This week, as you’ve probably heard, The Daily Beast ranked Durham the most “tolerant” city in the United States. Raleigh also made the top 20, coming in at number 18. Of course, this is great news. We want our state to have a reputation as a place where all people are welcome. We want to continue to be known as the most progressive place . . . → Read More: Are we living the dream?

It’s a great day at Uniting NC. We unveiled the billboards that many of you helped pay for at a press conference in Raleigh. We had lots of media there, and we have been getting calls from reporters around the state. We’re thrilled that so many people are hearing the message that the majority of us in North Carolina value and . . . → Read More: The billboards are here!

The end of the year is coming up, and Uniting NC is going out strong. In the next week, the billboards you helped support will start going up across North Carolina, and Uniting NC will accept an award for multicultural outreach from AARP North Carolina. The support we have received from our community this year has exceeded our expectations, allowing us to hold . . . → Read More: The gift of inclusive communities

Did you know that Uniting NC is part of a national movement? We are one of 19 state affiliates of the umbrella organization Welcoming America. We are a network of groups across the country — from California to Nebraska to Texas to Rhode Island to Alabama — that are working to build communities that respect and welcome immigrants. But I’ll admit that, with us . . . → Read More: We are the mainstream

We want to say a big thank you to all of you who made our billboard campaign a success. During the three week fundraising campaign, 259 people chipped in to help us raise $3,500. Those donors included people from across North Carolina and across the country, each giving what they could, from one dollar up to several hundred dollars. It was inspiring and heartening . . . → Read More: We did it! Thank you from Uniting NC

Today, Uniting NC is launching a very exciting project.

A few months ago, we released this video:

It gave people the chance to create their own signs with the messages they wanted to see about immigrants in their communities. Now, us “little people” have the chance to create a big sign. A bunch of them, actually.

Today, we are launching a unique three-week . . . → Read More: A big sign for respect and inclusion

This Wednesday is the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. Across North Carolina and the world, people will be working to add peace to the world on this day.

Of course, many of us do this work all the time. At Uniting NC, we believe our work to build understanding and empathy between people of all backgrounds and cultures is a crucial step toward . . . → Read More: A day for peace

Ten years ago, terrorists tore a hole in the New York skyline, killing thousands of innocent Americans and launching the United States into a period of fear and suspicion. Suddenly, people who came from other countries or practiced different religions seemed like a threat. Muslim-Americans felt singled out for anger and discrimination. Jewish-Americans were stung by a new wave of anti-Semitism. And immigrants from . . . → Read More: Healing the wounds of 9/11

Guest post from Uniting NC assistant Francisco Chavez.

Most people understand by now that “reality television” is far from realistic. But a new show on the Lifetime network — which trains the camera on a group of people who have roots in former Soviet countries — has stirred controversy over whether these shows promote prejudice and cultural stereotypes.

“Russian Dolls” follows eight first- and . . . → Read More: A distorted reality

Last night, I found myself sitting in a living room on the last evening of Ramadan, the only non-Muslim in house full of nearly two dozen people.

They were waiting for sunset so they could eat and drink for the first time since dawn at 5 that morning.

I was merely waiting for my third meal of the day, but simply being there was . . . → Read More: The difference a dinner can make

Check out this CNN story about Paul Bridges, a small-town Republican mayor in Georgia who has become an outspoken advocate for immigrants.

What I find most interesting about this story is the mayor’s transformation, from a man who once thought of immigrants as “low-class people” to someone who now sees them as human beings with hopes and histories and families — people not so . . . → Read More: From “low-class people” to just plain people

What image do you see when you think of an undocumented immigrant? Is it a young blue collar worker, someone who works construction or does housecleaning, who speaks little English? It’s probably not a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who has written for the Washington Post, the New Yorker and the Huffington Post.

Today, the New York Times Magazine published a fascinating first-person article authored . . . → Read More: Who is an undocumented immigrant?

Imagine fleeing your home in the middle of the night.  You have enough time to grab your family and run. You leave everything else behind — documentation, momentos, diplomas. You walk for days, hiding and trying to keep your family alive. Eventually you reach a tent city where a friendly face offers you shelter, food and water. It’s not home, but it’s safe. You . . . → Read More: Consider the life of a refugee

Check out this fascinating interview with a neuroscientist who has found that bilingualism sharpens the mind and delays the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Dr. Ellen Bialystok has been researching the cognitive effects of speaking two languages for nearly 40 years. She has found that it trains the mind to better sort through information and focus on relevant facts. Bilingual children did better on tests, . . . → Read More: Can Uniting NC lower your risk of Alzheimer’s?

At one of Uniting NC’s recent events, a woman talked about her conversion to Islam. She said that, once she began wearing a hijab to cover her head, she felt that people no longer saw her. Instead, they saw only her difference. She no longer had friendly conversations in shops or exchanged smiles on the sidewalk. People kept their distance. She felt a loneliness . . . → Read More: Help us welcome our Muslim neighbors