Chamber of Commerce | Not in Our Town

Chamber of Commerce

Here you will find materials used by other communities to stand up to hate in their town. You may download these materials and use them as inspiration in your own communities. Charleston and Wheeling, West Virginia   In 2010, Fred Phelps' Westboro hate group announced it would picket Catholic and Jewish institutions in the two towns, a local university, and a mine where more than a dozen miners had recently lost their lives. The community launched "West Virginia: No Place for Hate," a multi-pronged action campaign that was featured on NIOT.org.   The statement below was published as a full-page ad in two Charleston newspapers in the spring of 2010. The heart image appeared alongside the statement as a tear-out poster, which community members were encouraged to display on their windows that week, as a response to messages of hate and representation of the "power of love in [the] community." Meanwhile, the West Virginia "No Place for Hate" poster was designed, printed and distributed by the WV Chamber of Commerce.