Not voting will do NOTHING other than allow hate-motivated votes for tea partiers to go unchallenged.

GET UP. GET OUT. GO VOTE!

Please visit Organizing for America to volunteer to help get out the vote by making phone calls and knocking on doors.

Whether or not you can commit to volunteering, PLEASE VOTE! Join the commit to vote campaign here.

According to the Week’s coordinators:

Ethnic Studies Week October 1-7, 2010 is a nationally coordinated week of actions to defend ethnic studies and academic freedom. It was inspired by opposition to the May 11 passage of HB 2281 in Arizona banning ethnic studies in the AZ public schools and the May 21 passage of new social studies standards by the influential Texas State Board of Education.

Check out Ethnic Studies Week’s Resource Page for all kinds of links to videos, reading material and action opportunities. Learn about HB 2281 and the new Texas Social Studies standards, download free educational materials from Teach Tolerance,  and watch Tolteka’s “Manifest Destiny to Manifest Insanity” video below:

“A person is powerful with precious knowledge in their thoughts. We have a right to learn so won’t you stop burning books.”

This is an important message that each of us has not only a responsibility to share, but an interest in sharing. Our educational system is crumbling and along with it students’ motivation to learn and our instructors’ freedom to teach to their students rather than to a test. We all have an interest in motivating students to go to class and receive a comprehensive education that is relevant to their lives and their cultural histories.

But make no mistake. Ethnic Studies Programs are not only about defending the rights of marginalized students. Ultimately, these programs are about injecting legitimate history into curricula that have been whitewashed and sculpted to fit the cultural biases and political aspirations of a few twisted politicians, like the drafters of Arizona’s HB 2281 and the Texas State Board of Education.

To learn more and get involved in the continued struggle for the defense of Ethnic Studies, please visit the Ethnic Studies Week website and join the Facebook page.