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Facing History and Ourselves Introduces a New Interactive Website to Help Students Participate in Human Rights

On October 9, 2007 the non-profit organization Facing History and Ourselves will launch a new multimedia website for students and educators, Be the Change: Upstanders for Human Rights (www.facinghistory.org/BeTheChange). The interactive website profiles the stories of five extraordinary activists who have been awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award, and combines educational resources for students and teachers with a dynamic interface for middle and high school-aged kids. Be the Change aims to connect each student with the growing global network of his or her peers who care about creating a more just world.

Designed for middle and high school students, and created with the help of student interviewers, Be the Change examines the influences, inspirations and motivations that led the five upstanders to take action on behalf of others. The five activists profiled are: Vanita Gupta: an NAACP lawyer who helped thirty-five African Americans falsely accused of drug-related crimes in Tulia, Texas, Martin O’Brien: a peace activist who worked to advance human rights in Northern Ireland, Ernest Guevarra: an advocate for healthcare and human rights in battle-torn areas of the Philippines, Arn Chorn Pond: a survivor of the Cambodian genocide who helped young immigrant gang members in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Yinka Jegede-Ekpe: an AIDS activist who bravely stepped forward to fight for the rights of Nigerian women infected with HIV/AIDS.

“I enjoyed hearing [the award winners] influences,” said one High School student who toured the website. “It shows that they were not just like superheroes at birth, but normal people who only wanted to help make change.” In addition to the profiles, Be the Change also offers lists of resources and organizations to help students think more critically about the roles they might play in the world, their responsibilities and obligations towards their communities, and the choices they will make in their own lives. In a section entitled “Student Spotlights,” visitors to the website can read about—or even nominate—middle and high schoolers their own age who have chosen to participate for positive change.

While the website is designed for any young person to explore on his or her own, teachers will also find the site a great resource to use in their classrooms. The website offers a variety of helpful ideas and activities to help educators bring important lessons into the classroom, and offers numerous links to organizations and information to help them delve further into the issues that interest them and their students.

Based in Brookline, Massachusetts, Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. For more information, please visit http://www.facinghistory.org/BeTheChange, or e-mail John Englander at John_Englander@facing.org