In January, the neo nazi group the National Socialist Movement (NSM) announced it would hold a white power rally in Olympia, Washington, boasting that the event would draw aryan groups from all over the West.

For many long-term residents, the NSM's presence brought back painful memories. 13 years earlier, racist skinheads brutally murdered an Asian American teenager in an abandoned train tunnel just blocks from downtown Olympia. A group called Unity in the Community was formed to address the crime and a rash of other hateful acts that followed it.

When the NSM announced the rally, the group also began taking steps to escalate the conflict and intimidate the community: white supremacists began leaving racist flyers in mailboxes and driveways, and a small group of uniformed neo nazis began showing up at local events like the street fair.

In response, Unity in the Community members decided to re-activate the organization, and formed a broad coalition of faith groups, institutions, schools and individuals. Unity in the Community began a campaign – not just to counter the NSM, but also to strengthen the community's commitment to inclusion.

"For people in this community to feel safe, there needs to be a steady voice that says, 'no, that's not who we are, we're much stronger and better than that,'" says former prosecutor Reiko Callner, whose parents are Jewish and Japanese American.

Young people organized a screening of Not In Our Town and 400 people attended, then stayed for a student-led discussion about hate and community response.

"The reason for the Holocaust is the people who had the power to do something decided I'm not the one that's being discriminated against so I'm not going to worry about it," says Anthony, a student organizer. "I didn't want to be one of those people who turns my head, and looks the other way as this was all going on."

"The nazis bring a message of hate, and they seek to divide us," says Rabbi Seth Goldstein, whose temple held screenings of Not In Our Town and lent the documentaries out to other congregations and groups. "It's important for us to demonstrate that's not the case, not through screaming them down or screaming back, but by doing what comes naturally and celebrating our diversity."

The local newspaper, The Olympian, ran a series of ads that included the names of hundreds of local businesses, groups and institutions that stood against hate. There was a drive to place diversity posters in the windows of homes and businesses throughout Olympia. There was even a fundraiser called "The Lemonade Project" that used the NSM rally to raise thousands of dollars for local diversity groups to "turn lemons into lemonade."

Finally, the day before the NSM's hate rally, Olympians held a counter-event event full of music, children's activities and speakers to show what Olympians really stood for.

Teresa Sykora Lovaas, one of the organizers, addressed the crowd:

"For the past six months Thurston County has seen some real ugliness come to town. The Nationalist Socialist Movement is ugly and defies nature and logic, yet here they are. I suppose my first reaction was honestly shock, followed by a little bit of fear. Not fear for myself or my loved ones, but fear for the community I live in and raise my children in by choice, not by chance. I was afraid that this community that I so love would fail to see the danger these people pose to our collective soul, or even worse choose to lock their doors and just ignore it all until it goes away. However, I'm really, really proud to say that that is not what I saw. What I saw was a group of unbelievable, dedicated people who all share a really deep love for Thurston County.

I saw cooperation, I saw creativity, I saw a lot of laughter, and I saw a lot of bonds being created in the process. It reminded me of who we are and why I love us. We are Unity in the Community… We are Black, we are White, we are Muslim, we are Jewish, we are Asian, we are Latino, we are Native American, we are gay, we are straight, we are women, we are men, we are the hippest town in the West. We are Olympia and we are together in this fight.

When they attack one of us they attack all of us. We won't close our doors on our neighbors. Indeed we will throw our doors wide open to stand together and speak in unison: our community will not be shattered by rallies and shallow rhetoric. Notes left on our lawn don't shake us. Attacks of destruction and violence will not change us. We will protect our friends, our neighbors, our community, and we will do it together."

On July 3, the NSM staged its demonstration on the steps of the State Capitol, as planned, but the small group of extremists was dwarfed by 500 peaceful counter-demonstrators who drowned out the neo nazis with a message of unity and inclusion.

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