Raised in New York City’s Upper West Side, Dr. Matt Daniels was impacted by the inner-city violence that was going on around him.
As he went to law school and beyond, he never forgot what he saw growing up, which has led to a calling on his life to champion universal human rights. He has done so on an international scale through his academic programs, including Good of All, which he created on the foundation of promoting Dr. King’s principles respecting human dignity and universal rights.
Dr. Daniels, Distinguished University Professor of Law, Political Science & Human Rights at Anderson University, has developed a new curriculum that celebrates the God-given fundamental right of human dignity and is endorsed by Ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young.
Titled Civil Rights: A Global Perspective, this curriculum is being offered under the umbrella of Share the Dream South Carolina, an initiative whose central idea is to celebrate the value of human dignity regardless of race, religion or political ideology, and aims to inspire students through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s enduring message of hope, non-violence and unity.
With the support of education leaders in South Carolina, including South Carolina Education Superintendent Dr. Ellen Weaver, the curriculum is gaining momentum.
During his years of studying counterterrorism in Washington, D.C., Dr. Daniels intensively researched the logic behind evil and concluded that terrorist acts follow a script he calls “the three D’s—demonize, dehumanize and destroy.” This, he contends, has been practiced by Marxists and fascists as well as other radicalized individuals and groups who exploit differences of race, social class, and tribal differences to advance their dark cause.
“A year before the pandemic, I got an unmistakable call from the Lord. It became very clear to me that if our nation were to collapse in my lifetime or the lifetime of my children, it probably would not be because of the forces that we were seeking to disrupt overseas, it would be because we would collapse from within,” said Dr. Daniels, who realized “the three Ds” were coming to the home front.
Dr. Daniels believes that promoting human dignity, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sought to do, has the power to shape hearts and minds early in life, serving as sort of a preventative vaccine, in contrast to constantly escalating spending on anti-terrorism efforts, which he says focuses on the symptoms alone.
“It’s counterintuitive, but it works, because it has the unique power to break the cycle of darkness,” said Dr. Daniels, citing the nearly bloodless overthrow of the Soviet Union in recent history. “That’s why I have hope for South Carolina and the country. And I’m excited and encouraged.”
Ambassador Young, who worked alongside Dr. King in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, praised Dr. Daniels for developing what he calls an innovative curriculum investing in future leaders, who, like Dr. King himself, “embody the unifying ideals of justice and compassion that were the driving engine of the Civil Rights movement in America.”
The curriculum, now available free of charge to South Carolina K-12 educators teaching U.S. History, was created in partnership with educational leaders across South Carolina and McGraw-Hill.
“We’re seeing a remarkable embrace and endorsement of our educational vision by South Carolina K12 leaders in both public and private sectors,” Dr. Daniels commented.
Dr. Oran Smith, senior fellow of Palmetto Promise and a vice chair on the board of trustees at Coastal Carolina University, praises Dr. Daniels for being able to transform complex ideas into impactful educational resources that reach learners across diverse contexts and age groups.
“Dr. Daniels is a rare world-class scholar and an accomplished practitioner of what he teaches,” said former South Carolina Governor and executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme David Beasley. “In South Carolina, I’ve watched his work unite leaders from across every sector—earning the support of Superintendent Ellen Weaver, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, and the South Carolina Independent School Association. His Ambassador Young Fellowship has brought together every HBCU in our state with multiple predominantly white Christian colleges—a rare and powerful model of reconciliation.”
“At a moment when our national discourse is too often marked by division and even violence, Dr. Daniels has devoted himself to teaching young people how to disagree without contempt and to pursue reconciliation without surrendering conviction,” said Robert T Braciszewski, executive director of the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA). “He has had both the courage and the wisdom to present our state’s complicated history fully, holding together its hardest truths and its greatest acts of forgiveness. That is rare and consequential work, and he carries it out with humility and integrity.”
Dr. Daniels added that the K12 curriculum is but one leg in a four-legged stool. The first leg is K12, followed by higher education, churches, and a corporate curriculum is currently under development.
Work is currently underway to someday provide opportunities for high school students taking courses in the curriculum to earn college-level credit at Anderson University.