Inspired by the words and deeds of social justice visionaries of past eras, we create documentary films, educational web sites, critical thinking essays, teaching presentations and grassroots advocacy programs that expose hidden injustices, awaken compassion, empower individual transformation and encourage nonviolent resistance to oppression and socially sanctioned violence.

Our film subjects and fellow artists energize our creative process, while an international community of activists, translators, educators, supporters and volunteers bring our programs to life, generating a growing wave of change.

Through these collaborative efforts and in our own personal lives, we seek to develop and advance a joyful ethic of care, respect and holistic nonviolence that guides our relationships with other humans, our fellow animals and the natural world.

We invite you to join our quest to inspire every person who has the privilege of choosing how they live to help create the possibility of peace, happiness and justice for those whose choices have been taken away.

In 2000, social justice artists Jenny Stein and James LaVeck were inspired by the simple yet powerful idea that one person's change of heart can change the world. Together, they founded the charitable non-profit organization Tribe of Heart.

Tribe of Heart screenings often include in-depth dialogues with audience members about ethics, acts of conscience and social justice movements. The two most common responses the filmmakers receive are that the viewing experience was life-changing and that everyone needs to see this film. Propelled in part by the grassroots efforts of inspired audience members, Tribe of Heart films have been widely broadcast on public television in North America, broadcast in Europe, exhibited at hundreds of citizen-organized premieres and public screenings, and translated into 12 languages, with more soon to come.

Tribe of Heart's newest film, LEGACY, is now in post-production.

Creative partners for more than 25 years, director Jenny Stein and Producer James LaVeck are best known for their documentary feature films, PEACEABLE KINGDOM: THE JOURNEY HOME and THE WITNESS.

James and Jenny have received four national awards for their activism, including two lifetime achievement awards. Their work has also been endorsed by the United Teacher's Federation and the California Teachers Association, and is regularly used by college professors for courses in areas such as ethics, law, philosophy, and writing.

They are now developing and teaching Holistic Nonviolence, a new path for personal transformation and social evolution that is the inspiration behind their next feature documentary, LEGACY.

Jenny and James both graduated with honors from Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences. Jenny also has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. James has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. They live in Ithaca, New York.

Learn more
Love over Fear
Marching to a Different Drummer

Tribe of Heart
PO Box 149
Ithaca, NY 14851
US

Email: mail@tribeofheart.org
Phone: (+1) 607.275.0806

Commitment to ever-decreasing participation in the harm and killing of others

Some Examples:

• Refusing to take part in discussions or actions that marginalize vulnerable individuals or groups
• Supporting businesses and institutions that do not engage in racist, speciesist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, xenophobic, or other discriminatory practices
• Purchasing goods produced in accordance with fair trade and fair labor standards
• Choosing food, clothing and consumer goods that are created without using or killing our fellow animals
• Eliminating the use of bioengineered products that threaten the genetic integrity of the natural world
• Reducing or eliminating consumption of fossil fuels and other products connected with climate disruption and the destruction of our biosphere
• Refraining from supporting or participating in socially sanctioned mass violence, such as military aggression, forced migration, and wildlife killing campaigns

Commitment to nonviolently intervene in accordance with one's capacity when others are being harmed, and to work for the abolition of systemic harms

Some Examples:

• Raising awareness of nonviolent alternatives and joyfully assisting others with adopting them
• Helping members of the public understand how the victims of socially sanctioned violence are individuals with inherent dignity and worth
• Adopting language and behaviors that challenge prejudices and that express care and respect for those who are marginalized or oppressed
• Investigating, documenting and exposing injustices
• Joining with others to protest against violence, exploitation or oppression of other human beings and members of other species
• Working to liberate those who are unjustly confined or incarcerated, or being used against their will for labor, entertainment, sexual gratification, scientific experimentation, breeding, achievement of military objectives, or the production of food, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods
• Helping those who have been traumatized by abuse or violence come to safety and restore their wellbeing
• Protecting and restoring vulnerable habitat and biocommunities
• Providing aid to those whose homes are threatened or lost due to economic injustice, environmental destruction, ethnic cleansing or war
• Engaging in civil disobedience to challenge unjust policies and laws
• Educating others about threats to individual health and safety, biodiversity, and collective species survival posed by human overpopulation, greenhouse gas emissions, genetic engineering, weapons proliferation and nuclear technology

Within the bounds of one's understanding and capability, commitment to protect the integrity of the principles of holistic nonviolence, to teach alternatives to oppression and exploitation, to help heal the trauma of violence, and to expand our collective understanding of what it means to live with care and respect for all.

Some Examples:

• Fostering just and respectful forms of community, co-existence and conflict resolution
• Teaching principles of open government and grassroots democracy; exposing government and industry disruption and subversion of justice movements
• Practicing transparent leadership; confronting abusive, corrupt, and dishonest patterns of leadership
• Empowering new activists, and helping them learn how to safeguard their altruistic endeavors from cynicism, exploitation and appropriation
• Dismantling cycles of prejudice, violence and disenfranchisement
• Developing new methods of protest, investigation, legal action, healing, empowerment, reconciliation, and teaching
• Helping create nonviolent and nonexploitative art, entertainment, consumer goods, law, public policy, science and technology
• Studying the history of social movements and teaching the principles of holistic nonviolence
• Creating innovative campaigns that promote physical and mental well being, social and economic justice, and world peace
• Formulating holistic paradigms for individual moral development, social evolution, ecological restoration, and harmonious co-existence between humans and our fellow animals