By Rachel EzrolLeaving home for Emory University, I expected to satisfy my pre-med requirements, study for the MCAT, apply to med school, and begin this cookie-cutter process once again as an admitted medical student four years later.
Blog
December 10, 2012 - 5:21pm
Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Photo by Jennell Jenney.
We could have never guessed a single story would launch a movement. Nearly 20 years ago, The Working Group sent a film crew to Billings, MT, to document a story about ordinary people who stood up for their neighbors when they were under attack by white supremacists.
December 8, 2012 - 12:15pm
Every Hanukkah, we are reminded of the incredible courage of those who stand up for their neighbors.
On one bitterly cold night, a brick was thrown through a 6-year-old Jewish boy's bedroom window, where he had placed the family's Hanukkah menorah. The anti-Semitic incident was one of several hateful acts in Billings, MT that year, including skinheads at an African-American church, racist hate messages on a Native-American woman's home, and the desecration of the Jewish cemetery. The community responded by saying, "Not In Our Town." In an act of solidarity, nearly 10,000 Billings residents hung paper menorahs in their windows.
This Hanukkah story is part of our origin story here at the Not In Our Town project. Today, please remember the Billings story with us.
Happy Holidays.
December 6, 2012 - 8:18pm
Two men pled guilty on Tuesday to federal hate crime charges stemming from a series of attacks on African-Americans in Jackson, MS last year, including the murder of James Craig Anderson, according to CNN.
William Kirk Montgomery, 23, and Jonathan Gaskamp, 20, were part of the group of young men responsible for Anderson’s violent death in June 2011. Montgomery was there the night that Darryl Dedmon, Jr. ran over Anderson with his truck after the group savagely beat the 49-year-old auto plant worker.
Though uninvolved in Anderson’s murder, Gaskamp had participated in other, similar attacks around Jackson with the group. Both Montgomery and Gaskamp pled guilty to federal hate crimes charges this week.
December 6, 2012 - 3:50pm
Lancaster, CA continues Not In Our School campaign into its 3rd year! The city of Lancaster, CA, where a segment of our PBS documentary Not In Our Town: Class Actions was filmed, is in their third year of a community-wide NIOS Campaign! Students, teachers, and board members all participated in the Nov. 13 city council meeting to sign a proclamation against bullying in schools, according to the Antelope Valley Times. They signed banners renewing their pledge against bullying and promised to be upstanders whenever they see bullying occur. We are excited to watch the campaign’s continued success Lancaster!