It is apparent that we have not succeeded in teaching our children well. Our students from NYC Public School 270 were just around the corner preparing to enter the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington D.C., where a citizen with a history of hatred and white supremacy attacked the museum with a rifle. His racism, anti-Semitism, Neo Nazism and anti-African American hatred fueled this incident in which he intended to kill and destroy people’s lives. He succeeded by killing a heroic security guard, Stephen Tyrone Johns an African American who valiantly tried to apprehend the shooter and protect people. James van-Brunn the shooter was shot by other guards who arrested him and took him under control.

At the museum that night a new play “Anne and Emmett” was set to debut, a play about hate crimes which, much like “Words of Bonds,” attempts to explore lessons for children from humanity’s darkest periods. The play traces imaginary conversation between Anne Frank, a little girl killed in the Nazi Holocaust who wrote a diary and Emmett Till, a little black boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Today would have been Ms. Frank’s 80th birthday.

“Our whole play is about hate, to eradicate hate, and this is an example of hatred,” said the playwright Janet Langhart Cohen, wife of former US defense secretary William Cohen, who had been heading to the museum’s theater for final rehearsals ahead of Wednesday night’s premiere when the attack happened.

We must take this opportunity to reflect on the aftermath of yesterday tragedy to resolve to educate as many students as we can through Words of Bonds, SNN’s multimedia educational and film project which aims to teach children about genocides, intolerance and racism. We must educate people that anti-semitism, white supremacy, neo-nazism and all forms of hate will not be tolerated. We want our children to know love, not hate; respect, not contempt. They must be taught to leave their comfort zones, cross boundaries, and meet people from outside their communities and cultures. They must resolve to learn something from each person they meet.

Words of Bonds works with students at schools all over the country, educating and empowering them to be better citizens of the world. We want our students to lead future generations in creating a world where every human being is treated with the utmost respect.

However, to offset rising costs and growing budgets creative budgets, our not-for-profit project accepts tax-deductible donations from hard-working folks like you who want to ensure today’s students have a chance to grow up in a world where these atrocities will never happen again. Thank you very much in advance for your time, blessings and consideration. To make a tax-deductible, charitable donation with your debit or credit card, safely and securely, via our Partner FIRST GIVING, please click the button below and we ask you to be as generous as you can. There are numerous levels of support, different and flexible payment timeframes, as well as gifts can be made in memory of loved ones.
We are honored that you are part of the Words of Bonds project, and ask that you continue to be a part of this most important mission. We encourage you to share our mission and to tell your friends, colleagues and acquaintances. To view videos, the trailer, articles and more about the project and to leave us comments, please visit our site www.wordsofbonds.com and email us at contact@wordsofbonds.com

Most graciously,

Bill Tingling, Executive Director, School News Nationwide, Inc
Janet R. Kirchheimer, Teaching Fellow CLAL -The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Share on Facebook

convert this post to pdf.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!