Barnstable to Launch ‘No Place for Hate’ Group

HYANNIS – A kick-off meeting for the newly formed Barnstable No Place for Hate group is scheduled to take place Sunday, October 20 in the cafeteria of Cape Cod Community College.

Members of the community are invited to attend the meeting, which will detail the efforts being established to provide support and resources for Barnstable residents impacted by bias or hatred of race, disabilities, gender identity, religious beliefs, and intolerance or bigotry of any kind.

“Our goal is to raise awareness, to support change, positive change,” said Rabbi David Freelund.

“The idea being that we cannot look the other way towards hateful acts and say well this wasn’t us, it is us.”

The No Place for Hate movement, spearheaded by the Anti-Defamation League in 1999, originally emphasized for public schools to act and make positive changes that combat bias, bullying, hatred, and unacceptance of any kind within their individual educational institutions.

The movement reached over 1,600 schools across the country according to the Anti-Defamation League website.

Over time, the No Place for Hate movement spread to larger community-wide efforts, and on Cape Cod, the Town of Falmouth currently has an established and active No Place for Hate group.

“Our community supports each other, we recognize our differences, and we celebrate each person’s right to live as they choose,” said Rabbi Freelund.

“This is not a group that is anyway politically exclusive, the goal is that everybody has a voice.”

Other towns in the South Shore community including, Stoughton, Brockton, Randolph, Quincy, and Plymouth are among No Place for Hate Communities in Massachusetts.

The kick-off meeting is the first of what the new group sees as fresh and innovative opportunities to connect, provide to the community, and establish important resources and places to go when anyone or any group of people experience hatred of any kind.

The meeting is set to take place Sunday, October 20 from 2 to 4 p.m.

The No Place for Hate Barnstable steering committee, which has been meeting over the last two months, currently consists of community members from organizations that include the Barnstable Town Council, Barnstable Human Rights Commission, Barnstable Police Department, Independence House Inc., Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled, Cape Cod Council of Churches, NAACP Cape Cod Chapter, Cape Sangha Buddhist Community, Islamic Community Educators, Cape Cod Synagogue, Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition, Wampanoag Tribal Community, the LGBTQ Community, and other individual faith based organizations including St. Frances Xavier and the First Lutheran Church.

For more information, or any questions, contact Rabbi Freelund [email protected] or Eileen Elias [email protected].

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