Dear Friends of FAIR,
Twenty-two months ago, inspired by what I saw happening at my children’s school in New York City, I spoke up in a Wall Street Journal editorial about the pessimistic philosophies that have taken root in our culture, causing so many of our schools and institutions to regress around issues of race, racism, and tolerance for diverse perspectives.
Like so many of you, I was compelled to stand up for the positive, pro-human values shared by the vast majority of Americans and people of goodwill around the world—and threw myself into launching the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR), a nonpartisan organization devoted to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity.
FAIR seeks to offer constructive solutions—and I am proud to introduce a new free educational resource that our team has developed for students, teachers and parents: FAIRstory Literature Guides. The guides emphasize pro-human values and support literacy development. Designed for use with elementary-age students, each guide features a high-quality picture book, with discussion questions and activities aligned with FAIR’s Pro-Human Learning Standards.
Students will engage with rich texts and illustrations to explore values of fairness, understanding, and humanity. These guides, created by our dedicated FAIR in Education team, provide opportunities for engagement through comprehension questions and hands on activities.
The first guide features Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. This picture book biography provides a moving introduction to the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. His words are woven throughout, with both illustrations and text. As we reflect upon MLK’s legacy, this guide is an invaluable tool for students, parents, and teachers to delve deeper into King’s message.
For updates on all of the exciting work FAIR is doing in K-12 education, check out the first newsletter from the FAIR in Education team!
Yours,
Bion
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Bion Bartning
bion@fairforall.org
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Michelle Pollino: What I Learned From 30 Years As A Reporter
FAIR in the Arts fellow Michelle Pollino talks about her experience working in major newsrooms across the country and her own ideological journey. Pollino talks us through how to overcome our own biases and seek understanding and knowledge in order to better understand those we disagree with.
Feeling manipulated like that gave me a strong impulse to completely switch sides— to fully entrench myself in the mirror image of my previous tribe, but luckily I was able to resist that impulse and choose curiosity about those with opposing beliefs. I also began to think critically, and challenge every piece of information that came before me regardless of its source. As journalists, our job is to provide the facts.
FAIR Series: Educational Philosophy
Please join us on Tuesday, February 7th and 21st, 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT, for a FAIR Parent Education Series discussion of educational philosophy and how it drives disagreements over contentious issues such as culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, standardized testing, and how to teach topics like race, sex, gender, and justice. We will explore how differing assumptions about the purpose of schooling lead to holding strong positions on such issues. In session 1 we’ll learn the four basic philosophical positions. In session 2 we will explore how they inform the issues. The sessions will help parents better articulate their own educational priorities while engaging more sympathetically with those whose priorities differ.
FAIR in the Arts Virtual Community Meetup
Join FAIR in the Arts for our Virtual Community Meetup on Tuesday, January 24th from 7:30-9:30 PM EST. We're thrilled to welcome special guest Salomé Sibonex (Writer, Visual Artist) in a discussion moderated by Arts Fellow Heather Blakeslee (Musician, Publisher of RQ). Register for the meetup here.
We look forward to sharing updates about our work and looking ahead to 2023. Join us to engage in dialogue with other artists who are modeling FAIR's pro-human values in their work. Arts practitioners, educators, advocates, and media professionals—anyone who wants to create a culture where artists and others are free to express themselves—are welcome.
FAIR Book Club: The Illusion of Division by Monica Harris
Start the new year off by joining FAIR's Book Club! We'll be reading Monica Harris’s newest publication,The Illusion of Division, and hosting conversations from 7:00pm - 8:30pm ET on January 25th and February 22nd.
FAIR’s Book Club meets monthly with a goal to read books that challenge and deepen our understanding of humanity and fairness, while enriching our sense of what it means to be pro-human. Join us!
Sanity - Restoring Science and Removing Politics from Medicine
On Tuesday, January 24th from 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM CST, learn about the launch of FAIR in Medicine in Minnesota. Featuring Director of FAIR in Medicine’s Dr. Carrie Mendoza!
HOW TO RUN FOR SCHOOL BOARD | JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 2, 2023
You care about your kids and your community, we get it! So do we. Join FAIR in partnership with the Grassroots Leadership Academy for a 4-session, training experience to empower you to roll up your sleeves and run for school board (or effectively organize your community for someone you want to run for school board). This training experience is four, 90 minute sessions over four days, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. ET each day. This training is great for those of you who want to run and your core supporters alike. Together you will learn:
Session 1 on January 30 – How to become the candidate and set yourself up for success
Session 2 on January 31 – How to communicate your why and connect with the whys of those in your district
Session 3 on February 1 – How to create a messaging plan and stay on message no matter what
Session 4 on February 2 – How to talk to voters and raise money
FAIR News Podcast
For audio versions of our FAIR News and FAIR Weekly Roundup newsletters, subscribe and listen to FAIR News Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or via RSS feed.
Join the Pro-Human Movement With FAIR Merch!
FAIR Educators Alliance & Administrators Alliance Happy Hours
Teachers often feel isolated and alone in their schools, but FAIR is here for you! The FAIR Educators Alliance brings together educators from all levels to share experiences and concerns and work on developing resources that can support teachers, community members, and FAIR chapters.
FAIR’s Educator’s Alliance is hosting an informal happy hour every other Thursday evening, alternating between beginning at 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET, and will hold more formal monthly meetings that will address issues based on your interests and needs.
If you’re a K-12 school administrator, we’re here to support you too! You’re invited to join the FAIR Administrators Alliance, which holds meetings the last Thursday of every month at 1:00 p.m. ET!
All teachers and administrators are welcome! For more information and to subscribe to the calendar, reach out to educators@fairforall.org.
Calling all FAIR Member Librarians and Library Staff! FAIR has established a network for members to connect and discuss key issues affecting their profession, advance pro-human principles, and preserve academic freedoms in library systems. The group meets biweekly.
Please contact tanya.simons@fairforall.org if you are interested in joining!
Join the FAIR Community
Join Us, and Become a member of FAIR
Become a FAIR volunteer, or join a FAIR chapter
Sign-up for a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission, or watch a previously recorded session in the Members section of www.fairforall.org.
Take the Pro-Human Pledge and help promote a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity.
Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.
Learn more about the pro-human approach to DEI on our FAIR Diversity website.
https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/
Pro human is anti- racist
We can't just skip it
Rely on statistics and scientific measurements of bias
Racism is not a binary.
Be brave, examine your own behavior and thinking.
It's not about guilt, it's about moving beyond that.
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this!