DIVIDED WE FALL

CAMPAIGN GUIDE
In this package, you have received:

1. DVD of the Film (Campaign Screener)

Please test this DVD in your player upon receipt. This DVD is for one-time use only. Please return it to us after your screening in order to receive the official released DVD. We will not be able to send you the official released DVD without the returned screener copy. Mail back to: New Moon Productions 236 Fifth Ave, Suite B Venice, CA 90291

2. Movie Postcards
We have enclosed at least 50 movie postcards (more if you requested them). These movie postcards contain ordering information on the back. Place movie postcards on the seats of your audience members before the doors open. After the screening, draw peoples attention to the postcards and announce that people can order the film on our website. We hope you will encourage people to buy the film to share with their family and friends. Thank you!

3. Response Cards Template

This one-page template is for you to photocopy. Each page fits two response cards. Please make enough photocopies for each member of your audience. These response cards are for audience members to share their own stories and reflections after the screening. Please type up these responses and send them to us in a word document titled Response Cards, Your City, so that we can post them on our website. Place response cards on the seats of your audience members before the doors open with the movie postcards. Include golf pencils. Invite the audience to fill out the cards after the screening, during your discussion. Collect the response cards as people leave.

4. Guidelines for Your Screening and Dialogue

Please read carefully through these guidelines for your screening and dialogue.

The Divided We Fall Campaign Screening and Dialogue Guidelines

The Divided We Fall Campaign is a people-fueled national movement to create deep community dialogue about ways to address racism, religion, and healing in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Divided We Fall promotes change one person at a time in the company of allies and strangers through a story that reveals the way hate can hijack our humanity. It offers us inspiration to overcome hate through connecting hearts and minds. The following guidelines are aimed to provide facilitators of the national campaign with tools for deep dialogue. We designed these guidelines to help facilitators steward personal reflections and discussions that will move people through examining the impact of watching DWF and invite everyone to imagine a better world. The overall goal is to build community through each dialogue, and the proposed activities reflect an emphasis on community-building rather than debriefing the content of the film. The following structure and activities for your deep community dialogue are meant to be guides to be applied flexibly. Watch the film beforehand and decide which suggested dialogue activity to use for your dialogue. We recognize each dialogue deserves to have its own life. The best facilitation comes from having experienced leaders who are comfortable and confident in a plan they execute. As such, please think about how you can integrate these suggestions into the best practices and experiences you possess. We do not want you to lead a standardized dialogue through any rigid application of these suggestions. The entire program will run between 2 hours and 2 and 1/2 hours. Be sure to join us for our national teleconference training for campaign hosts on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. Pacific / 3 p.m. Central / 4 p.m. Eastern. We will offer a training for dialogue facilitation and answer any questions you have. Details will arrive by email. For questions about the logistics of your screening, contact Jodi Elliott, tour director, at [email protected] If you have questions about press materials or need to schedule an interview with the filmmakers, contact Tracy Wells, communications director, at [email protected]

Before the Doors Open

Before the doors open for your event, please be sure you have tested the sound and picture of the DVD, your volunteers are ready, and you have placed the movie postcards and response cards on the seats of your audience members. Here is your Check List: 30-45 Minutes Preparation Time Arrange to arrive at the venue at least 30 min before the screening to test sound and picture with the projectionist or organizer. Two Wireless Microphones If the venue is large, arrange one wireless microphone on stage and one for audience members during the discussion. Three to Five Volunteers ____

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Blogger Take notes on the discussion by hand or on a laptop; write a reflection piece on the event and email to Tracy Wells at [email protected] Photographer Take photographs at the event; email 2-3 of the best photos to Tracy Wells at [email protected] Usher One Pass out response cards for people to share their own stories and reflections. These will be posted on our website. You can place these response cards on peoples seats before the doors open. (You will need to photocopy the template for the response cards in the campaign package and bring golf pencils). After the event, please type up these responses and email addresses and email to Tracy Wells at [email protected] Usher Two Pass out movie postcards to each audience member with information on how to order the film and curriculum. You can place these movie postcards on peoples seats before the doors open. (Postcards are included in the campaign package) Runner If mics are necessary, the runner will pass the wireless microphone to audience members during the discussion session after the screening.

Introducing the Film

In your welcome to the audience, please read this message from the filmmakers Valarie Kaur and Sharat Raju:

Welcome! We are humbled and grateful to share our film with you and wish we could thank you in person. The journey to make this film began when a twenty-year-old college student faced a choice in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001: to turn away from the confusion and fear outside her bedroom window or to confront the whirlwind and leap into it. She leapt. The stories she found inspired a growing circle of friends to devote their time and talent toward something bigger than any of us. We were all in our twenties, working for free. We lived on chocolate, maxed out credit cards, and somehow raised enough in tiny donations to make Divided We Fall. Our story spread through word-of-mouth and propelled us on a two-year tour that brought us to tonight. Tonight, you are joining thousands of people in 50 cities across the United States in a dialogue about racism and religion, fear and forgiveness, who we are as a nation and who we want to be. As we remember the seven-year anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, we put the film in your hands as a testament to what is possible when people reach deep into hate and violence in order to transform it. May tonight open a space for renewal and healing. May it allow us to honor those who died on Sept. 11 and its ongoing aftermath. And may it inspire you to tell your own untold stories.

When the Film Ends

I. Announcement As soon as the film ends, please make one announcement before your dialogue begins. Call peoples attention to the postcards and response cards on their seats. You can say:

We would like to call your attention to two things placed on your seats. First, the movie postcards. Divided We Fall on DVD is now available for purchase on the films website, and the ordering info is on the back of these movie postcards. We encourage you to order the film to share with your friends and family. Second, the response cards. Throughout our dialogue tonight, we invite you to write down your own stories and reflections on these response cards. These will be posted on the films website alongside responses from around the country. You can add your email address on these cards if you want to stay in touch with the filmmakers.

II. Setting Tone and Ground Rules At the beginning of your dialogue, introduce any community members or experts in the audience and then set a few ground rules. Please read ideas about setting ground rules in Appendix A of this packet. Each dialogue will have different schedules so facilitators must use judgment about how much time to spend on setting tone and guidelines. Something as simple as lighting a candle and inviting people to be respectful, to listen, and to avoid judging other speakers while the candle is burning can be a short effective way to invite people to be at their best in the dialogue process. Some examples include: Our shared commitment is to learn from each other. Acknowledge and value peoples differences in their backgrounds, values, and life experiences. Trust that people are always doing the best they can. Speak your discomfort. Maintain confidentiality. What other guidelines would you like to add?

Leading the Dialogue

Choose one of the following suggested activities to structure your dialogue.[VK1]

Suggested Activity 1: Inviting Shared Healing and Hope Through Appreciative Inquiry in Dyads
Appreciative inquiry is a form of reflection, storytelling, and problem solving that invites people to identify and share peak and positive experiences in their past that help to create imagination, bonds, energy, and connections for change in the future. Here are some questions to try. Invite people to pick a partner, preferably someone he or she doesnt know, then read one of the questions below and give the dyads 5-10 minutes to share a story.

(1) Name a moment when you have you been seen as an outsider. How did you respond? Now name a moment when you saw someone as an outsider. How did you respond? (2) What surprised or upset you in the film? What made you the most hopeful? (3) Whose story in the film resonated with you? What would you like to say to them? (4) When have you been at your best in taking some small or big step to stop bias and hate, and what helped you to be effective in taking action?
After the dyads, invite volunteers to share their partners' stories and what they learned helped people to take action. As a facilitator, take notes on the themes and summarize them at the end to create a group theory on successful ways to take action.

Suggested Activity 2: Inviting Quiet Individual Somatic Reflection and Meditation

This is a reflection process that invites people use all the senses to explore body reactions and sensations to the film. It helps people to be aware of their experience at a deeper level and to reflect on the impact of the film. From gaining insight into the impact of the film on the mind, body, and spirit, people can explore what they learned in a more complete way. It is safer and more productive to alternate reflection about positive reactions and negative reactions. Please read Valaries story about how she used somatic reflection with young people: http://valariekaur.blogspot.com/2008/05/tubman-middle-school-augusta-ga.html After the film ends, read the following questions to your audience for individual reflection. Allow a few moments of silence between questions:

(1) When did you feeling a visceral identification with something or someone in the film? (2) When did you feel the most hopeful when watching the film? Where in your body did you feel the relief, hope, or some calm? (Invite them to notice what happens in their stomach, chest, and throat.) (3) When did you feel anger or pain when watching the film? What did you feel in your body? (Invite them to notice any changes in sensation in their bodies.) (4) Let yourself remember in your body the tense and relaxed moments and alternate between the two to explore what you learned though this somatic inquiry. (5) What is your body telling you about the way you experienced the film and the issues it presents?
Now invite people to find a partner to share what they learned about through this somatic inquiry and reflection for 10 to 15 minutes. (Some people may not have any visceral reactions and for the purposes of this discussion, this is okay). Bring the group together and invite people to share with a group.

Suggested Activity 3: Community Dialogue through Reflections, Questions, and Exchanges about Content Issues in the Film
Watch the film ahead of time and think about some questions that you can raise to discuss these themes in the film. If you are connected with a community member or an expert, work with them ahead of time on questions for the audience and topics for discussion. Here are suggested topics: Valaries Life and Journey: Courage and Inspiration Untold Stories and What They Tell Us about Who Constructs History American Identity: Who Counts as American? National Security and Civil Rights Sikh Americans and Religious Pluralism Stereotyping, Profiling, Discrimination, and Hate Violence The Way Forward: Storytelling, Truth-telling, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation
[VK2]

After the Event

We want to share the stories and outcomes of your event. We will collect stories from all our screenings around the country and post the highlights on our website. Be sure to collect the response cards at the end of the screening and type up peoples stories. So you have two things to send us after the screening ends:

1. Within one week of your event, please send one email with the following items to our communications director Tracy Wells at [email protected]:
2-3 Photographs please send us your favorite photos from your event; we will post these alongside your reflection piece and give credit to the photographer. Reflection, Your City Name a word document with this title that contains a reflection piece about your screening and dialogue (from one paragraph to one page). This reflection piece will be posted on our blog, so please include the highlights of your dialogue and anything you want to share about your experience Response Cards, Your City Name a word document with this title that contains the information people put on their response cards. Please include all that people wrote on the response cards, including demographic info. Email Addresses, Your City Name a word document with this title that lists peoples email addresses from their response cards. We will add these email addresses to our newsletter list.

2. After your screening, please mail the DVD screener back to us. We will then be able to mail you the official DVD of the film upon its release in October (sent free to those who provided the full screening fee):
New Moon Productions 236 Fifth Ave, Suite B Venice, CA 90291

Appendix A: Guide for Setting Ground Rules

Whenever you hope to facilitate conversations on multicultural issues, whether preparing for a one-hour workshop or weaving such discussions into a yearlong class, a vital first step is the development of guidelines for participation. These guidelines, often referred to as "ground rules," should provide the community within a workshop or class a frame to ensure open, respectful dialogue, and maximum participation. Generating a List of Ground Rules There are several effective ways to create ground rules. If time is an issue, as it tends to be in short workshops of one to two hours, it may be necessary for you to simply list the ground rules for the group. Be sure to inquire whether the ground rules are agreeable, and mention that if you had more time together, you would have preferred the group to generate the list. A second way to create ground rules is to list those rules you commonly use, then ask for additional ground rules from the participants. When somebody proposes a ground rule, ask the other participants if they agree to it. If most do, add it to the list. The best way to create ground rules, if you have the time, is to allow the participants to generate the entire list. Ask them to think about what they, as individuals, need to ensure a safe environment to discuss difficult and controversial issues. If the participants are having difficulty coming up with ground rules, or if they do not come up with a particular ground rule you feel is important to the success of your facilitation, try to prompt them toward it. If they still do not mention it, you can add it to the list. Examples of Widely Used Ground Rules Ground rules should be developed and adapted for every unique context. Appropriate ground rules may depend partially on age, region, social class, and other contextual factors. The following list of common ground rules from multicultural education classes and workshops should serve only as a starting point for your process of creating a similar list suitable to your own situation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Listen actively -- respect others when they are talking. Speak from your own experience instead of generalizing ("I" instead of "they," "we," and "you"). Practice timely attendance. Do not be afraid to respectfully challenge one another by asking questions, but refrain from personal attacks -- focus on ideas. Participate to the fullest of your ability -- community growth depends on the inclusion of every individual voice.

6. 7. 8.

Instead of invalidating somebody else's story with your own spin on their experience, share your own story and experience. The goal is not to agree -- it is about hearing and exploring divergent perspectives. Be conscious of body language and nonverbal responses -- they can be as disrespectful as words.

It is also important to set a ground rule for how participation will be managed. Do you prefer for participants to raise their hands and be called on, or for people to speak freely? Remember that some people -- especially those who tend to be introverted -- need more time to process thoughts and speak; so the latter option may exclude them from the discussion. Still, the formal process of raising hands to be recognized may detract from the collective atmosphere needed to discuss multicultural issues. Strategies and Notes 1. It is very helpful to post the ground rules somewhere visible during the entire course of a class or workshop. Some teachers and facilitators who are with a certain group over an extended period of time will bring the list of ground rules (on news print or some other transportable medium) back to the group for every session or class period. They can then refer back to the list when they sense that participants are failing to sufficiently follow one or more of the items. 2. Challenge the participants on the ground rules early and often. If you do not set a tone of strict adherence to the items early in the process, it may become impossible to enforce them later. 3. If you are using more than two or three ground rules, try focusing on particular items during appropriate activities or discussions. For example, if you are facilitating a discussion in a large group, state before the discussion starts that you would like to focus on active listening. Challenge participants to refrain from any side discussions. The same can be done if you are facilitating an experiential activity, by introducing it as a "silent" activity. 4. You must MODEL these ground rules in your own participation. This is especially true for an item such as #2 (speak from your own experience). Be sure that your own language reflects ownership and responsibility by using as many "I" and "me" statements as possible. 5. If a particular ground rule is routinely broken, bounce it back to the participants. A fruitful discussion can often arise from a close examination of why the participants are not adhering to particular items. 6. Revisit the ground rules occasionally, and if time allows, ask whether the participants would like to add any new items. Rethinking Ground Rules If a goal of multicultural education is to challenge current structures and assumptions about educational engagement, we must look closely at all guidelines we use in our classes and workshops, asking ourselves who

they support and who, if anybody, they privilege. As such, many multicultural educators and facilitators have begun to rethink the idea of ground rules and ways they are currently implemented. Recent critical analysis of common ground rules have resulted in a collective reconsideration of their role. This is because too often, ground rules that are put in place, whether by an educator/facilitator or by participants, privilege the already-privileged groups in a given dialogue. For example, in a dialogue about race, white participants will often support ground rules meant to keep anger out of the discussion--ground rules focused on a Eurocentric idea of respect. When we consider who is protected by ground rules like "attack the idea, not the person," it becomes apparent that, intentionally or not, they protect the participants representing privileged groups. While I do not advocate dropping ground rules altogether, I do support the idea of seriously studying these issues and the possible ramifications of ground rules that might ultimately support the status quo by providing safety and comfort for those who, for the sake of their own learning, most desperately need to be made to feel uncomfortable. Consider opening this conversation within your class or workshop or among colleagues, and challenge yourself to make sure that the discussions and dialogues you are setting up do not further oppress historically oppressed people. Source: Awareness Activities EdChange Multicultural Pavilion http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activities/groundrules.html.