DAY OF kNOwHATE

On April 30, 2020, we invite schools, groups and individuals to join a youth-led day of action to take a stand against hate and bias by leading school and initiatives to raise awareness and participation in activities across your campus and community that promote inclusion and connection. Register as a participating school/organization/individual and share the activities that students and staff are leading through the use of social media and our website using #kNOwHATE

We hope that by seeing other schools participate, schools can see themselves as part of a larger movement towards change.

A short list of ideas can found at the bottom of this page and in the toolkit. Also, schools can download and utilize our kNOwHATE materials including stickers, posters, logos and other templates for use with their school-wide campaign ideas.

REGISTER


HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DAY OF kNOwHATE

Step 1: Register your school/group to participate

Step 2: Plan your kNOwHATE campaign activities

Step 3: Utilize our kNOwHATE materials for your activities

Step 4: Use social media to share your successes using #kNOwHATE

Step 5: Debrief, celebrate and plan your next steps


LAUNCH YOUR DAY OF kNOwHATE

The Day of kNOwHATE encourages students to wear a powerful color like green, which symbolizes safety, growth and harmony, on campus during the entirety of the activation day. Students will mobilize their friends and teachers at school, their families, neighbors and community leaders to Know, Understand and Change Hate by wearing green and
lighting up their profiles and posts with solid green to make a sweeping statement against hate and discrimination. Students wearing and posting this color to their social channels are communicating to their peers that they are a safe person for conversation and support. Additionally, students will take a stand against hate and bias. Ensuring community impact, students will stand shoulder to shoulder and simultaneously post words of love, acceptance and inclusion to their online platform of choice, flooding their community’s social spaces with positive messaging.

Tactics:

  • Students wear green on campus for the entirety of the activation day
  • Students post to their feed and change their profile image to a solid green image
  • Sports teams on campus participate by wearing green socks, sweatbands or other green attire at a game or pep rally
  • Students gather before or after school for a unified rally
  • Students simultaneously flood social media with positive messages


SCHOOL-WIDE CAMPAIGN INITIATIVES & IDEAS

The following list contains examples of actual projects and initiatives utilized by OC Human Relations’ BRIDGES program schools. Feel free to use this list for inspiration in planning your own projects and initiatives.

  • Banner Hanging/Door Decorating (celebrating diversity and the human relations themes)
  • Family Unity Tile Project – families create and paint tiles, placed in a mosaic on campus
  • Essay Contest
  • Posters/Quotes/Post-Its around school
  • Buddy system project for each new student/incoming Freshman
  • Paint a campus mural, series of murals
  • “Week of Understanding” – students participate in a different period-long workshop on issues such as understanding perceptions, stereotyping, name-calling and conflict management (with students trained to lead activities). Teachers can sign up by period
  • Book Writing Contest – write children’s books showing the harms of prejudice and stereotyping
  • Oral histories based on immigration and family tradition – partner with a senior citizens center or other adult group to engage youth and adults in conversation about identity and history.
  • Unity Quilt Project (a la the AIDS quilt project). Every student and staff member on campus designs a square for the quilt expressing their ties, background with certain issues (Could you hold a huge assembly in the quad to tie all the pieces together?)
  • Open Mic Night – invite participants to participate in performances around human relations topics (live music, spoken word, etc.)
  • Pledge walls to be more kind, respectful, accepting, fair and responsible
  • Day of Dialogue – invite speakers to present on a variety of human relations topics and have teachers sign-up for their classes to participate.
  • New Student Orientation–—Student-led human relations activities for incoming students to set the tone for incoming students on the school culture and help them connect to one another and introduce the school as a diverse place where individuals were valued.
  • Mix it Up Lunch – see https://www.tolerance.org/mix-it-up/faqs for guidance on how to create a plan for using the cafeteria/lunch time as a way to forge new friendships, connection and conversation.
  • School Climate Evaluation—A campus-wide human relations/school climate evaluation to help schools identify areas to work on.
  • Communication Campaign—A publication that will focus on different human relations issues. To increase awareness and provide information through articles, student-supported stories and teacher input. Can be ongoing or a one-time publication.
  • Month-long/week-long challenges – Kindness challenge, pay it forward, etc. Encourage students to develop a month-long/week-long calendar of things people can do to encourage kindness, connection, inclusion

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