UPDATE: Due to the storm warnings from the National Weather Service, for everyone’s safety, we are moving the event online. We invite you to join us via Zoom from 4:15pm to 5:00pm.
If you have time to print a sign or make your own – we can do a group virtual photo. We will invite teachers to share their pledges.
There are additional opportunities to pledge to #TeachTruth this weekend.
You could join the March On for Voting Rights rally tomorrow morning and bring #TeachTruth signs.
You could also go to any historic site in the DMV (so many choices) and send us a photo of you and your pledge. It would be wonderful to have photos from all over the DC metro area! (Read more ways here.)
We regret not seeing you in person. However, we hope to see you via Zoom later today and/or see your photos from the March On for Voting Rights or any historic site in the area.
Malcolm X Park
Pledge to Teach Truth is a commitment by educators to teach full and accurate U.S. history and current events. It’s also a Day of Action to raise awareness of the dangers in lying to students about the existence and persistence of structural and systemic racism, and all forms of oppression.
Educators are fighting back by signing a Pledge to Teach Truth, and gathering at historic sites during our Days of Action, August 27-29, to raise public awareness about the danger of these bills.
Washington, DC area's Day of Action will take place at Malcolm X Park (also known as Meridian Hill Park) near the Joan of Arc Statue on August 27th.
RSVP is not required, but it helps us plan and also allows us to update you if there are changes due to weather or other considerations.
"The evolution of the name [Meridian Hill Park] is a bracing reminder of how different D.C.’s history — and its present — has been for various groups of Washingtonians. In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson ordered a small obelisk placed a mile and a half north of the White House to serve as a longitudinal meridian for the new capital city. An owner who acquired the land after the War of 1812 was the first to call it Meridian Hill. The park itself was the brainchild of Mary Foote Henderson, the wife of a senator in post-Civil War Washington who lived nearby. She wanted the federal government to move the White House and the monuments to her neighborhood. She ultimately settled on convincing federal officials to build an Italian Renaissance-style park. To execute her vision, Henderson evicted the residents, a community of working-class African Americans. (Now, “The Henderson” is the name of a nearby boutique condo building whose website uses “Meridian Hill Park.”)" - Rachel Kurzius, The Washington Post
In 1969, Angela Davis sought to change Meridian Hill Park's official name to Malcolm X Park in honor of Malcolm X. It was a primary meeting place during the Civil Rights Movement. However, Angela Davis's push to rename Meridian Hill Park was denied.
Will you pledge to #TeachTruth on DC history? RSVP Share on Facebook
Important Accessibility Notice:
Due to terracing, most of the entrances from the 16th street side of Malcolm X park have stairs and are not accessible any other way. We apologize in advance for this -- the park is hoping to fix this lack of accessibility by 2022.