The California city of Manhattan Beach came together Friday night to support a local black family whose home was firebombed last week in an apparent hate crime.
Hundreds filled the town plaza with candles and chants of peace, sending a strong message to the suspected perpetrators that there is no place for hate in their city.
hate crime
While there was broad media coverage of the devastating hate crime killings of three people at Jewish centers in Overland Park, KS, the story of the powerful actions of local community members to respond to these crimes went largely unreported in the national media.
Young people take the lead in bringing people together
Four days after the attack, local teens led a candlelight vigil to remember the victims and affirm their sense of community. They were joined by more than 3,000 people of all backgrounds and ages.
Kansas City Public Television (KCPT) and Not In Our Town (NIOT) covered the teen vigil in this inspiring video, and are teaming up to follow community action in the aftermath of the attack.
The hate attack at Jewish Centers in Overland Park, Kansas
On April 13, 2014, the day before the Jewish holiday of Passover, an anti-Semitic gunman shot and killed two people at the Jewish Community Center then killed another at Village Shalom. The targets of hate were Jewish, but the victims—including 14-year-old Reat Underwood, his grandfather Dr. William Corporon, and Terri LaManno—happened to be Methodist and Catholic.
This story from our public television partner KCPT covers the interfaith vigil on April 17 in response to the Overland Park killings in Kansas City. Check here for more video updates.
by Patrice O'Neill, Executive Producer of Not In Our Town
Three people were shot to death on Sunday, April 13 by a known white supremacist who targeted the Jewish Community Center and a Jewish Retirement home in Overland Park, KS, just outside Kansas City, MO. Federal and local law enforcement officers have officially called the attack a hate crime.
Our hearts go out to the families of Reat Griffin Underwood, Dr. William Lewis Corporon, Terri LaManno and to members of the Jewish community in the Kansas City area and across the country.
Not In Our Town will be covering community response in the Kansas City area with Kansas City Public Television (KCPT).
Overwhelming support has poured in for Luke “Sasha” Fleischman, an agender high school student who was set on fire Monday night on an Oakland, CA bus.
Police arrested a 16-year-old Oakland student for the immolation, and announced on Thursday that he will be charged as an adult for a hate crime.
Sasha was wearing a skirt at the time of the attack, which friends and family fear may have been the reason Sasha was targeted. The teenage attacker later admitted that he did it because he was “homophobic,” according to lead police investigator Anwawn Jones. Sasha is currently a high school senior in Berkeley, CA.
In less than a day after the attack, supporters came forward to help Sasha, who sustained third-degree burns and will require massive skin grafting.
Update Nov. 14: Show Your Support in Oakland
Not In Our Town and Not In Our School will be joining the Rainbow Road march today at 5:30 p.m. We invite all to come forward and support a safe and inclusive community for all.
This weekend, our film crew will join the Oak Creek, WI community as they gather to remember those lost in the fatal shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Aug. 5, 2012. On Saturday, we will be at the Chardi Kala 6K Memorial Run: Walk: Turning Tragedy into Triumph. We join others at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for prayers and tributes to the departed souls on Sunday and for the community candlelight vigil on Monday.
As we depart for Wisconsin for the one-year anniversary, we leave you with this video poem from the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Please watch, share and remember. Please help us make this country safe and inclusive for all.
We Are Sikhs - a Poem from the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin from Amardeep Kaleka on Vimeo.
Community Rallies in Response to Attack on Gay Rights Activist
King Chavez High School Starts NIOS Campaign
Students at King Chavez High School in in San Diego, CA are ready to “break the silence” when it comes to bullying. A pack of diligent upstanders organized the school’s first anti-bullying conference June 1. Mara Mardrigal-Weiss of the San Diego County Office of Education was the keynote speaker.
According to the event Facebook page, students have been working tirelessly since summer 2012 to create workshops that address bullying issues adolescents face today. Their main goal was to bring awareness to the local community about the negative effects of bullying.
Not in Our School fully supports King Chavez High students’ ambition and passion. If you would like to start a NIOS campaign at your school, then check out our Not in Our School Campaign Quickstart Guide here! It is a great resource for potential upstanders to fight bullying.
Bossard Team Dons Turbans in Solidarity
FBI to track hate crimes against Sikhs, Hindus, and other groups
CREDIT: The Sikh Coalition
After prolonged campaigning by advocates for the Sikh-American community, the FBI announced this week that they would start monitoring hate crimes against Sikhs, Hindus, and other religious groups, as well as Arab-American and Middle-Eastern communities, according to The Washington Post. Harpreet Saini, whose mother was murdered at the mass shooting in Oak Creek, WI last year, said, “This is a step in the right direction to ensure that no one else will have to suffer what my brother and I suffered after losing our mother to a hate crime last August.”