We Need Your Help to Break Hate and Stop Racist Violence.
Help Christian Picciolini and the Free Radicals Project in their mission to break hate and put an end to racist violence by donating now, and/or sharing this fundraising campaign. Use #HateIsNotAHoax and tag the Free Radicals Project on social media (Facebook: @FreeRadicalsProject, Twitter: @FreeRadicalsOrg, Instagram: @FreeRadicalsProject) to encourage others to join in combating hate and extremism.
We Can't Solve the Problem of Racism Until We Acknowledge It Exists and Call It By Its Name.
Despite some pundits and politicians recently insisting that white-supremacist extremism is not a real threat to society, most individuals and communities across the U.S and around the world know all too well that #HateIsNotAHoax. For those affected by hate and white-supremacist violence, it's inconceivable to say this threat does not exist.
In 2017, after a tragedy occurred in Charlottesville, Christian founded the FREE RADICALS PROJECT, a global extremism disengagement framework to allow individuals to break away from hate and violence-based movements. Through a non-aggressive practice of resilience-building and cross-cultural immersions, Christian and the Free Radicals Project network help guide entrenched individuals toward an "exit ramp" where they can begin self-reflection and build a plan of resilience and positive action to repair harm.
To Continue This Critical Work, We Need Your Support Now.
While we've worked to build a global network of partners, the requests for help have quickly outgrown our capacity to provide it. We work on a volunteer basis, most often in-person, and offer these services free of charge, and we will continue to do so. But, the problem is much too big and the requests for help are growing too fast for our small volunteer staff to effectively service those in need and keep people safe. So much, we've had to prioritize and tell people to wait. We need your help to scale quickly now.
If you give today, you'll be helping us:
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IMMEDIATELY hire and train 5 additional formers as peer interveners across the U.S. and Canada to conduct disengagement and de-escalation work using a proven approach
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Hire a prevention programs manager to create dynamic toolkits for parents, educators, communities, and law enforcement
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Hire a program manager to develop online radicalization education and prevention workshops, open-source tools, and training modules
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Contract an independent filmmaker to document micro disengagement stories for use as powerful digital counter-narratives
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Hire 2 extremism researchers to stay ahead of the curve of extremist movements. Develop a dynamic open-source knowledge hub on extremism, sourced from the best researchers and voices in the field
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Contract a staff social psychologist/associate director of disengagement and peer intervention to further develop our best-practices and disengagement methodologies and apply empirical research/clinical standards and metrics to our efforts
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Hire a partnerships director to liaise with technology companies and other professional partners to grow our provider network worldwide and consult on radicalization policies
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Implement 2 existing research projects with medical university partners to study if links exist between mental health disorders and targeted online radicalization
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Hire a grant writer to apply for non-governmental and private foundation grants. We believe politics should stay out of keeping people safe.
Consider a recurring monthly donation to help us:
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Build a budget for the long-term, stable operation of the Free Radicals Project. Disengagement is a process that takes time, and financial sustainability is key to our success as we scale and grow. Continuous funding will put us on solid ground and a donation now keeps us alive.
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Establish a crisis fund for new formers in genuine need. Many have immediate unexpected expenses as they leave hate movements, such as emergency relocation costs, job training, education, mental health counseling, and tattoo removal. We have to provide better options than hate groups do.
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Continue to keep these services free and accessible. To remain ahead of those who prey on our most vulnerable means attracting the most passionate, talented, and forward-thinking experts in the field. Tragedy can be averted, but we cannot afford to waste more time. These toxic movements evolve quickly and so should we.
#HateIsNotAHoax—It is a National Security Threat
Not a day goes by that we don't receive desperate requests from people who want to disengage and denounce their beliefs, or from a family member who is stunned by a loved one's spiral downward into extremism, afraid it's too late for them. Some days, our inbox, text messages, hotline, and social media messages are repositories of risk-assessments better suited for Homeland Security...if only someone there was focused on the threat of domestic white-supremacist extremism. Recently, the U.S. government eliminated funding for "de-radicalization" programs, despite the well-documented rise of domestic terrorism and warnings from experts like us and even those in their own administrations. Your support for our work is more critical than ever.
Demand For Our Services Has Skyrocketed. We Need Your Help Now.
The demand for our intervention assistance has become too great and we need your help scaling these efforts. If people who are trapped by hate can't find a path toward healing, they often see no option but to go deeper, or sometimes much worse -- they act out violently. We've all felt the tragic effects of not intervening soon enough. With your help, we can outpace the threat and help off-ramp individuals earlier and quicker. "Deradicalization" is a necessary band-aid in these times. Even so, early prevention will remain key to our approach as we continue to build our team and network. It will take a global village to break hate. Help us in this historic moment.
Help Us Disrupt Hate. Donate Today or Start Your Own Fundraising Micro-Campaign for the Free Radicals Project.
Thank you for your ongoing support. Let's put an end to hate together.
CHRISTIAN PICCIOLINI
Founder and Chief Radical, Free Radicals Project