NCDD Resources for Responding to the Orlando Shooting
In the wake of the awful attacks in Orlando, it can be hard to know what to say or even how and when to begin a conversation. But as people who work in dialogue, many of us have been and will be called upon or feel compelled to help grieving, angry, and fearful communities talk with each other about what happened, about our differences, and about where we can go from here.
To try to help those wanting and needing to start these conversations, we wanted to share a few helpful links to items from our NCDD Resource Center that are relevant places to start. There is no resource we can link you to that tailored to a tragedy so visceral and complex, but we hope that reviewing this list will at least give you some direction.
Places to look
There are many layers to unpacking the Orlando shooting: sexual orientation, race, guns, religion, and more. So we suggest that you start by looking at the tags in our resource center that have to do with those topics. You can look at:
- Resources under the LGBT tag
- Resources under the gun violence tag
- Resources under the interfaith tag and faith-based tag
- Resources under the race issues tag
We also recommend you use the search feature in the resource center to query specific topics you want to find resources on. Especially since the Orlando shooter’s religion is a key point of friction for many, we recommend running a search for “Islam” and “Muslim” for those looking to discuss the role of religion and how to support the Muslim community in this trying time.
Specific Resources
We also want to highlight a few specific resources that may be helpful for talking about key dynamics present in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting. We recommend that you take a look at:
- The Homophobia: The Least Dealt with ‘Ism’ resource might help folks start conversations about the roots and impacts of hatred directed against the LGBTQ community
- The Talking About Guns and Violence: Strategies for Facilitating Constructive Dialogue resource can help in discussions on the ever-present gun debate without descending into vitriol
- The Many Religions, One Community: Lessons from Islamic Spain for Today’s World Choicework guide and One Nation, Many Beliefs: Talking About Religion in a Diverse Democracy resources might be useful starting points for discussions that seek to get past the hurtful stereotypes against Islam and the Muslim community
We know it’s not much, but we hope that these resources can help those NCDD members who are seeking to help their communities process and heal from this tragedy. Whatever you do, please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones in the coming weeks.
