ALL IN! Wednesday and Thursday

ALL IN: Days 3 & 4: Leadership and Sacrifice

Alice Paul was one of many women who fought for the right to vote. When president Wilson did not back the cause of women's suffrage, she organized a protest outside the white house. This lead to her arrest for "obstructing traffic". To protest this unwarrented arrest, she went on a hunger strike in jail. Officials responded to her hungry strike by moving her into the psychiatric ward, restraining her and force feeding her raw eggs through a plastic tube.

Harvey Milk, a community leaders and activist, became the first openly gay man elected to public office when he was elected to the board of supervisors in San Francisco in 1977. Knowing the risks of this public personna, and having received multiple death threats, Milk said "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." Milk was assassinated by Dan White in 1978.

Being a leader in creating more inclusive communities is not easy. Our country's history is filled with stories like those of Alice Paul and Harvey Milk - stories of individuals who stood against oppression, only to face dire consequences. But that does not mean that they stood in vain. Alice Paul's ordeal inspired a much larger number of women to join in the fight for the right to vote (which finally came to pass in 1920), and outrage over Harvey Milk's assassination helped to jumpstart the movement for LGBT rights and inspired other members fo the community to become more involved in the political process.

Sometimes being an ally and standing up for others means facing embarrassment or harrassment ourselves. Sometimes it means being willing to cause tension among those who are closest to us, or being willing to speak against people who are in authority. Being a leader for diversity and inclusion means realizing that whether we are talking about the fight for equality for people with disabilities, or the fight for respect for people of different faiths - that we ALL have a stake in the struggle for inclusion.

Reflection Questions:

What consequences might people face for standing up for others in your school or community?

Have you ever stood up for a cause that you believe in, even though you knew that you were risking some negative consequences?

Activity:

Think about all of the people that you feel close to. How many of the people in your life are a different race than you? A different religion? A different sexual orientation? Identify the culture, group or demographic that you know the least about - and learn more about that group. What is their history? What challenges face their community? What opportunities are there for someone like yourself to become an ally for their cause?

ALL IN! MONDAY

ALL IN officially begins today. Over the next several days, student groups across metro Detroit will be surveying their peers to find out who feels "in" and who doesn't at their school, hosting dialogue sessions with other students and reporting what they find to school administration. To kick-off these activities, each day this week our blog will feature a new topic for discussion, reflection and action. Whether or not you are part of an ALL IN! student group, we encourage you to visit this blog each day for ways that you can make a difference on your own or with others!

DAY 1: REFLECTION
Before we can move forward to build more inclusive schools and communities, we first need to look back and find inspiration from the leaders who came before us, and the barriers that they fought to overcome. Today America celebrates the life and legacy of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. King focused the nation's eyes on civil rights by working tirelessly to end oppression through nonviolent means, becoming the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.



Reflection Questions:
1. In his most famous speech, King described his dream for America. What is your dream for your community? What needs to happen to make your school, neighborhood and city closer to that dream?

Individual Activity:
Martin Luther King may be the best known figure of the American Civil Rights movement, but he understood the importance of community, and he did not do his work alone. King made important community connections. He worked with the American Friends Service Committee to travel to India and study Ghandi's principles of nonviolent resistance. He was counseled by civil rights leaders like Bayard Rustin, an activist who fought for racial equality as well as lgbt equality. He lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott after Claudette Colvin and later (more famously) Rosa Parks refused to give up seats to white bus passengers.

Investigate the contributions made by one of the people or groups that worked with or inspired Martin Luther King. Some links to get you started:
http://rustin.org/
http://www.rosa-parks-biography.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King

Who inspires you? What connections do you need to make in order to carry on Martin Luther King's legacy in your community?

For more information on participating in ALL IN! in your school, visit www.miroundtable.org

Are You IN?

ALL IN! is the Michigan Roundtable’s week-long inclusion event that challenges student groups to:

INvestigate who feels excluded and disrespected in their school,

INclude other students in a dialogue about diversity, and

INform their faculty, administration and peers about the issues in their school.

IN SCHOOL:
During the week of January 19, 2009, student groups across the metro Detroit region (and beyond) will work to make their schools more inclusive by planning, promoting and carrying out ALL IN! projects in their school.

ONLINE:
During the same week students, teachers and communtiy members will have the opportunity to share their unique perspectives and learn from others as they take part in daily discussions on issues of diversity and inclusion on the Michigan Roundtable’s Facebook network. Also, participating schools will be highlighted with their own profile here on the LINC (Leadership In the New Century) Blog, showcasing their student group and their plans for ALL IN! week.

Become an INstigator: download the ALL IN! program guide at http://www.miroundtable.org/!