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.
Video Category: Hate Crimes
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.
This is the opening sequence for Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness, a powerful new documentary special about a town in New York standing together to take action after anti-immigrant violence devastates their community and thrusts them into the international media spotlight. The film will premiere on PBS on Sept. 21, 2011.
For more information, visit: http://www.niot.org/lightinthedarkness
After transgender teen Gwen Araujo is killed by local youth in the Silicon Valley suburb of Newark, the town's residents and civic leaders must acknowledge and deal with this brutal and preventable crime. Through their local high school production of The Laramie Project, the students and Newark residents begin to see parallels in their own community. This film is part of the hour-long Not In Our Town: Northern California special. Click here to purchase the DVD. Using Not In Our Town Northern California: When Hate Happens Here in the classroom? Download our free educator guide here.
In the aftermath of the fatal beating of José Sucuzhañay, members of Brooklyn's immigrant and LGBTQ communities came together to brainstorm hate crime prevention strategies.
Interfaith residents of Elk Grove, Calif. gathered on March 11 for a prayer vigil to honor two elderly Sikh community members who were gunned down early this month during their routine walk through the neighborhood. One of the victims in the shooting, 67-year-old Surinder Singh, suffered fatal wounds while his friend, 78-year-old Gurmej Atwal, remains in critical condition.
East Stockton Boulevard, a busy Elk Grove road was temporarily closed to traffic as residents of different ethnicities and religions lit candles and listened as a series of speakers, including the grandson and granddaughters of Singh, spoke solemnly about the tragic loss of their family member.
Many members of the community fear that the shootings were a hate-motivated crime and that the two might have been mistaken for people of Muslim faith. Just feet away from where the two were shot, Sikh and Muslim residents called for interfaith acceptance and respect.
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 20 - to Embrace the Dream?
Not In Our Town counters hate by producing media that connects and inspires people to create inclusive communities.
This video is a 4 minute excerpt from a 30-minute special we produced about communities uniting against hate. The full film can be found here.
To learn more about Not In Our Town, check out the rest of our website or contact info@theworkinggroup.org.
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/notinourtown
This is what the nation did not see on the evening news: a peaceful gathering of nearly 1000 people in downtown Oakland on July 8, 2010, following the involuntary manslaughter verdict of BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in the shooting death of Oscar Grant.
Executive Producer: Patrice O'NeillProducer: Adrienne CaloCamera: Anthony Lucero and Adam ChristyMusic courtesy: Turf Unity Music ProjectSpecial thanks to: Youth Radio reporter Pendarvis Harshaw. Learn more about Youth Radio at http://www.youthradio.org
After being set on fire, 15-year old Southern Missouri teen seeks justice. (5:22)