The Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region is proud to have 10 high school juniors as Gerald M. Quiat Delegates to ADL’s National Youth Leadership Mission. This diverse group of students from across Colorado participates in a year-long program that included a trip to Washington, D.C. this past November. Delegates joined with an incredibly diverse group of students from around the country of every race, religion, ethnicity, class and ability to create the next generation of change agents.
While in Washington, the students spent a day at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They learned about the horrors of the Holocaust and were able to take those lessons and apply them to current issues.
On January 12th, the Gerald M. Quiat Delegates gathered in the ADL offices before a crowd of friends, family and ADL Board members and staff to share their personal reflections from the three-day trip to Washington, D.C. The students shared poems, spoken word flows, drawings, newspaper articles, videos and ceramic masks they created as unique vehicles to share their personal journeys.
Generous contributions from the family of Gerald Quiat made the powerful trip to Washington, D.C. possible for the students from the Mountain States Region.
Please read a few excerpts from the journeys of these remarkable students:
“A main theme in the museum is written all over the marble walls: never forget. But how do we pass this on to the next generation? How do we grapple with the intensity of human hatred and fear? There is no easy answer, no formula or lesson plan that can ensure that the Holocaust never happens again. But with any issue, we must approach tragedy with empathy, putting ourselves in the shoes of the victims, the bystanders, and even the perpetrators. We must take the bodies out of the pile and come face to face with their humanity and our own, no matter how it rips us apart.”
– C. Henderson, George Washington High School
“I was forced to recognize that there will always be wicked people in the world, but that instead of letting that knowledge deter our efforts towards social justice, we must instead make sure that they don’t get control, and we must ensure that we do not let their opinions get the better of us. I believe that if we can stand up for ourselves and let our words ring loud, there’s nothing that can stop us.”
– J. Rohn, George Washington High School
“No matter where you are when you hear or read this – whether you’re in a plane or on a train, or a boat, with a goat, under water, or with your father – just keep in mind that your mind is like a
parachute – it only works if it’s open…
See, kindness is associated with happiness because without projecting happiness from within ourselves onto the world which we depend on, we can never be happy. By doing so is an act of kindness and
can only make us more happy.
Parallel to that nature is my experience on the National Youth Leadership Mission to Washington D.C. in the November of 2015.”
– From “Just a lil’ Different” by R. Marmolejo Daher, East High School
“This was the trip of a lifetime. It is valuable for anyone to go on, and it changed me for the better. Going to D.C. I was nervous about leaving, but afterwards, I wasn’t prepared to leave.”
– B. James, Grandview High School
When you entered this part of the museum, the walls were covered with photos. From the ceiling to the floor, there was no space unoccupied. …I couldn’t help but stop and look at the pictures of families that resembled mine. Photos of huge families gathered around the dinner table. Photos of sisters dressed up and happy. Photos of mothers and sons. Fathers and daughters. Photos and photos. Each of which have their own story waiting to be told. And that is why I am here. I am here to tell their story. To tell of their loss and their pain. Something I will never come to understand, but hope to. I am here to make a difference, if it be small or big. I am here to not be a bystander anymore. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” I am here to let my voice be heard for those who are gone and cannot speak for themselves. I am here to fight for the things that matter.
– T. Fifita, Vista PEAK Preparatory