This April is Genocide Awareness Month. We intend to honor the importance of this month by working towards "never again” all month and beyond.
What is Together We Remember?
By Madalyn Minnick, TWR Fellow ‘20
Together We Remember is a grassroots organization founded by David Fox-Estrin, the grandson of four Holocaust survivors, with the goal of making “never again” a reality. Together We Remember is designed to foster collective memory and inspire collective action and unite people across lines of difference to achieve those goals.
One of the pillars of Together We Remember is the power of name reading. A person’s name is synonymous with their identity, which leads to their purpose and their life. Many human rights atrocities targeted groups of people based on their identity, unwilling to listen to their name or their story. TWR’s founder, David Fox-Estrin, wondered how he could “preserve [his] grandfather’s memory in a way that [would] be relevant and meaningful to future generations?”. The answer was a name reading vigil that honored victims of past atrocities by raising up their names and making sure their memory knew that their story mattered. The name David chose for his organization echoed the hopes of remembrance and the ways that honoring the memory of the past can protect the future.
A vital part of Together We Remember’s mission is bringing unheard atrocities and voices to the forefront of genocide education. Many people suffer in silence, but their memory can be honored when we make an effort to listen to their stories. In the same way that a name is unique to each individual’s identity, their stories and experiences are unique and deserve to be uplifted.
April was named Genocide Awareness Month because many genocides and atrocities began in April. We can reconcile those atrocities by using April as a time to remember the people lost to those genocides, to encourage awareness about genocides happening today, and to help educate others on how to prevent future human rights atrocities. Together We Remember honors April and past genocides with resources and events that help foster awareness and education about past atrocities and preventing future atrocities. The inclusive TWR community encourages anyone and everyone to join in on these events and contribute to a brighter future where “never again” is not a promise, it is a reality.
Our world suffers immensely because fear surrounds our differences. Together We Remember seeks to reconcile that fear with curiosity and kindness in order to create more unity among humanity.
What is the TWR coalition?
Of course, this work is not something that can be done alone, and definitely not something that should be done alone. The TWR Coalition is a perfect representation of the “Together” in Together We Remember: a network of organizations from around the world, all dedicated to remembrance and prevention of identity-based violence of all forms. There is a meaningful opportunity for institutions of conscience to band together through a national campaign each April, Genocide Awareness Month, that demonstrates the importance and impact of Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights education at a time that so clearly demands more of it.
The idea is to unlock the full power of our student, educator, member, and partner networks across the country, in an integrated and highly visible way each year. Through the TWR Coalition, Genocide Awareness Month will become an annual phenomenon that is observed in schools, communities, and on social media in a way that brings people together across lines of difference to counter identity-based violence and make meaningful progress toward a world of “Never Again.”
What is Genocide Awareness Month?
By Luke Yang and Katherine Leonard, TWR Fellows ‘20
While every day is the apt time to fight injustice in all its forms, Together We Remember intends to spend this April, or Genocide Awareness Month (GAM), inspiring education, action, and remembrance. GAM is a month where, as a united front across the world, we remember the lives lost to identity-based violence throughout history, and work harder than ever to prevent it from ever happening again. During April, we join forces with not only our coalition members and partners around the world but with every single person dedicated to ridding our society of hate once and for all.
To accomplish our goals for GAM, TWR has several initiatives designed to approach GAM from all angles and bring together activists from every corner of the globe.
How can I get involved with TWR’s April initiatives?
Taking the #TogetherWeRemember Pledge is one of the first steps for new members of our community to engage in our fight against identity-based violence. Through the pledge, activists make clear who, what, why, and how they pledge to remember.
#BigAsk is a community-driven program hosted by the TWR Blog. Every week throughout GAM, a thought-provoking question will be posed to the TWR network, for all to consider and submit their responses to. Responses may be featured on the TWR blog, where they have the potential to be shared further for all to see. Click here to find out more, view this week’s #BigAsk, and submit your responses!
#GAMsessions will be discussions hosted on Instagram Live by our TWR Youth Action Fellows. This will be an informative, interactive way for the community to engage with TWR directly, and discuss further the questions posed in #BigAsk. Also held on Instagram Live will be #FellowFriday Instagram Takeovers. Each week on Friday, TWR will host an Instagram Live with one of our Youth Action Fellows, where they will share the work they do.
#TheSpark is a groundbreaking foray into Instagram Reels, where punchy, fast-paced informational videos will be shared surrounding GAM itself, TWR, and work being done around the world that is underappreciated.
#ArtAgainstAtrocities is an art competition hosted by our very own Youth Action Fellow Jocelyn Paulin, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Art of all forms, including visual art, music, dance, and more will be showcased.
On April 29th, TWR will host its annual 24-hour Virtual Global Vigil. Every hour of the day, TWR Coalition members will hold name-readings, host insightful speakers, and inspiring performances that honor the victims of and upstanders to identity-based violence and genocide throughout history.
Throughout the month, TWR and its coalition members will be hosting online programs. With the astounding lineup of organizations and speakers, there will be something for everyone. Find these events at our Virtual Event Calendar.
The TWR Virtual Resource Hub is a great place to find tips, tricks, and other resources for activism in all its forms, whether that entails virtual event production, social media campaigns, or any other format.
With everything TWR and our coalition members will be doing throughout GAM, you’ll want to stay in the loop. Be sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter for information about the upcoming week’s events and news. When using social media to promote your work or share that of others, use the hashtags #GenocideAwarenessMonth and #TogetherWeRemember to ensure that we get a glimpse, and can share your incredible initiatives even further. The impact that we can have through Genocide Awareness month is truly unprecedented. Stay connected with our social media initiatives, our blog, newsletter, and virtual event calendar to ensure that you don’t miss a thing. Together, we can remember humanity at its worst to demonstrate what humanity can be at its best.