Current Seeds of Tolerance
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Blood Brothers
A brutal attack in a Hollywood alley leaves a gay, homeless teen struggling first to survive, and then to find his identity. The lesson in hate begins a journey to tolerance that ends decades later with an amazing twist of fate. A brutal attack in a Hollywood alley leaves a gay, homeless teen struggling first to survive, and then to find his identity. The lesso... more
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Darfur Rising
Children fleeing the genocide in Darfur describe the atrocities they have witnessed in their homeland. They remember their parents and siblings slaughtered in front of their eyes. They see pregnant mothers cut open and fetuses thrown into fire.
Incredibly, the children also contemplate a possible reason for the genocide - that many of their attackers have never been to school. Children fleeing the genocide in Darfur describe the atrocities they have witnessed in their homeland. They remember their parents and... more -
One Nation Under Guard
US prisons have become big business, housing 25% of all the people in the world behind bars, the largest prison population on the planet. In a frenzy of criminal justice, we have turned our backs on the founding principles of this nation to produce state and federal prisons at an alarming ratein the 1990s, opening 1 every 15 days in depressed rural towns and communities.
Private correctional companies are entering the industry, appearing on the NY stock exchange, with an eye on the bottom line. Under this prison-industrial complex, we are locking up 1 in 3 young black men in this nation, moving them far from home, and stripping them of the right to vote, the possibility of holding decent jobs and the dignity of supporting themselves and their families. US prisons are holding the strangest of reunions: grandfathers, fathers and sons behind bars. There is no paying of their debt to society, no clean slate. One Nation Under Guard can inspire change by presenting the big picture of a US prison system that values the bottom line more than it does solutions, at enormous cost.
Most people are unaware that this is happening. Current TV viewers will begin to see the real need for restorative justice, and will be moved toward supporting and joining those who are working for it. They will begin to demand change to create a prison system that delivers justice for all, not injustice for a marginalized minority. US prisons have become big business, housing 25% of all the people in the world behind bars, the largest prison population on the plan... more -
We Belong
This is the story of two rural teens who had the courage to stand up to bigotry and intolerance in their schools and the determination to tell their stories to the world.
Homophobia is one of the last permissible forms of prejudice. Its effects are especially acute for youth, who often suffer alone and in silence. Two thirds of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth experience harassment or violence in school, and the suicide rate for this group is four times the average.
When C.J. Bills is gay bashed in the school locker room, then arrested for disorderly conduct because he protests to an administrator about the harassment he has experienced, he decides to fight back by making a documentary about discrimination. With his familys help, he also initiates an investigation by the state human rights commission and shames the school district into developing an anti-bullying and diversity training program.
C.J.s documentary project also leads him to Tim Dahle, a former high school student who challenged the years of anti-gay harassment he suffered in a neighboring town. In Tims case, the school district that failed to protect him agreed to one of the largest sexual harassment settlements in history, sending a signal to school districts around the country that such behavior can be costly.
We Belong demonstrates that young people have the power to change their communities and the world, and that helping youth to tell their stories, in their own way and on camera, is enlightening, empowering, and effective. This is the story of two rural teens who had the courage to stand up to bigotry and intolerance in their schools and the determinati... more -
The Making of a Girl
An intimate journey of a hypothetical preteen girl as she faces a life of sexual exploitation. Rachel Lloyd, founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, takes us through the trauma and pain of a largely unremarked upon current issue facing American youth- sex trafficking, abuse and sexual exploitation. An intimate journey of a hypothetical preteen girl as she faces a life of sexual exploitation. Rachel Lloyd, founder of Girls Educatio... more
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Ghost Tribes
English colonists didnt invent racism in the Americasgold-obsessed Spaniards had a head start of nearly a centurybut their early antipathy to Virginias Indian tribes set the tone for the following centuries.
For the Indians that survived the initial period of contact, the future was bleak. The loss of their lands was bad enough, but they had the bad luck to live in the place that would become Virginia:
Jim Crow. The Confederacy. Eugenics.
Today, Virginia's 4,000 Indians are the direct descendants of Pocahontas and her people. Despite this famous forbear, Virginia's eight surviving tribes are forced to fight for the right to call themselves Indian. They seek recognition from the Federal Government, a process that would officially make them Indian, as well as grant them badly needed education and health care benefits.
Though this lack of recognition is the result of a kafka-esque history, tribal leaders have united for the first time to overcome their shared legacy of racism. Next year is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America. Thanks to a truly grassroots effortan alliance of tribes has hired a lobbyist using bake-sale proceedsa bill is currently pending in congress that would offer recognition for six of the tribes. English colonists didnt invent racism in the Americasgold-obsessed Spaniards had a head start of nearly a centurybut their early an... more
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Current Seeds of Tolerance
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Current Seeds of Tolerance
