I woke up still thinking about our very inspiring screening salon yesterday where we experienced the film 9/11: Stories of Sacrifice and Service with Featured Guests Noah Rauch and David Lim.
Below is my post from last night in the Private Discussion Group for this series. Before that, are two ripples for readers of the blog post.
But before that, my deepest thanks to last night's Featured Guests, for being with us and making last night such a meaningful and inspiring experience for all of us who participated:
Noah Rauch, Senior Vice President for Education & Public Programs, 9/11 Memorial & Museum
David Lim, Lieutenant, Port Authority Police Department (ret.).
1. Add a Ripple / Watch the Film:
You can still view and share this 30 minute film on your own.
For those of you who weren't alive or were very young 21 years ago, this gives you a sense of what happened then and since. In our post-salon conversation, participants were so appreciative of how heartfelt and down to earth the film was. It is a retelling of personal stories, rather than a recounting of facts. This is very intentional so that they serve as a bridge for genuine connection to the people that took stands of sacrifice and service during the 9/11 attacks as well as in the years and decades since.
2. Expand a Ripple... to Your Own School or Other Communities:
9/11: Stories of Sacrifice and Service was the centerpiece of this year's 9/11 Memorial & Museum's Anniversary in Schools Program. So far, it has been seen by over a half million students, educators and members of a wide range of other communities around the world.
This important program takes place every year
You probably know of schools or other communities who might want to incorporate offerings like this into their own 9/11 observation programming.
This link will connect you and them with the 9/11 M&M's extensive offerings.
Featured Guest Noah Rauch, Senior Vice President, Education & Public Programs, was a senior member of the team that conceived, planned and implemented the 9/11 M&M's education and interpretive programming. He continues that work every day, and serves as yet another example of the kind of the Taking a Stand theme that we're exploring in this series.
3. Your Organization and SSR Pro:
To add last ripple, after producing and presenting over 40 of these online and in person salons, I know that programming like this is a unique and effective tool for authentically building community and energizing engagement.
If you're an outside-the-box do-er, you might already be thinking that these could be a great for you and your company or organization. If so, let's talk.
For a taste of Stone Soup Ripple, here's a 4-minute trailer of a past screening salon, with thanks to Past Featured Guest Gabriel Diamond and the talents and time of Editor Sarkis Babayan and Sheng Huang, of Mind Map Nation, who did the Post-Production.
Excerpt From My Post in the Fall Series' Private Discussion Group
Closing Comments & What's Coming Up Next
In the Spring of 2021 we took a dive into this theme. Over 4 salons, we met champions of the environment and girls and women rights, both on screen and live, with our featured guests… We met Ted Turner and his daughter Laura Turner Seydel, Dr. Vandana Shiva and filmmakers Camilla and Jim Becket... and Melissa Berton and Ruby Schiff of the Oscar Winning Film, Period End of Sentence.
So why do it again?
Because as I said earlier, when we choose to stand up for what we believe in... when we choose to express our grief, frustration or anger in ways that are not destructive, we stand up for our truth in a way that people can actually hear us. It allows us to do our part to shape our world in positive ways.
As our Featured Guest David Lim said, "Time heals all wounds, but it leaves nasty scars."
For him and the others we met in 9/11: Stories of Sacrifice and Service, we saw how individuals "can make a very big difference by doing good things, even if they are very small", as Bridge said as she told her story.
We don't know the effects of our actions and words, but when we make a point of taking a stand through giving, all the ripples that emerge will be positive ones.
Next Up:
I hope to see you at any or all of these. As I said, each salon stands on its own so come to one or all.
On Oct 4th, we'll experience Finding Courage w Kay Rubacek, Producer & Co-Director (due to the film length, the salon concludes 30 minutes later than usual, at 7:30pm PT / 10:30pm ET.
We'll go behind the scenes of modern-day China to see how a former journalist for the Chinese Communist Party, Yi Fei Wang is risking everything for her family as she seeks justice for the murder of her sister at the hands of the Chinese authorities.
On Oct 11th we'll experience Shaping Solutions: Women Leaders for Climate Justice, with Pat Mitchell, Media Executive, Producer, Curator.
For a panel for the Skoll World Forum, Pat convened 5 exceptionally knowledgeable panelists to discuss about climate change and climate justice, the deep injustice to nature itself, in the loss of biodiversity and the rapid extinction of so many species.
And on Oct 18th, in the final salon, we’ll look back at the series to integrate more closely with the them and with each other.
I hope to see you for some or all of these 3 remaining salons....and feel free to share with your circles.
After all, that's how ripples begin!