The AV Entertainment Weekly
Palmdale California News
Antelope Valley Life
Day to Day Living in the Antelope Valley
Museum of Tolerance Speakers Present
"From Hate to Hope" in Palmdale
"From Hate to Hope" Highlights Featured on Palmdale Ch. 27
PALMDALE - Excerpts from the City of Palmdale's third annual "One Voice" event in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day can be viewed on the City's cable channel 27 and on the City's Web site at www.cityofpalmdale.org <http://www.cityofpalmdale.org>. The presentation, entitled "From Hate to Hope", was held on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at the Larry Chimbole Cultural Center and featured
Museum of Tolerance presenters Matthew Boger and Tim Zaal. "'From Hate to Hope' is a remarkable true story of the reconciliation of a perpetrator and victim of a hate crime," said Palmdale's Community Programs Supervisor and event organizer Trish Jones. "This emotional and moving presentation examines the roots of prejudice and discrimination and the ability to overcome
seemingly insurmountable obstacles."
Back in the early 1980s, Zaal, who at the time was a white-supremist skinhead, was hanging around in West Hollywood with a group of his fellow skinheads and attacked a group of young gay men. Zaal dealt what he believed to be a fatal kick to the head of one of the men.
"Zaal eventually left the skinhead movement and twenty eight years later, was asked to speak at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles about his experiences," Jones explained. "Before he made his presentation, he had a conversation with the museum's manager of operations about what the skinhead movement was like in the 80s in West Hollywood. He told the manager about kicking a young man so hard that he thought he had killed him. That man he kicked turned out to be person he was talking to, manager of operations Matthew Boger," Jones said.
Today, Zaal and Boger present their extraordinary story at the Museum of Tolerance on the first Sunday of each month. Palmdale Channel 27 airs on TimeWarner Cable and Channel 99 on AT&T's U-verse. All of the City's Channel 27 original programming and current schedules are also
available on the City's Web site at www.cityofpalmdale.org
<http://www.cityofpalmdale.org>. To view programming online, simply click on the
Channel 27 icon.
From Hate to Hope: Two Men Bring a Message of Tolerance to Palmdale
By Chris McGuinness
Palmdale -- The City of Palmdale hosted a presentation by the Museum of Tolerance entitled “From Hate to Hope” Tuesday night at the Larry Chimbole Cultural Center as part of its’ 3rd annual “One Voice” event in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. The presentation featured two speakers with a unique story who encouraged members of the audience to begin an open dialogue on racism and intolerance in their community.
The presentation began with a short documentary. Titled “Blood brothers”, the film told the story of Matthew Boger, a young gay man who after being thrown out of his home at thirteen began living on streets. One night Boger was viciously attacked by a group of young skinheads in an alley near West Hollywood and left for dead.
After finding a job several years later as Director of Operations for the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, Boger met a volunteer by the name of Tim Zaal. Zaal was a former skinhead who was trying to get away from what he had come to see as a destructive movement. It was not long before Boger realized that Zaal was one of the men who had attacked him that night.
“The friendship that we share started with his apology to me,” Boger told the audience after the film ended. “The only way I could move forward was to forgive him.”
Both Zaal and Boger discussed how they began to take their story out into the community using it as a tool to teach others about tolerance, forgiveness, and the powerful message that anyone can change.
“I know that people can change. The fact that Tim is sitting here proves that.” Said Boger. Zaal agreed, voicing hope that his story would deter others from falling into a destructive lifestyle.
“If it helps one person to keep from making the mistakes I did, then it’s worth it.” Zaal stated.
After their presentation the duo took questions from the audience, many of them teens from local high schools in the Antelope valley. Palmdale Mayor James Ledford also attended the event and spoke with the audience, challenging them to spread a message of tolerance to others in their city.
“It’s all about what kind of community you want to live in. How do you want to be treated? Ledford said. “What opportunities do you want to be able to have to be able to flourish?”
“One my goals as Mayor is to create an environment where everyone feels like they are part of our community.” He added.
The Mayor detailed his experiences in Palmdale when it was just a small city, coming into contact with what he termed as “small minded” mind set of some in the community. Ledford said he was happy to see that change, giving much of the credit to the younger generation of citizens in the audience that night.
“I have to credit to the youth. The paradigm change really came from you guys.” Ledford said.
Boger and Zaal give their presentation at the Museum of Tolerance once a month and continue to take their story on road to communities throughout the state. For information about “From hate to Hope” and the Museum of Tolerance visit www.museumoftolerance.com or call 310- 553-8403.
