After Ku Klux Klan flyers blanket an Indiana University campus neighborhood, Rabbi Sue Silberberg leads Bloomington United as they plan a community response.
This is a DVD extra from the PBS program, Not In Our Town: Class Actions. For more information on the film, visit niot.org/ClassActions
Hate Crime
Schools and college campuses are screening Not In Our Town: Class Actions across the country. Here we will compile ideas on how to use this PBS program in your classroom.
Thanks to Newcomers High School (Long Island City, NY) teacher Julie Mann and Lakewood High School (Lakewood, OH) teacher Joe Lobozzo for preparing these comprehensive materials.
Pre-Screening Activities
Part 1: Mississippi
Part 2: Indiana
Part 3: California
Post-Screening Activities
How have you used Class Actions on your school or campus? Let us know and we'll share your lesson plan here at NotInOurSchool.org to share with other educators.
Find previews and information about Class Actions at niot.org/ClassActions
Written by: Julie Mann, Newcomers High School teacher, and Joe Lobozzo, Lakewood High School teacher
Vocabulary:
Hate crime
Anti-semitism
Hanukah
Menorah
Rabbi
Questions:
How does one hate crime affect an entire community?
What strategies did Bloomington United use to fight against the hate crime?
When the rabbi was given a ball at the school basketball game, what message did that send to hate groups?
What can we learn from Bloomington United?
What risks do people in this part of the film take by acting? Why is it worth it for them to take those risks?
This trailer features scenes from the Not In Our Town PBS special about how a community responds to the hate crime murder of an Ecuadorean immigrant by seven local high school students. (3 min 48 sec)
Not In Our Town: Light In The Darkness follows a community in crisis after the fatal attack of a local immigrant resident. Stunned by the violence, diverse community stakeholders openly confront the crime and the divisive atmosphere, and commit to ongoing actions to prevent future hate crimes and intolerance.
Educators can utilize the full length (60 minute) or condensed (27 minute) versions in their classroom.
After a series of anti-immigrant attacks by local teenagers ended with the hate crime killing of local immigrant Marcelo Lucero, art students at Patchogue-Medford High School wanted to do something positive for the Lucero family and spread a message of peace. Over the course of a year, students gathered after school to create We Are All United: No One Walks Alone, a mosaic dedicated to Marcelo Lucero.
The students of Newcomers High, a school for newly arrived immigrants, reached out to Joselo Lucero with letters of sympathy when his brother Marcelo was killed in 2008. Two years later, Joselo visits the school to speak to the students about what he learned from the loss of his brother, his experiences as an immigrant, and the difficult process of forgiveness.
From Facing History teacher Julie Mann, who is screening the full-length documentary Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness with her students at Newcomers High School in Queens, NY.
There are two documents. The first begins discussion using several short clips available on NIOT.org: the Light in the Darkness trailer, Joselo's Journey Part 1, Raising the Curtain on Unity and Embracing Differences, all of which can be found here.
The second document provides discussion questions for small groups after screening the full-length film.
This lesson is part of the Not In Our School Video Action Kit, a comprehensive toolkit featuring films, lessons, and resources designed to motivate students to speak out against bullying, and create new ways to make their schools safe for everyone.
Palo Alto High School students urge their peers to take action in response to the school shooting of 15-year-old Oxnard, CA student Lawrence "Larry" King, who was perceived to be gay. Some of these students are members of the school's Gay and Straight Alliance (GSA) and also performers in the Palo Alto High production of "The Laramie Project," a play about Laramie, Wyoming's response to the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. (2:56)
As large scale protests across the country highlight the racial injustice that continues to plague the country, Dr. Martin Luther King's dream for justice, equality and non-violence provides an urgent call for reflection and action this year.
Every January, Not In Our Town honors Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy by sharing the real life stories of people who are applying Dr. King’s principles today. Though the political landscape has changed since the Civil Rights era, his dream that the United States would fulfill its promise of equality has yet to become reality. But Dr. King’s work proves that change is indeed possible in this country.
The communities in Embracing the Dream: Lessons from the Not In Our Town Movement are living proof of that—town by town, school by school, they demonstrate that change is happening. Watch their stories below.
What will you do this Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Monday, January 18th - to Embrace the Dream?
Not In Our Town provides Three Simple Action Steps
1) Take the Pledge to Stop Hate and Bullying