Our Work: AN ARCHIVE
2017
Our Writings
Mar 10, 2017: Building Democracy in “Trump Country” by Ben Fink on billmoyers.com
Oct 5, 2017: My Turn: Leverett Group Seeks Common Ground by Jay Frost
Oct 17, 2017: Columnist Paula Green: Time Is Now For Americans in Dialogue
Oct 28, 2017: Public Event: A Day of Sharing 10/28/17
Oct 29, 2017: Record Crowds at Our Community Forum
Nov 14, 2017: Columnist Paula Green: “They Came from Kentucky, Left in Love”
Nov 16, 2017: My Turn: Voters From Both Sides United During Hands Across the Hills Gathering by Jay Frost
Nov 29, 2017: Singer-Songwriter Sarah Pirtle Composes “Hands Across the Hills” Theme Song
Jan 16, 2018: Connecting With Red State America: Reflections from a Meeting Between Western Mass and Eastern Kentucky by John Clayton with Sharon Dunn in Valley Advocate
Media Coverage
Regional News
Oct 26, 2017: Leverett Hoping to Bridge Political Divide in Dialogue Over Dinner, Dancing With Kentucky Visitors [Springfield Republican/MassLive]
Nov 1, 2017: Kentucky Group Gives Western Mass. A Lesson on Coal Country [New England Public Media]
Feb 15, 2018: NEPR’s “NEXT” Interviews Paula Green and Danielle Barshak [New England Public Media]. Audio story begins at 13:07; scroll down page for "Reaching Out" written segment.
Local News
Sep 29, 2017: Leverett’s ‘Bridging Divides’ Group to Host Kentucky Counterpart to Find What Unites Us [Greenfield Recorder]
Oct 2, 2017: Leverett Program Sparking Discourse is Timely, Important [Greenfield Recorder]
Oct 25, 2017: WHMP Radio Interview With Paula Green and Jay Frost [Bill Newman Show]
Oct 26, 2017: Together in Harmony: Leverett Community Forum to Feature Shape-Note Singing [Greenfield Recorder]
Oct 28, 2017: Conservative Kentuckians, Leverett Counterparts Reach Across the Political Gap [Greenfield Recorder]
Oct 28, 2017: Reaching Across the Divide [Adventures in the Good Life]
Nov 2, 2017: WHMP Radio Interview with Paula Green & Debbie Roth-Howe [Bill Newman Show]
Dec 2, 2017: Leverett to Hold Community Gathering on Kentucky Summit [Greenfield Recorder]
Dec 12, 2017: Leverett Bridging Committee Discusses Successes of Kentucky Summit, Eyes More Dialogue [Daily Hampshire Gazette]
Videos
2018
Our Writings
Apr 11, 2018: We’re Traveling to Eastern Kentucky for a Weekend of Dialogue & Cultural Exchange
Apr 16, 2018: Why Are We Going to Kentucky? by Jim Perkins and Sarah Pirtle
May 3, 2018: Come Out May 15 and Hear About Our Kentucky Experience!
May 22, 2018: Connecting With Coal Country: What I Learned Visiting Kentucky With Hands Across the Hills by Sharon Dunn with John J. Clayton [Valley Advocate]
May 30, 2018: Mutual Learning Changes Hearts and Minds by Paula Green [Daily Hampshire Gazette]
Sep 27, 2018: European Arte TV Filmed Hands Across the Hills for Documentary to Air Before US Mid-Terms
Oct 9, 2018: Domestic Peacebuilding Award to Hands Across the Hills
Nov 7, 2018: Faith Matters: Together in the Tree of Life by Sarah Pirtle
Nov 19, 2018: Paula Green’s Talk Accepting First Domestic Award for Peacebuilding
Dec 27, 2018: Bridge Building in Divided America: One Small Step in Tikkun Olam, Repairing the World by Tom Wolff
Media Coverage
National and International News
Feb 9, 2018: PBS News Clip Features Appalshop of Whitesburg KY
Oct 28, 2018: The Same Hills, Two Americas [Trouw, Netherlands]
Nov 30, 2018: Conservatives in Kentucky, Liberals in Massachusetts Try to Bridge Political Divide [NPR]
Regional News
Nov 2, 2018: Boston Globe: A Unique Exchange Program Between Red and Blue America [Boston Globe]
Local News
Jan 5, 2018: The Quest for Cultural Understanding Continues [Greenfield Recorder]
Apr 17, 2018: Leverett Group to Visit Kentucky Counterparts [Greenfield Recorder]
Apr 17, 2018: Reporter Receives Grant to Travel to Kentucky [Greenfield Recorder]
Apr 18, 2018: Kip Fonsh and Jay Frost [WHMP’s Bill Newman Show]
Apr 23, 2018: Worlds Collide: Leverett Group Visits Kentucky [Greenfield Recorder]
Apr 24, 2018: Black Sheep Deli of Amherst Gets a Kentucky Counterpart [Greenfield Recorder]
Apr 28, 2018: Cultural Divide: Leverett Residents Find Kentuckians Are Less Inclined to Discuss Political Matters [Greenfield Recorder]
May 5, 2018: In Closing Session of Hands Across the Hills Visit, Both Sides Agree to Disagree on Trump [Greenfield Recorder]
May 7, 2018: Jay Frost and Sharon Dunn Speak [WHMP’s Bill Newman Show]
May 11, 2018: KY Visit Brings Lessons of Listening, Learning [Greenfield Recorder]
May 17, 2018: Hands Across the Hills Shares Its Cultural Exchange [Greenfield Recorder]
May 21, 2018: Podcast: Making a Connection With Coal-Country Kentucky with Sharon Dunn and John Clayton [Valley Advocate]
Jun 1, 2018: Report on the Kentucky Visit [Amherst Media]
Jul 13, 2018: Opinion: Two Rural Communities Cross the Political Divide [Greenfield Recorder, Daily Yonder]
Aug 17, 2018: Hands Across the Hills Goes Global [Greenfield Recorder]
Sep 21, 2018: Kentucky, Leverett Meetings Teach Lessons on Bridging Cultural, Political Divides [Daily Hampshire Gazette]
Oct 17, 2018: Group Wins National Peace-Building Award [Greenfield Recorder]
Nov 9, 2018: Karuna Center for Peacebuilding Interviews Paula Green
Videos
May 15, 2018 Community Meeting after 2nd dialogue weekend
Nov 19, 2018 Peacebuilder awarded for bringing divided US citizens together
2019
Our Writings
Feb 15, 2019: Join Us: 2/24 Reflections on Bridge 4 Unity Dialogues in South Carolina on Race & Racism
Feb 20, 2019: Plunging Into a New Dialogue Project: Bridge 4 Unity by Paula Green
Apr 3, 2019: Paula Green on Two Ventures in Immersive Dialogue at Bay Path University
Sep 26, 2019: Hands Across the Hills to Host Kentuckians for a Second Visit in Leverett
Oct 10, 2019: Public Forum: Celebrating the Bridging of Two Communities
Oct 23, 2019: Hands Across the Hills Has a Message to Share by Paula Green
Media Coverage
Local News
Jan 16, 2019: Talking Race in South Carolina [Bill Newman Show]
Jan 22, 2019: Bridge Over Troubled Water [Low Country Weekly]
Feb 12, 2019: Hands Across the Hills Story Spreads Far Beyond Franklin County
[Greenfield Recorder]
Feb 18, 2019: Amilcar Shabazz and Paula Green Discuss B4U on the Bill Newman Show
[Bill Newman Show]
Mar 2, 2019: Valley Group Talks Race on S. Carolina Trip [Daily Hampshire Gazette]
Mar 19, 2019: Anti-Racism Now: Chipping Away at Racism By Talking Face-to-Face [Valley Advocate]
Regional News
Jan 20, 2019: After Coal: Stories of Survival in Appalachia & Wales, & Other Good Reads [by Sharon Dunn]
Feb 20, 2019: Plunging Into a New Dialogue Project [by Paula Green]
Feb 15, 2019: Join Us: 2/24 Reflections on B4U Dialogues in South Carolina on Race & Racism
Apr 3, 2019: Paula Green on Two Ventures in Immersive Dialogue at Bay Path University
National and International News
Feb 4, 2019: They Have Worked On Conflicts Overseas. Now These Americans See
“Red Flags” at Home [New York Times]
Feb 13, 2019: A Conflict-Resolution Expert on Whether Political and Racial Dialogue
Have Value in the Trump Era [New Yorker]
Mar 6, 2019: BBC Video: One Thing Americans Find Hard to Talk About [BBC]
Apr 11, 2019: Tackling Race Through Dialogue [New England News Collaborative]
2020-23
Our Writings | Media Coverage | BLOGS & PODCASTS | Videos
DIALOGUE ACROSS DIVIDES TRAININGS | RESPONSE TO E. KENTUCKY FLOOD
Our Writings
Mar 26, 2020: Building a Bridge Across the Countryside for Talking in Polarized Times by John Clayton [The Fulcrum]
Dec 28, 2020: Secular Communion in the Coalfields: The Populist Aesthetic and Practice of Roadside Theater [by Ben Fink]
Jan 11, 2021: Hands Across the Hills Writers in KY and MA on Taking COVID Vaccine, Or Not by Gwen Johnson and Jay Frost
Jan 19, 2021: How Do We Heal Now? by Paula Green [Daily Hampshire Gazette]
Feb 11, 2021: CBS Evening News Will Feature Hands Across the Hills Feb. 17
Feb 16, 2021: Guest Columnist Paula Green: Seeing Ourselves in the Eyes of Others
Feb 19, 2021: See Our Structured Dialogue Process At Work
Jan 23, 2022: MLK Day Observance Brings Together KY and Western Mass
Mar 16, 2022: Songfest Celebrates Building Bridges
Jul 18, 2022: Hundreds Attend Memorial for Paula Green
Media Coverage
National and International News
Mar 27, 2020: Meet 27 People Bridging Divides Across America [Time magazine]
Nov 16, 2020: Respect and Friendship Don’t Depend on Shared Politics, Say Those Who Have Bridged the Divide [NPR]
Feb 18, 2021: CBS Evening News Features Hands Across the Hills [CBS Evening News]
Regional News
Jun 10, 2021: Boston ABC Affiliate Features Interview With Dr. Paula Green [ABC Boston]
Mar 22, 2022: Paula Green, Tireless Advocate for Peace, Dies at 84 [Boston Globe]
Jun 24, 2023: Hands Across the Hills — An Experiment in Cross-Political Dialogue — Is Ending [New England Public Media]
Local News
Feb 17, 2021: Our Lead Story on Front Pages of Two Local Newspapers [Daily Hampshire Gazette, Greenfield Recorder]
Feb 24, 2022: Tributes to Paula Green, who died February 21, 2022
Blogs & Podcasts
May 12, 2020: Letcher County’s Black Sheep Brick Oven Bakery Inspires Hope [Freethink]
Dec 3, 2020: Appalachian Stories of Hope, Community & Creativity [Bitter Southerner]
Sep 8, 2022: Podcast & Case Study of Hands Across the Hills by the Othering & Belonging Institute [Othering & Belonging Institute]
Videos
Dec 13, 2020: Boston University School of Theology Explores Transformational Aspect of HATH with Paula Green, Ben Fink and Gwen Johnson
Feb 10, 2021: HANDS ACROSS THE HILLS. On Zoom: Sample Dialogue with Western MA and Eastern KY participants with Paula Green as facilitator. CBS Evening News asked Hands Across the Hills to hold a dialogue, but CBS did not use clips of it for their Feb 18, 2021 broadcast about the project. A rare recorded dialogue.
Mar 23, 2021: The Power of Dialogue: Finding Friendship and Joy in Unpredictable Relationships. Paula Green and Ben Fink Zoom with the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding.
Apr 6, 2021: HANDS ACROSS THE HILLS. Guns, Coal, Vaccines and Abortion: East KY meets Western MA in Zoom Event
May 5, 2021: HANDS ACROSS THE HILLS. Can We Trust the Government? A Zoom Event between Western MA & Eastern KY
Mar 13, 2022: HANDS ACROSS THE HILLS. Building Bridges Concert of Song: A Zoom Songfest
"Dialogue Across Divides" Trainings 2018, 2021, 2023
Dec 14, 2017: Dialogue Training to be held by Paula Green: January 2018
Jan 15, 2018: Recounting a Morning of Dialogue Training with Paula Green
Jun 1, 2021: Dialogue Across Divides: New Three-Day Training to be held Oct 2021
Aug 2, 2021: October Training Is Full — Spring 2022 Training in Planning Stage
Oct 14, 2021: Hands Across the Hills Hosts 3-Day “Dialogue Across Divides” Workshop
Oct 25, 2021: Photos of Oct 2021 Dialogue Training
Dec 13, 2021: October 2021 Dialogue Training: “A Life-Changing Experience” Trainees Say
Oct 20, 2022: Dialogue Across Divides: April 27-29, 2023 Training Announced
May 12, 2023: April 2023 Training Success
Response to East Kentucky Flood: 2022-2023
Aug 1, 2022: Flood Relief for Letcher County in Kentucky
Aug 2, 2022: Front Line for Flood Relief
Aug 5, 2022: HATH Rallies to Help Flood-Stricken Eastern Kentucky [Daily Hampshire Gazette]
Aug 16, 2022: “We Are the Appalachia of Appalachia”
Sep 5, 2022: “Bands Across the Hills” Fundraiser for Kentucky Flood Relief
Oct 2, 2022: Leverett’s Eye-Witness to Flood Damage in Eastern Kentucky by Jim Perkins
Oct 14, 2022: Successful Fundraiser for Eastern KY Flood Relief Tops $10,000
Nov 21, 2022: More Than $1100 In Additional Funds to Eastern KY Flood Relief