David

By Robi DamelincloseAuthor: Robi Damelin Name: Robi Damelin
Email: robi@lifeafterhate.org
Site: http://www.theparentscircle.com/
About: Robi Damelin is a member of the Parents Circle – Families Forum, bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families for reconciliation. Her son, David, was killed in March 2002.See Authors Posts (1) ⋅ May 10, 2012 ⋅ One comment

TEARS OF DISBELIEF TO SEE YOU GO, BUT I KNEW YOU WERE COMING BACK

AND THEN I WATCHED YOU STRUT YOUR STUFF ON THE PARADE GROUND,

A SOLDIERS GAME EXCELLING AS ALWAYS WITH A GRIN

BUT I KNEW YOU WERE COMING BACK

Hockey, Hate, and The Dharma

By Arno MichaelscloseAuthor: Arno Michaels Name: Arno Michaels
Email: arno@lifeafterhate.org
Site: http://www.lifeafterhate.org
About: Currently majoring in Sport & Rec and Perpetual Major-Changing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Enjoys climbing things and warm saltwater. Cold saltwater is kinda nice too.See Authors Posts (48) ⋅ May 6, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

When a human being feels compelled to lash out against another human being for something as arbitrary as skin color, it is a plain signal of their suffering. Imagine going through life in a state of ongoing intimidation. Imagine an endless series of threats coming from all directions at once. The fundamental lie of separate “races” of human beings, compounded with the lie that one of these non-existent “races” is superior to the other non-existent “races” logically results in such a nightmarish scenario.

Engaged Buddhism: Working with Aggression

By Kipp EfingercloseAuthor: Kipp Efinger Name: Kipp Efinger
Email: kefinger@gmail.com
Site: http://capitaldharma.blogspot.com/
About: See Authors Posts (2) ⋅ May 4, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

As activists, we have a lot of ideas and opinions about the way things ought to be. We philosophize, we debate, we build our arguments and we start to believe we are right. Once we’ve done that, we think we can take our ideas out into the world and light the place up with the truth of our opinions. But opinions are not facts. They are just extensions of our egos.

Asperger’s and Bullying: A Mother Speaks Out

By Jessica Cagle-FillioncloseAuthor: Jessica Cagle-Fillion Name: Jessica Cagle-Fillion
Email: adensangels@yahoo.com
Site:
About: See Authors Posts (1) ⋅ April 26, 2012 ⋅ 10 comments

My name is Jessica. I’m a stay at home mother of two beautiful boys, ages 5 and 2, soon to be 6 and 3. My husband, Clint, and I, have had a very bumpy road since we became parents. Aden, our 5 year old, was born two months early and wasn’t expected to make it, [...]

Keith

By Jonathan MoorecloseAuthor: Jonathan Moore Name: Jonathan Moore
Email: jmundefined@gmail.com
Site:
About: The name's Jonathan Jacob Moore. Many call me Jonny or Jon-Jon. Sixteen years old, proud citizen of Detroit, MI. Fall Fellow with Obama for America, Director of YouthRISE for Obama 2012 Detroit. I love politics, slam poetry, love, and cheesecake. I enjoy experiencing and creating art, helping others, and listening to the sounds of the World. Music is amazing. I wish to change the very fiber of our existence by first, awakening my own. Love you all!See Authors Posts (2) ⋅ April 23, 2012 ⋅ One comment

Have you ever seen someone clinging to life That reminded you that you were alive?

Dan

By Callen HartycloseAuthor: Callen Harty Name: Callen Harty
Email: charty@tds.net
Site: http://www.callenharty.com
About: Callen Harty is a free-lance writer/photographer from Monona, WI. He is the co-founder of UW-Madison's 10% Society and of Proud Theater, an LGBT youth theater group for which he is still an adult mentor. Until recently, he was the Artistic Director of Broom Street Theater in Madison (2005-2010). He has performed hundreds of times and written/produced 20 full-length plays, most recently Invisible Boy, an autobiographical play about surviving childhood sexual abuse.See Authors Posts (11) ⋅ April 21, 2012 ⋅ 3 comments

Dan was always honest about his illness. He was always honest about everything. He would confess the most intimate things to people, sometimes too open too quickly. I think ultimately it was because he wanted most of all to be loved and accepted and he didn’t feel that in his life, so he opened himself up at the first indication that someone would care enough to listen. We balanced each other nicely that way as I am a natural empath and I could take on his pain sometimes, even when I was depressed myself.

Planted Seeds

By Julie SanderscloseAuthor: Julie Sanders Name: Julie Sanders
Email: jsanders@nwresd.k12.or.us
Site:
About: "I graduated from Arizona State University in December 2000 with a B.A. in Special Education. Also in December of 2000 I moved from Arizona to Portland, Oregon. I earned a Masters degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University in 2007. During my 11 + years of teaching, all but one year has been in an alternative education setting. I work with students who have emotional and behavioral challenges, and absolutely love it. This is my third year working for Northwest Regional Educational Service District’s Cascade Academy. My goal is to help the students learn that there are no limits to what they can accomplish in their lives. Anything is possible—and great things happen!"See Authors Posts (1) ⋅ April 10, 2012 ⋅ 4 comments

“During the presentation at our school, when you were discussing about your childhoods, I realized that I have a mix of both of your experiences. I’ve been asked to and have done things I’m not proud of. Before you came, I was thinking about going back to my old ways. But you both showed me I can accomplish great things. Thank you for planting this positive seed. I hope in time I can accomplish great triumphs as you have accomplished. Maybe our paths will cross yet again.”

Mirrored Child

By Daniel GallantcloseAuthor: Daniel Gallant Name: Daniel Gallant
Email: gallantd@unbc.ca
Site:
About: See Authors Posts (1) ⋅ April 7, 2012 ⋅ 4 comments

My life of hate began as a boy. From incidents of child abuse to life on the streets. The east side of Vancouver was a breeding ground for violence and hate. Hate which was carried for years to come. Leaving the street life while employed by organized crime led to a darker path. In the [...]

Devonte Rosero Magia (italiano)

By Carlos Eduardo de Oliveira RamalhocloseAuthor: Carlos Eduardo de Oliveira Ramalho Name:
Email: ceoramalho@yahoo.com.br
Site: http://www.ceoramalho.blogspot.com/
About: I grew up in a small town in northern São Paulo state, far from big cities and having books as my best friends since I was 4. I was raised Catholic in an common Middle Class family and had quite an ordinary childhood and adolescence, except for the fact that learning and reading were amazing for me. I read everything and started changing letters with people abroad to know about other cultures. When I was 16 I started learning English by myself and at the age of 18 I joined São Paulo State University to become 4 years later a teacher of French and Portuguese. I have worked as a Human Rights activist in NGO's in Brazil and other countries and I have a strong belief in peace, love and freedom. I call myself a dreamer and I like this description ... dream land is sometimes a nice place to be when we can't find a peaceful place to be in a busy day! Ah! I am fascinated by all kinds of Art and I can't see myself without it.See Authors Posts (5) ⋅ March 25, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

(English · español · français · português) Chi è stato Devonte Rosero prima che la magia trasformasse la sua vita? (Com’era la sua vita alla scuola, in famiglia e così via?)

Secondo i miei, fin da piccolo ho sempre dimostrato interesse per le arti ( il giocoliere, il magico ed il canto) più di quanto lo dimostravo negli studi. Mi ricordo di aver incontrato tante difficoltà per interagire con gli amici alla scuola. Poi quando ho cominciato la scuola media, ho avuto l’influenza degli amici diventando una persona aggressiva e addirittura ho cominciato a frequentare una “gang”.

Justice For [insert names of innocents lost for no reason at all]

By Angela KingcloseAuthor: Angela King Name: Angela King
Email: angelaking@lifeafterhate.org
Site:
About: Growing up in South Florida, Angela King struggled with her identity. She became confused about the messages she received from her church and family on issues like sexual identity and racial stereotypes. Disenfranchised, Angela began acting out and felt welcomed for the first time by a group of racist Skinheads: "They were angry and hated everyone. They made me feel like part of a family." Entrenched in the racist underground, crime became an increasingly important part of Angela's life. Though the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing made Angela reconsider her beliefs, she knew that abandoning her Skinhead affiliates would result in retaliation. Angela was arrested in 1998 and sentenced to six years in prison for her part in an armed robbery of a Jewish-owned store. Angela was released from prison three years early, in 2001, for good behavior and cooperation with the authorities. She has since graduated from the University of Central Florida with an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies. Angela routinely works as a keynote speaker, consultant, correspondent, and character educator in schools, communities, religious centers and elsewhere. She has been interviewed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, National Public Radio, and the National Resource Center for Racial Healing, among others, and has received several recognitions and awards for her dedication and support of Prejudice Reduction, Building Communities of Justice, as well as Holocaust education. Some of Angela's recent activities and work include: delegate and panelist at the Google Summit Against Violent Extremism, held in Dublin, Ireland, in June 2011; panelist at a 9/11 related commemoration event sponsored by the Department of Homeland Securities' Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism program, held in Washington D.C. in September 2011; correspondent and character educator for LifeAfterHate.org, a non-profit dedicated to promoting basic human goodness via outreach, character education, and an online magazine; and is currently writing a memoir vis-á-vis her time inside and out of the racist underground.See Authors Posts (7) ⋅ March 23, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

I will never know what it is to be looked at as if I’m a criminal because of the color of my skin. Certainly, no one will ever expect me to snatch her purse. I will never be shot while walking home from a store because I was wearing my hoodie or because I looked ‘suspicious.’ And if I hid on a porch, I might be shooed off, but in all probability would not be shot and killed because of it. Why? Because I am white? Because I am a woman?