Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 9, 2017

On the opening night of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) held its own fabulous Opening Night Soiree at Petros Restaurant. At the event, the ADL presented its second annual Stand-Up Award to Strawberry Days, a poignant film written and directed by Wiktor Ericsson about a Polish family working in the strawberry fields in Sweden where they encounter bias, bullying, and laborexploitation.

Guests strolled ADLs own red carpet and had their photos taken outside Petros, just across from the Arlington Theater where the Opening Film was shown later that evening. More than 100 guests mingled in the elegant covered courtyard and the inside dining room at Petros and dined on passed hors-doeuvres and a succulent buffet of Greek dishes. The casual, unstructured format allowed for plenty of socializing among guests who seemed like a big family, drawn together by ADLs mission of combating hatred andbigotry.

Advisory Board Chair Daniel Meisel welcomed guests and shared how ADL has been around for more than 100 years and given its mission of fighting hate and bigotry, is very busy today. He explained that much of ADLs work is with schools approaching differentness and otherness through story, with the idea that to understand a different point of view, you need to do some listening. So ADL wanted to host an award focused on how the art of storytelling can be applied to address the essence of other. The winner was selected by a panel of board members andstaff.

The ADL has 27 offices nationally and its Santa Barbara office provides a multitude of anti-bias educational programs for educators, administrators, parents, students, and law enforcement. Especially in the present divisive environment, their programs are serving a crucialneed.

Its Early Childhood Education Initiative at Santa Barbara City College each semester provides anti-bias training and resources for early childhood educators. Since children at age 3 to 5 are at a critical point where seeds of prejudice can take root, the initiative strives to encourage an appreciation of diversity at this youngage.

Its No Place for Hate Initiative provides K-12 schools with an organizing framework for combating bias, bullying, and hatred. It provides formal training to a committee of students, teachers, administrators, and parents formed at each participating school. The curriculum and approach is highly customizable. To date, 66 schools in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Counties haveparticipated.

On May 21, ADL is coordinating a Community Summit to discuss identity and bias. To receive updates on the work of ADL and how to get involved, text LOVE to 51555. For general information about ADL, go to santabarbara.adl.org.

Send event invites to Gail atsociety@independent.com.

By GailArnold

Board members Steve and Diane Zipperstein with board members Julianna Friedman and TomDain.

Jewish Federation Executive Director Michael Rassler, Ruth Rassler, SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling, and SuzanneRapley.

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ADL Hosts Merry Opening Night Soiree - Santa Barbara Independent

Category: Anti-Defamation League
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