Oak Ridge Strong

United Against Political Violence & Hate

Maybe you haven’t heard, but there’s an election coming. No matter who wins on election day, almost half of our country is going to feel America is falling apart because they ended up on the losing side. We want to counter that narrative because we believe our best days are still ahead of us… not because of who our leaders are, but because of who we are as citizens. We don’t have to vote the same way to be good neighbors and build a strong community! What we must do however is agree that political violence, hate, and hate speech have no place in our community. We must recognize the humanity in each other and commit ourselves to kindness.

SO MANY GREAT RESOURCES FOR STICKING TOGETHER!

Check out this video from the “All We Share” campaign.

It reminds us that we have a choice to stay positive.

#allweshare.us

What We Can Do To Reject Violence and Hate

While Exercising Our Political Values and Voting

This Election Season

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    Join us Sunday, November 3 at 4:00 PM at the Friendship Bell, all political parties welcome for community prayer, singing, and fellowship! People of all faiths, or no faith, and all political parties welcome. Our theme is peace and we will celebrate how wonderful our city can be when we agree together that hate has no place in our city.

  • ✺

    Sign up for a free daily election week resource and inspirational reading designed to be non-partisan and uplifting. Emails will only arrive Sunday - Saturday during election week, after which we delete the mailing list unless you ask us to keep you.

    (See Below for More!)

  • ✺

    Make a commitment to non-violence regardless of the outcome of this election, and respect the PEOPLE, PROPERTY, and POSSESSIONS of our community. Talk about the core value of loving our neighbors at every opportunity. Invite your friends to join us in our mission to perserve peace during election week and beyond.

  • ✺

    Vote for your candidates of choice and participate in the priviledge of our Democracy on Tuesday, November 5 at your assigned voter location, unless you early vote. All polling stations, including early voting stations can be found here: https://www.acelection.com/polling-place-locations/

  • ✺

    Offer kindness and compassion to our neighbors as we vote. Respect the institution and sanctity of voting rights by participating with love for our country. Humbly accept results and agree that no matter what Oak Ridge will never give in to hate or violence!

  • ✺

    Come together Friday night, Oak Ridge's official "Jenn Cristy Day," and enjoy a concert with neighbors and friends. Let's not let anything, no election result or political outcome, rob us of our joy and neighborly love. Music is a great way to stay connected!

Helpful Videos from Over Zero on Protecting Communities from Political Violence and Hate:

https://www.projectoverzero.org/resources

Recognizing Negative Emotions

Negative emotions play a key role in mobilizing groups towards escalation in an intergroup conflict context, as well as in contexts of one-sided identity-based violence and group-targeted harm. In particular, hate, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, and humiliation, often underlie the justification for committing violence and other forms of harm against other groups.

Group Norms

Understanding social norms can provide insights into the internal, group-level dynamics that may move groups towards hate or violence. How do group norms impact group members’ behavior? How do these norms evolve over time for a given group?

Social Identities

To understand conflict between groups, or harm and violence that targets groups based on their identity, it’s important to have a baseline understanding of social identity.

Sign Up for Free Inspirational Emails, Election Week Only

Would you like to receive free resources and inspiration readings about community togetherness during election week? Each morning, get an uplifting word or a link to any number of resources that can help us preserve unity and manage anxiety during election week.

We’re committed to only send these from Sunday - Saturday mornings during election week and in our last email on Saturday, we will delete the emails from the listserv unless you specifically tell us you want to remain in contact with Oak Ridge Periodic Tables.

If you tell us you want to remain on our mailing list, we will keep you. If you stay on with us, please know we only send one email every 2-3 months on average.

Do You Know How Much We Love You!

THIS MUCH!

JENN & ERIC RETURN FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR OF HEALING, JOY, AND MUSIC!

Everyone at last year’s show felt and knew… something special happens around the power of music. Come shake off the dust of a stressful election and just love on your neighbors. Jenn and Eric are electric together — which is ironic because they play acoustic! Come feel the energy of the healing power wrapped up in music. If election week was stressful for you — all the more reason to be here! Joy belongs to no political party! Joy belongs to us all. And when we are joyful together, we can insulate this city against ANYTHING that comes our way! We are stronger together!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE: I CHOOSE JOY!

Food, fun, and community await us all this “Jenn Cristy Day!”