Just months after he was elected as Mayor of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Mayor Steve Scaffidi was faced with the challenge of leading a town that had just experienced one of the deadliest hate crime attacks in recent history. His new book "Six Months In August" profiles a community in crisis from the perspective of Mayor Scaffidi. Patrice O'Neill, Executive Producer and Director of Not In Our Town's "Waking In Oak Creek" sits down with Mayor Scaffidi to discuss his newly released book.
Wisconsin
In March, we brought the inspiring story of Oak Creek, WI's unity in the aftermath of a hate crime to three Midwestern cities.
We returned to Oak Creek, WI to premiere our 30-minute documentary, Waking in Oak Creek, on March 13; traveled on March 25 to Bloomington-Normal, IL, a city that first sparked Not In Our Town activities in their community 18 years ago; and finally to executive producer Patrice O’Neill’s hometown of St. Louis, MO on March 27 for a screening and discussion. The response has been overwhelmingly positive in each of these towns.
These three events are the first of hundreds to follow. Follow the lead of these Not In Our Town communities and bring Waking in Oak Creek to your town. Click here to request the DVD and discussion guides.
Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Milwaukee’s FOX6 covered the March premiere.
After the event, Oak Creek resident Robert Sagan said, “If you get a chance to view Waking in Oak Creek, all I can say is, ‘GO SEE IT.’ Hopefully it will leave an impact and wake you to your community, your town, your state, your country and yes your world. That the events of people anywhere can and should effect you too.”
This weekend, our film crew joined the Oak Creek, WI community as they gather to remember those lost in the fatal shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Aug. 5, 2012.Find photos from the Chardi Kala 6K Memorial Run & Walk: Turning Tragedy into Triumph event on Saturday. Tonight we join the Oak Creek community vigil.
This weekend, our film crew will join the Oak Creek, WI community as they gather to remember those lost in the fatal shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Aug. 5, 2012. On Saturday, we will be at the Chardi Kala 6K Memorial Run: Walk: Turning Tragedy into Triumph. We join others at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for prayers and tributes to the departed souls on Sunday and for the community candlelight vigil on Monday.
As we depart for Wisconsin for the one-year anniversary, we leave you with this video poem from the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Please watch, share and remember. Please help us make this country safe and inclusive for all.
We Are Sikhs - a Poem from the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin from Amardeep Kaleka on Vimeo.
Win a FREE BULLY Educator DVD!
Thank you to everyone who has already entered our contest. If you haven't entered yet, you still have a chance to win a BULLY Educator DVD & Toolkit, which features 2 NIOS Films and our Quick Start Guide! Here's How to Enter:1) LIKE our Facebook page 2) Leave a Facebook comment telling us how you will use the Bully Educator DVD3) Fill out our contest entry form here4) THREE posts will win a BULLY Educator DVD!
The contest ends Wednesday, March 6. You can also pre-order a copy of the DVD here.
The Not In Our Town production crew just returned from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where we experienced one of the most moving stories we've followed. Oak Creek residents are standing up for each other, providing a powerful example of a community coming together after a devastating hate crime took the lives of six members of the Sikh community in August 2012.
From Oak Creek Patch: About 100 people attended a candlelight vigil Sunday night at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for victims of the Newtown school shootings. Credit: Mark Schaaf
Oak Creek Stands for NewtownMass shootings are happening all too often across the country, and no one knows this better than the residents of those communities affected.
The residents of Oak Creek, WI, understand the pain these shootings cause—just four months ago, a white supremacist shot and killed six people at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.
That’s why Oak Creek stood with Newtown, CT, on Sunday, holding a vigil to remember the 26 people killed in a shooting rampage at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. Read the full story about the vigil on Oak Creek Patch.
"Dialogue does not mean everyone at the ‘table’ will agree with one another. Pluralism involves the commitment to being at the table—with one’s commitments." —The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
The California legislature designated November as Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month
By Amrit Kaur Sidhu
My 5-year-old Sikh-American brother came home from his local public school wearing a headband of paper feathers that adorned the top of his patka (small turban). He proudly showed me his ‘magical’ macaroni necklace, as he told me that he was dressed as a Native American. Struggling to react to this inherent irony, I was once again reminded of how I had been taunted as a Sikh-American in elementary school for being a ‘dot-Indian’ or a ‘feather-Indian’. Not only was his school perpetuating a stereotype, but was also blatantly misappropriating the culture of an indigenous community that has systematically and historically been bullied.