idealist.org

Hate Free Zone (HFZ) advances the fundamental principles of democracy and justice at the local, state, and national levels by building power within immigrant communities in collaboration with key allies.

HFZ was formed as an immediate response to hate crimes and discrimination from individuals and government policies targeting Arabs, Muslims, South Asians and other communities following September 11, 2001. In the time we have been in operation, however, we have found that our work of mobilizing these communities and creating pathways for their too-often unheard voices to be heard goes far beyond September 11. We use a unique model of serving direct needs while at the same time advocating for systemic change to build trust within the communities we serve, mobilizing and supporting communities to speak out (often for the first time), and advocating for political leverage to ensure systemic change.

We operate under the fundamental premise that we speak more loudly as a coordinated coalition, and we strive to bring together our immigrant communities with more mainstream communities. Although the burden of policies that erode constitutional and civil rights post-9/11 is falling primarily on immigrant communities, all communities are affected.