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SOME STORIES MUST BE HEARD
Over time in the history of a people their recollections tend to become a little fuzzy…their memories a little blurred…which is why when we teach history every story must be heard.
What if you’re peacefully living in your house…life is wonderful as you perceive it…and one day someone says I want your house and your land…you’re going to have to leave it.
What if you say, “NO”…what if you fight to keep your land and the house you’re living in…what if you are called a savage…and what if it’s a fight you cannot win.
What if they move you to a place where the land is barren and dry…and what if their diseases, the war and the difficulty of your move cause many of you to die.
What if the government came to those of you still living…and without giving you a say…callously…without warning…took your children…took the future of your family away.
Far away to a school where they cut their beautiful hair…where they forbade them speak their beautiful language…where they were frightened and confused…where they tried to extinguish who they were…where they were beaten and abused.
What if you never saw your children again…never knowing what happened…never knowing if they survived…wondering if your children were some of those in that far away school who died,
What if these stories are lost to history because as a general rule you won’t find them in our history books…or being taught within our schools.
Because there are people who don’t want this history taught…who would rather these pages of history remain black…who do not care if you ever get your culture or your language back.
But you know if all lives truly matter you must be brave…you must be bold…and these stories no matter how horrific they are to hear…are stories that must be told.
They must be taught and discussed in homes and schools…for isn’t it absurd…to think we could evolve as humans…as a people…without these stories being heard.
