Michelle Obama Wants You to Move!

First Lady Michelle Obama believes your health is worth fighting for!  Visit her website, Let's Move, to learn more about why.  Also, discover ways in which you can embrace a more healthy lifestyle both at home and at school.

This I Believe: Accomplishing Big Things in Small Pieces ~ William Wissemann

Read or listen to the following essay found on the This I Believe website, "Growing up with dyslexia, William Wissemann learned how to break down words and sentences into smaller parts so he could understand them. As he got older, Wissemann found this skill useful for solving everything from Rubik's Cubes to life's tricky puzzles."  Dyslexia is a term for disorders that make it difficult to learn to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols.  How did Wissemann's success with the Rubik's Cube serve as an impetus to fight to attain his goals despite his learning disability?

This I Believe: I Am Still the Greatest ~ Muhammad Ali

Despite having won the heavyweight boxing championship three times, boxing extraordinaire, Muhammad Ali, is fighting his greatest opponent yet, Parkinson's disease.  A progressive disease of the nervous system, Parkinson's causes tremors (shaking) and muscular rigidity which makes movement slow and difficult to control.  Since his retirement from boxing in 1981, Ali has been fighting this disease's will to knock out the self-confidence Ali is so well-known for.  Read and listen to Ali's essay about how he fights to continue to live his life to the fullest despite the strength of the disease.

See the video of Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games

A Prayer for the 21st Century

May the road be free for the journey,

May it lead where it promised it would,

May the stars that gave ancient bearings

Be seen and still be understood.

May every aircraft land safely

May every traveller be found,

May sailors in crossing the seas

Not hear the cries of the drowned.

May gardens be wild, like jungles,

May nature never be tamed.

May dangers create of us heroes,

May fears always have names.

May the mountains stand to remind us

Of what it means to be young,

May we be outlived by our daughters,

May we be outlived by our sons.

May the bombs rust away in the bunkers,

And the doomsday clock be rewound,

May the solitary scientists, working,

Remember the holes in the ground.

May the knife remain in the holder,
May the bullet stay in the gun,

May those who live in the shadows

Be seen by those who live in the sun.

-John Marsden

In his poem, John Marsden shares his hopes and dreams for the future. What does Marsden believe is worth fighting for?

Ted Talks

What can you do to change the world? Check out Ted Talks to learn from others as they share ideas about how you can take action and make a difference.

Women 2 Drive

Women in Saudi Arabia are fighting for their rights to allow them to drive in the country.

So it’s finally about to happen! Women are gathering up in Saudi Arabia to take the driver’s seat and drive their own cars, for the first time in Saudi!!

When I heard about this, I thought ‘what took them too long?!’..Driving is one of the activities that should not be thought of as a right to be earned!! If you are a person who does not have a disability that prevents them from driving..Then it’s something that should come naturally, without having to work for it so hard!

We have searched for laws that prohibit women in Saudi Arabia from exercising their right to drive their own vehicle but have not found anything that points to such [a prohibition] in Saudi traffic laws. Therefore, what we will do cannot be considered a violation of the law. We therefore have decided that beginning on Friday the 15th of Rajab, 1432, which corresponds to the 17th of June, 2011:

• Every women in possession of an international driver’s license or one from another country will begin driving her car herself whether to reach her place of work, drop her children off at school, or attend to her daily needs.
• We will take photographs and videotapes of ourselves driving our cars and post them to our Facebook page in order to support our cause: I will drive starting June 17
• We will adhere to the dress code (hijab) while driving.
• We will obey the traffic laws and will not challenge the authorities if we are stopped for questioning.
• If we are pulled over we will firmly demand to be informed of which laws have been violated. Until now there is not one traffic law that prohibits a woman from driving her own vehicle herself.
• We do not have destructive goals and will not congregate or protest, nor will we raise slogans. We have no leaders or foreign conspirators. We are patriots and we love this country and will not accept that which encroaches on its security and safety. All that is involved [in this matter] is that we will begin to exercise our legitimate right.
• We will not stop exercising this right until you find us a solution. We have spoken out on too many occasions and no one has listened to us. The time for solutions has come. We want women’s driving schools. We want Saudi drivers’ licenses [for women] like all other countries in the world. We want to live a complete form of citizenship without the humiliation and degradation that we are [currently] subjected to everyday because of our dependence on a driver.
• We will launch volunteer campaigns to offer free driving lessons for women beginning on the date that this announcement is issued and we wish for everyone to support us.

Join their FB Page, and support their campaign.

The Story of Stuff

In this short documentary, filmmaker Annie Leonard shows us how "stuff" gets made (and how it is hurting our environment). It is asking viewers to actively be aware of how consumerism is affecting our lives and to work on creating a more sustainable and just world.  Is the environment worth fighting for?  Silly question, right?

Heifer International

Heifer's mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. Since 1944, Heifer International has provided environmentally-sound agricultural training and livestock gifts to people in need around the world. Heifer currently works in more than 57 countries. Visit the website to learn more about why Heifer believes ending hunger and empowering people is worth fighting for. Or visit the Heifer youtube channel to watch inspiring videos about the organization's work.

Speak With Authority!

Taylor Mali implores you to make it cool to speak with authority.  What inspires you to speak with authority?

Nyad pushes through stings on 'critical' 2nd night

By PETER ORSI - Associated Press | AP – 2 hrs 37 mins ago

Follow one woman's journey to reach her personal goal: swim from Cuba to Florida. 

Why are personal goals worth fighting for?

CNN Heroes

Visit CNN Heroes and be inspired by real people who are making a difference in their local communities.

Human Duty

Miep Gies

Amsterdam, 1942. The German occupation of Holland has commenced. The Nazi Gestapo oversees the deportation of Dutch Jews to concentration camps continuing implementation of the Final Solution. Hidden in an office annex, behind a secret door, eight desperate individuals seek to avoid capture by the Nazis. One brave young girl, Anne, chronicles the details of their confinement in a diary.

The world will always remember Anne Frank and her diary as a story of hope during the dark days of the Nazi rule. Still, this story may have never been shared if it were not for the courageous actions of one woman, Miep Gies. Gies had worked for many years for Anne’s father, Otto Frank. When his eldest daughter, Margot, received orders to report to a force-labor camp, Frank appealed to Gies for help. He had plans to hide his family, but he needed someone who could be trusted to bring them food and give them news of the outside world. Without hesitation, Gies made the decision to help the Franks and fight against the racist Nazi regime.

In her own words, Gies agreed to help the Franks, because she “was extremely concerned about (Frank) and his family”. By this time during the war, the Nazi Anti-Semitic policies were being ruthlessly enforced in local communities. Additionally, most Europeans were aware that the Nazis had established labor camps for prisoners of war across Europe. Within the occupied territories, there were whispers that the Nazi labor camps were in fact extermination camps as people who were deported simply disappeared. Geis recalled that, “Every day (she) saw trucks heading for the railway station, from where the train left for the camps. Nobody ever heard from them again…” Despite the oppressive nature of the Nazi regime, some sought ways to resist. Some, like Gies, made a decision to fight. Gies simply could not allow the Franks to disappear without a trace.

Gies risked helping the Franks, because it was the right thing to do and because she “saw no alternative”. At the time, she claimed she could “foresee many sleepless nights and an unhappy life” if she refused to act. For her, such a refusal would have led to “permanent remorse” having “fail(ed) to do (her) human duty”. Moreover, she believed this failure would have been “worse than losing her life”. Beyond solely helping her fellow man, Gies’s selfless decision to aid the Franks saved her from a lifetime of regret.

Ultimately, Gies was unable to save the Franks from the Nazis as their hiding place was discovered. The Gestapo ransacked the secret annex, and all of its inhabitants were sent to the labor camps. When Gies returned to the annex to assess what remained, she collected the pages of Anne’s diary. She kept the diary safe throughout the remainder of the war. At the war’s end, Otto Frank, the only surviving member of the Frank family, returned to Amsterdam. Upon being reunited with Gies, she shared with him his daughter’s diary. Frank made the decision to publish it contents, and the diary continues to be a source of inspiration for millions. Without Gies's heroic actions, Anne’s story may have never been told.

Gies serves as a role model for us all. Through her actions, she taught us the importance of standing up for others. She taught us that one cannot live in fear. She taught us that we must always strive to do that which we know to be right. People are worth fighting for. Justice is worth fighting for. Honor is worth fighting for.

Miep Gies died in January 2010 having lived 100 years.

"The Lorax"

Revisit the childhood favorite, "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss.  What is the Lorax telling its audience to fight for?

Somalian Plight

"August 29, 2011. Refugees in Hagadera, Kenya, scramble to load their belongings onto trucks that will relocate them to a newly opened camp near Nairobi. About a thousand new refugees fleeing famine in Somalia continue to pour into Kenya each day."

Time magazine posts what they deem to be the best inspirational photos from around the world each week. This photo showcases the plight of the Somalians. Every day, thousands of Somalians fight to survive another day, the famine forcing them to leave their homeland behind hoping to find help. Read more to understand the severity of Somalia's famine in the article, "UN declares Somalia famine in Bakool and Lower Shabelle."

"I Dream a World"

Art by Wassily Kandinsky 1909

"I Dream a World" by Langston Hughes

I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!

Growing up in a society where all was not equal, James Langston Hughes, fought back with his words.  In this poem, renowned African American poet, writes of a utopian world.  Read his poem to discover what Hughes believed was worth fighting for in his 'dream world'.

"Is life a thorn or a flower?"

"Ms Ghimire has published four volumes of poetry, two books of short stories and many newspaper columns."

 

 

 

Thomas Bell, BBC journalist, writes that "a young woman with cerebral palsy, whose only way of communicating is by writing with her foot, has won Nepal's most prestigious literary prize."  Jhamak Kumari Ghimire has spent a lifetime fighting for her right to life and education as a result of being born with a disability in a poor village.  Read the article "Nepal's prize winning poet with cerebral palsy" to be inspired by Ms. Ghimire's journey of determination to achieve her dreams.

Imagine - A Perfect World

"In Utopia, where every man has a right to everything, they all know that if care is taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can want anything; for among them there is no unequal distribution, so that no man is poor, none in necessity; and though no man has anything, yet they are all rich; for what can make a man so rich as to lead a serene and cheerful life, free from anxieties."

THOMAS MORE, Utopia

It was all the way back in 1516 that Sir Thomas More was dreaming of a society that would be perfect for all - no person left wanting for anything.  Of course, I believe, although most societies have tried (and keep trying) to reach this ideal, nobody has gotten it quite right.  This means we need to continue to strive for a perfect world because there is no point in living and working together if we don't have an ideal we want to reach.

If I were to create a new society, the one characteristic I most hope this society would have is the establishment of good institutions.  I think it is important to have strong norms and laws in place that are good for everyone in the society.  I want these laws and norms to allow all people to live in peace.  Inside this realm of maintaining a peaceful and safe community, I want members to have the right to all freedoms.

In this society, people will be allowed to question and have a say in all decisions.  I also want there to be laws in place that insure justice is carried out in a very careful and equal manner, so that anyone who wants to cause harm to the society will be detained humanely.  It is of utmost importance that the institutions established have the ultimate goal of peace, safety, equality, and goodwill for all of its members.  

Just imagine a world like this.  

Can you?

...Imagine all the people
Living life in peace                                    

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one 

                      -John Lennon, Imagine

What is Worth Fighting For? Historical Upstanders

"The more horrifying this world becomes, the more art becomes abstract."  ~ Klee

Paul Klee, the artist showcased on our class website, believed art was worth fighting for.  A special article by Time magazine, took a look at "prominent artists that challenged authority." Klee is listed as one of the Top 10 Persecuted Artists of our time.  

Paul Klee was born in Switzerland (1879); however he lived the majority of his life in Germany.  The rise of the Third Reich in the 1930s changed that.  "As part of Hitler's attempt to rid the country of 'degenerate art,' many prominent artists were either forced to leave the country or became trapped in internal exile" (Time, 2011).  By 1933, most modern art was described as 'degenerate' by the National Socialist Society for German Culture.  The goal of this group was to put an end to the corruption of art by removing all art the group determined was 'degenerate.' 

During this time, Klee was teaching at Dusseldorf Academy; however, Hitler's censure of degenerate artists made it impossible for Klee to retain his position.  He was dismissed from the academy, and his house and studio searched by the Gestapo.  To fight this injustice, Klee continued to work on his art during this trying time.  In fact, much of his work from this period are visual representations of the inhumanity of the Nazi regime. 

Eventually, the constant disruptions forced Klee to leave Germany and return to his birthplace, Switzerland where he could paint in peace.  Overall, Klee created 9,000 paintings, drawings and watercolors.  Klee's fight ended in 1940 from the debilitating disease, scleroderma.