Not In Our Town hosted a National Leadership Gathering from June 20-22, 2014 in Billings, MT, the city that sparked the Not In Our Town movement 20 years ago. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock's kicked off the Gathering with a welcome speech. In total, the Gathering brought together leaders from 46 communities in 21 states. From mayors and police chiefs to community activists and educators, the room was full of over 200 people committed to making their towns and schools safe for their children and their neighbors.
Here you will find short films that you can use in your town, school, or department.
Across the country, students and teachers are sharing stories, joining together and taking action to create safe schools, free from stereotypes, intolerance, and hate. They're part of a movement called Not In Our School (NIOS).
In this video geared toward elementary schools, students from Grimmer Elementary School in Fremont, CA explore the impact of bullying and ways to be an upstander. Subtítulos están disponibles en español. Para utilizarlos, haga clic en "CC" ubicada en la parte inferior del video.
Each year, Facing History teacher Jane Wooster asks the students in her classes to take on a "social action" project of their own choosing. This year, several of the students have chosen to conduct a lunch-time demonstration to draw attention to the use of the word "illegal" to describe undocumented immigrants, and start a school-wide conversation about the way immigrants are perceived in their community.
People across the country talk about the importance of standing together to stop hate and build safe and inclusive communities for all. Hear their stories and why they're part of Not In Our Town.
As the Sikh community in Oak Creek, Wisconsin prepares for Sunday prayers, a deadly hate attack shatters their lives, but not their resilience. After six worshipers are killed by a white supremacist, the local community finds inspiration in the Sikh tradition of forgiveness and faith. Lieutenant Murphy, shot 15 times in the attack, joins the mayor and police chief as they forge new bonds with the Sikh community.
At Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, students are mapping their school to locate the spaces where bullying takes place. After identifying the "bully hotspots," including the cafeteria, media lab, and locker rooms, students created a flash freeze demonstration to raise awareness about bullying, and opened the conversation about how to create a safer school.
A Prosecutor’s Stand follows San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Victor Hwang as he brings hate crime charges against perpetrators who brutally attack a Mayan dishwasher, an African-American homeless man, and a transgender woman, Mia Tu Mutch. As prosecutors investigate the cases, the District Attorney’s office and local law enforcement uncover a skinhead network operating in the city.
Kansas City teens joined together to organize a walk in honor of those killed at the Jewish Community Center and Village Shalom on April 18.
Not In Our Town: A Bowling Green Legacy follows the actions of students working with administrators, law enforcement and community members to forge new bonds after racially charged actions shake their community. When racist tweets and “white power” graffiti leave students feeling threatened and unsafe, the campus and community of Bowling Green unite to take a stand against hate and join the national Not In Our Town movement.