Let’s do lunch

Student artwork created at Desert View Learning Center in Phoenix

More than two dozen schools in Maricopa County are involved with a program with a simple premise — get kids to try a new seat during lunch and you’ll begin to break down barriers. They’re participating in a national campaign launched a decade ago by Teaching Tolerance, a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center. It’s called “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” and it’s scheduled for Oct. 30 this year. So far 1,659  schools have signed up.

More 3rd grade art from DVLC

Turns out Maricopa County takes third place for schools with the most “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” participants — after Los Angeles County and Illinois’ Cook County. Three schools in Arizona are considered model schools for the program — St. Gregory College Preparatory School in Tucson, Kyrene Akimela A-Al in Phoenix and Sunset Ridge in Glendale.

Several schools in other countries are participating in this year’s “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” — including Japan, Oman, Israel, Canada, Romania, the Dominican Republic, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Greece and the Russian Federation. There’s still plenty of time for schools in and beyond Arizona to get involved. The program was developed for P-12 students.

More lovely art from DVLC

Teaching Tolerance surveys show that divisions between groups are “most clearly drawn” in the cafeteria, and that “interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice.” So educators and parents eager to reduce bias and misperceptions can help by encouraging students with differences to interact more often and in positive ways.

To participate, simply “ask students to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch.” Teaching Tolerance offers several free online resources “designed to help schools and classroom teachers explore the issue of social boundaries.”

Schools that register on the “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” map can enter a Teaching Tolerance contest (entry deadline is Oct. 8) for the chance to have a professional photographer take pictures of the school’s “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” event. Two schools will be selected and featured on the Teaching Tolerance website, blog and Facebook page.

Click here for details.

— Lynn

Note: Teachers can get free copies of Teaching Tolerance magazine

Coming up: Follow the money

Art: Antidote for hate

Works by an American Arab theater company performing Friday in Scottsdale

While searching for ways Arizonans will be remembering 9/11 this week through shared experiences of arts and culture, I stumbled on an upcoming performance by The AJYAL Theatrical Group — which describes itself as “the first Arab-American theatre group in North America.”

The Michigan-based group, established in 1988, says that most of their works “poke fun at the everyday lives of Arab-Americans who are desperately trying to blend into the mainstream of American culture.”

They’re performing a play titled “Shoufou Alwawa Wayn” (“Where Does It Hurt”) Fri, Sept 9 (8pm) at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. It’s written by Najee Mondalek and directed by Aziz Charabaty.

Like other AJYAL works, the play “serves as a forum to help people laugh at their mistakes and mishaps but also to come to terms with social issues facing Arab-Americans.” www.arabamericantheater.com or www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org.

It’s a particularly fitting week for a bit of Arab American theater, given the bigotry towards Arab Americans and Muslims that’s fueled each year by a minority of Americans who blame all Arab Americans and Muslims for the acts of a small group of terrorists.

Novelist Amy Waldman, formerly co-chief of the South Asia bureau of The New York Times, recently released “The Submission,” published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. www.thesubmissionnovel.com.

The book, according to the newspaper’s recent “9/11 in the Arts” guide, “imagines what would have happened if the winning designer of a memorial to victims of a terrorist attack turned out to be an American Muslim.”

We don’t have to imagine how American Muslims might be treated in the aftermath of 9/11. It’s there in black and white when you read the online vitriol of people who feel that Arab American and Muslim children who lost parents in the 9/11 attacks should have been excluded from the “Children of 9/11” documentary recently aired on NBC.

Arab Americans, many of them Muslim, were killed that tragic day. Arab Americans were among the first responders. Arab Americans defend our freedoms through military service every day. They’re Americans through and through, no less than me or you.

I’ll be spending time in coming weeks and months getting to know more about the contributions of Arab Americans to American arts and culture — starting with an online exploration of the Arab American National Museum.

So far I’ve enjoyed reviewing their list of 2011 Arab American Book Award winners, reading four online resource guides (including one titled “Islam and Muslim Americans”) and exploring a “web exclusive” exhibit titled “Reclaiming Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes.”

The Smithsonian Affiliate, located in Michigan, shares that its mission is “to document, preserve, celebrate, and educate the public on the history, life, culture and contributions of Arab Americans.”

The museum also serves as a “resource to enhance knowledge and understanding about Arab Americans and their presence in the United States.” www.arabamericanmuseum.org.

They’ll be participating Sept 8-11 in an event called “U.S. Rising: Emerging Voices in a Post-9/11 America,” which features discussions, storytelling, music and art. www.usrising.org.

StoryCorps, an independent nonprofit dedicated to providing “Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives,” will be at the museum Sept 8-10. www.storycorps.org.

All happy news in my book. I like to believe that art is an antidote for hate.

— Lynn

Note: Read the blog for “Teaching Tolerance,”a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, to learn more about promoting tolerance in homes, schools and communities. www.tolerance.org/blog.

Coming up: Talking with children about 9/11

SMCC performs “Mockingbird”

The South Mountain Community College theatre department presents “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the play based on a classic novel by Harper Lee, April 13-16.

The novel’s 50th anniversary was celebrated just last year, but its themes of “racism, classism and coming of age in America” feel no less relevant today.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is set in the Deep South of 1930s America — where “the conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by…one man’s struggle for justice.”

I learned about this particular production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” shortly after running across something called a “hate map” put together by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama — which identifies “more than 1,000 hate groups operating across this country.”

The SPLC “hate map” lists 22 groups in Arizona — including “Faithful Word Baptist Church” in Tempe (Anti-gay), “Free American” in Tucson (White nationalist), “Vinlanders Arizona” in Mesa (Racist skinhead), “White Knights of America” in Tonopah (Neo-Nazi) and “United for a Sovereign America (USA)” in Phoenix (Anti-immigrant).

In addition to tracking hate and extremism, the Southern Poverty Law Center helps children at risk, fosters immigrant justice and teaches tolerance through publications and other tools you can learn more about at their website.

The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” has endured controversy since its publication — even making the American Library Association’s list of the top 100 banned 20th century novels. Other banned titles include F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” and John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”

The South Mountain Community College production of “To Kill a Mockingbird”– which is being directed by Julie Holston — offers Valley parents the opportunity to introduce their children to this classic piece of American literature through live performance art.

Most students read the book in school, and families can always watch the 1962 film (starring Gregory Peck) together. But there’s something especially powerful in seeing such works performed on stage by young actors living in our midst.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” at SMCC opens Wed, April 13, at 7:30pm. Additional 7:30pm shows take place April 14-16. The show’s only matinee is Sat, April 16, at 2pm.

All seats are general admission and tickets run just $10 (though Maricopa Community College District students attend for free with valid student I.D.). Tickets are available online at www.showup.com and at the SMCC box office before each show.

To learn about additional arts offerings from South Mountain Community College, including several storytelling events taking place this month, click here.

— Lynn

Coming up: A day spent with PBS, Herberger happenings, Of moose and music, Movie theater meets “Memphis”

Update: I’m now blogging as “Stage Mom Musings” at www.stagemommusings.com. Please find and follow me there to continue receiving posts about arts and culture in Arizona and beyond. Thanks for your patience as the tech fairies work to move all 1,250+ posts to the new site. For the latest news follow me on Twitter @stagemommusings. 6/13/12

White noise

Years ago the airwaves were full of infomercials for white noise generators — nifty devices that supposedly produce something capable of drowning out other distractions. I never tried one, though, since sound has been such a profound part of my parenting experience.

I wonder at times whether my children developed their own white noise force fields as teens — because it sometimes felt like everything I said bounced right back to me before making that split second journey from ear canal to brain.

White Noise, A Cautionary Musical is now on stage in Chicago

Recently I learned of a musical titled “White Noise” — currently playing at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago. The news came across my desk with a host of other alerts from the “Teaching Tolerance” program of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I was disappointed by the timing of my discovery, which came just days after Lizabeth returned from Chicago, though harrowing hamster tales and tidbits she shared about dark moments from another show did serve to slightly assuage my guilt.

Lizabeth saw “God of Carnage” at the Goodman Theatre over the weekend, and even thought to get me a souvenir pen for future writing ventures. She revealed that her dad, not a giggling sort of a guy, laughed throughout — and that they also enjoyed their time together at the Art Institute of Chicago.

After James and I first married in Southern California more than two decades ago, both our homes and his offices were decorated with prints of famous pieces of art — many from the Art Institute of Chicago collection. I imagine he was especially pleased to visit the museum with one of our three children.

“Chicago” is one on a small list of shows he didn’t want Lizabeth to see when it came to the Valley several years ago — fearing she was too young for some of the content. But she’s grown into all sorts of mature-content theater since then.

God of Carnage is part of the 2011-2012 season for Arizona Theatre Company

“God of Carnage” is being mounted next season by Arizona Theatre Company — which Lizabeth expects will do it great justice. And Broadway World reported recently that a film adaptation to feature Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet (as two moms of children who have a bit of a playgound tussle) is in the works.

In the meantime, I’ll be looking for ways to see “White Noise,” which is being produced by Whoopi Goldberg. The cautionary tale is described as “an edgy new rock musical about a white separatist singing duo.” The musical “challenges conventional notions of free speech, media and the power of pop culture.”

An educational guide for working with high school and college age students has been developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center — which says the musical “raises important issues about the power of hate speech in our culture and should inspire people of conscious to call out those who engage in it.”

It feels particularly timely as tragic events continue to unfold in the aftermath of one man’s decision to burn a book held sacred by millions across the globe. Sometimes we fight on the playground, other times on the world stage.

I’m grateful for works like “God of Carnage” and “White Noise,” which help us hear the hate — then work together in peaceful ways to not merely mask it, but to eradicate it from our personal and collective lives.

— Lynn

Note: Scottsdale Community College presents the next film in its “The Many Faces of Hate” film series on April 27, 6:30-8:30pm in the Turquoise Room on the SCC campus (take the 1o1, exit at Chaparral, then head east to land at SCC). The documentary, “Strange Fruit,” will be followed by a moderated discussion.

Coming up: Musings on “Macbeth” from Valley students

Mothers and sons

I went to Scottsdale Community College recently to see the latest offering in the anti-hate film series they present each year with the Anti-Defamation League.

The film, titled “Bullied,” recounts events leading up to a court case involving a Wisconsin student who’d been brutally harassed during middle and high school because of his sexual orientation.

A title can be a telling thing. Given the name of the film, I expected to learn more about bullying and the challenges facing LGBT youth — and I did.

"Mother & Son" by Stephen Armstrong

But titles rarely reveal the whole story, for I found this film to be first and foremost a profound glimpse into the precious relationship of a mother and her son.

After the film, someone commented that “coming out is really something that happens for the whole family.”

The film “Bullied” beautifully portrays the impact of bullying on Jamie Nabozny’s entire family, and everyone around him — including other targets, bullies and bystanders.

We’re often reminded that “it takes a village to raise a child.” But “Bullied” reminds us that “it takes a village to protect a child.” If you’re not doing something to prevent bullying in our communities, you’re part of the problem.

The film offers ways that those who experience and witness bullying can stand up and reach out. During a post film Q & A session, a tall and slender young man from Africa stood to recount his family’s own experience with brutality.

We spoke a while near the close of the evening about his mother, Rose, and a film sharing their story — which I’ll feature in a future post.

I was especially moved by comments he shared earlier with the 100 + people gathered at SCC, noting that objections simply shouted in the street are easily ignored.

The real key, according to John Moise, is for parents to discuss bullying in their homes — even with their very young children.

Bullying will be banished only when each of us take responsibility for teaching our children that it is wrong to hurt others or to simply stand by as others cause harm.

I shared with Moise some of the words I’d helped my young children formulate when they were barely knee-high, so they’d know how to advocate in the moment for kids being teased or harrassed.

Telling our children they have to stand up to injustice is all good and fine, but too often we fail as parents to actually give them the concrete tools they need to do so.

Parents and teachers eager to learn more about bullying prevention have plenty of resources — including the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

As folks from the ADL pointed out after the film, bullying that goes unchecked too often escalates to violence — even genocide.

I was also moved during the Q & A session by a father who spoke of his work as a Christian minister, and how often he’d preached hatred toward homosexuality before learning that his own son was gay.

Life is plenty challenging for LGBT youth. But imagine what it’s like for those rejected even by their own parents.

As the mother/son story in “Bullied” makes clear, it’s our job to love and protect our children — and the other children of the world — no matter what.

— Lynn

Note: I also chatted after the film with a woman who does “Holocaust tracing” for the American Red Cross — who told me about the recent reunification of family members from Poland. I’ll share more of her story in a future post as well.

Coming up: Art speaks louder than words

Art, film and bullying prevention

Learn how you can be a part of "No Name-Calling Week" 2011

The Anti-Defamation League is partnering with Scottsdale Community College for the sixth year of a film series titled “The Many Faces of Hate.”

The film “Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History” will be presented at SCC on Wed, Jan 26, from 6:30-8:30pm in the Turquoise Room.

The film recounts the story of “a student who stood up to his anti-gay tormentors and filed a federal lawsuit against his high school district.”

It’s free and open to the public, and includes a moderated post-film discussion.

The film is being presented as part of “No Name-Calling Week” — a national initiative inspired by a young adult novel titled “The Misfits.” This year’s “No Name-Calling Week” takes place Jan 24-28.

The project is headed by the “No Name-Calling Week Coalition” — created by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing (a company I call to mind each time I hear a Carly Simon song).

The project includes “a week of educational and art activities aimed at stopping name calling and bullying in schools” — which leaves me wondering about grown-up plans to curtail their own bad behavior.

I’m not so sure we set the best example as we cut each other off in traffic, gossip about friends over dinner or hurl wild accusations during political discourse. I’d rather see folks armed with crayons than with guns.

Individual students in grades K-12 are invited to participate in the “No Name-Calling Week 2011 Creative Expression Contest” before the Mon, Feb 28 deadline. Grown-ups, of course, are always free to color on their own.

The contest is “an opportunity for students to submit essays, poetry, music, original artwork, or other pieces that convey their experiences and feelings about name-calling, and their ideas for putting a stop to verbal bullying in their schools and communities.”

James Howe's book has much to offer tweens, teens and adults

The statistics about bullying are sobering, according to Melissa Medvin, associate regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Arizona regional office.

Medvin points to GLSEN studies showing that 65% of LGBT teens or those perceived to be LGBT report being verbally or physically harassed.

About one-third of the general student population reports being bullied.

Often bullying is based on perceived differences in race, religion, sexual orientation or physical characteristics. 

Medvin notes that victims of bullying have increased rates of absenteeism, use of dangerous and illegal substances, and suicide/bullycide — as well as lower grades and lower graduation rates. We all have a stake in reducing bullying in our communities.

Additional films in the series will be shown at SCC on Feb 16, March 23 and April 27. All are documentaries dealing with the subject of hate, and all are free and open to the public.

In the meantime, banish bullying from your own behavior. You can’t expect your children to do the right thing if you’re not leading by example.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to learn about free “Bullied” kits available (one per school) from Teaching Tolerance — a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Click here to learn more about GLSEN in Phoenix.

Coming up: Puppetry with a purpose