Who Cares About Standing up to Hate? YOU DO and so do we at Not In Our Town. Here's our Story:

We could have never guessed a single story would launch a movement. Nearly 20 years ago, The Working Group sent a film crew to Billings, MT, to document a story about ordinary people who stood up for their neighbors when they were under attack by white supremacists.

After attacks on a Native American woman’s house, an African-American church, and a Jewish family’s home, the entire town refused to be silent and fearful. They stood up together and said, "Not In Our Town." That statement, an affirmation of a community standing up to hate, became the title of our landmark media and engagement project, “Not In Our Town.”

Not In Our Town changed the way we at The Working Group made films, and it changed the way we thought about the process of community transformation. The Billings story opened up a conversation about how we deal with hate crimes. Few states had hate crime laws back then; it was an issue that often surfaced but was not dealt with. The Billings story demonstrated that the responsibility for dealing with intolerance lies with all of us.

Coast to coast, towns and cities followed in Billings’ footsteps. For two decades, we have been filming, sharing stories and tools, and helping to empower communities. Our films broadcast nationally on PBS, and nearly 100 short films and countless resources are available free on NIOT.org.

NOT IN OUR TOWN TODAY: HOW YOUR DONATION WILL HELP

To continue to provide inspiration and anti-hate action opportunities for people and communities everywhere, we need your help!

Your donation will support:

• Step-by-step community guides that bring together nearly 20 years of NIOT experience to bolster anti-hate efforts nationwide

• Hands-on engagement and training for communities-in-crisis

• New films and tools geared toward ending racism, homophobia and religious intolerance

2012 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Not In Our Town: Class Actions—our PBS film featuring campus and school solutions to racism, anti-Semitism and bullying, premiered nationally.
• After the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, we joined a coalition with Teaching Tolerance, the NAACP, Facing History and Ourselves, and the teacher’s unions NEA and AFT, among others, to develop curriculum materials about standing up to racial profiling.
• We supported 17 public media partners across the country that convened community events anchored by our landmark films.
• Our cameras joined the community of Oak Creek, WI as they came together to collectively mourn and denounce the killing of 6 members of a local Sikh temple.
• We were on the ground in Marshalltown, IA, to film their proactive campaign to stop the tide of hate crime and bullying before it occurs on their streets and in their schools.
• It’s been a banner year for our Not In Our School project: we launched our Video Action Kit, provided mini-grants to teachers, hosted art and video contests to students, released an anti-bullying PSA that was featured on CNN, and were honored to brief President Obama’s education advisors.