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From HateFreeSeattle.org:
IN THE WAKE OF NUMEROUS HATE CRIMES IN THE
PAST TWO WEEKS FOLLOWING THE SEPT. 11 ATTACKS, PLEASE JOIN US FOR THIS TIMELY
AND IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY TO EMBRACE DIVERSITY AND STOP HATE:
You are invited to attend AN EVENING AGAINST HATE
Featuring the award-winning documentary JOURNEY TO A HATE FREE MILLENNIUM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2001, 7 P.M.
SEATTLE CENTER OPERA HOUSE
321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA
www.HateFreeSeattle.org
Admission: $5. Tickets on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at
www.ticketmaster.com, or charge by
phone at 206-628-0888.
On October 2, 2001, at the Seattle Center Opera House, "Journey to a Hate
Free Millennium" will be presented to the Seattle community in a powerful
Evening Against Hate. This event will feature speaking presentations by Judy
Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, and by filmmaker Brent Scarpo of New Light
Media. Special performances by Seattle Men's Chorus and singer-songwriter Randi
Driscoll will open the evening. Local organizations representing our region's
diverse communities will also be present to provide educational materials and
opportunities for building a hate free Pacific Northwest.
At schools and at film festivals throughout the United States, "Journey to
a Hate Free Millennium," has been shown with great results and significant
impact. Produced by the non-profit organization, New Light Media (www.newlightmedia.org),
Journey focuses on three recent hate crimes straight from the headlines: the
vicious murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Wyoming, the
horrendous dragging-death of James Byrd Jr., an African-American man in Texas,
and the tragic shootings at Columbine High School. The film uses these examples
not merely to ask why such crimes occur, but also to discuss and reveal
solutions to hate and discrimination in our society today. The viewer is invited
to create their own vision of the new millennium, where senseless acts of
violence and hate are a thing of the past.
Journey effectively draws upon interviews with Matthew Shepard's family, the
family of James Byrd Jr., and family and classmates of Columbine victims.
T.J. Leyden, a former neo-Nazi skinhead who is now a consultant for the
Simon Wiesenthal Center's Task Force on Hate (www.wiesenthal.com/taskforce),
also contributes significantly to the film's message, as do several
Holocaust survivors who share their own stories. It is worth noting that this
film is one of only two projects that Matthew Shepard's family has endorsed and
is actively supporting.
This Evening Against Hate will :
1) Raise the level of public dialogue around how we can stop hate and embrace
diversity in the Pacific Northwest. This high profile event will be open to the
public and will receive extensive publicity through media partners KOMO 4
television and radio stations STAR 101. 5 and KOMO AM 1000.
2) Include hundreds of area educators in its audience that night. We are
extending special invitations to educators and support staff from local schools
in these weeks preceding the event. Many school districts around the
country have used "Journey to a Hate Free Millennium" as an effective
teaching tool to generate acceptance and embrace diversity among students.
Educators who attend the evening will learn of opportunities for bringing
the film and its hate free message to their own classrooms--including a
follow-up "Train the Trainer" seminar to be held in Seattle, Feb.
9-10,
2002.
3) Educate and encourage attendees on ways to get involved and to participate
locally in creating a hate free Seattle. This will be accomplished through the
active participation of over 55 local organizations already at work to create
communities where diversity is embraced and where everyone belongs.
For more information, visit www.HateFreeSeattle.org
You may also call 206-404-4397 or e-mail to [email protected]
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