Miscellaneous
On this episode of PEACE TALKS RADIO, we consider a 2020 film documentary made in response to the times we are living in. THE ANTIDOTE is a feature documentary that weaves together stories of kindness, decency, and the power of community in America. It's about everyday people who make the intentional choice to lift others up, despite the fundamentally unkind ways of our society, which are at once facts of life in America and yet deeply antithetical to our founding ideals. Host Paul Ingles talks with the film's directors: Academy Award-nominee Kahane Cooperman, and six-time Emmy winner, John Hoffman. The film is available on several platforms for online viewing. Among the stories featured in the film is a program offering health service to the homeless in Boston; a resettlement support services project helping refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo adjust to a very different life in Anchorage, Alaska; a community college in Amarillo, Texas really going the extra mile to remove the emotional, logistical and financial barriers students face as they try to improve themselves to contribute more substantially to their families and the community; a Decatur, Georgia Baptist church going off the more common script in opening up its doors to embrace and include the LGBTQ+ community; an intentionally intergenerational living community in Portland, Oregon matches young people in foster care with elderly residents who offer love and compassionate guidance. Paul also talks with 2 of the kindness agents featured in the film. One is DeAmon Harges in Indianapolis, Indiana. He’s a community organizer who seems to be crafting meaningful change by bringing out the gifts and talents of his neighbors in a neighborhood that’s been through tough times. The focal point of the project is a bike shop that employs young people to re-condition bikes for others. Multigenerational and multi-ethnic adults pitch in to help. We also visit with Modesto, California high school teacher Sherry McIntyre who has, since 2000, been teaching freshman about the history of World Religions. The ninth graders learn how to engage with different ideas, cultures and beliefs in McIntyre’s class and are on their way to becoming more open-minded, accepting young adults.