Like so many people, the days after the Paris attacks were hard for me to navigate. I was overwhelmed with emotions ranging from rage and fury to depression and heartbreak.
The attacks themselves were tragic and horrific, but the onslaught of negative images and hateful messages across social media in those days that followed made me literally sick to my stomach.
It felt like as an American what I was witnessing was us hating each other much worse than we hated any real threat of terrorism or any real or perceived enemy.
And at some point I had enough. On Nov. 17, I posted the following status update to my Facebook page.
"I tell ya what Facebook friends. You've truly outdone yourselves these past 5 days. I've been so deeply inspired by so many of you going into this holiday season that I have decided to just skip the whole f*king thing this year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. We've closed our hearts (and states' borders) to people of persecution. Decided collectively to blame the victims in pretty much all mass murders. We have targeted anyone who doesn't vote like us as the real "threat." Deemed ourselves experts in national security and foreign policy based on what our favorite celebrity has to say on the matter. And of course there is no snowflake on the cup. So this year I refuse to participate in the nonsense... It's all just a bunch of Hallmark B.S. at this point anyway. Instead I'm going to use those days for some kind of art project. I'm not sure what it is yet. I just know that it will be the antithesis of all the hate and fear I've seen the last few days. If you have ideas or want in. Shout it out."
I spent the next few days deciding what to do and trying to get some of the pieces in place. I reached out to people I knew including some of my celebrity type friends. The only thing they had in common was what they didn't have in common. I reached out to people from every political corner and background for their thoughts.
People like Americana star Todd Snider (also from the rock group "Hard Working Americans"), DJ Logic, Tad Kinchla from "Blues Traveler" and even country music superstar TG Sheppard and his wife Kelly Lang among others all lent a hand.
On Thanksgiving day rather than sharing the day with a few loved ones and eating turkey, I spent it alone with a frozen pizza and put the following video together. That night, I posted it to my Facebook page.
Share No Hate from Stacie Huckeba on Vimeo.
I only shared it the one time but over the course of the weekend over 300 people had joined in. Either by sharing it, watching it or taking the vow to share no hate.
We spend an awful lot of time on the internet complaining about things. I'm not sure we spend that much time actually doing anything about it. For once in my life, I decided that no matter how small, at least I made an effort to make change. This time, I got up off my behind and did something about it.
And you know what? It was one of the most gratifying Thanksgivings I have ever had. I found more to be thankful for in this one holiday weekend than in any I can remember in the past. I can't wait till Christmas!
I hope you will join us and #ShareNoHate.
