Not In Our Town

Not In Our Town is a documentary series and campaign that combines public television broadcasts with grassroots events, educational outreach and online activities to help communities battling hate talk to and learn from each other.

The Not In Our Town project was launched in 1995 with a national PBS special that told the story of how citizens of Billings, Montana joined forces to respond to hate crimes in their town. Their story helped create a new “model” for community response to bigotry and intolerance. Not In Our Town and its follow-up programs have been used in hundreds of communities during times of crisis.

Original story

Not In Our Town began with a national PBS special which followed the story of how the citizens of Billings, Montana joined together to respond to a series of hate crimes in their town. White supremacist activities had been on the rise. Racist literature was found around town, skinheads disrupted the services of an African American church, the home of a Native American family was spraypainted with swastikas and racist slurs, and a brick was thrown the window of Jewish family's home.^[1] The film follows a powerful local force—law enforcement, civic leaders, faith groups, citizen activists and local media outlets—that sent a simple and powerful message to white supremacists: “not in our town.” After the film was broadcast in 1995, viewers around the country began to apply this model to their own communities.

Subsequent projects

Since the original broadcast, hundred of towns coping with hate and hate crime have held Not in Our Town campaigns based on the Billings strategy. Now in its second decade, the Not In Our Town project has sparked anti intolerance activity in hundreds of communities in the United States and in other countries including South Africa, Ireland, Czech Republic and Ukraine.^[2][3]

The original Not In Our Town film led to two follow-up programs: Not In Our Town II and Not In Our Town Northern California: When Hate Happens Here.

Not In Our Town II, first broadcast in 1996, featured six stories from cities across the United States about communities acting against intolerance. Not In Our Town Northern California, a co-production with KQED-TV, was the first-regional Not In Our Town special and organizing.^[4] The film looks at hate crimes and the responses to it in five communities over a five year period. At last count, there have been over 80 community forums and screenings of this film.

Not In Our Town/Not In Our School provides stories, resources, and models for schools and communities seeking to build safer and more inclusive schools. The documentaries and website at pbs.org provide story based models and tools that help educators, students, parents and community leaders talk to and learn from each other about how to address bigotry and harassment. The core practice of the program is encouraging and spreading local innovation. The stories, programs and models that have been created so far have emerged from schools and student groups across the country and have been used in educational programs such as Facing History and Ourselves.^[5]

Not In Our Town was launched by The Working Group in 1995. Founded in 1988, The Working Group is an Oakland, California-based non-profit media company that combines television, internet and web resources with outreach and organizing efforts in the areas of workplace issues; race, diversity and the battle against intolerance; and encouraging democracy and citizen participation.

References

1. ^ http://www.pbs.org/niot/about/niot1.html
2. ^ http://www.pbs.org/niot/talk_about/map.html
3. ^ http://clinton4.nara.gov/Initiatives/OneAmerica/Practices/pp_19980810.15610.html
4. ^ http://www.kqed.org/press/tv/notinourtown/
5. ^ http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=8279

External links

• www.NIOT.org
• www.pbs.org/NIOT
• www.TheWorkingGroup.org