Dear DCI Friends and Colleagues,
Our esteemed and beloved friend and DCI National Advisor, Dr. James E. Turner passed away last week. With respect and humility, we honor him as a renowned national and international scholar, pioneering educator and movement builder. With immense sadness and gratitude, we feel the loss of a leader and elder whose gracious presence, dignity, wry humor, kindness and generosity graced our community for over five decades.
He was not an academic who cloistered himself in the Ivory Tower; for example, he shared his deep knowledge and penetrating insight with hundreds of public school teachers and activists who were fortunate enough to take his hugely impactful course, Racism in American Society, co-taught with Don Barr. He and Dean Janice Turner showed up at so many community events and meetings, always willing to share wisdom, attention and support with all of us, on and off campus. Dr. Turner embodied the cultural wealth and wisdom of the African diaspora, and sharing the truth of our history, the integrity of his legacy has fostered generations of brilliant scholars, activists for justice, and stronger people.
Here are some resources and information about Dr. Turner’s legacy, shared by a national Black studies network.
James E. Turner Professor/Activist Africana Studies
Obituary
https://ibw21.org/commentary/vantage-point-articles/celebrating-the-life-and-legacy-of-dr-james-turner/
https://www.diverseeducation.com/print/content/15295337
https://moguldom.com/418054/africana-studies-pioneer-dr-james-turner-passes-away-black-america-remembers-him/
His voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooUGmj_nReo
https://www.ithacajournal.com/videos/news/2016/09/24/91042462/
https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_4jt48hc5/162402301
Interview
https://www.academia.edu/1492960/_Committed_to_Institution_Building_James_Turner_and_the_History_of_Africana_Studies_at_Cornell_University_an_Interview
Family comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4vVH59I6UQ
Cornell
https://africana.cornell.edu/james-turner
https://africana.cornell.edu/news/10-things-know-about-dr-james-turner-africana-studies-pioneer-cornell-university
Ithaca
https://www.ithaca.com/news/lasting-impact-james-and-janice-turner-have-made-their-mark-on-ithaca/article_b7f8db52-f45e-11e0-8920-001cc4c002e0.html
The Cornell Center he created
https://crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/7775
Images
https://tinyurl.com/9zkpsew9
Willard Straight Hall 50th Anniversary: Reflecting on the Legacy of James Turner and Black Student Activism 1969-2019
Dr. James Turner and Reclaiming African Studies (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-skXlcIGec8
Experiences working with James Turner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWLRpLdm794
Reflections from colleagues on his vision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPVA6r914ss
For generations, Indigenous persons, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, have been forced to mourn a missing or murdered loved one without the answers and support they deserve. On Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, we remember these victims and their families, and commit to working with Tribal Nations and Native communities to achieve justice and healing.
Read more….
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/04/a-proclamation-on-missing-or-murdered-indigenous-persons-awareness-day-2022/
Ending the ‘life of violence’: Raising awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
People of good conscience are struggling with what it means to be in right relationship, and what it takes to help bend the long arc toward justice. In these extraordinarily troubling times, these questions from Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois challenge us, whether in personal reflection, before we act, or in developing the moral compass and strategies of a movement for freedom, human rights and peace (dare we hope?).
Take the challenge.
From Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois:
♦ “How shall Integrity face Oppression?
♦ What shall Honesty do in the face of Deception?
♦ Decency in the face of Insult?
♦ Self-Defense before Blows?
♦ How shall Desert and Accomplishment meet Despising, Detraction, and Lies?
♦ What shall Virtue do to meet Brute Force?
“There are so many answers, and so contradictory; and such differences for those on the one hand who meet questions similar to this once a year or once a decade, and those who face them hourly and daily.”
-W.E.B. Du Bois The Ordeal of Mansart (Book 1 of The Black Flame trilogy)
| A new 10-minute rough cut of footage from the upcoming documentary, Move When the Spirit Says Move! is being screened at the film festival this weekend and there will be a discussion with the filmmakers and Dr. Clayborne Carson at 2pm Saturday. The short will only be viewable through Monday 1/17. |
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
What: Film Festival and Webinar
When: Jan 14 – Jan 17, 2022
All films available to watch Friday, Jan 14 through Monday, Jan 17.
Webinar: Friday, Jan 14; Saturday, Jan 15 – Monday, Jan 17, 10:00 AM – 5:00PM (all PST);
drop in at any time or stay for all!
Where: Zoom
Cost: FREE
The World House Documentary Film Festival
REGISTER to receive an email with a detailed program and instructions on watching the films and joining the webinar!
We look forward to celebrating with you!
Dr. Clayborne Carson
Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor, Emeritus
Director, The World House Project
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
If you wish to make a donation to The World House Project, please continue here.
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Representative John R. Lewis was a National Advisory to the Dorothy Cotton Institute.
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UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH
This Declaration was adopted on April 22, 2010 by the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, in Bolivia
PREAMBLE
We, the peoples and nations of Earth:
◊ considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;
◊ gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning and provides everything we need to live well;
◊ recognizing that the capitalist system and all forms of depredation, exploitation, abuse and contamination have caused great destruction, degradation and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk through phenomena such as climate change;
◊ convinced that in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;
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♦ affirming that to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings in her and that there are existing cultures, practices and laws that do so;
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♦ conscious of the urgency of taking decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that cause climate change and other threats to Mother Earth;
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♦ proclaim this Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and call on the General Assembly of the United Nation to adopt it, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations of the world, and to the end that every individual and institution takes responsibility for promoting through teaching, education, and consciousness raising, respect for the rights recognized in this Declaration and ensure through prompt and progressive measures and mechanisms, national and international, their universal and effective recognition and observance among all peoples and States in the world.
ARTICLE 1. MOTHER EARTH
(1) Mother Earth is a living being.
(2) Mother Earth is a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings.
(3) Each being is defined by its relationships as an integral part of Mother Earth.
(4) The inherent rights of Mother Earth are inalienable in that they arise from the same source as existence.
(5) Mother Earth and all beings are entitled to all the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as may be made between organic and inorganic beings, species, origin, use to human beings, or any other status.
(6) Just as human beings have human rights, all other beings also have rights which are specific to their species or kind and appropriate for their role and function within the communities within which they exist.
(7) The rights of each being are limited by the rights of other beings and any conflict between their rights must be resolved in a way that maintains the integrity, balance and health of Mother Earth.
ARTICLE 2. INHERENT RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH
(1) Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have the following inherent rights:
(a) the right to life and to exist;
(b) the right to be respected;
(c) the right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue its vital cycles and processes free from human disruptions;
(d) the right to maintain its identity and integrity as a distinct, self-regulating and interrelated being;
(e) the right to water as a source of life;
(f) the right to clean air;
(g) the right to integral health;
(h) the right to be free from contamination, pollution and toxic or radioactive waste;
(i) the right to not have its genetic structure modified or disrupted in a manner that threatens it integrity or vital and healthy functioning;
(j) the right to full and prompt restoration the violation of the rights recognized in this Declaration caused by human activities;
(2) Each being has the right to a place and to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning.
(3) Every being has the right to well-being and to live free from torture or cruel treatment by human beings.
ARTICLE 3. OBLIGATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS TO MOTHER EARTH
(1) Every human being is responsible for respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.
(2) Human beings, all States, and all public and private institutions must:
(a) act in accordance with the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;
(b) recognize and promote the full implementation and enforcement of the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;
(c) promote and participate in learning, analysis, interpretation and communication about how to live in harmony with Mother Earth in accordance with this Declaration;
(d) ensure that the pursuit of human wellbeing contributes to the well-being of Mother Earth, now and in the future;
(e) establish and apply effective norms and laws for the defense, protection and conservation of the rights of Mother Earth;
(f) respect, protect, conserve and where necessary, restore the integrity, of the vital ecological cycles, processes and balances of Mother Earth;
(g) guarantee that the damages caused by human violations of the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration are rectified and that those responsible are held accountable for restoring the integrity and health of Mother Earth;
(h) empower human beings and institutions to defend the rights of Mother Earth and of all beings;
(i) establish precautionary and restrictive measures to prevent human activities from causing species extinction, the destruction of ecosystems or the disruption of ecological cycles;
(j) guarantee peace and eliminate nuclear, chemical and biological weapons;
(k) promote and support practices of respect for Mother Earth and all beings, in accordance with their own cultures, traditions and customs;
(l) promote economic systems that are in harmony with Mother Earth and in accordance with the rights recognized in this Declaration.
ARTICLE 4. DEFINITIONS
(1) The term “being” includes ecosystems, natural communities, species and all other natural entities which exist as part of Mother Earth.
(2) Nothing in this Declaration restricts the recognition of other inherent rights of all beings or specified beings.
On Sunday, June 10, 2018, our founder and Distinguished Fellow, Dorothy F. Cotton passed away.
Ms. Cotton died peacefully at her residence, Kendal at Ithaca, with loved ones at her bedside. She was a remarkably courageous leader, an inspiring educator, a great spirit, and our dear friend.
New Roots Charter School is the first school in the United States to be certified as a Human Rights Friendly School by the Dorothy Cotton Institute (DCI) and Human Rights Educators USA (HRE USA) using criteria established by Amnesty International.
Principal Tina Nilsen-Hodges and founding members of the Students of Color Unity Club accepted the recognition on behalf at the school at the Dorothy Cotton Institute’s annual Gala at Cornell University on December 9, 2016.
New Roots has aligned its school environment, relationships, curriculum, and governance to Amnesty International’s rubric for human rights friendly schools with the support of the Dorothy Cotton Institute. “This process was a natural fit for New Roots, supporting our evolution into the type of school community we wanted to be,” said principal and founder Tina Nilsen-Hodges. “DCI gave us practical guidance for turning our values and vision into a lived reality day to day.”
A video about New Roots as a Human Rights Friendly School was featured at the National Summit on the Universal Periodic Review held in Washington, D.C. on December 1.
Dorothy Cotton with New Roots Charter School Students
Located in the historic Clinton House in downtown Ithaca, New Roots opened its doors in September 2009 as a tuition-free, regional public high school. Students from 20 area school districts have chosen to join the New Roots learning community. New Roots was chartered to provide students with a real-world, college preparatory education focusing on leadership for justice and ecological sustainability. This innovative small school immerses students in authentic experiences that support their development as community leaders and entrepreneurial thinkers ready to face the challenges of the 21st century.
