Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force

Greetings from the Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force. Please join the Equity and Anti-Racism conversation at Hyde-Addison by emailing hyde.addison@k12.dc.gov and requesting to be added to the Task Force email list maintained by the school, joining us on Konstella, utilizing the resources here, and/or participating in the monthly Task Force virtual meeting at 4pm on the last Friday of every month. As parents, teachers and staff, we are interested in doing our part to promote equity and end racism in constructive, supportive ways.

The most translated document in the world is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, in the aftermath of the atrocities of the Second World War, “it set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.” This document is considered the basis for international human rights law, which is meant to provide protections for all people without distinction. But are human rights truly universal?

Critics argue that human rights treaties are established through a Western lens, discounting the Global South. This essentially establishes a two-tiered system that values the rights of certain groups over others, with the international community facing accusations of displaying a “double standard in who deserves to have their rights protected”. Minorities, the marginalized and disadvantaged tend to be the most vulnerable.

The World Bank described 2023 as “the year of inequality” and in April 2024 Amnesty International warned that the world is “spiraling through time, hurtling backwards past the 1948 promise of universal human rights.” The annual report accused the world’s most powerful governments, including Russia, China and the United States, of disregarding the rules enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, citing various wars and vast human rights violations globally. Unfortunately, the result is civilians paying the highest price when human rights take a backseat to a government's national interests.

So, as we deal with global inequality and many interconnected environmental and humanitarian crises, is it time to reimagine what universal human rights should look like? We’d love to hear the thoughts of the Hyde community, so please feel free to email them to the Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force at hyde.addison@k12.dc.gov, to be shared with the team and possibly the school community, in a future Equity and Anti-Racism Task Force newsletter.

The Student Support Team (SST) conducted a number of bullying prevention outreach efforts for the month of October. We helped to coordinate Blanket Bonanza and Penny Wars that were outreach efforts to foster Unity in the Community beyond the walls of Hyde Addison. We raised more than $1,400 which we was donated to SOME from Penny Wars and received over 85 blankets from Hyde families for those in need of warm blankets this winter season. Additionally, each student wrote or drew how they could bring Unity to the Hyde community as evidenced in our recent bulletin board.

The SST hosted a parent chat with the counselors to discuss peer conflict, conflict resolution skills and any concerns parents wanted to address with the support team. Staff also received a refresher on how to identify bullying and how to support students who are reporting incidents of bullying or maltreatment. Lastly, each class from K-5 received a direct bullying prevention lesson from the 3 Rs curriculum (Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum) to explicitly teach students about being an upstander, respecting others, and how to bring kindness to the school community.

Many Hyde families marked Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, from October 2-4th. One of the ways to observe the holiday is by eating apples and honey to signify a sweet new year ahead. Below are pictures of the Middleton family taking part in the festivities.

The winter season is a great opportunity for families to explore the diversity of holidays and cultural traditions that are celebrated in our community and in our world. This booklist by Hyde-Addison teachers includes beautiful stories about many different traditions and celebrations for all children to enjoy and learn from.

LAHMACUN

Celebrate diversity by cooking with your family and exploring global cuisines together! This month’s featured recipe is Lahmacun (pronounced Lahamajoun), a deliciously thin and crispy flatbread pizza popular in Turkey. This flavorful dish is topped with a savory mixture of minced meat, peppers, tomatoes, fresh herbs, and aromatic spices.

Yield: Serves 4 to 8 people

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

Dough

• 1/2 lb uncooked store-bought organic flatbread pizza dough

Toppings

• 1/2 sweet red pepper, cored and cut into chunks

• 1 shallot, halved

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1/2 oz fresh parsley leaves (some stem is fine)

• 7 oz ground lamb, ground beef, or veggie crumbles

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp ground allspice

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp Aleppo-style pepper

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 4 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 tbsp Greek extra virgin olive oil

• Lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to the middle.

2. Prepare the meat mixture. In the large bowl of a food processor, fitted with blade, add

red peppers, shallot, garlic, and parsley. Pulse a few times to chop. To the mixture, add

ground lamb (or beef). Season with spices and salt. Add tomato paste and extra virgin

olive oil. Now pulse again until well-combined (about 8 to 10 pulses.)

3. Prepare two large rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper (you’ll be using

these to bake the Lahmacun in batches.)

4. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal balls (about 2 oz each.) Working with one ball of

dough at a time, place on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out into as

thin as you can to a disk that’s about 8 or 9 inches in diameter.

5. Assemble Lahmacun. Place one flatbread disk on one of the prepared pans. Reshape as

needed. Spoon 3–4 tbsp topping onto dough and spread topping evenly to edges,

leaving a thin border.

6. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with the remaining dough.

7. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Serve Lahmacun hot or at room temperature.

Did your student celebrate any holidays or traditions related to their culture, race, or ethnicity this month? Please share any photos or videos related to your celebrations via email: hyde.addison@k12.dc.gov.