Downloadable Content New
Speaking Truth: Watershed Moments in Global Leadership
Note for Educators:
To use this curriculum, begin by downloading the Base Module below. The Base Module provides an introduction and curriculum overview, and a set of common lessons designed to be used alongside each of the individual modules.
Next, download the individual modules (Module 1: John Lewis, Module 2: Malala Yousafzai, etc.). Each individual module includes additional lessons that are specific to the person being featured.
Additional resources are provided to accompany each module, including PowerPoint presentations, videos, and other tools. These must be downloaded separately from the modules themselves. Use them to enhance your teaching, or for your own reference and background learning.
Click on a module below to download the PDF.
Base Module: Speaking Truth – (Download PDF)
Module 1: The Honorable John Lewis, United States House of Representatives – (Download PDF) – (Watch Video)
Module 2: Malala Yousafzai – 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
(Download PDF) – (Download Girls Education PowerPoint)
Module 3: Ruth Messinger – President, American Jewish World Service (Download PDF)
Module 4: Mario Gonzalez – Legal Warrior for Native American Rights (Download PDF)
The following modules are coming soon. An email will go out to site members when each module is ready.
Module 5: Chico Mendes and Wangari Maathai
Module 6: Daniel Barenboim
Module 7: Thich Nhat Hanh
Additional modules will be posted here as they become available.
Additional Resources
Transformational Leadership Model: Mahatma Gandhi – (Download PDF)
Learn more about Speaking Truth: Watershed Moments in Global Leadership
Modules
Module 1 focuses on the example of Congressman John Lewis, who began fighting for equality as a young man during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and continues the struggle today.
This module is accompanied by a 20-minute documentary film that follows four young people as they participate in a pilgrimage to historic civil rights sites in Alabama with Congressman Lewis. We see the relationships that these students build across different faiths and backgrounds, and how their leadership skills for peace are broadened and deepened through the experience.
The Speaking Truth film was made by Melissa Mergner, a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and one of FFC’s first Youth Leadership Grant awardees, who was awarded a fellowship for the project.
Module 2: Malala Yousafzai, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, and the Girls Education
Malala Yousafzai was born in the Swat Valley of Pakistan and lived in the city of Mingora until she was 15 years old, when her life dramatically changed. Malala wrote of the beauty of the valley and of her people: “…the high snow-topped mountains, green waving felds and fresh blue rivers – and my heart smiles when it looks at the people of Swat.”
The Swat Valley is known for its unique place in Pakistan’s history – as it was once separate from the country – and because it was a destination for tourists. In 1997, the Taliban came to Swat with their interpretation of Shariat Ya Shahadat, Sharia law or Martyrdom. With them, they brought not just sweeping changes for the lives of the Malala and her community, but also years of violence.
(Download Malala Yousafzai PDF) – (Download Girls Education PowerPoint)
Module 3: Ruth W. Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
Ruth W. Messinger is the president and executive director of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development organization providing support to more than 200 grassroots social change projects in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
“Our mission statement says that we have a dual mission. The first part is the eradication of poverty, disease, and hunger, and the second is to educate the Jewish community about global social responsibility. Too often Jews are, or seem to be, focused on the Jewish community, and not on others in need…There were many Jewish organizations doing humanitarian or poverty work, but that was mostly within Jewish communities. There weren’t that many that had expanded the circle of obligation to the rest of the world.”
Module 4: Mario Gonzalez, Legal Warrior for Native American Rights
Mario Gonzalez has served as counsel to the Oglala Sioux Tribe and has worked tirelessly on Indian legal issues for decades. He has been instrumental in advocating for the Oglala Sioux (Lakota) people and their claim to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
In 1995, Mario Gonzalez was named the first recipient of the Distinguished Aboriginal Lawyer Achievement Award, given by the Native Law Centre of Canada, University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon. This is an international award given to leading attorneys around the world that support aboriginal rights. A centerpiece of his life has been his fight to protect and reclaim the Black Hills – the sacred heart of the life of the Sioux (Lakota) nation. That story is preserved in a book entitled The Politics of Hallowed Ground.
(Download Mario Gonzalez PDF) – (Download Gonzalez PowerPoint)
Additional Resources
Transformational Leadership Model: Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was a transformational leader who inspired millions. Gandhi was born into the merchant caste in India in 1869. He was a very shy child and found it difficult to speak to his teachers and classmates. Following Indian tradition, Gandhi had an arranged marriage when he was 13 years old. At age 18, Gandhi was labeled an outcast by local elders when he left to study law in England.When he was 24, Gandhi began his legal practice in South Africa. Gandhi witnessed prejudice against Indians and Africans while working in South Africa. In 1900, while fighting with the British int he Boer War, Gandhi began to see the futility of using violence to affect social change.
In the 1920s, Gandhi began fighting colonial rule by creating a movement of non-violent non-cooperation with the British. Gandhi included Indians of all faiths in his non-violent protests. “I have not been able to see any difference between the Sermon on the Mount and Bhagavad Gita… It’s the ‘Law of Love’ – the law of abandon as I would call it – in a scientific manner.”
Speaking Truth: Watershed Moments in Global Leadership
Click on a module below to download the PDF.
Main Module: Speaking Truth – (Download PDF)
Module 1: The Honorable John Lewis, United States House of Representatives – (Download PDF) – (Watch Video)
Module 2: Malala Yousafzai – 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
(Download PDF) – (Download PowerPoint)
Module 3: Ruth Messinger – President, American Jewish World Service (Download PDF)
Module 4: Mario Gonzalez – Legal Warrior for Native American Rights (Download PDF)
The following modules are coming soon. An email will go out to site members when each module is ready.
Module 5: Chico Mendes and Wangari Maathai
Module 6: Daniel Barenboim
Module 7: Thich Nhat Hanh
Additional modules will be posted here as they become available.
Additional Resources
Transformational Leadership Model: Mahatma Gandhi – (Download PDF)
Learn more about Speaking Truth: Watershed Moments in Global Leadership
Modules
Module 1: The Honorable John Lewis, United States House of Representatives
Module 1 focuses on the example of Congressman John Lewis, who began fighting for equality as a young man during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and continues the struggle today.
This module is accompanied by a 20-minute documentary film that follows four young people as they participate in a pilgrimage to historic civil rights sites in Alabama with Congressman Lewis. We see the relationships that these students build across different faiths and backgrounds, and how their leadership skills for peace are broadened and deepened through the experience.
The Speaking Truth film was made by Melissa Mergner, a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and one of FFC’s first Youth Leadership Grant awardees, who was awarded a fellowship for the project.
(Download John Lewis PDF) – (Watch Video)
Module 2: Malala Yousafzai, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, and the Girls Education
Malala Yousafzai was born in the Swat Valley of Pakistan and lived in the city of Mingora until she was 15 years old, when her life dramatically changed. Malala wrote of the beauty of the valley and of her people: “…the high snow-topped mountains, green waving felds and fresh blue rivers – and my heart smiles when it looks at the people of Swat.”
The Swat Valley is known for its unique place in Pakistan’s history – as it was once separate from the country – and because it was a destination for tourists. In 1997, the Taliban came to Swat with their interpretation of Shariat Ya Shahadat, Sharia law or Martyrdom. With them, they brought not just sweeping changes for the lives of the Malala and her community, but also years of violence.
(Download Malala Yousafzai PDF) – (Download Girls Education PowerPoint)
Module 3: Ruth W. Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
Ruth W. Messinger is the president and executive director of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development organization providing support to more than 200 grassroots social change projects in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
“Our mission statement says that we have a dual mission. The first part is the eradication of poverty, disease, and hunger, and the second is to educate the Jewish community about global social responsibility. Too often Jews are, or seem to be, focused on the Jewish community, and not on others in need…There were many Jewish organizations doing humanitarian or poverty work, but that was mostly within Jewish communities. There weren’t that many that had expanded the circle of obligation to the rest of the world.”
(Download Ruth W. Messinge PDF)
Module 4: Mario Gonzalez, Legal Warrior for Native American Rights
Mario Gonzalez has served as counsel to the Oglala Sioux Tribe and has worked tirelessly on Indian legal issues for decades. He has been instrumental in advocating for the Oglala Sioux (Lakota)people and their claim to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
In 1995, Mario Gonzalez was named the first recipient of the Distinguished Aboriginal Lawyer Achievement Award, given by the Native Law Centre of Canada, University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon. This is an international award given to leading attorneys around the world that support aboriginal rights. A centerpiece of his life has been his fight to protect and reclaim the Black Hills – the sacred heart of the life of the Sioux (Lakota) nation. That story is preserved in a book entitled The Politics of Hallowed Ground.
Additional Resources
Transformational Leadership Model: Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was a transformational leader who inspired millions. Gandhi was born into the merchant caste in India in 1869. He was a very shy child and found it difficult to speak to his teachers and classmates. Following Indian tradition, Gandhi had an arranged marriage when he was 13 years old. At age 18, Gandhi was labeled an outcast by local elders when he left to study law in England.When he was 24, Gandhi began his legal practice in South Africa. Gandhi witnessed prejudice against Indians and Africans while working in South Africa. In 1900, while fighting with the British inthe Boer War, Gandhi began to see the futility of using violence to affect social change.
Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and became a leader of the Indian National Congress, which advocated independence from the British. In the 1920s, Gandhi began fighting colonial rule by creating a movement of non-violent non-cooperation with the British. Gandhi included Indians of all faiths in his non-violent protests. “I have not been able to see any difference between the Sermon on the Mount and Bhagavad Gita… It’s the ‘Law of Love’ – the law of abandon as I would call it – in a scientific manner.”