learn some Native Hawaiian facts this AANHPI month, why the american flag DOESN'T represent everyone
It all begins with an idea.
5/8/24
Excessive over tourism has led to the displacement of the Hawaiian population which has become a minority in their own lands. Homelessness is extremely high among the locals who can't afford to live on the land stolen from their ancestors. Hawai'i has nation’s highest rates of chronic homelessness. There are more native Hawaiians living on the mainland than the islands because they can't afford it- they have been pushed out.
Like all the other indigenous people that the U.S. colonized, the American government desecrated Hawaiian culture. They banned the Hawaiian language and dance in schools where Native children were punished for speaking or performing. Per the government’s own records such tactics were baked into federal policy. According to one excerpt from a 1969 Senate report on Native American education:
“Beginning with President Washington, the stated policy of the Federal Government was to replace the Indian’s culture with our own. This was considered ‘advisable’ as the cheapest and safest way of subduing the Indians, of providing a safe habitat for the country’s white inhabitants, of helping the whites acquire desirable land, and of changing the Indian’s economy so that he would be content with less land. Education was a weapon by which these goals were to be accomplished.”
The U.S. government overthrew their Kingdom and forced Native Hawaiians to part with most of their land. Missionaries embedded themselves in the Native community to “promote Calvinism and claimed civilized practices.” They were “raising up a whole people to an elevated state of Christian civilization.”
As Native communities across the country have long known, U.S. policy directly led to the forced assimilation, family separation, and deaths of Native children through federal boarding schools. Their goal was to stamp out all vestiges of Native cultural traditions and replace them with white, Christian customs and norms - they were indoctrinated. The institutions they did this through operated far more like incarceration facilities than educational establishments.
Through many decades of colonialism of the islands, Hawai’i is still currently illegally occupied. As a result of the illegal annexation of Hawai’i, over 1.8 million acres of Hawaiian land was ceded to the U.S. which continues to negatively impact the people to this day.
Indigenous children are pressured into daily rituals at school requiring them to pledge allegiance to a flag that to a large degree, forced the assimilation and even the genocide of their ancestors. This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that students can’t be forced to salute the US flag or say the pledge because doing so violates their free speech under the First Amendment. These children should not be bullied into pledging an allegiance to a country that stole their land, murdered their people, and continues to impose genocide on them.
Before people jump on the SHAME! and ‘PaTrIoTiSm’ wagon against those who don't stand for the pledge check your white privilege and consider that the American flag is literally the symbol of oppression and genocide of Native people.
*More info on the Hawaiian sovereignty movement in the comments of this post and check out this short video!
#youreonstolenland #landback #RefugeesOnTheirOwnLand #NativeLivesMatter #RememberWhoseLandYoureOn #Decolonization #Independence #FreeHawaii #HawaiianKingdom #PonoOverProfits #DefendTheAina #HomesNotHotels #IllegalUSOccupation #AANHPIHeritageMonth
march is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage (AANHPI) Month!
It all begins with an idea.
Despite our AANHPI friends being integral to American society the US has a long history of anti-Asian racism and we have seen it manifested against different AANHPI communities in many ways over recent years. "With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw sharp increases in anti-Asian discrimination, racism, and harassment, and even anti-Asian attacks, hate crimes, and violence such as the Atlanta spa shooting in March 2021. The surge in anti-Asian racism and harassment continues to devastate AANHPI communities in the US to this day. Learn how you can take action to help.
WHAT
"The one-hour, interactive training will teach you Right To Be’s 5Ds of bystander intervention methodology. We’ll start by talking about the types of disrespect that Asian and Asian American folks are facing right now — from microaggressions to violence — using a tool we call the “spectrum of disrespect.” You’ll learn what to look for and the positive impact that bystander intervention has on individuals and communities. We’ll talk through five strategies for intervention: distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct; and how to prioritize your own safety while intervening. We’ll have time at the end for practice, and you’ll leave feeling more confident intervening the next time you see anti-Asian/American Harassment online or in person.”
HOW sign up here!
National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls (MMIW) aka Red Dress day is May 5th
It all begins with an idea.
5/5/24 Today is Red Dress Day or National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls (MMIW). It’s a day to LEARN about and HONOR all missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans, and Two Spirit People.
Matoaka (aka Pocahontas) is one of the first known kidnapped Indigenous girls. She was younger than 15.”
The root causes of the MMIW injustice include colonization and historical trauma, racism, and sexual objectifcation of Indigenous women and girls. The majority of MMIW Perpetrators are non-Native men.
What does the red hand mean? A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing movement, the MMIW movement. It stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It stands for the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis.
The FBI’s National Crime Information Center reported 5,203 missing Indigenous girls and women in 2021 — disappearing at a rate equal to more than 2.5 times their estimated share of the U.S. population.
I talk a lot about Indigenous invisibility in my educational work. How our stories are buried and our lives are not valued by colonial culture. This is part of what I’m talking about. Law enforcement doesn’t prioritize the violence and Indigenous women and girls experience so it continues to go on, ignored by broader society because we are still seen as less than human by many.
Indigenous women and girls deserve better. They deserve to pursue their dreams, to live joyful lives, not have their livelihoods marred or cut short by violence and oppression.
Matoaka (Pocahontas) was one of the first MMIG—she was trafficked to another country, she did not live the Disney fairytale portrayed on film.
If we ever wish to rectify this persistent issue we must be honest with ourselves about the violence women suffer, often in silence and isolation. We must hold men accountable for their behavior and stop enabling this culture of abuse. “ Original post by Sacred Objects
More info in comments of this post.
the equal rights amendment (ERA), it’s women’s month! MARCH 2024
It all begins with an idea.
3/5/24
It’s Women’s History Month so let's look at some inequalities that we as women still face today. Did you know that women and men are NOT equal in the Constitution? Sex is not a protected class like race or religion is; in fact, legally it's in a class by itself
HISTORY
The ERA, or Equal Rights Amendment, which makes gender discrimination illegal, was written over 100 years ago by women's suffrage leader Alice Paul and was approved for ratification by the senate and house over 50 years ago. By 2020, the ERA had the 38th ratification necessary for it to become the 28th Amendment.
In 1920 women in America finally got the right to vote guaranteed to them in the Constitution, but that is the ONLY right we got. Paul recognized that women’s rights were NOT enshrined in the Constitution leading her to write the ERA which sought to give women the same basic rights as men -like the right to equal employment.
The gender pay gap is just one example of how women are still not equal in this country in 2024. Did you know that…
Moms are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to dads.
Black women are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men.
Native women are paid 50 cents for every dollar paid to white men.
Latinas are paid 49 cents for every dollar paid to white men.
Asian American and Pacific Islander women are paid 75 cents for every dollar paid to white men.
https://www.aauw.org/reso.../article/equal-pay-day-calendar/
LOCAL IMPACTS
When they’re legally allowed to charge women more for everything from razors to home loans, while also paying them less, the result is, unsurprisingly, a lot of homeless or inadequately housed women and children. Our chances of getting assaulted or worse go up exponentially - leaving those women and the kids who depend on them out in the cold more ways than one. How do we fix this? For starters we publish the fully ratified #ERA immediately. Gone goes the #paygap and the #pinktax that right there will put millions of Americans back in safe housing, mostly children.
WHAT CAN YOU DO
97% of Americans believe in rights for all, let's act like it. Tell the White House we demand equal rights- we want the ERA certified NOW.
Call the White House today at (202) 456-1111 and tell them that the 28th Amendment has been ready to go since 2020 - PASS THE ERA NOW!
Passing an ERA will put the full weight of the U.S. Constitution behind employment laws relating to the prevention of sex discrimination in hiring, firing, promotions, and benefits – especially in the public sector.
If the ERA passed and was included in the Constitution women could argue Dobbs in courts as baseless because it infringes on a woman’s constitutional rights.
Learn more! Netflix’s “Explained” series on the Racial Wealth Gap and the Equal Pay Gap provides a brief, but comprehensive overview of these issues.
International Women’s Day march is March 8th!
It all begins with an idea.
3/8/24
What better day to talk about women’s rights than International Women’s Day?
Many women have been stripped of their bodily autonomy, tens of millions of American women lost basic human rights with the fall of Roe. Depending on how elections turnout this November we all could lose our right to choose what happens to our own bodies with a national abortion ban.
HISTORY
It’s important to understand what exactly we are up against, the attacks on women’s bodies have a long history rooted in white supremacy. The great Jane Elliott explains #WhiteSupremacy motivations behind the Roe v Wade reversal. In this 2 min clip she discusses the book ‘The Birth Dearth’ by Ben Wattenberg and the three ideas the US went through to fix the “not enough white babies” problem, before settling on abortion. The fall of Roe was never about protecting babies, it's about protecting the white majority and control.
“White people will lose their numerical majority in this country and this will no longer be a white man’s land. 60% of the fetuses that are aborted every year are white, if we could keep that 60% alive that would solve our birth dearth”
The patriarchy is clearly threatened. We even heard U.S. Rep. Mary Miller calling the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade a “victory for white life” (video clip in comments of original post).
'The great replacement (conspiracy) theory’ has turned white nationalism into an international call to arms among white supremacists who think that non white people are being brought into this country to "replace" white voters and that white people have lower birth rates than other populations. White supremacist believe that the decrease in white birth rates equates to a white genocide (article in comments). These extremists fully believe that abortion is a part of the so-called “white genocide” plot.
LOCALLY
Those who hold these dangerous views are being welcomed into our community such as Shane Trejo whose political action committee was allowed to fundraise in the heart of Howell just last month. Trejo writes about and is a proponent of the great replacement theory.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
It is important to stand up and speak out against Christian nationalism anywhere it pops up- especially when it’s in our own backyard! Women must stand strongly together and fight like hell for our basic human rights and there’s power in numbers! Not sure where to begin? Contact sagelivco@gmail.com or send admin a message to learn how you can get connected in the resistance today.
Black History month February 2024
It all begins with an idea.
How’s your Black History?
Have you heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921?
HISTORY
It was a two-day-long planned desecration by white supremacist who mass murdered at least 300 black people, destroyed 35+ square blocks of their neighborhood with homemade bombs from airplanes, burned houses, burned people, etc. (this was one of the wealthiest black communities at the time, known as "Black Wall Street") and reported to have displaced 10,000 families. Mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials who were members of the KKK, burned down over 1,200 homes, over 60 businesses, a school, a hospital, a public library, and a dozen churches in Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (One of the largest Ku Klux Klan buildings in the country stood within a short walking distance of this community).
Following the massacre, government and city officials, as well as prominent business leaders, not only failed to invest and rebuild the once thriving Greenwood community, but actively blocked efforts to do so. Many of the white men who participated in the attack occupied prominent positions at City Hall, the community’s courthouses, press rooms, churches, and office buildings. No arrests were made, insurance claims were denied, and no reparations were ever paid. There was no justice for these crimes, the impacts of which black Tulsans still feel today.
WHY IT MATTERS
We need to understand the long term effects the Tulsa Race Massacre has on Americans today. There used to be 200 black owned businesses pre massacre, now there's less than 10. It used to be ~40 blocks and now it's 1 block. The massacre didn't just happen and that's the end of the story; it's 100 years later and through eminent domain, gentrification, red lining, and urban renewal a lot of people are still suffering displacement. (Understanding what this means will deepen your understanding of Black history- read more in the comments).
Our children aren’t learning about this (or many other race massacres- see comments) in the whitewashed history taught in our public schools. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said “It was completely ignored. It was one of those horrible events that everyone wanted to just sweep under the rug and ignore.”
HOW DID IT GET LIKE THIS?
There is a historical tendency to ignore/downplay events that reflect negatively the actions of the dominant group (white people) in society. The lack of diverse perspectives in curriculum development and the influence of historical narratives contributes to the whitewashing of history taught.
IMPACT ON TODAY’S KIDS
This Black History Month many educators across the country are reported to be struggling with increasing limits on what they can teach about racism and history. Lawmakers in 30 states have proposed new restrictions during the past year on what schools can teach about the nation's racial history. This began when political activists started making up false claims of CRT being taught in public schools. Teaching a whitewashed version of American history ignores the oppressions that have left a legacy that still haunts us today. It prevents students from understanding all aspects of history.
LOCALLY
If extremists are successful in flipping school boards here in LivCo you can expect less comprehensive and less diverse curricula taught to your children. Fowlerville school board members have already made noise about the Hillsdale 1776 curriculum.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Vote for school board members who support comprehensive and diverse curricula!
Email your school board and let them know that you support evaluating and updating historical curricula to ensure as comprehensive and inclusive understanding of our nation's history as possible. Because a diverse curriculum benefits all students in the long haul.
Credible sources for further information can be found at the bottom of this post
Tulsa Race Massacre documentary “Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street” in the comments.
hartland school millage overwhelmingly passes! A massive win!!
It all begins with an idea.
5/3/23
“Despite some pushback, voters in the Hartland Consolidated Schools district overwhelmingly approved an operating millage renewal that will raise more than $5.5 million annually. . .
More than 76 percent of voters supported the measure, with 4,169 "yes" votes and 1,275 "no" votes, according to unofficial election results in Livingston County. . .
the recently formed Livingston Integrity PAC, which identifies as a non-partisan group, joined efforts to encourage people to vote "yes," promoting the millage on social media and mailing out fliers. The group has called efforts to encourage people to vote down "misinformation."
"Don't let them use our children as pawns," one post read.” Full Livingston Daily article here
the Livingston Gop joins the attack on Hartland schools march 2023
It all begins with an idea.
3/28/23
Dan Wholihan of the Livingston GOP stated this week “The top reason to vote no (on the millage) isn’t due to taxes, but due to leverage. These millages are leverage the voters have on the school board and administration.”
Don't let them use our children as pawns in their political games!
Our kids NEED the $5 million/year that this levy renewal generates. That’s 25 MILLION they are robbing our kids of over 5 years!! This is funding we have counted on for the past 30 years and it will *not* increase homeowner taxes.
*The attached image is a screenshot of his post. The rest of it can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GvGWWuujM/
Hartland’s school Millage renewal vote 2023 - the facts
It all begins with an idea.
3/11/23
The Non Homestead millage renewal vote on May 2nd is a concern for everyone in our community.
A solid public school system protects everyone's investments in their property by protecting property values. It protects basic services that we all use by keeping the tax base solid.
It also keeps good people in the community to do regular jobs like police, fire, auto mechanics, local businesses, restaurants, etc.
The quickest way to destroy the community is to destroy the schools. You don't need to have kids in school to benefit by its renewal or to be hurt by the non-passage of this.
Non-renewal for what? To give businesses a tax break at the expense of the community right now and the harm to them down the road.
The state provides funding based on a very specific equation based on student count day, but the other 18 mills have to be collected by the local community.
The ballot mentions an increase. Let’s explain this. The Michigan Constitution requires that millage rates be “rolled back” if taxable values increase more than the rate of inflation. As a result of this roll-back provision, the district is currently only able to levy 17.8939 mills instead of the full 18 mills.
The ballot is asking for voters to renew the 17.8939 mills and increase the .1061 mills in order to restore the millage rate back to the full 18 mills beginning with the 2023 levy.
This is not an increase to any taxes we already pay, this is an adjustment. When property taxes are readjusted yearly, they roll back for property values that change. When the property values adjust, there is a loss of about $30,000 a year. The renewal is to collect what was adjusted from our property values.
This renewal does not raise taxes, it reduces the taxes on businesses. What is the end game of all of this? To put money back into the pockets of businesses at the expense of our community and our children’s education.
Do not destroy our community. If voted no our schools will lose $5.5 million per year. That is $25 million over the course of 5 years. This will destroy Hartland!
If you want to help us combat the extremists' lies and misinformation, then join us here. Please know that this is a safe space and all members are vetted.
*The attached image is a mailer that was sent out to the community during this time.
The clean slate school board EXTREMISTS try to defund hartland schools March 2023
It all begins with an idea.
3/10/23
The original Non Homestead millage passed in 1994. There is much disinformation being spread about a millage renewal by extremists so what is it all about?..
Almost 30 years ago, Michigan voters passed proposal A which implemented a new structure for school funding. The state will provide a portion to school districts but to receive full funding, the district is responsible for self raising 18 mils from non homestead properties.
This millage is not Hartland specific. This is how public school districts are funded throughout our state.
The extremists are sending disinformation into our community once again. We have seen the chaos played out in our schools in the short time the Clean Slate has been on our school board. The extremists want to defund HCS. Here are some quotes taken from community members from the Next Door App.
“If we just keep saying yes to whatever is asked for it will never be enough. The proposal to renew the 18 mil tax includes things that are not really necessary such as “upgrading” high school stadium and ball fields. Couldnt these be trimmed?”
85% of our rooftops in Hartland are homestead so this will have zero impact on our budgets. This money comes from property taxes on commercial/rental buildings (not sales or revenue from a business). Why would we give tax breaks to those who do not reside here?
Another community member says, “...these millages don’t help kids. It’s mismanaged money. Always”……
If this millage doesn’t pass the district will lose teachers, have higher class sizes, special classes, such as gym and the arts would not be funded.
Here is another comment from a community member, "My child is a teacher, not in Hartland…if this millage renewal spoke of increasing teacher salaries then I would support it.”
If you vote no on the millage renewal you will be responsible for the loss of $5.5 million dollars annually. That is $25 million over the next 5 years. Up to 50 teachers will lose their jobs.This will cause our property values to plummet. You want to support teachers, then vote yes.
Community members have reached out to HCS school board members, to ask them about the millage and whether or not they support it. We have gotten many responses back from multiple board members.
Chris Costa responded and he included ALL board members. He stated that he had the same concern and if this does not pass it would be detrimental to our school district.
Greg Keller stated that he would not disclose how he will vote, he will not try to steer someone one way or another. While this may seem like a noble response, anything but a yes, is a no.
A community member posted a homemade graphic with Chuck Hughes on it, along with Hartland High School classroom doors, stating to defund the groomers and vote no regarding this millage,
Michelle Blondeel stated that she supported first amendment rights, but asked him to take it down without stating her opinion on the millage. When asked directly about her position on the millage, she did not respond.
Glenn Gogogoleski has not responded, but he has been active on his facebook page. We can see by his comments that he does not support this millage either.
What is the end goal of this disinformation? An extremist clean Slate supporter stated, “the same society that wants me to use pronouns for mentally ill people?? Waivers need to be passed immediately. Public school is likened to Fascists Nazi Brown shirts! Public education needs to be completely dismantled!”
It seems like the Clean Slate, along with their followers, want to dismantle public education. Do not believe the lies. Any response, other than an enthusiastic yes is a no!
Note: the photo for this entry includes all the teachers doors who had a ‘Safe Space’ sticker on them. The extremists put all the ally teachers on public blast, including their names, making them targets.
Original post with screenshots in the comments: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1WWKPyjxag/
Black History Month 2/9/23
It all begins with an idea.
Have you heard the story of Emmett Till? *Content warning for violence*
He was a black boy kidnapped and brutally murdered in 1955, just after turning 14, for being falsely accused of acting inappropriately with a white woman. Till’s murder is a significant part of history because it helped to mobilize the American Black Civil Rights Movement.
IMPACT ON OUR KIDS LOCALLY
Stories such as Emmett Till, Ruby Bridges, etc. are being specifically targeted by extremist school board groups such as Moms for Liberty- which Hartland school board candidates have proudly subscribed to/see comments- be removed from public education. These “conservatives” are stating that such stories are unsuitable for their children because they may make their kids feel guilty or ashamed. Our kids may not learn about these important events due to the far-right’s movement to erase uncomfortable history from public schools. The same local “conservative” crowd are currently cherry picking MLK quotes this month, while simultaneously screaming about CRT in the schools. Make no mistake, the anti-CRT movement strips accurate black history from our schools. Which is obviously badly needed as evident by the continuous race issues happening in schools across LivCo. The most recent being last week an 8th grade Fowlerville student calling the opposing Lansing basketball players cotton pickers (article in comments).
HISTORY
Emmett’s mom, Mamie Till-Mobley, was worried about sending him to visit family in Mississippi. Being born in Chicago she warned him of the racism down south and to be very careful. Emmett visited a market with his cousins where he was accused of whistling at a white woman, grabbing her around the waist and making an inappropriate comment. That woman’s husband and his brother later went to his uncle’s house during the night and dragged Emmett out of bed. Afterwards the men were paid thousands of dollars by journalists to describe how they cut his ear off, whipped and beat him so hard that his teeth were gone and eye was dislodged from the socket, tied barbed wire around his neck fastened it to a heavy object and threw him into the river.
Mamie had to battle authorities in Mississippi to have her only child’s body shipped to Chicago for a funeral (costing almost a year’s worth of her school teacher salary). When his body arrived, the box was locked and sealed. Mamie learned that officials had signed papers agreeing to keep the box sealed, which would have covered up the extreme violence of the crime. Mamie fought hard to have the box opened, and when she saw her son, she insisted they have an open casket funeral. It was not just that they killed him, but the depths of hatred and rage, rooted in decades of fear and anger, that was taken out on him.
His face was unrecognizable, being only identified by his ring, but she insisted that the world should “see what they did to my baby.” More than 50,000 people flooded the streets of Chicago for his funeral. Nurses were on hand to help the many who fainted — Mamie estimated that one in five mourners needed physical assistance. Reporters published photos of Emmett’s body, forcing Americans to see the violent realities of racism.
The murders were acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury which shocked the world. The resulting outrage helped propel the civil rights movement. Emmett’s accuser eventually publicly admitted she had lied which resulted in his family filing a lawsuit demanding her arrest, but nothing ever came of it. No one was ever held accountable for Emmett Till’s death.
WHY IT MATTERS
It’s important to understand that inequity, injustice and racism is what led to Emmett’s murder, this is where the deeper conversation needs to happen. However, it can’t take place when extremists are stripping public schools of accurate Black History. Anger and fear is the reaction that we can continue to expect from some Americans, because we live in a society that doesn’t have honest discourse about race.
Some State Boards of Education have recently rewritten African American history standards to conclude that Black people benefited from slavery because they learned skills (article in comments). The “conservative” groups trying to overthrow school boards prefer to erase the ugly parts of our past. Black History revisions are part of a coordinated national far right agenda that includes book bans, LGBTQ+ rights restrictions, etc. The wave of state legislation and school board policies restricting what educators can and can’t teach is amping up. These efforts rely on this narrative that learning about the history of racism and white supremacy harms students - particularly white kids, leaving them feeling guilty and ashamed.
When white people reject the narrative of the guilty white child by telling these stories, the extremist’s lie will become clear: Their concern is not that children will feel bad when learning about the fight for racial justice, but that children might feel good about what they can do to help. Young white people with the capacity to act in solidarity with movements for justice are dangerous to white supremacy. Those are the real stakes - not white children feeling guilty, but white children armed with truth, history and a righteous desire to work with others to change the world.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Vote for school board members who support accurate history in our schools! Help to educate others regarding the local school board “conservative” candidates who will work hard to erase accurate history from our schools under the guise of CRT.
Email your school board and let them know that you support evaluating and updating historical curricula to ensure as comprehensive understanding of our nation's history as possible. No better time than Black History month! Let them know that you support accurate history lessons taught to your kids.
https://www.facebook.com/100044412400213/posts/502688701221539/
Original post with sources in comments: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AweBxCXA5/
Combatting moms for liberty misinformation- 2022 midterm series #1/4
It all begins with an idea.
10/27/22
SAGE is starting a series on the concept of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and how terms like Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are being lumped together by local extremists in their coordinated nationwide assault on the public school system. We will explore the origins of this made up issue and how it has become the platform for Hartland’s ‘Clean Slate’ which is a slate of four school board candidates running on the platform “Education Not Indoctrination.” We will also dive into the made up controversy that is being created in our community by the special interests group ‘Moms For Liberty’ which is working closely with this Clean Slate. Moms For Liberty is helping turn local school board races into heated partisan fights via hidden corporate and well funded political sponsors with high profile GOP connections.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a way of seeing and understanding how racial inequality was intentionally created and how it continues to be reproduced in our society. At this point, most people know that CRT is a graduate level theory/course that is not taught in the K-12 curriculum. Yet, opponents of CRT have reconstructed its meaning to frame it as "reverse racism" and “cult indoctrination'' — as the conservative activist Christopher Rufo has labeled it. Rufo is the sole architect behind the CRT related fear-mongering attacks and has publicly been clear about his role in this.
Rufo admitted he understands CRT is a graduate-level theory/course, but that he intentionally wanted to make people feel anything related to Black Lives Matter, diversity, equality, and inclusion are all connected and something to be feared. This is where we started seeing CRT being linked to Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Rufo saw how powerful that message was and understood that groups like Moms for Liberty could be useful in leveraging local school boards to flex political power.
Moms for Liberty, which has a stronghold in Livingston County and works closely with the Clean Slate, has carefully crafted its image to appear as though they are a grassroots movement of concerned parents under the guise that their "parental rights” are being usurped. In reality, they have hidden corporate and extremely well funded political sponsors, as well as high-profile GOP connections. Indeed, some of their funding includes money from political entities involved in waging partisan fights. Dark money is behind school board conflicts that are taking place across the country. The Mom’s For Liberty Guide on How To Combat CRT in Your Community states “A new national PAC has been formed, called the 1776 Project PAC, that is seeking to fund school board candidates that will oppose CRT.” (Pg. 30). This PAC has raised $3 million to advocate for conservative school board candidates nationally this year! (More info on this to come in post #2 later today).
Who is funding Moms For Liberty and for how much are questions I’ve tried to find answers to. We don’t know all the details yet because they are so new that their tax filings aren’t yet available (update! An article just came out with some information on this, will dive into this deeper in the next post). What we do know is that two of Moms for Liberty’s National Summit sponsors from July were, 1. Leadership Institute and, 2. Heritage Foundation, both of which are critical members of the ‘Council for National Policy’ which is a secretive network of right wing billionaires and Christian fundamentalist leaders that underwrites and coordinates right wing politics.
One of the founders of Moms for Liberty is Bridget Ziegler, whose husband, Christian Ziegler, is vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party and owner of a political marketing firm. He boasts that Moms for Liberty will provide crucial ground support for re-electing Florida governor Ron DeSantis (a likely 2024 presidential candidate). Christian Ziegler told the Washington Post last year, “I have been trying for a dozen years to get 20- and 30-year-old females involved with the Republican Party, and it was a heavy lift to get that demographic, but now, Moms for Liberty has done it for me.” Moms For Liberty is very much a GOP venture with supporters that include influential Republican strategists on its leadership team and major right-wing think tanks that support them both financially and with expertise.
“By all indications, what Moms for Liberty is most concerned about is winning the midterm elections. . . With the midterms looming, what better way to get parents to show up to vote than by convincing them that leftist school boards are grooming children…” https://newrepublic.com/article/166373/moms-liberty-schools-nightmare-midterms
So how is SEL getting dragged into this?
On the public ‘Glenn Gogoleski for Hartland Schools’ FaceBook page there’s a post from 10/19 where Gogoleski, who is a member of the Clean Slate, says that “Currently, there are several leftist organizations looking to use SEL as an entry point for their mission. . . THIS is THE problem with SEL in the hands of those that wish to impart their political beliefs on students. Not every teacher does this, but enough do.”
The Clean slate’s blog goes after teachers further by stating SEL is “administered by those with a social/political agenda.” According to the Clean Slate’s website “The unfortunate thing is that many confuse SEL with CRT, but in the game of progressive semantics, CRT and SEL are not synonymous. And cleverly, many school systems, such as Hartland and others in Livingston County, can deny they teach CRT, while wholly embracing the concepts of SEL and incorporating these into everyday curriculum.”
Despite the Clean Slate insisting that “SEL is THE new way to teach” the fact is that SEL is a decades-old teaching concept that, in order to learn, students need to know how to manage themselves and get along with others. A student solving a hard math problem, for example, might use all these “soft skills” to recognize and deal with their frustration and ask another student or a teacher for help.
Think of any situation that happens in a school, and social-emotional skills probably come into play. All academics also have a social-emotional component. It's impossible to tease them apart because you can't have academics if you don't have social-emotional learning.
Although its core concepts have been around nearly as long as public education itself, social-emotional learning is emerging as the latest lightning rod in the battles over what gets taught in schools nationwide. Locally, the Clean Slate insists that SEL is indoctrinating kids claiming that it “is teaching kids WHAT to think - not HOW.” In the last two years, NPR found evidence of disputes specifically concerning SEL in at least 25 states. Conservative activists have been calling calling SEL a "Trojan horse" for both CRT and transgender advocacy. They have even referred to SEL as a "new variant of the "CRT-virus."
Mom’s For Liberty states that SEL “is the opportunity to turn impressionable students into leftist activists” with “one of the purposes being to reform society.” According to the Clean Slate’s website “Concepts and derivatives based on Critical Race Theory such as 'Social Emotional Learning' (SEL) and 'Diversity, Equity and Inclusion' (DEI) are continually being used in classrooms everywhere, and Hartland is no exception. The Hartland Consolidated School district does not lie in a bubble that will protect our children from these racist and socialist teachings.”
In another rant The Clean Slate states, “The church of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI promotes the division of students, makes many children angry, self-loathing, or confused as in the case of biracial children, and holds open the divide of the past.”
They then go on to cite a dead link as evidence to this nonsense. The Clean Slate’s website quotes a Federalist article in describing what they feel is” the underlying motives for pushing SEL in our schools. Essentially, SEL can be manipulated into an effective tool for progressive indoctrination, liberal/progressive racial guilt, and a way to widen the gap of parental influence over our children.”
In what is being dubbed as “The Great Parent Revolt of 2021” education across America is under a full blown attack in what extremists describe as “a battle against the radical tide of educators and federal education bureaucrats who are working to rewrite American history.”
What it comes down to is that they don’t trust administrators, school board members, and teachers to have the same shared values that they have. The outrage over CRT/SEL is rooted in a deep mistrust. Because of this mistrust, are we even thinking that this is about CRT anymore or is it something else altogether? The conversation is clearly about parents' values and distrust of the schools.
The clean state says that “Schools across the country are under attack by an increasing effort of disconnecting students from parental influence and authority. . . Parental respect and authority are being undermined by political and philosophical agendas making such key warm, fuzzy buzzwords such as 'diversity, equity and inclusion' the ultimate source for moral guidance.”
The debate is going to continue and, as Forbes points out, “it's not a debate about CRT. It’s a debate about parents’ roles in school, about trusting teachers and schools, about school’s role in society, about how to deal with race and racism (or how not to deal), about how schools can best support all their students (or not), about which books to put in libraries, about how to bring children up to be their best selves, and, unfortunately, about how to use fear and anger to drive clicks, views, and votes.
It would be helpful for all of these important discussions if we talked about what we’re actually talking about instead of continuing to throw around a term that has been, for the general public, emptied of all real meaning.”
Combatting moms for liberty misinformation- 2022 midterm series #2/4
It all begins with an idea.
The Clean Slate, along with their campaign manager Brooke Chapel have broadened their concerns to range far beyond anything related to Critical Race Theory (CRT). LGBTQ+ issues, opposition to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), school safety, and calls for removing books for a broad range of reasons have become part of the landscape, along with an assortment of state and local rules that are so broad and misdirected that in some cases they would arguably ban lots of things, but not critical race theory.
This is deeper than just the construct of CRT. The conversation appears to be mostly about parents and values and distrust of the school. But is that all there is to this? Overthrowing a school board is the agenda of many around our country. What is the agenda of the Clean Slate? It is the same agenda that is happening all over our country.
According to research that we've gotten through Ballotpedia, there have been more school board recall initiatives and petitions launched in 2021 than any previous year that they've tracked going back two decades. In many cases, they're not just trying to pick on a single school board member, where that is what researchers say often would happen in the past when they try to recall school board members.
They're goal is to oust the entire school board. This is happening in communities that lean blue, that lean red, that are solidly blue, solidly red. This is not something that's only a red-state phenomenon or something where conservatives outnumbered in a blue state are rising up. This is really happening across the nation. It allows people to feel ownership because it's local and it's their school board. They feel like they are the ones to make a difference.
Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor, explains this best, that if they can get people engaged at the local level, get them involved in the process, then they'll be energized to propel Republicans in midterm elections as well. Let me quote what Steve Bannon said on a podcast. He said, "the path to save the nation is very simple. It's going to go through the school boards." . .
Moms for Liberty (M4L) has a 34 page document called Combatting Critical Race Theory, An A to Z Guide On How To Stop Critical Race Theory And Reclaim Your Local School Board. It is broken down into 3 sections. Section one is knowing and identifying CRT. Moms for Liberty states on page 16 that, “the goal is to ensure that: The school board adopts a curriculum that is not taught through the lens of CRT and does not contain CRT as a required element. Indoctrination through CRT is removed (and the racism that comes with CRT) from all K-12 public school curricula. 2. Ensure that teachers are teaching the curriculum that has been put in place and not just choosing to continue to indoctrinate children into CRT, or using CRT as the lens through which they teach. If your local elected school board members are vocal supporters of CRT, document their support. Experience shows that elected officials that are wrong on issues like this are rarely salvageable. The rule here is that any school board member that refuses to implement a CRT-free curriculum that mandates teacher compliance needs to be replaced, and replaced as quickly as possible.”
Section two is Growing your Network. Moms for Liberty says on page 18, “At the end of the day, you are a human rights advocate; you want to protect children from abusive and harmful curriculum. Any identified anger or frustration detected in parents or members of your community about the general direction of cultural Marxism in schools should be cultivated into a desire to take action to stop CRT. The people in your personal network will often be those that you are able to most quickly convince and motivate.”
Moms for Liberty is manipulating parents and community members to act upon their frustrations by standing up against CRT and SEL. CRT and SEL are not the problem. M4L says, on page 22, to “stick with facts and avoid theories that cannot be demonstrated. People should look to you as an authoritative source.” The truth is there are no facts that back up that CRT is taught in schools. Every source they have used does not hold support for what they are claiming. Race and racism are two different things. One of the pillars for SEL is social awareness. This is about being aware of who you are. Part of this is knowing your race…not racism.
Section 3 is Winning Back Your School Board. On page 29, they specifically talk about how to fund the takeover in school boards with a new national PAC that has been formed, called the 1776 Project PAC, that is seeking to fund school board candidates that will oppose CRT. The 1776 Project PAC says that they “are a political action committee dedicated to electing school board members nationwide who want to reform our public education system by promoting patriotism and pride in American history. We are committed to abolishing critical race theory and ‘The 1619 Project’ from the public school curriculum.”
To clarify, the 1619 Project is not in our schools and it is NOT in the K-12 curriculum. It is a book for adults. It was published on November 16, 2021. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
The steps in this A-Z guide are exactly what is happening in Hartland and what has been happening in Hartland since the pandemic. On page 30, M4L says, “you will need to be able to articulate how you or your candidate will lead the way on removing CRT from the curriculum.” Clean Slate has not defined how they will help HCS at all, except to get rid of our superintendent and getting our kids back to schools. Our kids are in school. All that has come from the Clean Slate, and Brooke Chapel is lies, hate, and the lack of respect they have for teachers.
Campbell F. Scribner, assistant professor of education at the University of Maryland at College Park, called Moms for Liberty and The 1776 Project Political Action Committee, which has raised $3 million to advocate for conservative school board candidates nationally this year, “a weird combination of single-issue organizing,” in this case around the topic of education, “and a fairly diffuse set of goals, either focused on a hot-topic issue that will fade quickly, like CRT, or on goals that are too amorphous to actually be accomplished, like ‘patriotism.’’" The 1776 Project PAC has raised $3 million to advocate for conservative school board candidates nationally this year.
Moms for Liberty has endorsed 65 candidates in Florida with 43 either declared a winner or advancing to a runoff; 72 candidates statewide in New York, with 40 victorious; three school board candidates in Kenosha, Wisconsin, two of whom won; two candidates in Bedford County, Virginia, both of them successful and seven endorsed in North Carolina, with five winning seats. Most school board elections will be Nov. 8, she said, and the group is working to get endorsement tallies from its chapters.
Critical Race Theory is a made up problem. It is racism and exclusion wrapped up in a made up construct of CRT. Do not allow yourself to be gaslit by extremists. Do we want paid by outside groups to fund a school board election? Only one member of the Clean Slate has a child in Hartland Schools. Do we want this distorted, racist voice to represent our teachers, and our children?
Original post -https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BCo4WMV3C/
Combatting moms for liberty misinformation- 2022 midterms post #3/4
It all begins with an idea.
Extremists, like the Hartland Clean Slate, want to scare us into thinking that understanding one’s race is dangerous for our kids. But let's define the difference between race and racism. Let's be sure to understand these differences as we look at Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Hang in there with us as we dive into some definitions as it is important to understand the scope of the real issue here.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary RACE is a noun defined as “any one of the groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common among people of shared ancestry. Also : the fact of dividing people, or of people being divided, into such groups : categorization by race. A group of people sharing a common cultural, geographical, linguistic, or religious origin or background. The descendants of a common ancestor : a group sharing a common lineage. A group of living things considered as a category.”
The Merriam-Webster defines RACISM as a noun. ‘A belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice. The systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another. A political or social system founded on racism and designed to execute its principles”
It is also important to understand what the word systemic means as well. Merriam Webster says that, Systematic and systemic both come from system. Systematic is the more common word; it most often describes something that is done according to a system or method. Systemic describes what relates to or affects an entire system.
For example, a systemic disease affects the entire body or organism, and systemic changes to an organization have an impact on the entire organization, including its most basic operations.
We want to assume that the Clean Slate and Brooke Chapel are coming from a place of authenticity in their fight for what they feel is best for the kids. That they are representing conservative parents with genuine concerns, who want more control over their child’s education. This is understandable, but not what is actually happening.
It has become clear that their goal is much more dangerous as evident by the extremist sources that they cite in their public discussions. Let's not get confused regarding what their agenda is actually about; to defund public education in order to funnel public funds to private schools or charters where they can control the curriculum, exclude marginalized people, further whitewash history, etc. The made up outrage over CRT (see post #1) seems to be code language for “do not teach my children about racism.”
On the public ‘Glenn Gogoleski for Hartland Schools’ FaceBook page there’s a post from 10/19 where the Clean Slate candidate says “CRT? There is no CRT being taught in schools! No way! None at all. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.” And then links this page as his “evidence.” Context is important, if you click on it you will read Karen Niemi’s (CEO of The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning -CASEL) June 2020 response to the murder of George Floyd, which had just happened a few weeks prior.
Gogoleski then goes on to state that “SEL on its own is not a bad tool for kids with issues. But it has been bastardized by the CASEL Group which is the leading purveyor of materials and SEL curriculum.”
First off, what is he even getting at when he says “for kids with issues”? In his argument he accuses the author, Kamilah Drummond-Forrester as “weaponizing SEL to indoctrinate children with her hyper-racialist views.” At the time, Drummond-Forrester was the director of the Open Circle, an SEL curriculum developer highly regarded by CASEL, that created a lesson-based approach to SEL in grades K-5.
Here is an excerpt from the article he linked in this argument: “At Open Circle, the evidence-based SEL program for school-age children that I direct, we work to develop children’s skills for recognizing and managing emotions, empathy, positive relationships, and problem solving. These competencies promote intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support lifelong success. One of the core competencies we focus on, as a necessary foundation for the others, is self-awareness. That self-awareness must include race” (not racism).“ Racism is the behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice. The Clean Slate seems to use race and racism interchangeably. This is misleading and dangerous.
Gogoleski continues to say that, “without acknowledging that many parents probably don’t want their children obsessing about “race” or being propagandized by a far-left activist posing as an educator. They have adjusted the pillar of Social Awareness as a political tool for leftist ideology. . . THIS is THE problem with SEL in the hands of those that wish to impart their political beliefs on students.”
Since when is race a leftist ideology? Since when are teachers imparting their own views on children?
Let’s actually look at the SEL breakdowns that are used in Hartland Elementary Schools. You will see kindergarten through fourth grade attached. They are teaching the five CASEL competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Please see the attached photos to see SEL up close and how it is communicated to the families in our community. How are these domains imparting a teacher's political views on their students?
What is the Clean Slate afraid of?
Wishing an Orthodox Greek family a Happy Easter, Happy Rosh Hashanan to their Jewish friend, or an Italian-American family enjoying the feast of the seven fishes, or saying Happy Diwali to those who celebrate? Since when is respecting everyone no matter their gender, race and ethnicity a bad thing to want for our children? Again race vs racism.
One cannot exist and truly know who they are and what their gifts are without understanding their race. This teaching comes from every family and every culture. It is acceptable for all of us to see that and honor that without thinking it’s anti-whiteness. Every culture has their own traditions. Why would we not embrace that? Children see differences early in their lives. It seems like Gogoleski and the Clean Slate want to erase any mention of diversity and race.
Through Gogoleski’s words, he clearly thinks teachers are pushing a leftist ideology. The Clean Slate claims they support teachers, but clearly do not. The Clean Slate is making their agenda of marginalizing any child that is “other” front and center on their campaign. This is dangerous for all of us and mostly for our children.
Let’s look at some of the cited resources on The Hartland Clean Slate’s website. The article Trading Academics for Far-Left ‘Social-Emotional Learning’ says that “some of what falls under the SEL umbrella is fairly harmless. But then again, the food pellets that contain rat poison are fairly harmless, too—at least until the poison, which is just a trace component in the pellets, is digested by the intended victim.”
This resource continues to say that “Under SEL Competencies, CASEL drops multiple bombshells acknowledging the far-left globalist indoctrination taking place under the guise of “social” and “emotional” learning. SEL competencies can be leveraged to develop justice-oriented, global citizens, and nurture inclusive school and district communities,” it states, adding that the programs will involve getting children to “assess power dynamics” and confront “issues of race and class across different settings.”
After looking at the SEL competencies, this seems like a drastic leap to make. Under self-awareness the concept of knowing one's race is a component, however racism is not.
Glenn Gogoleski, says “here is the CASEL President OPENLY talking (in a youtube video) about politicizing SEL. It is no longer acceptable to not be a racist, but you must be "anti-racist", as BLM founder Ibram X. Kendi labeled it. And CASEL uses many CRT terms like "white privilege", "systemic racism", "inherent white bias" and others.”
The YouTube video was created in response to George Floyd's murder. The video description states that it was created “in response to the painful events that have highlighted ongoing systemic racism and violence against the Black community, we discuss equity and racial injustice through the lens of SEL.”
When the link is clicked, Karen Niemi, CASEL president and CEO says that “ we believe there is no system more important than education to fighting against racism. We feel that our work in social emotional learning can actively contribute to anti-racism” (meaning no racism). Niemi continues to say, “to have actions, to goals and having the moral courage to act in the face of challenges, hard challenges like racism.”
We end with the words of Drummond-Forrester. “We are doing white children a disservice by teaching them to think of themselves as not possessing race within a racialized society. We are doing children of color a disservice by teaching them to think of themselves as “other.”
Original post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14NWAnnaTbD/
trump won, more white supremacists actions are expected. how do we prepare?
It all begins with an idea.
12/3/24
Content warning - threats of violence and racial slurs.
With Trump taking over soon we expect more white supremacists taking action and need to be prepared. Why do we think this?
7/20/24 Howell
Neo-nazi demonstrators did a banner drop with KKK and Trump flags over the side of the Latson Rd/I96 overpass to be visible to traffic. The video in comments shows them chanting "We love Hitler. We love Trump." Note: Trump was holding a Grand Rapids rally during the same time as this first LivCo neo-nazi demo and a month later Howell was included in Trump's 'sundown town' tour with the focus on dog-whistling racist supporters.
8/17/24 Brighton
Within hours of the announcement that Trump was coming to Livingston County (on 8/20) white supremacists go downtown for another recruitment/demonstration. Multiple passerbyers give them the thumbs up, one even exclaimed that they follow their social media accounts.
11/9/24 Fowlerville
“They were sticking their arms up and yelling hail Hitler and Hail Trump. . . They looked at me and one of them said, "this is Pureville now, and we’re here to make sure it stays pure.” He says he believes the group did this due to the current political climate within the county. “I really felt like they felt comfortable enough to do this because of Trump’s reelection" (article in comments).
11/28/24 Brighton
Threats "K*ll all <n-words>" and hate graffiti is found that says, "Hail Trump! He will save us” with sw@stikas and a bunch of racial slurs "No <n-word> in Brighton!" "No <n-word> in Livingston County!" "No <n-word> Nation" "F ck <n-words>" "KKK" etc.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Watch out for bias incidents such as the above and REPORT them using the form link below. Both the local police and Livingston Co sheriff department (problematic written response in comments) refused to do anything in the Thanksgiving incident, but we can make sure stuff like that is dealt with.
If you see their recruitment messages (graffiti, flyers, stickers etc. take photos and then take it with you for documentation and/or destroy it! *Always REPORT it* (Logos and examples to watch for in comments). Your info will always be safe with us! Anonymous reporting available, if needed.
Share the form with friends/fam. Make sure everyone knows to be documenting this stuff!
Hate/bias REPORT FORM found here.
Photos and resources in comments of the original post.
Combatting moms for liberty misinformation- 2022 midterm series #4/4
It all begins with an idea.
11/1/22
The Clean Slate is a danger to our community, our teachers, and our students.
Glenn Gogoleski’s sister shared her concerns with the community should her brother win a seat on our school board. In this article you can see multiple examples of his questionable ethics that she had screenshot before he deleted them from his social media accounts when he joined the school board race.
In Glenn’s rebuttal to his sister's accusations he states "As for the Buffalo man pic, I had to post that when the leftist media called January 6 an “insurrection.” This low-grade riot, which couldn’t hold a candle to the average “mostly peaceful” BLM riots as seen in major cities EVERYWHERE, was apparently led by that dude wearing a buffalo hat and carrying a spear.”
Glenn Gogoleski is in the extremist camp that the insurrection, that left five dead and scores of others seriously wounded, was nothing more than a calm riot exaggerated by the left. Then goes on to try and compare the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests to the insurrection.
The race double standards in this situation are clear. BLM was protesting literally for their lives while the siege of the capital was an attempted coup that in the words of Rep. Cori Bush was the direct result of a “white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection”
And here is where we get down to the real issue- we don’t just have unqualified people attempting to overthrow our school board, they are people who are down right dangerous!
Gogoleski proudly displays the ‘Three Percenters’ flag which The Washington Post reports represents is an “organization considered by extremism experts to be a self-described militia group that espouses right-wing, libertarian ideals, but has in recent years become an ardent supporter of Trump and has mobilized in opposition to more restrictive gun regulation, coronavirus-related shutdowns and racial justice protests.” Three Percenters militia members were charged in U.S. Capitol attack.
He also publicly displays hate symbols as defined by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). His response when called out about this was “The OK symbol was posted when hearing the ADL made the claim it was racist, for no other reason than to say “racist”. Every left-leaning group needs a cause no matter how infantile and imbecilic it might be.” Check out this NPR article which describes the ADL’s concerns with this specific symbol. This is the same symbol numerous white supremacist have been flashing recently including the guy who murdered 49 people in New Zealand mosques (see photo here).
Numerous public discussions show that Gogoleski feels its funny to flash this symbol to get reactions from the left and that it's “just a hoax” but as this article explains “dismissing the spread of the hand signal as a hoax overlooks two hard realities: first, that its increasing use gives open license to actual racist ideologues to operate and recruit under the cover of the “plausible deniability” established by less ideological young trolls; and second, that any kind of wink-and-nudge interaction with the racist right is a direct route to its normalization. . .
While the people who flash the sign can always readily claim innocence of any racist intent by attesting that they “only meant it ironically” and that their real purpose was to anger liberals, minorities and “social justice warriors (SJWs),” they can’t so readily escape ethical culpability for their role in the spread of hateful ideologies and their effects, including a global spike in hate crimes. Nor can they blame members of the minority groups who reasonably find such hand signals potentially threatening for being upset.”
Additionally, this same hand gesture symbolizes the Three Percenters' belief in the disputed claim that only three percent of American colonists fought against the British in the American Revolution. The three extended fingers represent this three percent and is a way that members identify each other. “It is this Threeper version of the “OK” hand symbol that actually predates the 4chan troll campaign”
The Clean Slate has proven over and over again that their agenda and beliefs are dangerous to our teachers.
In another Hartland Clean Slate cited source, Rise of ‘Fed Ed’ Accelerated Demise of Real Education it says that “The U.S. Department of Education, which has centralized control over education in an unprecedented manner, has also played a crucial role in weaponizing America’s public education system against individual liberty. . .
Established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, the cabinet-level department was basically part of a quid pro quo agreement with the socialist-controlled National Education Association (NEA). The powerful union, which named the socialist and humanist Dewey as its “honorary life president,” was already acting as a sort of national ministry of education.”
The article continues to say that “by the time the U.S. Department of Education was established, Congress’s investigative committees charged with exposing communists and preventing infiltration of the federal government had long since been disbanded. As such, it’s difficult to determine how many actual communists worked within the department. . .
This is animal training, not education. This is what was being used in communist countries to train and brainwash their populations, not educate them. Because of the Department of Education, it’s being used all over America, too.”
Hartland, do you want people who believe that our teachers aren't educating our kids? That they are being brainwashed?
The Clean Slate has proven to be dangerous to our students.
A HCS parent asked on the public ‘Glenn Gogoleski for Hartland School’ FaceBook page if he would work to protect ALL students and if he understands that marginalized kiddos are at risk of dying by suicide. Glenn’s reply;
“As for the “dying by suicide” argument, although a wonderful progressive talking point, just isn’t true. In fact, the opposite is true.” Then he cites a non peer reviewed, deeply flawed, pseudo-science study. Check out this post for further information about how problematic the sources are that the Clean Slate is citing.
Additionally, the ‘Clean Slate’ (Glenn told 'Karen n Dan' to make this post public) proved just how dangerous they will be by taking a young child’s words, twisted them around, and spread lies about her on public FaceBook posts (that have since been removed/screen shots available upon request) and on Tik Tok. Not to mention Holly Nayler doesn’t have any grandchildren!
Yet another example is The ‘Clean Slate’ has no problem putting children's faces and full names on public blast. Liking comments calling kids “fricken weird!!!” How do people not see how dangerous this is?? Making CHILDREN targets in order to further their political agenda is next level NOT OK. Fear based campaigns rooted in discrimination are happening right here in Livingston County. (We purposefully have not included the screenshot of the children’s faces and names, but the public post is still up for anyone to see).
The Clean Slate is intent on putting into motion a campaign aimed at attacking school staff and students— to hone in on gender identity and overly sexualize it in the same way we saw in the 70s. If they can convince people that when their kids go to school that something terrible is going to happen to them, parents will fight back. This obsessive worry about children’s safety in a world filled with predators creates fertile ground for the spread of conspiracy thinking. This Tik Tok does a good job highlighting this phenomenon.
The made-up "moral panic" over children’s well-being taps into people’s worst fears and instincts and achieves it through lies. Some outside groups (i.e., Moms for Liberty) and politicians are heavily invested in confusing and scaring parents to score partisan points and gain political power. Understand that when you see a charge like “grooming” or “indoctrination" it is because certain politicians and organizations are invested in using scare tactics and exploiting fears. *They are scaring and confusing people to gain political power*
Moms for Liberty fiercely advocated for the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that passed in Florida. A quick glance at the group’s official Twitter accounts shows that their agenda has become more comprehensive and aggressive this past year. The page is filled with posts or retweets condemning “transgender indoctrination.” Linking LGBTQ-inclusivity to pedophilia and calling for jail time and fines for educators who teach “critical race theory,” social-emotional learning (SEL), and other concepts that have become distorted and demonized by the right.
The Clean Slate has also proved to be dangerous to other marginalized groups of children. The spokesperson for the Clean Slate, Brooke Chapel, tries to incite an angry mob to force the exclusion of a special education student from public schools. Chapel called in an unsubstantiated threat to 911 in an apparent attempt to have the student arrested. See this post for more on this situation.
We will end this post with Gogoleski’s own words that speak for itself;
“In history, several organizations and dictators like the Hitler Youth of the Third Reich, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro and others knew the success of any propaganda campaign starts with a nation's indoctrination of its youth.”
Original post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Agcx9jVuv/