7 female religious leaders join hands symbolizing the many "Ties That Bind". Photo by Shelly Levine..

Ties That Bind grew out of an opportunity created by the events of 9/11. While many people were paralyzed with fear after the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., women leaders from around the world agreed to work with artistic circles on a project to connect diverse groups. Within a year, we realized that in order to build community relationships effectively, and document them, we needed to focus on local, grassroots efforts.

Ties That Bind is an Emmy-nominated video documentary and peace project that brought together Chicago’s Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities through their women spiritual leaders. This hour-long documentary records the conversations and experience of a group of these leaders and their African-American, Latino and Anglo communities who joined to discuss to discuss what unifies and divides us. In 2004, the documentary premiered at the UNESCO and the Parliament of the World’s Religions “Pathways to Peace” conference in Barcelona, Spain and has been disributed internationally by NETA for public television.

Since the documentary's international and Chicago premieres, Artistic Circles has held over 100 town hall meetings at schools, houses of worship, human relations meetings, theaters and senior centers. Those town hall meetings served as a catalyst to expand the message of Ties That Bind to include men, women and youth from secular backgrounds as well as faith-based groups.

The town hall meetings moved the central focus of the conversation from religion to an even more basic human desire to connect—not to allow world events, the media or fear to divide us.

Chicago Public School Students discuss diversity at "Ties" town hall presentation. Photo by Nan Stein.

How does Ties That Bind help people connect? Again and again, we’ve seen individuals from ages 12-85 from widely different backgrounds open up about what they most fear and the prejudices they experience on a daily basis. This happens once they see and hear the women spiritual leaders talk on video about their own fears and stereotypes.

Since it's release in 2006 Ties That Bind has been used in many different ways: At religious institutions, colleges, and high schools. It had also been disscussed on a National Endowment for the Humanities panel and was the basis for a course at Northwestern University. Ties That Bind has been commericially released in Canada and shown on over 150 Public Television stations worldwide.

Somehow, seeing these women trust one another gives audience participants permission to trust as well.

When one women relates to a point another woman makes, she says “connection” and receives the ball.

Soon their small group turns into a web showing how interrelated and similar our experiences often  are. 

How do you identify yourself by  race, religion, gender, age, economics, education? 

Do you identify yourself differently in different environments? 

On the retreat, the seven women leaders share their own fears and stereotypes. Jewish Rabbi Andrea London and Muslim Karen Danielson realize for the first time that they were in Israel/Palestine at the same time and lived in fearful situations.  The women also speak in depth about violence and hate crimes, especially around 9/11. They realize that sometimes they must criticize their own communities and have the courage to walk together and build connections. 

What labels/stereotypes about yourself do you fear? Do you ever label or stereotype others? 

Karen Danielson, Muslim Community Leader. Photo by Shelly Levine

Oussama Jammal, Director, Fine Media Group. Photo by Shelly Levine

 The biggest challenge of connecting across boundaries of race,  faith and nationality is making sure that our actions are consistent  and long term. Each community or group needs to identify a  diversity issue that impacts their own community.

What is your own personal role  in the diversity  issues we have  been  discussing? Do you see  yourself as  an agent of change?

Ties That Bind premiered in Barcelona at the Parliament of World's Religions' and UNESCO's "Pathways to Peace" conference and has aired several on Public Television internationally.  Since more than 100 town hall meetings have brought local diverse groups together.  They have been hosted by organizations ranging from senior centers to high schools to houses of worship.  The documentary is being used in many different ways to bring people together. "Ties That Bind" has also been used at corporate diversity sessions for our sponsor the Exelon corporation.   

Photo by Nan Stein

Photo by Nan Stein

Photo by Nan Stein

Organize a town hall meeting around diversity issues in your community.

Artisitc Circles has the tools you need - a discussion guide created with input from both youth and adult focus groups and an excerpted DVD to accompany the guide.

To get a preview copy, please contact Artistic Circles.