Erase Hate

I don't know about you, but I think there's something seriously wrong with the world right now. It seems that everyday, I wake up to a new story about bullying, racial slurs or gay bashing. In the past 24 hours, two people have shared new youtube videos with me. One was from a local high school here in New York. My boyfriend's nephew told me that students published a video bashing another student because of the color of her skin. Today, my boyfriend's brother shared a different video featuring a small bully beating up a bigger kid until the big kid picks the smaller one up and throws him against the ground, seemingly breaking this kid's leg.

We've heard the John Galliano rant; we've seen the UCLA student's youtube clip against students on her campus. And I wonder why? What is it that makes people do such hurtful things? We've talked about this around our office. What makes someone go to the racial place? Why did Michael Richards rant against his hecklers with racial slurs? Why did Mel Gibson explode with a fountain of anti-semitic remarks? What takes someone from being angry to attacking someone because of their gender, their sexual orientation or the color of their skin?

Last year, we dedicated a week to Respect and Diversity. We were originally going to label the week Tolerance but then we heard feedback from some of the experts that framing the week around words such as Respect and Diversity was a more positive way of spreading the message.

According to the dictionary, Tolerance means - a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry. However, Tolerance also means - the act or capacity of enduring; endurance. Maybe that's part of the problem - maybe we need to go further. Are we using the wrong words and merely tolerating our differences instead of spreading the message of understanding and respect?

There are two actions that I'd like to do today. First off, I'm going to purchase Kindness Cards through Rachel's Challenge. The idea of this card is simple but the impact is very big. Do a good deed for someone, and hand off the car. Ask that your good deed be repaid by having the recipient perform a good deed for someone else and continue to pass on the card. These Kindness Cards allow people to track how one simple act can start a Chain Reaction of Kindness around the globe and touch the lives of many. I'm hoping to inspire people to pay it forward.


My second action? Purchase anErase Hate T-shirt from The Matthew Shepard Foundation. All purchases made support the Foundation's mission to erase hate and replace it with understanding, compassion and acceptance. I'm hoping that this purchase as well as my wearing of the t-shirt will help to spread the message of respect and help to Erase Hate.



What do you think? Will you pay it forward?
~Alicia

Turmoil and Triumph: International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina

Turmoil and Triumph: International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina

I was excited to visit the new International Civil Rights Museum in my mother’s hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina for What You Can Do’s month focused on respect and diversity. On February 1, downtown Greensboro celebrated the museum’s long-anticipated opening in the historic Woolworth’s five and dime store building. The opening date coincided with the 50th anniversary of the nation’s first sit-in at the segregated lunch counter of the Woolworth’s store, organized by 4 freshman students from North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.

On a spring-like February afternoon, my mother and I took the short drive downtown to check out the new museum. We joined about 50 people for a group tour, which started with a short video about the history of the civil rights struggle from the abolition of slavery to Jim Crow laws and segregation. Next we moved on to the graphic “Hall of Shame”, which displayed horrifying photos of lynchings, hangings and burning crosses during the civil rights turmoil. The appalling images resonated with my mother’s comment earlier in the day about growing up the 50’s & 60’s, “I can’t believe these terrible things actually happened in my lifetime.” A Greensboro native, she has vivid memories of the local chaos and national attention resulting from the sit-in movement.

The next exhibit was a short film portraying the 4 freshman NC A&T college students as they planned the sit-in to integrate the Woolworth’s lunch counter. I was amazed that students in their teens summoned the courage to challenge injustice in our country. When I was a college freshman, I could barely make it to class on time. After the film, a replica of an NC A&T dorm room from the 1960’s was unveiled to show where the students might have hatched their plan. Our group then took the escalator up to the Woolworth’s lunch counter exhibit, where it seemed like we beamed ourselves back in time to 1960. The sprawling lunch counter framed by metal stools with blue and orange cushions was preserved with amazing authenticity, as was the menu above the counter offering a Turkey Club for $.65, Pepsi for $.5 and Cherry Pie for $.15.

Behind the lunch counter, film reenactments showed students joining the sit-in movement at Woolworth’s by reading quietly and ignoring hecklers in peaceful protest. The film revived the historical events to show us how our lives, our country was transformed by the brave people who won the fight for their freedom decades ago. We learned that the sit-ins continued for seven months and ended with the successful integration of the Woolworth’s lunch counter.

Our tour continued through galleries revealing an inside look at segregated America from hospitals to voting and education. An especially powerful example of the dichotomy between life for blacks and whites was a hologram with overlapping images of a bright, clean school classroom for white children, and a crowded, rustic classroom for black children. The tour concluded with the somber “Wall of Remembrance”, paying tribute to the people who lost their lives in the fight for racial equality.

I left the museum with a deep gratitude for my inherent freedom and rights, and for the bravery of the protestors and activists. The museum offers a powerful view into the time in our country when “liberty and justice” did not apply to all of our citizens. Heroes like Martin Luther King and the “Greensboro 4” show that even one person has the power to inspire a movement of positive change. By living the What You Can Do project’s mission to take small steps to solve big problems in our country and beyond - imagine what we can all do together.

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Guest blog written by Ashley Kaufman, to read the full article, please visit - Points South

Start a Kindness Chain

Starring - Maria Christina Perry
Written by - Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Rachel's Challenge, www.rachelschallenge.org

Special Thanks - Bryan Boorujy and everyone at Rachel's Challenge, Jack Halaby and Dennis Arinella.

For more information, please visit - What You Can Do

Erase Hate Crimes

Think there's nothing you can do to erase hate crimes in 1 Minute?

Starring - PJ DeBoy
Written by - Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: The Matthew Shepard Foundation, www.matthewshepard.org

Special Thanks - Jason Marsden and everyone at The Matthew Shephard Foundation, and Dennis Arinella.


For more information, please visit - What You Can Do

Civil Rights

Think there's nothing you can do to promote respect & diversity in 1 Minute?

Starring - Taeonna Ancrum
Written by - Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: THe National Civil Rights Museum, www.civilrightsmuseum.org

Special Thanks - Connie Dyson, and everyone at The National Civil Rights Museum, and Dennis Arinella.


For more information, please visit - What You Can Do

Respect & Diversity

Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Five years later, on April 4th 1968 , he was assassinated.

Today the majority of hate crimes still occur in The United States due to issues relating to race, gender, religion and sexuality. And to honor Dr. King and his life and work, we are devoting this, our fourteenth week of What You Can Do, to Respect and Diversity.

We did our best to reach out to organizations in our country who are continuing the message of respect over hate, and who are working to reverse the prejudices that still plague our society. Of course there are many amazing organizations that we were not able to spotlight, but in the course of our research these were some of our favorites.

I don’t know what it is in us that makes us hate. Or what it is in us that makes us so afraid of things that are different or run separate from ourselves. And I know that one web series will not be the answer to ebbing a sometimes overwhelming tide of prejudice and fear. But like Dr. King, I believe that the first step in stopping an injustice is in bringing attention to it and offering an alternative.

I hope that these videos would have made him proud.

In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

IN HONOR OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.


Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. We, over here, toiling away on project, What You Can Do felt it would be nonsensical to ignore the fact that today, the nation stands together in celebration of a man who shaped our country’s history and did what he could to further our collective humanity.

This week, What You Can Do 365, addresses the issue of poverty. However, today we at On the Leesh, wanted to take a step back and acknowledge that some of the inspiration of the entire project comes from the enduring optimism of heroes like, Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am not an expert on the man. Nor am I an expert on the movement. While this project and this holiday have a very obvious connection, I didn’t want to pretend to sit here at my computer and write as if I am an authority. Instead, I thought a first step would be to think about some of the words that are bandied about today. One word that came to my mind was tolerance. Not having a next step, I looked the word up for the exact definition. Among other entries on dictionary.com I found this: “a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc, differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry.”

“Freedom from bigotry.” I love the way that sounds; the phrasing of it. The definition begins so clinically with words like “fair”, “objective”, “permissive” and then they offer this epic sounding phrase, “freedom from bigotry.” It makes it sound as if it is something someone can offer you. It makes it sound as if it is something that a place or country can offer you. It is so hopeful sounding; so optimistic.

Following my word path I decided to look up some of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches. For if anyone can offer words that, when strung together permeate hope, it is he. I opted to look at a speech I was less familiar with and read the speech he gave when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Before me were beautiful, delicious, moving words like “audacious,” “audacity” and phrases like “the eternal oughtness”.

Then I read on and everything came full circle. My eyes scanned the following:
“Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who's Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live -- men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization…”

This at its essence, my friends, is the spirit of What You Can Do 365. Nobody will know if you sponsored a woman in Africa. Nobody will know if you switched to “green” cleaners or if you’ve donated clothing to a shelter. Yet you’ve joined this anonymous body of people who together can move beyond indifference and apathy and change this world. Among you are others who, like you, have claimed responsibility for their world and are taking action. It’s all of us, standing together for the action and not the recognition of bettering our surroundings in every way possible.

All of us here at What You Can Do 365 wish you an everlasting Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

Here are some links we found over here on the man and the movement. Please check them out!

http://www.thekingcenter.org/
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/
http://www.mlkonline.net

And to watch the entire "I Have a Dream" speech - watch this.