Each year at Hanukkah, Not In Our Town remembers its beginnings. More than 15 years ago, a year of racist violence came to a head one bitterly cold night when a brick was thrown through a six-year-old Jewish boy's bedroom window, where he had placed the family's Hanukkah menorah. The town rose as one to say, Not in Our Town, and a national movement was born.
That story was told in our first PBS film, Not In Our Town. Dozens followed, as our team traveled the country documenting the stories of community after community rising up against hate and prejudice with courage and persistence.
Blog
December 22, 2011 - 2:00pm
A woman attends the vigil honoring Marcelo Lucero. Featured in our film, Light in the Darkness, which premiered nationally on PBS in September.
At a moment when our country is deeply divided and facing financial stress and crisis, we need the narratives that can lead us away from blame and scapegoating toward the better angels of our nature.
We share stories about people like you who are willing to stand up for their neighbors. Our goal is to support the amazing force of people who stand up to hate and intolerance and work to create better, safer, more inclusive places for all of us to live together.
December 19, 2011 - 10:30am
“As I watched this documentary unfold I found myself riveted to the screen. It deals with social issues that I hold dear, specifically how central a community can be for making changes. It restored a feeling of optimism in me to see how a community coming together can turn a frightful act into a hopeful new beginning.” — Berenice Pliskin, Artist After viewing Farmingville, a 2004 PBS documentary about the hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers on Long Island, New York artist Berenice Pliskin felt moved to depict the town’s conflict as a vibrant painting.
December 14, 2011 - 3:36pm
One highly motivated and persistent person can help spark significant action in a community.
That's what Jesse Castaneda did in Silicon Valley. Because of his actions, key civic leaders in Santa Clara County renewed their commitment to prevent hate crimes. Since August 2011, Castaneda has been screening the film Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness with civic leaders, teachers and immigrant groups. While many leaders in the area have been aggressive about addressing hate crimes, the new film, and Jesse's persistence helped shed light on the dangers of anti immigrant violence, and encouraged people to come together to find new solutions.
Although the activist works full-time in health care, is chair of an immigration reform coalition, and is expecting his first child in a few months, Castaneda has found the time and energy to use the latest Not In Our Town film to help galvanize his community.
December 12, 2011 - 2:34pm
"I have always felt that immigrants’ stories are the story of our nation. Leaving home, family, culture, and country and then facing the unknown in hopes of a better life is a heroic act. These quest stories reveal our shared history and our humanity and they define us as a nation," writes Walter Gallacher.
Inspired by National Public Radio's Story Corps Project, Walter Gallacher took it upon himself to record the unique stories and lives of some of his fellow community members in the Roaring Fork Valley of western Colorado. While the backgrounds of his subjects are as diverse as the trials and triumphs that have filled their lives, each of the storytellers' accounts revisit a familiar theme--the journey of immigration to the United States.