Collaboraction, Chicago’s theater for social change, will co-host the first Chicago virtual screening of Healing from Hate: Battle for the Soul of a Nation, a new documentary by filmmaker Peter Hutchinson that examines the bold work of former extremists in their efforts to de-radicalize White Nationalists and heal communities torn apart by racism.
Prominently featured in this riveting new documentary is former violent extremist Sammy Rangel, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Life After Hate, a Collaboraction board member and a nationally celebrated peace activist.
Healing from Hate will be available for streaming via Collaboraction’s Together Network, the company’s new platform for interactive online programming, from Wednesday, December 9 at 11 p.m. CT through Sunday, December 13 at 12 a.m. CT. Tickets are $9.99. Pre-orders are available now at collaboraction.org/together-network.
To learn more about Collaboraction and its upcoming work, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.
More about Healing from Hate: Battle for the Soul of a Nation
Click here or above to watch the trailer for Healing From Hate
Healing from Hate is the latest documentary from filmmaker Peter Hutchison, director of the critically acclaimed Requiem for the American Dream, which featured Noam Chomsky. Healing from Hate examines the root causes of hate group activity through the bold work of those battling intolerance on the front lines. The doc spotlights the work of Life After Hate, an organization founded by Sammy Rangel, former Skinheads and neo-Nazis, now engaged in transforming attitudes of intolerance, and groundbreaking sociologist Michael Kimmel (author, “Angry White Men” and “Healing From Hate”).
Documenting a stunning year of hatred in America, Healing From Hate follows former violent extremists mostly from the far-right who are working to de-radicalize, or “re-humanize,” White Nationalists, and to heal communities torn apart by racism. The 85-minute video digs deep into what's needed to return meaning, identity and tolerance to a generation of disenfranchised white men.
Healing from Hate was an Official Selection at the Doc NYC and Big Sky Docs film festivals. Forbes Magazine called it "a powerful reminder of the racism, anti-Semitism and prejudice still deeply ingrained in American society” and how it “examines how the current administration perpetuates this divisiveness through fear-mongering.” The Los Angeles Times wrote “at a time when the rhetoric of a certain leader in power has awakened supremacist groups, the documentary Healing from Hate should be mandatory viewing.”
Sammy Rangel is an author, social worker, peace activist, speaker, trainer and father. After living a life fueled by violence, Rangel is now Executive Director and Co-Founder, Life After Hate, a Chicago-based non-profit committed to helping people leave the violent far-right to connect with humanity and lead compassionate lives. Today, he is a nationally celebrated peace activist. His autobiography, "Fourbears: The Myths of Forgiveness," chronicles his life from the physical and sexual abuse he endured as a child to his path of self-destruction that culminated in a 15-1/2-year prison sentence. In 2012, Rangel founded Formers Anonymous, a national self-help group based on the 12-step model for people addicted to street life and violence. In May 2015, he participated in the TEDxDanubia Conference: Balance On the Edge held in Budapest, where he spoke about the power of forgiveness. Two years later, Rangel forged a lasting connection with Collaboraction where he now serves on the board, when he shared his own inspirational story of hope and redemption on stage in the company’s 2017 Peacebook Festival.
Life After Hate is committed to helping people leave the violent far-right to connect with humanity and lead compassionate lives. Its vision is a world that allows people to change and contribute to a society without violence. Life After Hate launched in 2011, when a group of former violent extremists came together and committed to a singular cause: Anyone wanting to leave a hate group would never have to do it alone. Today the organization offers an exit strategy for men and women ready to leave hate behind once and for all. Since the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017, Life After Hate has helped more than 500 people and families. For more information, visit lifeafterhate.org.
Watch Sammy Rangel perform his autobiographical short play Vueltas at Collaboraction's 2017 Peacebook Festival.
About Collaboraction
Collaboraction, Chicago’s theater for social change, collaborates with a diverse community of Chicagoans, artists and community activists to create original theatrical experiences that cultivate dialogue and action around the city’s most critical social issues.
Collaboraction’s new member-supported Together Network presents exclusive virtual content like Crucial Connections, a live, interactive talk show that brings social justice warriors, artists and community residents together for crucial conversations (third Thursday of every month,8 p.m. CT), and Becoming: Unlearning White Supremacy, a live web show for all people looking to be active anti-racists (every other Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT). A $5 monthly subscription fee allows unlimited access to all of the company’s digital programming while providing steady financial support for Collaboraction and its artists. Sign up at collaboraction.org/together-network.
After 10 years at the Flat Iron Arts Building in Wicker Park, Collaboraction is now based at AV Chicago in Chicago’s South Loop where it produces high-end virtual theater, live, interactive talk shows and online special events. As soon as it’s safe to present in-person performances again, Collaboraction will continue to use the theater at Kennedy-King College in Englewood as its mainstage producing home. Meanwhile, Collaboraction has initiated a search for its next home for live performances, community building and video production, exploring Chicago neighborhoods that have been historically overlooked like Englewood, Austin and Lawndale.
Since the company’s founding in 1996, Collaboraction has pushed artistic boundaries working with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to more than 150,000 audience members. Collaboraction partnered with the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program for five straight years, where it cultivated relationships and theater in Englewood, Austin and Hermosa through the Crime Scene, Peacebook and Encounter tours. Other memorable productions include Forgotten Future: The Education Project by Sarah Moeller, This is Not a Cure for Cancer by Anthony Moseley and Sarah Illiatovich-Goldman, Gender Breakdown by Dani Bryant and Erica Barnes, Dark Play (or stories for boys) by Carlos Murrillo, the Chicago premiere of 1001 by Jason Grote and the annual SKETCHBOOK Festival for 15 years.
Collaboraction has been acknowledged for innovation and inclusivity by using theater as a tool for social change with numerous awards including, most recently, a 2020 Foster Innovation Award from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), the 2020 Multi-Racial Unity Award from the First Unitarian Church - Chicago, a 2018 Stand For the Arts Award from Comcast, and an Otto Award from New York’s Castillo Theatre.
Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, The Joyce Foundation, The Field Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA #33 Chamber of Commerce, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Collaboraction is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Executive Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, a company of 27 talented Chicago theater artists, and a dedicated staff and board of directors.
For more information, visit collaboraction.org.