The school board of miami-dade county, florida

African Americans have served bravely in the military since the American nation was created and even before! For example, an African American colonist named Crispus Attucks was one of four men killed by British soldiers while protesting English rule during the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. Attucks was the first person killed during what later became the American Revolution.

During the Civil War (1861-1865), many American leaders did not believe that African Americans should be allowed to serve as soldiers in the war against the Southern Confederacy. The official policy of banning African Americans from joining the Union (U.S.) Army changed after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln in 1863, thus making the Civil War a war to free the slaves.

The 54^th Massachusetts infantry unit of 1,100 African American men proved that African American soldiers were ready and able to join the fight! The regiment became famous for its fighting ability and for the great courage of its soldiers. Its story was told in the film Glory.

The regiment’s first success came on July 16, 1863, when they pushed back a Confederate attack on James Island, South Carolina. Two days later, in an attack on Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina, more than half the regiment was killed during the battle. For his bravery at Fort Wagner, Sgt. William H. Carney became the first African American to earn the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military award.

Eventually, 186,000 African Americans fought for their freedom in the Union army (and another 30,000 in the Union navy), winning fourteen Medals of Honor in the process. Units of the U.S. Colored Troops fought and distinguished themselves in a number of major battles during the war.

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier was the nickname given to members of the African American horse cavalry regiments of the U.S. Army who served from 1867 to 1896. The Buffalo Soldiers mainly served in the western United States and fought Indians on the frontier. The nickname was given to them by the Indians who respected their fighting abilities. Buffalo Soldiers also served during the Spanish-American War of 1898.

The Buffalo soldiers were noted for their courage and discipline. In almost 30 years of service in the U.S. military, the Buffalo Soldiers took part in almost 200 battles on the frontier. Fourteen Buffalo Soldiers were awarded Medals of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery.

During the time of the Buffalo Soldiers, only three African Americans graduated from West Point, the U.S. Military Academy. One of them, Charles Young (Class of 1884), remained the army's only African American officer until he was joined by Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., who received his commission as a second lieutenant in the regular army in 1901. Davis rose up the ranks, becoming a brigadier general in 1940.

At the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. returned to its practice of turning to African Americans when it needed more troops. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., to be the army's first black brigadier general, and opened the Army Air Corps to African American pilots, including Davis's son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

The Red Ball Express was a supply delivery system made up of mostly African American truck drivers and mechanics that brought important supplies to the American army in Europe during World War II. The 700-mile route – which was marked with red balls so the drivers could find their way – was dangerous for the drivers. Each day, nearly 6,000 trucks carried more than 12,000 tons of desperately needed supplies such as ammunition, food, and fuel to the battle lines. Without the Red Ball Express, the American army would not have been able to receive the supplies it needed to win the war in Europe.

During the Viet Nam War (1965-1979), more African Americans served in the U.S. military than in any previous war, with many serving in dangerous front-line combat positions, such as the infantry. Consequently, African Americans suffered a much higher casualty rate, especially early in the war. For example, in 1965 alone, African Americans represented almost 25 percent of those killed in action.

The Vietnam War saw many great accomplishments by many African Americans, including twenty who received the Medal of Honor for their actions. Despite the likelihood of seeing hazardous duty, African Americans also reenlisted at substantially higher rates than whites. By 1976, African Americans made up more than 15% of the entire armed forces of the United States.

Sources:

Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/

Name: _________________________________________________________________

1. 
   Who was Crispus Attucks and why is he important in U.S. history?
   

2. 
   When did the policy of banning African Americans from joining the Union (U.S.) army end? How did the Emancipation Proclamation help cause this change?
   

3. 
   The 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment helped prove that African Americans made good soldiers. Cite examples in the reading to prove that this is true.
   

4. 
   Who was Sgt. William H. Carney and why is he important in U.S. history?
   

5. 
   How many African Americans served in the Union army and navy during the Civil War?
   

6. 
   Who were the Buffalo Soldiers and where did they serve in the U.S. Army?
   

7. 
   How did the Buffalo Soldiers get their nickname?
   

8. 
   Identify Charles Young and Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. and explain why they are important in U.S. history.
   

(Middle School; continued)

9. 
   Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
   

10. 
    How did the successes of Tuskegee Airmen help change the armed forces after World War II?
    

11. 
    What was the Red Ball Express?
    

12. 
    What types of supplies did the Red Ball Express deliver and why was this important?
    

13. 
    Which of the four statements below are TRUE. Correct any FALSE statements in the space below.
    

______African Americans suffered very high casualty rates during the Viet Nam War.

______African Americans re-enlisted in the military at much higher rates than whites.

______African Americans made up more than 20% of the entire armed forces in 1976.

Corrected FALSE statements:

_______________________________________________________________________

1. 
   The students will cite examples of the distinguished military service provided by African Americans to the United States throughout the nation’s history.
   

2. 
   The students will cite historical examples of prejudice and discrimination faced by African Americans serving in the U.S. military.
   

3. 
   The students will determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms. (FS)
   

1. 
   Begin by asking students to react to the title of the lesson, “African Americans in the U.S. Military – Fighting Both the Enemy and Racial Discrimination.”
   

2. 
   To promote student interest in the lesson topic, show students images of African Americans in the U.S. military.
   

3. 
   Distribute copies of the reading entitled, “African Americans in the U.S. Military – Fighting Both the Enemy and Racial Discrimination” and the “Questions - African Americans in the U.S. Military – Fighting Both the Enemy and Racial Discrimination.” (both provided).
   

4. 
   Have students read and answer the questions. Review the answers as a class.
   

5. 
   As closure, re-ask students to summarize the title of the lesson – “African Americans in the U.S. Military – Fighting Both the Enemy and Racial Discrimination.” Also ask them to agree/disagree with the following statement from the reading:
   

1. 
   Read the article entitled, “Desegregating the U.S. Military – Executive Order 9981” provided in the Background section of this instructional resource guide.
   

2. 
   Using the timeline found in the Background section of this instructional resource guide entitled, “Timeline – African Americans in the U.S. Military,” have students complete the timeline worksheet found in the lesson entitled, “African American History Timeline.” When finished, have students share and discuss their findings with the class to determine if there is consensus on the most important events selected.
   

African Americans have a distinguished history of military service and have participated in all the wars of the United States. While military service has offered African Americans a means of economic, social, and political advancement, African American participation must also be understood in the context of the racial issues and obstacles that have shaped the participation of African Americans in the American military.

During the colonial period, the largest numbers of free African Americans were in the northern colonies. These colonies were much more willing to include African Americans in their militia than were the southern colonies, which held the majority of slaves. Still, some southern colonies used African Americans in labor units for militia expeditions or in cases of dire need, would arm slaves to fight in exchange for their freedom.

In the American Revolution, African Americans served with the New England “Minute Men” at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts and helped fire the “shot heard ’round the world.” Although African Americans had served in the colonial wars before the revolution and still served in northern militias, when the American Revolution began in 1775, they were at first not welcomed into the Continental army because of the influence of the slave states in the new national government. It was not until after November 1775, when the British started to recruit African Americans into their forces, that African Americans were officially allowed to join the Continental army. More than 5,000 Americans of African descent served in integrated units in the Continental forces. African Americans participated in many battles, including those of Bunker Hill, New York, Trenton, Princeton, Savannah, Monmouth and Yorktown.

Following the American Revolution, the U.S. Army was soon established and accepted African Americans. The U.S. Navy was created in 1798, accepting black sailors as it had during the revolution and continuing to do so throughout the nineteenth century. The smaller U.S. Marine Corps excluded African Americans from its inception in 1798 until 1942.

African American soldiers served in the War of 1812, but in 1820, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, responding to the complaints of Southern slave owners, banned any further enlistment by African Americans. As African American veterans left the military, the U.S. Army became exclusively white until the Civil War (1861-1865).

The Civil War, a conflict over slavery as well as the preservation of the Union (U.S.), also raised the issue of African American military service. The Southern Confederacy, which used African American slaves as the basic agricultural labor force and which feared slave rebellion, refused to recruit African Americans into their military until 1865. By then it was too late and the war was lost. In the North, the U.S. War Department in 1861 continued its policy of rejecting African American enlistment. However, in 1862 as slaves flocked to the Northern armies invading the South, some abolitionist (anti-slavery) Union generals began training slaves to fight. Official policy did not change until after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863 thus making the Civil War a war to free the slaves. Following the Emancipation, Northern states and the U.S. government began recruiting the eager freedmen into African American regiments with black noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and mostly white commissioned officers.

Eventually, 186,000 African Americans fought for their freedom in the Union army (and another 30,000 in the Union navy), winning fourteen Medals of Honor in the process. Units of the U.S. Colored Troops fought in a number of major battles, including the 54th Massachusetts Regiment's assault during the siege of Fort Wagner at Charleston and the attack of the black Fourth Division of the Ninth Corps at the Battle of the Crater in the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. Confederates often refused to take African American prisoners, and they killed a number of them at the Fort Pillow massacre in Tennessee. Although the African American soldiers were paid less than the whites, their wartime service and heroism were cited as one reason for giving African American men the vote during Reconstruction.

After the Civil War, there were African American militia units in the southern states until the end of Reconstruction, and in some northern cities well into the twentieth century. Congress added four black regiments to the regular army (the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry). These “Buffalo” Soldiers, as they were called by the Indians, served mainly in the West, but they also saw combat in the Spanish‐American War and Philippine insurrection, as well as in the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916. Most of their officers were white, like John J. Pershing. Only three African Americans graduated from West Point between1865–1898. One of them, Charles Young (Class of 1884), remained the army's only African American officer until he was joined by Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. receiving his commission in 1901, Davis was made a second lieutenant in the regular army. Davis rose up the ranks, becoming a brigadier general in 1940.

With the increased segregation, disfranchisement, and lynching of African Americans at the turn of the century, race became an issue in the U.S. mobilization for World War I. NAACP leader W. E. B. Du Bois urged African American men to join the military in order to regain the rights of citizenship and he helped obtain commissions for a few junior officers. The southern‐dominated Woodrow Wilson administration supported the army's insistence on continuing the practice of racially segregating units. Conscription (the draft) and volunteerism brought 380,000 African Americans into the wartime army, but 89 percent were assigned to labor units and only 11 percent to the two combat divisions.

Although the 93rd Division, which included the black National Guard units like the 369th New York (the “Harlem Hell Fighters”), distinguished itself fighting alongside French troops, after World War I ended, the War Department concluded that in future wars, African American soldiers should mainly serve as laborers. It cut back the one black regular regiment (the 25th Infantry) and excluded African Americans from new specialties like aviation. By 1940, there were only 5,000 African American soldiers (2 percent of the force) and five African American officers in the U.S. Army. The navy had been accepting fewer African Americans since its changeover from sail to steam power in the late 1800s (there were only 441 black sailors in 1934), and the Marines continued their policy of only accepting whites in the Corps.

At the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. returned to its practice of turning to African Americans when it needed more troops. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., to be the army's first black brigadier general, and opened the Army Air Corps to African American pilots, including Davis's son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Known as the Tuskegee airmen, these pilots were the first African American servicemen to serve as military aviators in the U.S. armed forces, flying with distinction during World War II. Though subject to racial discrimination both at home and abroad, the 996 pilots and more than 15,000 ground personnel who served with the all-black units flew 15,500 combat missions and earned over 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses for their bravery and service.

Most of the 900,000 African Americans who served in the armed forces in World War II were in segregated units, chiefly in the army (and including black women, who served in segregated units of the WACs and the Army and Navy Nurse Corps). However, wartime demands for increased numbers of military personnel, as well as the fight against Nazi racism contributed to some integration in the U.S. military. The Coast Guard began racial integration on shipboard, and the navy followed on some ships. Army units were segregated for most of the war, but beginning with the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, when the army suffered shortages of white infantrymen, some 4,500 men from black service units volunteered and formed black platoons in formerly all‐white combat companies. Although the Marine Corps accepted a few black recruits, it largely maintained its racial segregation. Following World War II, African American veterans, just like other veterans, benefited from the G.I. Bill.

Post World War II and Korea

In the post-World War II era, the armed forces initially sought to avoid integration, delaying even President Harry S. Truman's 1948 Executive Order 9981 to end to segregation in the military. Instead, the armed forces were directed to provide equal treatment and opportunity regardless of race. The U.S. Air Force, however, had moved toward integration in 1949 after achieving independent status as a branch of the military in 1947. Beginning in 1951, the reverses of the Korean War led to the end of all‐black units in the army and Marines, and moved all the services toward racial integration in the enlisted ranks for greater efficiency. Black and white service people now fought side by side, dined in the same mess hall, and slept in the same barracks. Nevertheless, the officer corps remained white, with black officers representing only 3 percent of the army's officers and 1 percent of the air force, navy, and Marine officer corps.

The war in Vietnam saw the highest proportion of African Americans ever to serve in an American war. During the height of the U.S. involvement, 1965–1969, African Americans, who formed 11 percent of the American population, made up 12.6 percent of the soldiers in Vietnam. The majority of these were in the infantry, and although authorities differ on the figures, the percentage of black combat fatalities in that period was a staggering 14.9 percent, a proportion that subsequently declined. Volunteers and draftees included many frustrated African Americans whose impatience with the war and the delays in racial progress in the United States made many question their service during the war.

The Nixon administration ended the Vietnam War and the draft in 1973, and the All‐Volunteer Force (AVF) soon included a disproportionate number of African Americans. By 1983, African Americans represented 33 percent of the army, 22 percent of the Marine Corps, 14 percent of the air force, and 12 percent of the navy. Black senior non-commissioned officers in the army increased from 14 percent in 1970 to 26 percent in 1980, and 31 percent in 1990. African Americans also increased in the officer corps; by 1983, the army had almost 10 percent, the air force 5 percent, the Marine Corps 4 percent, and the navy 3 percent. Black women were an important component of the influx of women into the AVF, beginning in the 1970s. By 1983, they comprised 17 percent of the army's officers and 20 percent of its enlisted women. For the air force, the figures were 11 and 20; the Marine Corps, 5 and 23; and the navy, 5 and 18 percent.

In 1977, Clifford Alexander was appointed the first black secretary of the army, and in 1989, Army Gen. Colin Powell was appointed the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the uniformed services. Powell oversaw the Persian Gulf War of 1991, in which 24 percent of the 500,000 U.S. service people deployed to the Middle East (30 percent of the soldiers) were African Americans. Significant percentages of African American troops also participated in peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.

The Gulf Wars and Afghanistan

In 1990, Iraq invaded the country of Kuwait causing the United States to enter into war with Iraq. Tensions between the U,S. and Iraq persisted after the war because Iraq refused to honor an agreement requiring inspectors from the United Nations to monitor Iraq’s military and weaponry. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the U.S. worried that the leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was assisting terrorists and secretly developing weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons and biological weapons. On March 20, 2003, President George W. Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq known as “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Within a few weeks, American forces, with the assistance of multinational forces from twenty-six countries including the United Kingdom and Australia, captured the capital city of Baghdad and eventually Hussein himself, who was tried and executed. For the next several years, different Islamic factions sought to wrestle power from the new Iraqi government. While the Iraq war officially ended on December 18, 2011, fighting continued with a second war in Afghanistan and the rise of the terrorist group, the Islamic State (ISIS).

While still involved in Iraq, the United States and its allies also launched “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. The war came in direct response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the terrorist actions of two groups, al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The war proved to be difficult with the terrorist groups setting up bases of operation in the mountains and rural areas of Afghanistan.

On May 2, 2011, United States forces found and killed Osama bin Laden who was hiding in Pakistan. He was directly responsible for the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The United States and NATO officially ended their operations in Afghanistan in 2014. U.S. troops still remain in the country assisting the government of Afghanistan and helping to fight terrorism.

As in all wars fought by the American military, African American soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors served with distinction and honor in these wars and continue to serve in the ongoing military efforts to fight world-wide terrorism.

Conclusion

The participation of African Americans of African in the U.S. military has a long and distinguished history. But although African Americans have participated in all American wars, they have often faced prejudice and discrimination. Nevertheless, particularly since the 1970s, the U.S. military has made a serious effort at racial integration, and while much remains to be done, the military has achieved a degree of success in this area that surpasses many civilian institutions.

Source: Adapted from Encyclopedia.com, http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/african-americans-military

Questions - African Americans in the U.S. Military – Fighting Both

the Enemy and Racial Discrimination (Senior High School)
Directions: Answer the following questions on your own notebook paper.

1. 
   Identify the following groups or individuals and describe why they are important to understanding the history of African Americans service in the U.S. military:
   

2. 
   Using the reading as a reference, describe 3 examples of African Americans serving with distinction in the armed forces of the U.S. despite facing the roadblocks of prejudice and discrimination.
   

3. 
   Study the following excerpts taken from the reading. Explain in separate paragraphs how each is important to understanding the military service of African Americans and the prejudice and discrimination often faced by African Americans serving in the military.
   

“In the North, the U.S. War Department in 1861 continued its policy of rejecting African American enlistment. However, in 1862 as slaves flocked to the Northern armies invading the South, some abolitionist (anti-slavery) Union generals began training slaves to fight. Official policy did not change until after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863 thus making the Civil War a war to free the slaves. Following the Emancipation, Northern states and the U.S. government began recruiting the eager freedmen into African American regiments with black noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and mostly white commissioned officers.

Eventually, 186,000 African Americans fought for their freedom in the Union army (and another 30,000 in the Union navy), winning fourteen Congressional Medals of Honor in the process.”

World War II

“…By 1940, there were only 5,000 African American soldiers (2 percent of the force) and five African American officers in the U.S. Army. The navy had been accepting fewer African Americans since its changeover from sail to steam power in the late 1800s (there were only 441 black sailors in 1934), and the Marines continued their policy of only accepting whites in the Corps.

At the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. returned to its practice of turning to African Americans when it needed more troops. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., to be the army's first black brigadier general, and opened the Army Air Corps to African American pilots, including Davis's

Questions - African Americans in the U.S. Military – Fighting Both

the Enemy and Racial Discrimination (Senior High School; continued)
son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Known as the Tuskegee airmen, these pilots were the first African American servicemen to serve as military aviators in the U.S. armed forces, flying with distinction during World War II. Though subject to racial discrimination both at home and abroad, the 996 pilots and more than 15,000 ground personnel who served with the all-black units flew 15,500 combat missions and earned over 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses for their bravery and service.

Most of the 900,000 African Americans who served in the armed forces in World War II were in segregated units, chiefly in the army (and including black women, who served in segregated units of the WACs and the Army and Navy Nurse Corps). However, wartime demands for increased numbers of military personnel, as well as the fight against Nazi racism contributed to some integration in the U.S. military…”

“In the post-World War II era, the armed forces initially sought to avoid integration, delaying even President Harry S. Truman's 1948 Executive Order 9981 to end to segregation in the military. Instead, the armed forces were directed to provide equal treatment and opportunity regardless of race. The U.S. Air Force, however, had moved toward integration in 1949 after achieving independent status as a branch of the military in 1947. Beginning in 1951, the reverses of the Korean War led to the end of all‐black units in the army and Marines, and moved all the services toward racial integration in the enlisted ranks for greater efficiency. Black and white service people now fought side by side, dined in the same mess hall, and slept in the same barracks. Nevertheless, the officer corps remained white, with black officers representing only 3 percent of the army's officers and 1 percent of the air force, navy, and Marine officer corps.”

“The war in Vietnam saw the highest proportion of African Americans ever to serve in an American war. During the height of the U.S. involvement, 1965–1969, African Americans, who formed 11 percent of the American population, made up 12.6 percent of the soldiers in Vietnam. The majority of these were in the infantry, and although authorities differ on the figures, the percentage of black combat fatalities in that period was a staggering 14.9 percent, a proportion that subsequently declined. Volunteers and draftees included many frustrated African Americans whose impatience with the war and the delays in racial progress in the United States made many question their service during the war.”

Create a poster illustrating the 2018 Black History Month theme, “African Americans in Times of War.”

Write an article for your school's newspaper about people who are leaders for social justice today. If there are no clear leaders, why don't you think there are? What qualities make up a leader? How is the social justice movement impacted by what is happening today?

Read speeches from the Civil Rights era, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Write a journal reflecting on King's vision and whether or not it seems to have been fulfilled. If so, how was this achieved? If not, what is still keeping this dream from being a reality?

Using online resources, examine and gather photographs from newspapers and news magazines to create a journal illustrating the struggle and importance of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Source: Adapted from Scholastic, http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/13-ways-celebrate-black-history-month

• 
  Begin the month by discussing the concept of “kindness” (being sympathetic, helpful, compassionate, benevolent, agreeable, and gentle toward people and other living things.) Continue the discussion with the following:
  

• 
  What does the slogan “Random Acts of Kindness” mean to you? Cite examples of kind acts.
  
• 
  Has anyone ever done something for you anonymously, without expecting something in return? Have you done the same? How did you feel when receiving and when providing acts of kindness?
  
• 
  Have you ever felt disappointed or cheated because you did something nice for another person, but he or she did not return the favor? If you expect to get something back, are you then performing a kind act or are you really trading favors for favors?
  

• 
  Discuss the acts of kindness listed below. Discuss: Have you ever done any of the acts listed? Would you consider doing them? Why or Why not? What simple acts of kindness can be added to the list?
  

• 
  Leave a small gift at the door of a family suffering severe illness, like cancer.
  
• 
  Pick out some place or object to improve. Clear out a vacant lot and plant trees and shrubs or offer to clean the house of an elderly or sick neighbor.
  
• 
  Write a note to a teacher, thanking him or her for her efforts.
  
• 
  Select a person in your neighborhood or class who is feeling down. Send that person a note or greeting card anonymously.
  
• 
  Apologize to someone, even if the other person is wrong.
  
• 
  Visit a retirement home or shelter and assist at mealtime.
  
• 
  Do a job like mowing the lawn or cleaning the house for someone who is having hard times.
  
• 
  Take another student to the library with you and help him or her get started on a school report.
  
• 
  Send a letter to someone (like a teacher or coach) who made a difference in your life.
  
• 
  Reverse roles. Do something for others who usually do something for you. Clean up the living room, make breakfast on Sunday, or do the laundry.
  

• 
  Perform at least five Random Acts of Kindness. In a journal, document the following for each random act of kindness.
  

• 
  What you did
  
• 
  How others felt about your kindness
  
• 
  How you felt about what you did
  

• 
  Have each student select a quote which best describes their feeling about doing acts of kindness. Have students explain why they picked the quote and why it reflects their feelings about kindness.
  

• 
  We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. -Winston Churchill
  
• 
  I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit. - John Kennedy
  
• 
  Our culture is at a critical cusp - a time that requires that we define what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. Within our nation we need to foster a greater sense of collective responsibility. - Robert Bellah (author)
  
• 
  For whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth…Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. - Chief Seattle
  
• 
  Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  
  • 
    Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” - Mark Twain
    
  • 
    To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
    
  • 
    “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.” - Confucious
    
  • 
    “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”  - Leo F. Buscaglia
    
  • 
    “Kindness is never wasted. If it has no effect on the recipient, at least it benefits the bestower.”  S. H. Simmons
    

• 
  Service Learning and Kindness - Feeding the hungry, donating presents to the poor, and performing errands for the elderly are all ways that people can donate time towards the community and demonstrate the importance of kindness. Here are some ideas.
  

• 
  Make regular visits to a local senior home or hospital.
  
• 
  Improve the school grounds.
  
• 
  Develop and maintain a recycling program at school.
  
• 
  Collect food, warm clothing, toys, or personal care items for the needy. Deliver the items to shelters year-round.
  
• 
  Collect unused make-up, perfume and other cosmetics for a center for abused women.
  
• 
  Make center pieces, holiday cards, birthday cards, and notes for assisted living facilities, children’s hospital wards, or meals on wheels.
  
• 
  Donate old eye glasses to an organization or place that recycles them for the needy.
  
• 
  Collect clothes and donate them to local charitable organizations.
  
• 
  Write letters of thanks to service men/women.
  
• 
  Put together care-packages for service men/women.  
  

Sources for Activities: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-project-ideas/367-high-school-kindness; http://www.kidactivities.net/category/random-acts-of-kindness.aspx

The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida adheres to a policy of nondiscrimination in employment and educational programs/activities and strives affirmatively to provide equal opportunity for all as required by: