Looking Back, Looking Forward

By Gary Payton, President

December 10th marked the 53rd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly. Across the decades, a remarkable history has been written: human rights law; government and civic organizations established to monitor and promote human rights; and the steadily growing awareness of people's right to dignity throughout the world.

Bonner County and North Idaho contributed to that history in 2001. Look back with me at the highlights of the past year as we prepare to move into the year ahead.

In March, the Bonner County Commissioners and the City Council of Sandpoint adopted human dignity resolutions pledging our local governments to support programs to maintain and enhance a civic environment of tolerance and respect for people regardless of race, faith, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. The County Commissioners asked the Task Force to develop the draft resolution, and with a spirit of cooperation refined the resolution to meet the needs of the County.

In April, over 400 people gathered to "Celebrate Sandpoint" on a beautiful spring day at the Fair Grounds. The event was organized as an alternative to a threatened neo-Nazi parade in downtown Sandpoint, but it became much more. The event became a statement that North Idaho values diversity, inclusiveness, and respect for one another. The pulling together of local government, business, arts, faith, and civic leaders communicated a clear message. Most importantly, we as citizens stood up for a cherished value of the community and the nation - respect for human rights.

Following "Celebrate Sandpoint," the County Com-mis-sioners unanimously accepted the gift of the sculpture "Tolerance" by David Kraisler, a sculpture unveiled at the Fair Grounds' event. "Tolerance" will be erected on the lawn of the County Court House in the spring of 2002.

And, in August, the Human Rights Task Force sponsored its first annual conference titled "Making a Difference: Empowering Individuals to Build Inclusive Communities." The conference brought us challenging voices so we might learn more about the divisions of race, gender, economic circumstance, and sexual orientation. Noted human rights leaders from across the nation departed knowing of our commitment rather than believing the false image too often portrayed in the national media.

And, the value of our work continues to be recognized in the region and even in the world. Sponsored by the US State Department, human rights leaders from the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan traveled to Sandpoint in October to discuss approaches which they hope will transform their new nation. The cross cultural discussion accented what we too often take for granted. Concerted efforts by activists, elected officials, business, faith, and civic leaders can indeed reshape a community and its views about human rights and openness.

The climate of high profile white supremacy changed dramatically in 2001 in the county and in North Idaho. Locally, Vincent Bertollini fled the area and likely the country. Quiet months have passed since our mailboxes last received the vitriolic, anti-Semitic mailings of the 11th Hour Remnant Messenger. So, too, the sale of the Aryan Nations compound following the $6.3 million jury award against Richard Butler significantly reduced the attraction of this white supremacist leader. The impact of the neo-Nazis continues to fade. Our community deserves to be proud of its years long resistance to the messages of hate.

Striving for a community where respect and dignity are watchwords is a continuing process. In the months ahead, the Task Force will deepen its commitment to education. We'll continue to support conflict resolution training for teachers and students, deepen our engagement with the Kalispel Tribe to produce a curriculum for teaching the history of our region's first people, help bring ethnically diverse educational programs to the schools and the community, and organize a conference in the fall of 2002 which will continue to "make a difference."

September 11th shocked the world and this nation. For many, it prompted a deep inward look at what we really hold dear. As Human Rights Day is celebrated again around the world and as a dramatic year comes to a close, it is good to look back and even better to look forward.

On behalf of the Board of the Bonner County Task Force, I want to wish each of you the very best of New Years. May we continue to work together to build an inclusive community based on respect and dignity for all.

Martin Luther King Day Celebration

Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar

On Tuesday, January 15 at 7PM, a celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday will be held at the Inn at Sand Creek, 105 S. First Ave in Sandpoint. Leon Atkinson will be sharing his talent on the classical guitar in honor of Martin Luther King. Poetry and dramatic readings will be presented focusing on the values and commitments represented by life and work of Dr. King.

Can you imagine a more inspirational way to remember and honor the best of what our nation stands for than to listen to beautiful music and words in a warm cozy environment surrounded by the light filled paintings by Betty Billups and good food and wine? This is a chance to celebrate the true meaning of community and commitment to human dignity with your neighbors. No polemics, no political speeches-just an inspirational evening remembering the spirit and creativity of Martin Luther King.

Join us in celebration of a great American surrounded by other great Americans - your neighbors!

This is a free offering to you. Donations, however, will be accepted for the Bob Ward Memorial Book Fund mentioned in this newsletter. Hope to see you there!

SHS Human Rights Club Update: Group Goes RAD

Courtney McSherry

Several students at Sandpoint High school have teamed up to form a club to "Raise Awareness about Diversity"(RAD), which sums up the mission statement of the school's Human Rights club.

A division of the Sandpoint Human Rights Task Force has been in effect at the high school for several years, and this year's group has come together to create an even stronger group.

We traveled to a summit on human rights earlier this fall, and while there, students attended several workshops that addressed issues such as racism, white supremacy, violence, bigotry, and discussed ways to form an effective human rights club at our school.

After gaining useful knowledge from the conference, we are planning fundraisers for our group and hope to present the Diversity Dancers to the student body, in order to raise a greater awareness of human rights.

We are currently focusing our creative efforts into planning an assembly and celebration for Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the high school. We hope to organize a presentation for selected classes that will address the national holiday with a message of appreciation and respect for the human rights leader. Possible planned activities include a musical performance by St. Francis' preschool students, an informative slide show about Martin Luther King Jr. and a presentation of the 'I Have A Dream" Speech. We are very excited about the possibilities our club has this year, and I am confident that our group can work together to make a difference and create awareness at Sandpoint High School and in our community.

Uzbekistan Human Rights Activists

Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar

In September, five human rights activists visited Sandpoint. Part of a program spon-sored by the U.S. State Department designed to provide an opportunity for human rights workers from the former Soviet Union to meet and share ideas with folks and organizations in this country, these indivi-duals choose Sandpoint as a model of grass roots human rights efforts.

In addition to several board members of the Task Force, Tom Suttmeier, Paul Graves, Lama Yontan Gonpo, David Keyes, and Donna Parrish enjoyed a lunch meeting with these inspiring visitors. Conversations ranged from how our community addresses human rights issues to the problems they currently face in their communities. The outcome of the meeting was that it was emphasized that is extremely important to open communication between not only individual human rights workers around the world but also to build relationships among students, local governments, and community organizations in various cultures. It was also stressed that the more we know about the issues, the problems they face, and their activities the more protected they will be from those in their country who are opposed to what they are trying to accomplish.

Ideas generated from the meeting included establishing school to school „pen pal‰ programs and maybe even a sister city relationship between Sandpoint and a similarly sized city in Uzbekistan. If any of you are interested in working on these or other projects, please contact the Task Force. This is one way we can help overcome fear and ignorance about other cultures and other nations. Think about it and volunteer.

Give a Book

Jenny Campbell

This holiday season consider buying a book for the Bonner County Library in honor of a person or family you wish to gift. Gloria Rae at the library has a list of books, including children's books that can be purchased through the Bob Ward Memorial. The general theme of these books is tolerance, appreciating differences, human rights and history. Giving a book in someone's name can be a memorable tribute not only at Christmas time but throughout the year when gift giving is called for, birthdays, anniversaries, births, and also to honor the memory of someone dear.

Bob Ward Collection

Marian Breckenridge

On Friday February 22 at 5:30 PM, there will be a reception at the East Bonner County Library to unveil the Bob Ward Memorial collection of Human Rights Literature. Books, magazines, and videos carrying the new Human Rights spine label and book plate will be available for public review.

There will also be lists of suggested books, for both adults and children, that people can buy and contribute; and the new book plate will display their name plus the date of the gift. These lists are already available by calling Gloria Ray at the Library, 263-6930, ext 204.

If you own books you would like to donate to this collection now, Gloria will be happy to look them over to make sure they meet the library's standards (cover, age, print quality, etc.) Gift certificates are also available from Marian Breckenridge at 265-4155. And, of course, cash contributions to the Bob Ward Memorial Fund are always welcome, as they help us to purchase audio visual materials and books relating to human rights. Checks may be made to the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force or to FHRAA (Foundation for Human Rights Action and Advocacy) and mailed to 212 N. 4th St. #189, Sandpoint.

Thank you for your support of this project.

Invisible Heroes

Marian Breckinridge

Invisible Heroes is the theme of the Task Force's African-American History month in February. We will be featuring a library display, editorials and events honoring African-American veterans of all wars, and especially those unrecognized or under-recognized heroes of the second world war.

As a highlight, the Task Force will co-sponsor with the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War a very special event on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1:00PM. This will be a ceremony honoring Vernon Baker, the only living veteran of color from the Second World War who has received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Mr. Baker, an awesome presence and outstanding speaker, will appear and speak at the forum. There will be a book signing of his book, Lasting Valor, plus readings from the book (which is introduced by General Colin Powell), and those who wish may stay to view the movie that was made of his experiences. There will be a color guard and the Air Force cadets will close with a very moving flag ceremony.

Hopefully you'll not miss this one-of-a-kind event!

NWC Conference - a Youth Perspective

Steve Hammond

The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity recently held a conference in Spokane. The title of this year's conference was "Beyond Bigotry: The Future of Human Rights. The first day of the conference was a youth summit focusing on methods for the youth to organize a human rights movement in their towns. While I found many of those workshops interesting the second day of the conference was probably the best.

The second day saw the end of the Youth Summit and the beginning of the full conference. I wish that some of the other youth besides me had stayed for it. The workshops held that day gave me a good background in the history of hate groups such as the World Church of the Creator and the National Alliance. The Youth Summit had given us tools to act but not much in the way of the application of those tools. The second day of the conference really broadened the spectrum for me. The workshop on the investigation of the murder of Matthew Shepard was particularly interesting for me. I had known very little about the case before that day. The workshop went through the whole case. We were given a comprehensive look at the case from start to finish. It was probably my favorite of the workshops that day.

By the end of the day I was more ready than ever to get to work at my high school. I now knew the history and recruiting methods of several major hate groups and how to counteract them. The first day had given me the methods, the second day had given me the means. That evening I attended the speech by Tim Wise. It was the single greatest experience of the conference for me. It really helped to round off the conference and left me with even more eagerness to act.

All in all, I was very pleased with the conference. However, I sincerely wish that the other youth, especially those from my high school, had stayed for the full conference. It is my belief that they would have gotten as much, if not more out of it than I did. I had a lot of fun, and hope to attend next year's conference.

Character Counts

Gary Payton

We hope you've read articles in the newspaper, spoken with a teacher in our school district, or seen a poster in a place of business about "Character Counts." During the week of October 22-26, each of the elementary schools in the Lake Pend Oreille School District and the Middle School kicked off their involvement in "Character Counts," a program grounded in six "pillars of character." The program accents Trust, Care, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, and Citizenship. A wide variety of activities have been undertaken depending on the school and the grade. Assemblies, poster making, and service projects are just a part of the program.

The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force aided the School District with a modest financial gift to purchase supplies and bookmarks to be given to each student who displayed a "pillar" character during the emphasis week. Learning to treat each other with respect and dignity begins at an early age. The Board of the Task Force is dedicated to deepening our support of the school system as the leadership builds on the themes of "Character Counts."

School District Pilots Conflict Resolution Activities

Brenda Hammond

Nancy Nelson, PE teacher at Sagle Elementary, has been using a program called "Pillars of Character." This program identifies six basic "pillars": Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. As a result of Nancy's piloting work, six district staff members wrote a grant for, and attended "Pillars of Character/Character Counts" training last Spring.

These staff members made a presentation to the School Board at the end of August, asking Board members to adopt and model the Pillars of Character program in all of their business meetings and interactions in order to set an example for our community. All district employees have had the opportunity to read and endorse the Resolution endorsing this proposal.

Also, "Six Pillars of Character" has been introduced in all elementary schools. The week of Oct. 22-26 was declared "Character Counts Week." All teachers were given a packet of materials to use. The Middle School is also embracing this program, the basic premise of which is captured in the following quote by Michael Josephson, "Whether or not character development is a conscious objective, schools and youth organizations are deeply and inextricably involved in a process that influences the attitudes, values and habits that are the foundation of character."

Another program that Nancy Nelson has used successfully is called "TEAMS," which introduces activities requiring cooperation and problem-solving in which each team must develop a plan that allows each member of the group to be successful. These team-building activities are being used in all elementary schools in varying degrees according to staff availability, time and space.

Mary Toland, another teacher at Sagle Elementary, is also working on introducing specific Conflict Resolution training. The Task Force has purchased materials to be used in this endeavor, and is encouraged by the bold beginning of a project that, hopefully, will expand into many areas of all the district schools in the future.