Three hundred students from 5 area schools attended the event at the Scottish Rite Center
Hundreds of students gathered in Oakland this week to watch their local NBA team, the Golden State Warriors, take a powerful stand against bullying with Not In Our Town.
Warriors point guard Shaun Livingston took the #NotOnOurGround pledge on stage, at an event co-hosted by Adobe (#IAmAWitness) and attended by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, saying "I pledge to stand up to all forms of hate, bigotry and bullying."
Afterwards, the young people reflected on how these words impacted them. One teen told ABC, "I'm definitely not gonna tolerate bullying if they're not tolerating bullying."
It was an inspiring event and the culmination of a months-long competition, which called on students to interpret our pledge through artistic presentations and performances. Livingston presented the grand prize of $1,500 to an amazing spoken word artist from Skyline High in Oakland - named Kristian - whose interpretation brought the house down. Other participating high schools included Galileo and Sala Burton from San Francisco, and McClymonds and Fremont High Schools in Oakland.
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| Civil rights and youth advocate Dr. Joseph Marshall encouraged students to speak up about bullying. Sana G and LadyJ from KMEL questioned Shaun and other panelists including NIOT's Patrice O'Neill, SF District Attorney George Gascon, Bully Project Founder Lee Hirsch and Adobe Creative Director John Caponi |
News coverage spread the anti bullying message, including reports on ABC7News the San Jose Mercury-News to KTVU-Fox, and the student attendees sparked further discussion across social media.
The Warriors also presented Not In Our Town with a check for $5,000 to continue this transformative campaign. Many thanks to the team and Adobe for fueling this movement! Now we need your help to build on this momentum.
Take the pledge today, and share it on Facebook. Forward this email to a friend. Help us build a movement of thousands united in standing against bullying, hate, and violence!
Learn more about how to get involved through your school, company, or community group: niot.org/notonourground
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