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Feed Your Head |
Life After HateA Documentary in Development "Life After Hate" will be a testament to transformation. Can you forgive yourself for the sins you have committed? In some cases, that can't be easy. Sometimes people have to work pretty hard to restore their karma. The subjects of our film are former Nazi skinheads. These four men have returned from the depths of the white power movement to become good fathers and upstanding, tax paying citizens. Furthermore, they are working towards their shared goal of making the world a more peaceful place. Participating in "Life After Hate" is part of their effort to atone for their hate-filled past. 
VANCOUVER, B.C. - A former associate of the White Aryan Resistance Movement (WAR), TONY MCALEER served as a skinhead recruiter, proprietor of Canadian Liberty Net (a computer operated voice messaging center), and manager of the racist rock bad, "Odin's Law." Tony was found to have contravened section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Commission that prohibits the dissemination of messages likely to expose groups to hatred by telephone. He was later jailed for contempt when he circumvented the CHRC decision by establishing a telephone message system in Washington State, in a case that went to the Supreme Court of Canada. His love for his children led Tony on a spiritual journey of personal transformation. Financial hardship and the harsh realities of single parenthood brought him to a place of compassion and forgiveness for himself and for others. Tony has spent the past six years as principal of McAleer & Associates Wealth Management and traveling as a motivational speaker. MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - Former lead vocalist for 'Centurion,' ARNO MICHAELS' life also changed when he became a parent. Arno now publishes the online magazine "Life After Hate: A Journal of Basic Human Goodness." He works as an Information Technology Consultant while serving the community as an active Peace Educator. His recently published biography is called "My Life After Hate." "'Life After Hate' is my apology to the world. In 1988, I was a founding member of what went on to become the largest skinhead organization on Earth. Centurion, my former "hate metal" group that sold over 20,000 CDs worldwide by the mid-nineties and who knows how many more since then, is apparently still quite popular with the disgruntled-European-white-kid demographic. It's time for everyone who listens to lyrics I wrote and shouted telling them to hurt innocent people to know that I've somehow lived to regret everything I said." PHILADELPHIA, PA - "The Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead" is FRANK MEEINK's book; a raw telling of his descent into America's Nazi underground and his ultimate triumph over hatred and addiction. Frank's violent childhood in South Philadelphia primed him to hate. He made easy prey for a small group of skinhead gang recruiters led by his older cousin. At fourteen, he shaved his head. By sixteen, Frank was one of the most notorious skinhead gang leaders on the East Coast. By eighteen, he was doing hard time in an Illinois prison. Behind bars, Frank began to question his hatred, thanks in large part to his African-American teammates on a prison football league. Shortly after being paroled, Frank defected from the white supremacy movement. LOS ANGELES, CA - TJ LEYDEN grew up in a close-knit Irish-Catholic family in a suburb of L.A. Life began to unravel for him when his parents got divorced, and he began listening to punk rock and venting his rage by slam-dancing and fighting at weekend concerts. His violent behavior attracted the attention of local skinheads, and he started his own skinhead group in Redlands, CA, at the age of 15. At 21, TJ joined the Marines and his role as a leading recruiter, organizer and propagandist for the white supremacist movement increased. He spent more than 15 years as a leader in the neo-Nazi movement, marrying a woman who was also deeply committed to the movement and raising two sons in a hate-filled environment. Today, TJ has turned away from the hatred that defined his life for so long. He is the one of the few known former skinheads who has left the movement and retained his own name. His book is called "Skinhead Confessions: From Hate to Hope." He worked for more than five years for the Simon Wiesenthal Center teaching on the culture of hate and the importance in fighting back against it. TJ, Arno, and Frank are all founders of Kindness Not Weakness (KNW); a character education movement dedicated to demonstrating the strength of peace. Arno has one daughter; Tony has a son and a daughter; Frankie has 6 kids and TJ, who is now a Mormon, has five sons. These guys genuinely regret the actions they took and the people they influenced to follow them on this hateful path. They hope to right their wrongs by educating others about peace and tolerance... this film is part of that effort. "Life After Hate" explores their lives before and after the transformations that occurred. What led them down these paths in the first place? What caused them to re-think their positions, and how did they climb back from a place of such hatred? Most importantly: what are the repercussions for the rest of us?
© Conceptafilm
2010 |