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A Student Reflects On a Peer's Murder and His Community's ResponseBy Jeff Bryant I was a senior in high school and had just moved to Newark, California, when the community was rocked by an act so hateful that it captured national attention. Gwen Araujo, a local transgender teen, was tragically killed by a group of young men. Before her body was discovered in the Sierra Mountains in a shallow grave, Gwen had been beaten and strangled to death...
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A Rabbi Reflects on the Power of Faith Communities in the Fight Against Hate
By Rabbi Brad L. Bloom M.S. W., D.D.
Editor’s Note: Rabbi Brad Bloom was the Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel in Sacramento, California, when in 1999 arsonists attacked the synagogue, as well as two other area synagogues. The fires destroyed thousands of books and historic Holocaust documents, and B'nai Israel, with nearly $1 million in damages,...
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How Twin Cities in Illinois Adopted Not In Our Town By Mike Matejka, Bloomington-Normal Not In Our TownAfter Billings, Montana, perhaps no other community has the Not In Our Town history that the twin cities of Bloomington and Normal, Illinois have. Located half-way between Chicago and St. Louis in the fertile corn belt, Bloomington-Normal is a prosperous community, anchored by the national headquarters of State Farm Insurance and two...
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Lessons From Prince William County, VAQ & A with Illana Naylor, founding member of Unity in the Community in Prince William County, Virginia Editor’s Note: In response to a rash of hate crimes in her community, Illana Nayor reached out to her church, other faith communities and concerned citizens to form Unity in the Community in 1995. The group, based in Prince William County, VA, has remained active for nearly 15 years, and...
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An Advocate for Victims and Survivors of Violence Reflects on the Process of Recovery By Tina D’Elia When Gwen Araujo was tragically killed in an anti-transgender hate crime murder, I was working as the director of Hate Violence Survivor Program with Community United Against Violence (CUAV). Immediately following the devastating loss, in this role I connected with community groups like Community United Against Violence (CUAV)....
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Helping High Schoolers Take The Lead: Q & A with Noreen Likins, Principal of Gunn High School Editor’s note: For the past six years, the students and staff at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Calif. have been organizing workshops and activities against intolerance under the banner of Not In Our School week. Teachers, students and administrators came together Monday to kick off another week of discussions about safety, inclusion...
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