New York, NY – March 2, 2025 – Today ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) honored Farah Pandith, former diplomat and world-renowned foreign policy strategist, with the prestigious Daniel Pearl Award at the 2025 National Leadership Summit. Pandith, whose work in countering violent extremism has garnered global recognition, was honored for her significant contributions to promoting peace, understanding, and resilience against hatred and intolerance. The ADL Daniel Pearl Award was…
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New York, NY, February 22, 2024 – ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today announced the distinguished honorees for the upcoming ADL National Home Furnishings Industry Awards Tribute Dinner, scheduled to take place at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City on June 20, 2024. This annual event pays tribute to individuals whose outstanding leadership, unwavering dedication and profound commitment to their respective industries and communities exemplify the essence of the ADL and the core…
Tips and guidance for helping K-12 schools encourage students to become civically engaged, provide safety and protection for all students, and adhere to students’ First Amendment rights.
Teach students about disability rights activist Judy Heumann and what work in schools and communities still remains.
Teach students about Bellen Woodard, how she became a "crayon activist," and how they can change something they think is unjust.
Olivia Julianna (who uses only her first and middle name publicly to protect her privacy) has been an activist for several years, advocating voting rights and reproductive-health care. Like many in her generation, she found the political side of TikTok where young people post about important issues facing them. Olivia is involved with Gen-Z for Change, a nonprofit organization leveraging social media to promote civil discourse and political action on a variety of topics including…
New York, NY, June 24, 2022 ... ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) is stunned by today’s Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturns the longstanding precedent set by Roe v. Wade affirming the constitutional right to abortion.
ADL joined 72 other organizations in an amicus brief urging that Mississippi’s anti-abortion law be found unconstitutional as a violation of fundamental liberty and equal protection rights.
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A common hand gesture that a 4chan trolling campaign claimed in 2017 had been appropriated as a symbol meaning "white power." Used by many on the right--not just extremists--for the purpose of trolling liberals, the symbol eventually came to be used by actual white supremacists as well. Caution must be used in evaluating instances of this symbol's use.
April is National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month provides an opportunity for many schools and classrooms to dedicate time to the study of reading and writing poetry.
Poetry uses vivid and descriptive language, beautiful imagery, unique sounds and rhythms, and diverse voices. It often evokes an emotional and empathetic response and can open doors to people and worlds for which we are unfamiliar. It can touch hearts and minds and motivate action and societal…
Civics Lesson
GRADE LEVEL: High School How Were Youth Involved in the Civil Rights Movement?
Throughout history, young people have stepped up and into leadership roles during different civil rights and social movements. This was never more evident than in the Civil Rights Movement, where young people were on the frontlines of the Montgomery bus boycotts, Freedom Rides and sit-ins. Given that student activism is on the rise again across the U.S., understanding how those young voices…
White supremacists, primarily on the West Coast, may use a two-handed hand sign consisting of one hand showing or flashing two fingers and the other hand showing or flashing three fingers. Together, they signify the number 23, a numeric symbol for W ("White"). This itself is often shorthand for the numeric symbol 23/16, which stands for "White Power." Additional Images:
The number 33 is used by Ku Klux Klan adherents to signify the Ku Klux Klan. Since the 11th letter of the alphabet is K, three Ks signify "KKK" or the Ku Klux Klan. When using this reference, Klan members will frequently add the number 6 at the end, as in 33/6, because they think the Klan is currently in its sixth historical "era." Less commonly, some holdouts may still use the numeric code 33/5. Additional Images:
One of the most popular white supremacist symbols is the numeric symbol 88, which stands for "Heil Hitler" (substituting letters for numbers, 88 means HH, i.e., "Heil Hitler"). It is thus not surprising that white supremacists occasionally attempt to display 88 as a hand sign. It is not a very common white supremacist hand sign, probably because it involves some dexterity and effort. Additional Images:
AKIA is Ku Klux Klan shorthand for "A Klansman I Am." It is related to another Klan acronym, AYAK ("Are You A Klansman?"). These are among the many acronyms developed by the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in 1915. Although the Second Ku Klux Klan did not survive, much of its terminology and many of its rituals did, and later Klan groups freely used them. Additional Images:
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), a large and violent racist prison gang, uses a hand symbol consisting of a raised index finger and raised ring and little fingers (or the reverse), signifying the numbers 1 and 2. Substituting letters for numbers 1 and 2 stand for A and B, or Aryan Brotherhood. Sometimes ABT members may use a two-handed variation in which one hand "throws up" one digit and the other hand (belonging to the same or a different person) "throws up" two digits, again signifying…
The Aryan Circle is one of the largest white supremacist prison gangs in the United States. Its primary hand sign consists of holding up the thumb and the middle, ring, and little fingers of one hand, signifying the numbers 1 and 3 (which stand for AC). One can also hold up the little finger and the middle and index fingers, plus the thumb.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the SkyThe largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee is Aryan Nations (a different group than the neo-Nazi group of the same name). Aryan Nations gang members use a hand sign they sometimes refer to as "bolts up" or "bolts to the sky," consisting of forming the hand into a pistol shape and pointing it upwards or outwards. Additional Images:
ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the Sky
Read more about Aryan Nations (hand sign - Tennessee prison gang)
AYAK is Ku Klux Klan shorthand for "Are You A Klansman?" It is related to another Klan acronym, AKIA ("A Klansman I Am"). These are among the many acronyms developed by the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in 1915. Although the Second Ku Klux Klan did not survive, much of its terminology and many of its rituals did, and later Klan groups have freely used them. Additional Images:
ALTERNATE NAMES: Ku Klux Klan, MIOAKGroup Status: Active (in that there are many active Ku Klux Klan groups)
For the past century, the primary symbol related to Ku Klux Klan groups (other than Klan robes themselves) is what Klan members may call the MIOAK (an acronym for "Mystic Insignia of a Klansman"). It is more commonly referred to as the "Blood Drop" Cross. It appears as a square white cross in black outline against a circular red background. In the middle of the cross is what appears…
ALTERNATE NAMES: Ku Klux Klan, MIOAK
Read more about Blood Drop Cross
The image of the burning cross is one of the most potent hate symbols in the United States, popularized as a terror image by the Ku Klux Klan since the early 1900s. Cross-burnings (called "cross-lightings" by Ku Klux Klan groups, to make it seem as if they are not destroying a Christian cross) have long been used as a traditional symbol by Klan groups, used both in Klan rituals as well as in attempts to intimidate and terrorize victims of Klan groups. So widely associated with racial…