Ambassadors started by holding one-on-one meetings, a crucial element of community organizing, with local clergy to understand their perspective on and commitment to anti-violence work in Chicago. After gaining some insight on the area, and the concerns of those leaders’ congregations, the Ambassadors planned a discussion that elicited incredible community-building ideas and illustrated a clear sense of commitment from local residents to providing a safe environment for everyone living in the community.

To help spur conversation, Ambassadors used two videos from the One Chicago, One Nation online film contest, “One Chicago, One Nation?” and “Violence in Schools.”

One Chicago, One Nation?

Violence in Schools

In late June a series of events were held celebrating the winners of the film contest and the confirmation of Community Ambassadors. Last week, the true on-the-ground work of One Chicago, One Nation began. Keep the conversation going by looking out for upcoming conversations in your neighborhood and by following up on these conversations with meaningful actions.

On Thursday June 17^th, One Chicago, One Nation hosted a VIP Reception for the winners of the OCON Film Contest to the backdrop of an evening concert at Millennium Park. Filmmakers and Community Ambassadors had the opportunity to share their work with influential leaders from Chicago while enjoying the music of Tinariwen and celebrating stories that demonstrate the social impact of diverse individuals and communities working together. A special congrats goes out to Anida Yoeu Ali for taking home the $20,000 Grand Prize for her film 1700% Project: Mistaken for Muslim, which blends narrative, music, and poetry to intervene against the racial profiling of Muslims in post-9/11 America. Congrats are also in order for winners from the genre categories: Chris Sato (Comedy), Ratko Momcilovic (Documentary), Mike Meyer (Drama), Elisha Hall (Mobile Digital Media), and Carmine Cervi (Under 60 Seconds), who each received a $5,000 prize. All of the films capture the common bonds shared among diverse groups and offer a call to action and engagement. You can check out the award-winners and other great submissions online by visiting the LinkTV website.

In addition to being televised on LinkTV, these films will be used by OCON Community Ambassadors to spark discussions about interfaith engagement and community collaboration. At the VIP Reception, four Community Ambassadors presented filmmakers with their awards and shed light on what motivates them to participate in One Chicago, One Nation.  Rominna Villasenor, a Catholic Filipina-American on staff with Teach for America, Jonathan St. Clair, a Spiritual performance artisit, and Dr. Gloria Needlman, a Jewish retired teacher and member of KAM Isaiah Israel’s congregation, presented the evening’s awards. Khaleelah Muhammad, who belongs to Masjid Maryam on the south side of Chicago, shared her story of interfaith dialogue, highlighting the One Chicago, One Nation values of connecting, sharing, engaging, and building strong communities.  As a result of her involvement with One Chicago, One Nation, Khaleelah connected with fellow Community Ambassador Gloria Needlman on local community gardening & pro-peace building initiatives. Khaleelah and Gloria’s mutually inspiring relationship and joint interfaith service project is one of many activities led by Community Ambassadors, including upcoming Community Conversations throughout the summer and fall. Check back here regularly for updates on OCON Community Conversations that may be happening in or around your neighborhood!

Beyond the Film Contest, One Chicago, One Nation inducted its inaugural class of Community Ambassadors on Saturday June 19^th at the Takin’ It to the Streets Festival in Marquette Park. Mayor Richard M. Daley and State Senator Jacqueline Collins both spoke at the Induction Ceremony as well as other notable Chicagoans, including Steve Edwards of WBEZ, President and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust Terry Mazany, Founder and Director of Interfaith Youth Core Eboo Patel, Executive Director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network Rami Nashashibi, and the CEO of One Nation Henry Izumizaki. Each of the speakers commended the Community Ambassadors for their willingness to serve as leaders in their communities to address the multi-faceted needs facing Chicago. Many emphasized the interconnected nature of our society, weaving in their own identities as Muslims, Christians, and Jews, etc. and stressing the need for representation of all faiths and cultures as we build a better America. Mayor Daley praised the grassroots work of the Community Ambassadors and the One Chicago, One Nation initiative for having the potential to make a significant impact on their neighborhoods and the entire city of Chicago.

The Induction Ceremony reminded all who were present of the breadth and scope of this initiative and inspired us to continue to work towards intercultural and interfaith engagement in our neighborhoods. Three Community Ambassadors, Kurt Esslinger, a Christian campus minister, Anisha Ismail Patel, a Muslim professor, and Miranda Hovemeyer, a Secular Humanist seminarian, offered reflections on their commitment to the interfaith movement. Identifying a common faith that exists between religious and secular individuals, Miranda Hovemeyer affirmed the mission of OCON, stating, “We share faith in the same goal, and that goal is getting out there and engaging with the community, both religious and secular, and working to improve Chicago, our amazing city. If we can have faith in each other, then there is no one we can’t reach.”

This has truly been an inspirational week for One Chicago, One Nation and we are thrilled to have the support of so many Chicagoans as we move forward!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/us/20cncwarren.html

2.      What King Had to Say to Millenials, The Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-wilkes/what-dr-king-has-to-say-t_b_612285.html.  This article imagines what King might have to say to the millennial generation.

3.      Haley’s Path to Christianity Leaves Some Evangelicals Uneasy, CNN- http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/15/haleys-path-to-christianity-leaves-some-evangelicals-uneasy/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_politicalticker+%28Blog:+Political+Ticker%29&fbid=n3NJq6p-IR7.  This article discusses the continuing controversy surrounding Nikki Haley’s Sikh background. Many evangelicals are raising doubts to whether or not she’s “really” a Christian since she still shows respect to her Sikh heritage.

4.      For American Muslims, Choosing to Wear the Veil Poses Challenges, NYTimes – http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/fashion/13veil.html.  This beautiful piece tells the story of American Muslim women who have chosen to wear the veil and the challenges and joys that come with that.

By Mark Crain

Now that voting and commenting has come to a close, we want to thank you all for your support of the One Chicago, One Nation Online Film Contest. In just three short months, nearly 150 films were submitted to the contest and 80 were accepted. Thousands of you logged on to the website and shared your reflections on the films. We can’t thank you enough for sharing your ideas and supporting our efforts to promote the power of digital storytelling.

A special thanks is in order for everyone that took the time to work on a film for this project. Not every film was accepted into the contest, but that should not diminish their merit as works of art and as opportunities for someone to share their story. Nearly 50 of you were involved in our free film training courses, honing your filming and editing skills by working with two of Chicago’s premier production and training houses, Endless Eye Productions and Street-Level Youth Media. Hopefully, these classes enhanced your understanding of the usefulness and importance of embracing digital media .

We will determine the finalists of the film contest this week. according to how well their film met the competition’s criteria, how well they utilized their democratic power to gather votes, and how effectively their film promoted the message of interfaith and intercultural learning to create a better city of Chicago.

We urge you to come out and support the contest on June 17 if you’re in Chicago when we announce the winners at Millennium Park’s public concert, “Dandana: A Celebration of Muslim Voices.”

View the films online here: http://www.linktv.org/onechicago/films

Check out a few images from our workshops below.

By Hind Makki

When we were developing the One Chicago, One Nation initiative last summer, we thought long and hard about the role we wanted the Community Ambassadors to play: we knew that Chicago is a racially, socio-economically and religiously segregated city, which is why we started the One Chicago, One Nation initiative in the first place. We knew we wanted to work with people who are leaders in their own circles of influence. And we knew that we wanted these Community Ambassadors to reflect the religious, racial, geographic and socio-economic diversity of this city. And the big question was – would the people we were seeking want to seek us out?

We launched a successful “coming out” party for One Chicago, One Nation in January, introducing our initiative to 750 people in a packed room at the Chicago Cultural Center. Soon after, we dove into the job of reaching out to folks who were potential Community Ambassadors and our outreach led us to literally thousands of people connected to universities, non-profit organizations, houses of worship, cultural institutions as well as individuals. Most people we connected with were supportive of the One Chicago, One Nation initiative, and as the momentum builds for the initiative this spring, our inboxes have been flooding with applications from people all over Chicago who want to join the Community Ambassador program. The leaders who are applying are a wonderful testimony to the great diversity and wealth of resources our city has to offer:

From the 18 year old recent graduate who organized a day to “talk to someone new” at her suburban high school, to a 69-year old retired English professor using poetry to build religious pluralism among children, the inaugural cohort of the Community Ambassador program has the potential to represent all walks of life. Community Ambassadors will help their communities to build lasting relationships across religious, cultural, economic, and racial lines and rightly reflect the city’s diversity: Immigrants from Canada, Ghana, and Malawi; college professors, and pre-school teachers; residents of Humboldt Park, Geneva, River North, and Arlington Heights; teenagers and Baby Boomers; men and women; Black, White, Latino, Arab, and Asian; community organizers, stay-at-home moms, consultants, filmmakers, and lawyers; Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Secular Humanists.

I have high expectations for our class of Community Ambassadors this year. The applications we are receiving live up to our American motto E Pluribus, Unum – Out of Many, One. The fact that all these people who represent all walks of life believe in the mission of One Chicago, One Nation gives me hope that the vision we dreamt of last summer, a vision of training 100 leaders to lead their communities in building social cohesion and interfaith cooperation in our city, can become a reality.

The Inner-city Muslim Action Network has a history of grassroots community service and activism, and a focus on materially impacting the neighborhood and community of Marquette Park, and Chicago as a whole. In this work, we know the importance of people telling their individual stories and sharing their experiences to find and highlight common value systems. This is what the online film contest hopes to do through digital storytelling.

Each person submitting a film is offering us an opportunity to understand someone else’s perspective, and learn from the issues and the solutions that they present. Ultimately, the ability to empathize with our fellow Chicagoans, and more importantly, fellow human beings, is an invaluable skill and character trait. Please watch the videos online at linktv.org/onechicago, and leave your comments and votes.

We’re also hoping to build peoples’ skill sets by offering free film-making workshops, starting this Saturday, February 20. IMAN is hosting free film workshops on the south and north sides of Chicago, and we’d love for you to sign up!

If you have any questions, please email us at films@onechicago-onenation.org. We love talking about this project and are always happy to discuss it with you!
You can also find details by clicking Film Contest above.

And if you’re just not into film, don’t forget about our Community Ambassador program, and our 20 $10,000 Community Solution Grants…

By Erin Williams

On January 13th, Allah Made Me Funny’s Azhar Usman and Rami Nashashibi, the Executive Director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) appeared on Chicago Public Radio’s Vocalo.org to bring attention to One Chicago, One Nation. The humor and insight they brought to their Vocalo.org interview carried over into the energy they brought with them the next night, on January 14th, where Azhar and Rami spoke to over 657 people at the launch of One Chicago, One Nation at the Chicago Cultural Center. Also taking the stage were poet Kevin Coval; journalist and producer Bill Kurtis; co-founder and convener of United Congress, Rev. Patricia Watkins; President & CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, Terry Mazany; CEO of One Nation, Henry Izumizaki; Vice President & General Manager of Link TV, Wendy Hanamura; Executive Director of Interfaith Youth Core, Eboo Patel; Associate Director for Religious Diversity at DePaul University, Dr. F. Javier Orozco; and youth from Imagine Englewood If and JCUA’s Or Tzedek. Launch attendees also got to listen to music (and watch breakdancing!) from Seneke Ensemble, Duzan Ensemble, Indigo, and DJ David Chavez. Profiled by The New York Times , The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun Times, Gapers Block, and NonProphet Status, the launch catalyzed Chicago toward working together on common projects for the common good.

To get involved, apply to be a Community Ambassador (applications due March 19!) or submit your film to the One Chicago, One Nation film contest (http://www.linktv.org/onechicago) (submissions due April 23rd)!