Paul Sheridan is an active member of Not In Our Town from Charleston, WV. For many years, he was the head of the Civil Rights Division for the West Virginia Attorney General's Office, and has experience working for civil rights protection both in courts and at the community level.
In this piece, Sheridan describes his experience in Charleston's sister city, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, and the work being done there to combat a reemergence of hatred and intolerance toward minorities.
Blog
September 23, 2014 - 3:00pm
This clip from Fox2 St. Louis features a September concert organized by soul singer Brian Owens in the parking lot of his Ferguson church. He hoped the musical event would help Ferguson heal and inspire adults to get involved in the lives of young people.
According to Fox2:
Owens worships at the Ferguson Heights Church of Christ and felt compelled to help Ferguson heal. “I hope that everyone will take what happened to heart, put their feet to the ground, put their hands to the plow and really get involved,” said Owens.
The Heal Ferguson Concert was a call for peace and unity. One performer, Nao Yoshioka, traveled all the way from Japan. Member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra also performed. Owens was moved by a diverse turnout. He said it’s an example of the power of music.
The concert highlighted the Ferguson Youth Initiative. The program provides mentoring for youth. It also provides incentives for youth to complete the program.
September 22, 2014 - 11:25am
Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead is the story of how Meeink went from being a violent Neo-Nazi leader and recruiter to a civil rights activist and upstander against hate and intolerance. His story proves that tolerance can be learned at any time, even in the most unlikely circumstances.
As a Jewish-American woman, curiosity about the Neo-Nazi movement sparked my interest in Meeink’s story. I could not wrap my head around the fact that such violent hate for another group of people still exists, even after the atrocities of the Holocaust and other genocides. Meeink’s individual story, along with stories I have been exposed to while interning at Not In Our Town, have provided me with a better understanding of where this hate comes from.
September 19, 2014 - 11:00am
Twenty-one years after white supremacists threw a brick through her son’s window displaying a Hanukkah menorah, Tammie Schnitzer is sharing her story that helped start an anti-hate movement at the Greenbriar Ballroom in Monroe Township, NJ this Sunday Sept. 21.
Above: Schnitzer in 2008, during a march and service recognizing
hate crimes. Source. Below: Schnitzer with her son in 1993, from our
film, Not In Our Town.
September 15, 2014 - 10:26am
The Marshalltown, IA City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting the local Not In Our Town group’s prevention work around bullying and intolerance, a key commitment in the group’s efforts to become a Not In Our Town Gold Star City.