After NIOT Billings Steering Committee Chair Eran Thompson returned home to Billings after taking part in last year’s NIOT Leadership Gathering, he went home with a renewed sense of mission: to revitalize the NIOT movement in the town where it all began.
Thompson, the lead organizer of Montana People’s Action, turned his inspiration into action, and worked with NIOT Billings and the Black Heritage Foundation to host a vibrant, energizing series of Not In Our Town events over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. The group invited Not In Our Town producers Patrice O’Neill and Rhian Miller to participate in and lead many of the week’s activities, including a Not In Our School Assembly at Laurel Middle School.
Celebration of the King Holiday has particular significance in Billings. The series of events chronicled in the Not in Our Town story began fifteen years ago when community members who gathered at a candlelight vigil to honor Dr. King discovered that their cars had been blanketed with KKK fliers.
This year’s NIOT week included an MLK-day bell-ringing ceremony led by Governor Brian Schweitzer and a candlelight vigil in sub-zero weather featuring speaker Tammie Schnitzer, a Billings resident who became a NIOT leader after her home was vandalized in 1993. Schnitzer, who now lives in South Carolina, encouraged Billings residents to keep standing together in the name of human rights. “Be brave, step forward and make a sound that encourages conversations, not accusations…” she told the Billings Gazette, “Move forward as a community that listens.”
And listen they did. The open and frank discussion at all the events made clear that the people of Billings are not willing to rest on their laurels. A half-day community meeting brought out stories of the everyday intolerance still facing Billings residents. A Muslim woman talked about the eggs that are regularly thrown at her house. A Tribal Leader shared that there are still Native American elders who are afraid to come to Billings. A lesbian mother of a bi-racial child described the names he has been called at school. These ongoing concerns encouraged NIOT leaders to make a commitment to sustained action.
As NIOT Billings commemorates their 15th anniversary, they’re also taking big steps towards becoming certified as a 501(c)3 organization. In April, the group created articles of incorporation and nominated nine people to serve on the NIOT Billings board of directors. They also plan to raise funds to host a national Not In Our Town conference in mid-2009, which they hope will draw civic leaders and activists from around the country.
“What happened here in Billings really changed our lives as filmmakers. We feel honored to carry this story forward. But most significantly, what people in Billings did has had an influence on our collective ability to stand up to hate, not just around the country, but around the world,” O’Neill said.
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