We’re sure everyone has heard about the current protests happening all over the nation in response to the disgusting and wrongful murder of George Floyd and the 400+ years of inequality that our Black brothers and sisters have faced in this country.
It seems that every day we hear news of Black people being unjustly treated. What’s more, is that the cases we see on the news and on social media are only the tip of the iceberg; there is a whole world of injustice that happens off-camera.
Some of us don’t fear unjust treatment from those that are put in place to “protect and serve.” Some of us aren’t afraid when getting pulled over, we don’t have to fear for our lives when going for a run, or walking back from the convenience store. Some of us do not have to face the reality that there will be people who hate us, no matter who we are, just because of the color of our skin.
We must do something about this. Speak out about injustice, go to protests, donate to organizations, do your part.
Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” We would like to affirm that we are on the side of the oppressed.
Black Lives Matter.
This week was bookended by hate and violence.
Yet again we turn our thoughts and prayers to the communities grieving after these mass shootings potentially motivated by hate and extremism.
It began in Gilroy, California, when a shooter opened fire on families who were spending the day at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Three killed.
Less than a week later, a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in EI Paso, Texas. At least 20 people were killed, and 26 others were wounded during the shooting.
Hours later, another gunman opened fire on a group of people in line at a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio. 9 people were killed and 27 injured.
Families will be deprived of their right to see and be with their loved ones. They’ll be waiting for their family members at home each and every day only to not have them there.
Do Not Hate expresses deep sadness. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those affected by this tragic event.
Hate is contagious. Describing immigrants in derogatory terms, especially in politics, pushes anti-immigrant hate into the mainstream and fuels white supremacists.
Everyone has the basic human right to live in safety, whether they are going shopping, walking down the street, or living in their homes.
Immigrants are not “invaders”
Words will not stop these acts of terrorism. There should be a determined federal response. Our representatives must stand up against racism and support the diversity of our nation and our state.
We can do better. We must do better.
Yesterday, on January 19th, 2019 DNH attended to #WomensMarch2019 and marched to end the violence against women in which one of our DNH founders, Tuana, volunteered.
We also marched to achieve LGBTQIA rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, reproductive rights, disability rights, immigrant rights and environmental justice for all women.
A desire to suppress something comes from hate, and hate comes from fear. And don’t forget, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” -Martin Luther King, JR.
We visited Ambassador Carlos Garcia -Secretary General United Nations Association of El Salvador- in his office. Mr. Ambassador told his journey and explained his vision, seek to strengthen universal peace. He greatly encouraged DNH and gave his critical advise. It’s the first step and we hope to work together with Mr. Ambassador so we can make youth more involved in peace projects and decision making processes.
Consulate of El Salvador in New Jersey, the Consulate General of Mexico in New York and the United Nations Association of El Salvador (UNA-SV) in collaboration with Union County College, Grito Cersa and Vocal Music Studio, had organized the First International Youth Concert for Peace, which held on Saturday, December 8, 2018, at the Auditorium of the Union County College,
The purpose of the concert was to empower young Latinos and other minorities living in New Jersey, through art, music and culture in which the spirit of brotherhood, solidarity and peace prevail in all hearts.
DoNotHate was invited to this great event by Ambassador Carlos Garcia, Secretary General of the United Nations Association of El Salvador. We had a chance to meet with new people including Annette Quijano who is the Deputy Majority Leader at New Jersey Legislature General Assembly. We send our thanks to everyone who has played a role in organizing this amazing event.
DoNotHate held its DoNotBully Campaign at Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School (TEECS) in Somerset, New Jersey from Nov 12 through Nov 16.
The weeklong event included the hanging of a school pledge signed by students with their hand prints, a symbol of putting a stop to bullying.
The week continued with a school assembly with a presentation and dance performance about bullying and its effects.
According to the statistics of Southern Poverty Center, there are 953 hate groups that are currently operating in the United States. While their targets differ, they have one main motivation which is to attack, either physically or verbally, a certain class of people who are members of one specific designated sector of society such as ethnicity or a belief system. The number of hate groups rose to 953 from 917 in the past 2 years. This immediate rise of hate does not only minimize the peaceful environment, but it also leads to a civilization where different is alienated and only one type of people are properly acknowledged by the rest. Eliminating the destructive power of hate is not easy when hating something is so popular; however, if this work is recognized by everyone as a responsibility, especially by the backbone of society which is youth, achieving a hate-free environment is not impossible. To create a tolerant, diverse, and peaceful society in the future, today’s young people need to acknowledge their own power of impact and start taking action now.
The first step of solving a problem is acknowledging it and genuinely wanting to find a solution. If a problem is ignored by someone, it is either not recognized or its solution might not seem possible. While people’s absolute impact power is limited based on certain things such as their information on topic, experience, and position; age does not have to be one of them. Samantha Smit was only 10 when she eased Cold War tensions between the United States and Russia with a single letter. She wrote a letter to CPSU General Secretary Yuri Andropov suggesting that both countries could co-exist peacefully, which ended up getting published in a Soviet newspaper. But if one girl can achieve something that thousands of politicians all around the world couldn’t achieve, why youth is still not actively involved in crisis solving processes? The answer is simple: because they do not believe they can make a change. What if Samantha’s
parents told her sending a letter to offer a solution about one of the most serious crises at that time was funny and only a waste of time? At this point, it’s the responsibility of society to support these young people who are full of potential by giving them an opportunity. If young people guard themselves with knowledge, patience, kindness and the inner drive that makes them always strive for more, their voices certainly will be heard.
Last year, at the very beginning of 10th grade, we came up together as 6 friends who had one thing in common. We were all terrified to see how surely hate was spreading all around the world and especially in our home. Knowing that we, the future building stones of society, had to do take an immediate action, we created our own non-profit organization called DoNotHate which is entirely student-run. Over the past year, we reached out to leaders of different communities, churches, reform temples and many more. However, as young people who have realized their power of impact, we also knew there were so many of us out there who were not awaken yet. As Nelson Mandela says, “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.” Creating something that can have an enormous impact on society was only the sketch without getting other young people involved. Thus, we created the DoNotBully project that aims to bring awareness to schools and provide a bully-free environment where students can focus on getting an education and developing themselves, far from the dreadful results of bullying. Being fully student-run, DoNotBully gives students a platform to take responsibility to improve their own environment. On our website, we organized a writers’ corner in which young people share their opinions on hate-related topics and propose solutions. We are in contact with many people whose beliefs are as different as fire and water; yet, all of them have never hesitated to support us from the bottom of their heart by doing everything they can so our message gets heard by everyone. It’s only the beginning; yet, we have a long road ahead to accomplish a society where every person views and treats each other with dignity and comes together to promote shared values of their communities and the world as a whole.
Youth is more than capable to make a difference in this world; yet, while it’s on young people to realize their capacity, it’s society’s responsibility to support them until the end. Young people need to be listened, encouraged and assisted wisely when necessary. Every great change starts from one place with one idea; yet, with determination, patience, and dignity it creates an enormous impact. Martin Luther King Jr. says “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” While the communication and tolerance level is so much higher among the youth, it is very unnecessary to wait for the leadership of an older generation to decide for us. It is our chance to prove we are capable and it is society’s chance to prove we have their support until the end.
Do Not Hate Foundation (DNHF) condemns the shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and across the nation as we mourn the loss of innocent lives.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those affected by this tragic event. We encourage everyone to come together during these difficult times to be there for one another.
There is no place for hate in America. There is no place for hate anywhere.
Bullying in the workplace – which includes yelling, insulting and belittling comments, teasing, threatening, and name-calling – often goes unchecked and overlooked. The Workplace Bullying Institute defines workplace bullying as the repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators. It is abusive conduct that is threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, or work interference—sabotage—which prevents work from getting done, or verbal abuse.
“Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don’t tell me how much you love God; show me in how much you love all His children” says Senator Booker.
On August 8th, Wednesday, we went to Senator Cory Booker’s office. As New Jersey’s first black senator, he first was elected in first 2013 and then got re-elected in 2014. While having an academic background in Stanford, Oxford, and Yale, he is a very active and influential person in society.
In his office, we met with Imani R. Oakley: a constituent Advocate at U.S. Senate. She is, indeed, is responsible for leading the Senator’s youth outreach. She opened her doors to us to discuss our future projects and our goals. The meeting was very efficient since we had a chance to both introduce ourselves and get an information on how we can be more productive in the society as DoNotHate and reach out to new people.
We believe we can only overcome hate and anything that comes from hate by reaching out to as many people as we can, especially the youth. Our beautiful differences make us unique in so many ways and they shouldn’t be used as a barrier to divide us into categories; instead, they should unite us.
We send our love and thanks to Senator Cory Booker and Imani R. Oakley for having us and supporting our journey! As United We Stand, we will defeat hate. Join us on our journey!