~Mohandas K. Gandhi