The Rights Stuff Newsletter

Thanks for the Opportunity

Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar
The generous contribution from Evergreen Realty and Schweitzer has given your Task Force an opportunity to assist in BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY. The receipt of the $12,000 donation represents not only recognition of the past actions of your Task Force but also a challenge to do more. The question arises ìwhat will the task force use the funds to do?î There are so many areas in which these funds could have a major impact. Some initial ideas include:
At our last community forum dealing with ìOffensive language-building safe environment in our schoolsî school administrators indicated that teacher in-service training on how to handle that situation would be beneficial. There are programs developed to handle just such training.
One way to counteract not only the image of our community as a haven for discrimination but the potential reality by not refuting that image is to become known as community which publicly endorses and encourages the discussion of human dignity. An idea of holding a regional youth and intergenerational forum with a nationally recognized keynote speaker and devoted to the discussion of human rights could become a signature event for Bonner County. An ongoing event of this nature could go a long way to making our community image one of celebrating diversity as opposed to suppressing it.
Other community groups provide programs focusing on diversity. The Task Force could assist in making them more available and accessible to the community not only with funds but also with volunteer energy.
Our community has unfortunately gotten regional and national coverage because of the dissemination of 11th Hour material. Support of First Amendment rights is basic to the Task Force response to these mailings. However, all of us have the same rights. A suggestion has been made to develop a community response kit to distribute to the community the next time this occurs. These kits would include posters, bumper stickers, educational materials, and other items focusing on the contribution of diversity to a strong community. A positive response to a negative event!
These are only a few of the ideas which your Task Force in considering. As members of the Task Force, your ideas and suggestions are important and valuable. Please let us know how you think the funds can be most effectively and efficiently used.
And most importantly, the next time you are in contact with anyone from Schweitzer or Evergreen Realty thank them for the confidence they have shown in you. After all, it is their generosity that makes it possible for the Task Force to undertake any of these activities.

Deborah McShane
They believe it and want to share the message with others.
And if you have only seen the dubbed version, you owe it to yourself to hear Benigni himself. His voice is as charismatic as his persona.
The Sandpoint High School Human Rights Club will present Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful on Friday, May 12 at 7:30 at the Panida Theater.
The film, in Italian with English subtitles, has mesmerized audiences and has received numerous awards, including three Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Dramatic Score. It was the Grand Prix winner at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
Romantic fantasy and grim reality meet head on in Benigni's fable, set in Fascist Italy. The film is essentially two acts. The first introduces the Chaplinesque Guido (Benigni), who wears a number of different hats in ridiculous and absurd situations. He is mistaken as a visiting dignitary, poses as a school inspector, plays games of riddles with the local doctor, waits tables and falls in love with the beautiful Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real life spouse). They run away together, and suddenly it is 1945.
Guido and Dora have a five-year old son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). The second World War is in its final days and Jewish Italian families like Guido's are the recipients of nonstop persecution. The second half of the film deals with the time Guido and Giosue spend in a nameless concentration camp, and the elaborate game Guido concocts to shield his son from understanding the horror, the absolute horror of their situation.Benigni takes his subject matter very seriously, and yet he deliberately chooses to juxtapose broad humor with high tragedy. He is fully aware of life's awful ironies; regardless or in spite of what one may have to endure, life is beautiful.
The Human Rights Club selected Life is Beautiful to present at this time to coincide with the Anne Frank: A History for Today Exhibit, currently on display at the Schoenberg Center at Gonzaga University, and because it is spring.
Tickets are available at the door for $4.

Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar
Marching behind a banner stating BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY! Last year in the July 4th parade, over 17 community groups marched with the Task Force and affirmed that they were working to build a better community. The Task Force is only one ingredient in the recipe for a strong and caring community. It is not, nor should it be, the only group identified with advocating the dignity of all.
Recognizing this, the Task Force asked other groups to march with us in celebration of community. This year we want representatives of even more groups to have the opportunity to stand up for our community's best qualities.
Volunteers from the Task Force plan to write letters to every community organization and group we can think of and ask them to send a representative to march with us. We intend to follow up with calls to the leaders of these organizations. A lot of work? Yes! But even with all that, it will not be enough. The only way to insure that a major statement can and will be made is if you agree to help.
Most of you are members of a church, a community organization, or club. The likelihood that your group will send a representative increases immeasurably if you, as a member of that group, ask for their participation. So, the next time your group meets, please ask them to consider marching under the banner of BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY. All they have to do is agree to send a representative or representatives with a placard identifying the group (if there is no one to make a placard we will have volunteers to do that for them).
Can you imagine the impact if arts groups, political groups, faith groups, business groups, environmental groups, educational groups, community service groups, and groups of all ilk march together to celebrate that even though we ìmarch to different drummersî we all are working towards making our community strong and caring. We may not even agree on every issue, but we must recognize that at the core of our beliefs is a sincere desire to build on the strengths and inherent goodness of our community.
I intend to ask every group to which I belong to march behind the banner BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY-they believe they do or why would I be a member of that group.
So, please help us to make this statement loud, emphatic, and comprehensive. Please encourage your groups to march with other organizations in the July 4th parade behind the banner BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY. If you have any questions, please give me a call at 263-6893.

Jessica Lippi
Saturday, April 29, the Sandpoint High School Human Rights Task Force was invited to take part in the first annual Youth Conference on Human Rights at Lake City High School, sponsored by Lake City High School and the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity. Senior Colin Hickman, adviser Deborah McShane, and I attended. More than 30 students gathered, representing schools from Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, St. Mary's, Lewiston, and Bonners Ferry.
During the first part of the conference, Bill Wassmuth spoke of his views on racism and human rights, opening students' eyes to a reality far beyond general awareness. Wassmuth is the former Director of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment and is a nationally recognized authority on human rights.
The next portion of the morning was a little more hands-on. Pat Johnson of the Idaho Education Association lead a Diversity Training session. Groups were formed with members from different schools. A series of questions was asked to allow us to get to know one another. We were asked to describe ourselves, how others would describe us, and why we chose to describe ourselves in that particular way. There was an observer in each group who took notes and reported back to everyone at the end. It was very interesting to see how others viewed how you described yourself and what kind of impressions were made through the unspoken, the non-verbal language. After this, we broke for lunch and I had to leave.
I thought this conference was very informative, helping me to more fully understand the importance of recognizing and extending human rights.

Gary Payton
The story of the success of the March 28th sign-on letter to the latest hate mailing from the 11th Hour Remnant Messenger stands as the story of a mature Bonner County Human Rights Task Force.
The details surrounding the sign-on letter are straightforward: community disgust at yet another unwanted mailing with content that "crossed the line" by attacking respected leaders by name; a special Task Force board meeting to outline the response; an overwhelming outpouring of over 800 signatures in less than 48 hours; an additional 300 signatures for a second publication of the letter; and, extensive coverage from both local and regional press and radio. The message was direct and powerfully communicated, "...we will not be silent" in the face of intolerance.
Beyond the full page ad in The Daily Bee, however, is, as they say, "the rest of the story."
First, the 11th Hour Remnant Messenger mailing was rejected like an invading foreign bacteria because the community was inoculated to the virulent strain of Christian Identity racism. Second, the mailing was rejected because years of education and positive community involvement have established a network of hundreds of capable Task Force members, faithful community leaders, business leaders, and past and present board members who eagerly asked, "What may I do to help?" And, third, the message was rejected because leaders in the Sandpoint High School's Human Rights Club wanted the voice of our youth to be heard saying "no" the message of hate.
The real face of North Idaho proudly showed itself in this episode - a community of people who lift up the strength of diversity and who reject racism in all its forms.
What is required of all of us in the Task Force now is vigilance. Vigilance to support the continuing outreach and education programs which are the vaccine that inoculates us against the next high profile attack. And, vigilance to continue to speak out for what we represent, not just what we reject.
These are exciting times to be associated with a mature and healthy Bonner County Human Rights Task Force. May our work together continue to make our home an even more inviting and respectful place to live.

Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar
At our annual meeting, three new board members were elected.
Rondi Evans, John Anderson and Rosemarie Osmunson all agreed to devote time and energy to building a strong Task Force and a community dedicated to human rights. It is a big commitment on their part and we all owe them our thanks for stepping forward. They are your representatives, so be sure to let them know any concerns. Also please pass along any ideas you may have on how to make the Task Force even better!
At the last board meeting, the following new officers were elected:
President: Gary Payton
Vice President: Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar
Secretary: Brenda Hammond
Treasurer: Barbara Veranium.
Thanks to all for their willingness to serve!

Letter to the Community Reflects Health of the Task Force
Marian Breckenridge
Bob Ward, a life-long human rights advocate, died an untimely death a year ago, leaving a huge vacuum in the human rights field where his life and energy had been. Bob was a retired professor of African-American history.
He provided this task force with an abundant, dependable reservoir of information, book reports, articles, references and ideas for teaching and promoting diversity in our community and beyond. Building on the energy that he bequeathed us, the task force voted to establish the Bob Ward Memorial Fund for Human Rights Literature.
The fund was deed with $250 in donations. Very shortly, you will be receiving a solicitation letter asking you to contribute to this fund. The letter will include a list of suggested materials that we hope to purchase.
While the general public and we have no decision making power as to what is purchased by the local public library, it is our hope and expectation that they will absorb our collection into their own and continue to build resources in the human rights field. The library is very responsive to this community's wishes and very dedicated to diversity.
We intend to expand these resources and to make them available to the community. As books, magazine, videos and tapes are acquired, we will list them in this newsletter so that you may see how your contributions have been spent.
So watch for our letter. It will be coming soon!


May, 2000
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