Program Title: Teen Activism Program Category: Social Action Author(s): Created for: Summer Kallah 2005

Goals: 1. To teach the modern history of teen activism in the United States.

Objectives: 1. PP’s will learn about different kinds of protests. 2. PP’s will learn about protest movements in which teens have been involved.

Materials: • DVD of introduction movie • 2 CD players • Copies of song lyrics • Playdoh • Paper • Golf pencils/pens

People:

Space Needed:

Timeline: 00:00-00:02 Introduction 00:02-00:05 Split into groups 00:05-00:20 First rotation 00:20-00:22 Go to next rotation 00:22-00:42 Second Rotation 00:42-00:44 Go to next rotation 00:44-01:04 Third Rotation 01:04-01:06 Go to wrap up 01:06-01:11 Wrap up

Detailed Procedure:

Procedure for intro 1. PP’s will enter the Beit and will receive a number on their hand determining their group. 2. PP’s will watch intro DVD 3. PP’s will divide into their groups

Rotation one: Protest movements and Play-doh

1. Read and discuss different protest movements (see below) 2 min 2. Distribute play-doh 1 min 3. Have PP’s make something they think represents teen activism 5 min 4. Have PP’s share their creations 4 min 5. Discussion questions 3 min

Discussion Questions:

1. What did you make? Why? 2. What motivations/ thoughts did you have, while you were making your representation of activism? 3. What key elements would you need, or have you used, in order to create a successful activist movement, and why? This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple . For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.

4. NFTY has a social action theme every year. Is that the same kind of activism that we have discussed here today?

Rotation One info: The youth of the world has been a thriving force in todays society. This began in the sixties. The most durable achievement of the youth movement of the sixties was the recognition that young people deserved to be taken seriously, as , citizens, criminal defendants—as people—and that adults in authority could be held accountable if they failed to recognize youth .

The sixties youth movement had two intertwined strands: one was in the broader social movements of the decade, and the other was on behalf of specifically youth-related causes.

Youth were key participants in the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, the emerging feminist and gay movements, the underground press, and the various new left groups, where they fought for social change alongside adults.

Youth, and especially teenagers, were also involved in struggles more closely connected to their own issues as young people, such as those for school change and rights, the creation of alternative youth programs, the right to vote, access to birth control, expanded legal rights for minors, and draft resistance.

The connections among broader social issues and "youth-for-youth" causes were complex and inseparable. Students who wanted to protest the war found themselves in conflict with school policies, which limited free speech. Students active in civil rights issues quickly saw that the racial composition of school faculties was an important battleground. When young people took to the streets to protest they became painfully aware of their lack of legal rights and protection. It's not surprising that an overarching term—The Movement—was needed to encompass the wide range of personal and social protests of the time. Today teenager unite to protest many similar things. Teens fight for , gay rights, anti-war and all facets of societal injustice. The remarkable decline of indifference is remarkable. Teenagers have become some of the loudest voiced of their individual movements. With out the youth pressing the flesh and screaming for the hilltops, the outcry against injustice that we take pride in would vanish.

Rotation Two: Protest songs throughout history

1. GL’s will introduce the rotation and say “Protest songs have played huge rolls in activist and protest movements. We’re going to analyze three protest songs from different decades and discuss the differences in them.” 2. Distribute copies of lyrics to PP’s (you’re copy is below) 1 min 3. Listen to the first song and discuss (questions are below) 5 min 4. Listen to the second song and discuss 5 min 5. Listen to the third song and discuss 5 min 6. Have PP’s write a stanza for a protest song 4 min

Discussion questions:

1. What do you think the band/artist is protesting in this song? 2. Do you see any common themes in these songs? 3. Do you think using songs is a good use of propaganda for the causes they’re supporting? 4. Look at the year’s these songs were written, what events were going on during these time periods? 5. What other protest movements were going on at this time? 6. Are there any lines/stanzas that stick with you while listening to this song?

Lyrics:

This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple Youth. For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.

For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield ~1966~

There's something happening here What it is ain't exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware

Chorus: I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn Nobody's right if everybody's wrong Young people speaking their minds Getting so much resistance from behind

Chorus

What a field-day for the heat A thousand people in the street Singing songs and carrying signs Mostly say, hooray for our side

Chorus

Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you're always afraid You step out of line, the man come and take you away

Chorus

Ohio Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young ~1970~

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'. We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drummin'. Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it. Soldiers are gunning us down. Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know?

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.

Gotta get down to it.

This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple Youth. For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.

Soldiers are cutting us down. Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'. We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drummin'. Four dead in Ohio. 9x

Just In Case Junction ~2004~

Day started out like any other day, Going to work everyone’s on their way, Tragedy strikes so many lost or dead, Unthinkable thoughts are running through my head,

No other word but shock can come to my mind, President declares war of a new kind, News repeats it again and again, Our emotion and anger deepens,

They act in retaliation, You’ll attack with not hesitation, Help this bloody circle continue, Come you’ll do what you think you have to,

On the home front we are losing, People like you are quick in accusing, Brothers in a crime that they didn’t commit, Guilty by a culture you will never quit,

The devolution of a nation, Follows after racial segregation, Brothers in a new kind of civil war, Killing the enemy who I’m not sure,

Neighbor has the same ethnicity, You’re actions are duplicity, Cause you’re nervous and living in fear, Goal for to disappear,

Our case is just, Fight who you think we need to, Cause this war is something new, Kill anyone you pursue, Just in case,

Our case is just, Suspend the constitution, We’ll end it with an execution, We will find our damn solution, Just in case

This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple Youth. For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.

A Nation at war with an unknown threat, Ready to attack who is unknown yet, Guns are aimed, tanks are in place, Better shoot them, just in case.

Rotation Three: Mumia Abu Jamal

1. Distibute information on Mumia Abu-Jamal for PP’s to browse 1 min 2. Read the Key Facts information (and any other info you would like to add) on Mumia Abu-Jamal (see below) 5 min 3. Discuss (questions below) 4 min 4. Have PP’s write letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal 10 min

Who is Mumia Abu-Jamal? Mumia Abu-Jamal is a renowned journalist from Philadelphia who has been in prison since 1981 and on death row since 1983 for allegedly shooting Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He is known as the “Voice of the Voiceless” for his award- winning reporting on police brutality and other social and racial epidemics that plague communities of color in Philadelphia and throughout the world. Mumia has received international support over the years in his efforts to overturn his unjust conviction.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was serving as the President of the Association of Black Journalists at the time of his arrest. He was a founding member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party as a teenager. Years later he began reporting professionally on radio stations such as NPR, and was the news director of Philadelphia station WHAT. Much of his journalism called attention to the blatant injustice and brutality he watched happen on a daily basis to MOVE, a revolutionary organization that works to protect all forms of life--human, animal, plant--and the Earth as a whole.

The Scene: In 1981, Mumia worked as a cab driver at night to supplement his income. On December 9th he was driving his cab through the red light district of downtown Philadelphia at around 4 a.m. Mumia testifies that he let off a fare and parked near the corner of 13th and Locust Streets. Upon hearing gunshots, he turned and saw his brother, William Cook, staggering in the street. Mumia exited the cab and ran to the scene, where he was shot by a uniformed police officer and fell to the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. Within minutes, police arrived on the scene to find Officer Faulkner and Mumia shot; Faulkner died. Mumia was arrested, savagely beaten, thrown into a paddy wagon and driven to a hospital a few blocks away (suspiciously, it took over 30 minutes to arrive at the hospital). Mumia somehow survived.

The Trial: The trial began in 1982 with Judge Sabo (who sent more people to death row than any other judge) presiding. Mumia wished to represent himself and have John Africa as his legal advisor, but before jury selection had finished, this right was revoked and an attorney was forcibly appointed for him. Throughout the trial, Mumia was accused of disrupting court proceedings and was not allowed to attend most of his own trial. Sabo lived up to his nickname of “Prosecutor in Robes.”

The Evidence: The prosecution claimed that the shot which killed Faulkner came from Mumia Abu-Jamal’s legally registered .38-caliber weapon, contradicting the medical examiner’s report that the bullet removed from Faulkner’s brain was a .44-caliber. This fact was kept from the jury. Moreover, a ballistics expert found it incredible that police at the scene failed to test Mumia’s gun to see if has been recently fired, or to test his hands for powder residue. One of the most damning prosecution claims was that Mumia confessed at the hospital. However, this confession was not reported until nearly two months after December 9th, immediately after Mumia had filed a brutality suit against the police. One of the officers who claims to have heard the confession is Gary Wakshul. However, in his police report on that day he stated, “the Negro male made no comments.” Dr. Coletta, the attending physician who was with Mumia the entire time, says that he never heard Mumia speak.

The Witnesses: The star prosecution witness, a prostitute named Cynthia White, was someone no other witness

This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple Youth. For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.

reported seeing at the scene. During the trial of Billy Cook (Mumia’s brother) just weeks before Mumia’s trial, White gave testimony completely contradictory to what she stated at Mumia’s trial. Her testimony at Billy Cook’s trial placed someone at the scene who was not there when police arrived. This corroborates the other five witness accounts that someone fled the scene. In a 1997 hearing, another former prostitute, Pamela Jenkins, testified that White was acting as a police informant. Other sworn testimony revealed that witness coercion was routinely practiced by the police. In 1995, eyewitness William Singletary testified that police repeatedly tore up his initial statement--that the shooter fled the scene-- until he finally signed something acceptable to them. The following year, witness Veronica Jones came forward to testify that she had been coerced into changing her initial statement that two men fled the scene. Witness Billy Cook, who was present the whole time, has stated very clearly that Mumia is absolutely innocent.

The Sentence: Due to police manipulation of witnesses, fabrication of evidence, and the rights of the defense severely denied, Mumia was found guilty. He was sentenced to death during the penalty phase based solely on his political beliefs. Mumia has been unjustly separated from his family for twenty-two years, with the threat of death looming over his head.

New Witnesses: In 2001, court stenographer Terri Maurer-Carter came forward and stated that in 1982, before Mumia’s trial began, she heard Judge Sabo say, “Yeah, and I’m going to help them fry the n****r.” He was referring to Mumia. This backs up evidence of judicial bias and racism in Mumia’s case. In the same year, esteemed Philadelphia journalist Linn Washington stated that on the morning of December 9th, 1981, he went to the scene to report on it--and no police were present. This backs up prior claims that police didn’t handle the crime scene properly.

The Confession: In 1999, Arnold Beverly confessed to killing Officer Faulkner. This confession is validated by a lie detector test administered by eminent polygraph expert Charles Honts. Despite concrete evidence supporting this confession, the Philadelphia District Attorney has refused to investigate, and the courts have not even allowed it to be heard. The injustice continues . . .

The Decisions: On December 18th, 2001, Judge Yohn issued a decision on the Habeas Corpus petition in Federal District Court. He upheld Mumia’s unjust conviction, but challenged the sentencing phase (the death sentence). This means there could be a new sentencing hearing after all appeals are resolved, but the only options are life in prison with no possibility of parole or another death sentence. This is not justice. There is massive evidence of Mumia’s innocence and he should be absolutely free. Mumia’s legal team filed an appeal of this decision in January of 2002. Mumia remains on death row until all appeals by both sides are heard.

Judge Pamela Dembe’s November 21, 2001, rejection of Mumia’s request to reopen the PCRA hearings was appealed by Mumia’s legal team. Judge Dembe based her decision almost entirely on the Peterkin case, which has just been overturned! On October 8, 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the appeal, stating that the Beverly confession cannot be heard due to time limitations. The court also stated that Terri Maurer-Carter’s testimony is irrelevant. The struggle continues.

The Movement: A broad international movement has formed in support of Mumia. Celebrities such as Danny Glover, Ossie Davis, and Susan Sarandon, world leaders like Nelson Mandela, Danielle Mitterand (former First Lady of France), and Fidel Castro, governing bodies such as the Japanese Diet, 22 members of the British Parliament, and the European Parliament have all recognized the blatant injustice in this case and have called for a new trial at the very least. Millions of people throughout the world have taken to the streets to protest his unjust imprisonment.

Mumia’s case has been a unifying point for many social struggles because it concentrates issues vitally important to our future, such as the rise in prison populations, police brutality, the death penalty, persecution of political dissent, and the continuation of white supremacy and racism in the U.S. From death row, Mumia has continued to speak out for all who are oppressed through his journalism. He has published four books, and his weekly columns are published throughout the world. His case is one of the most important social justice fights of our time. Key Facts about the case:

* The policeman was killed with a 44 caliber gun. Abu-Jamal's gun which he was licensed to carry as a night-time taxi driver, was a 38 caliber. This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple Youth. For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.

* The police never tested Abu-Jamal's gun to see if it had been recently fired. They never tested his hands to see if he had fired a gun. They have never shown Abu-Jamal 's gun to be the fatal weapon.

* No police officers present at Abu-Jamal's arrest claimed to have heard Jamal's "confession" until two months after it allegedly occurred. This was right after Abu-Jamal had filed police brutality charges.

* Abu-Jamal's doctor said that Abu-Jamal, who was unconscious, said nothing. He reported that a nurse found police with loaded guns pointed at Mumia as he lay unconscious in his hospital bed.

* William Singletary, a Vietnam veteran and local businessman, saw the whole incident and has testified that Abu-Jamal was not the shooter. However, the police forced him to change his story and intimidated him into leaving Philadelphia.

*Other key witnesses, such as Veronica Jones -- who now testifies in support of Abu-Jamal, were harassed into giving false testimony. Two prosecution witnesses were given special favors, including exemption from criminal prosecution, for their testimony.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think about the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal? 2. Do you think NFTY should be more involved in the movement to help free Abu-Jamal? Why? Why Not? 3. What could NFTY do to support the movement to free Abu-Jamal?

This resource has been provided by the North American Federation of Temple Youth. For additional resources, visit our website at http://www.nfty.org.