{{short description|American nonprofit organization}} {{tone|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox organization | name = Life After Hate | image = Life After Hate logo.png | founded = 2011 | image_border = | image_size = | caption = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | abbreviation = | formation = | extinction = | founder = Christian Picciolini, Angela King, Arno Michaelis, Antony (Tony) McAleer, Frankie Meeink, and Sammy Rangel | type = Non-profit | status = 501(c)(3) | purpose = | headquarters = 917 W. Washington Blvd., Suite 212, Chicago, IL 60607 USA | coordinates = | region_served = | membership = | language = | leader_title = | leader_name = | main_organ = | board_of_directors = Erroll G. Southers, Pete Simi, Vidhya Ramalingam, Humera Khan, Damian Loth, Tony McAleer. | revenue_year = | parent_organization = | affiliations = | num_staff = | num_volunteers = | budget = | website = https://www.lifeafterhate.org/ | remarks = }}
'''Life After Hate''' is a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 by Arno Michaelis, Sammy Rangel, Angela King, Christian Picciolini, Tony McAleer, and Frank Meeink.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lifeafterhate.org/history/|title=History — Life After Hate|website=Life After Hate|language=en-US|access-date=November 26, 2018}}</ref> Its stated mission is to "build a safer society by making it possible for people to break free from lives of violent hate and extremism through evidence-based interventions.”<ref name="about">"[https://www.lifeafterhate.org/about-us About]," Life After Hate. Retrieved March 18, 2025</ref> In January 2017, the Obama administration awarded the group $400,000 as part of a grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Violent Extremism Task Force.<ref name="HP">Schulberg, Jessica (August 15, 2017), "[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/katharine-gorka-life-after-hate_us_59921356e4b09096429943b6 Controversial Trump Aide Katharine Gorka Helped End Funding For Group That Fights White Supremacy]," Huffington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2017</ref> However, DHS advisor Katharine Gorka and other aides of President Donald Trump decided to discontinue the grant in June 2017.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Otterson|first1=Joe|title=Sam Bee Looks to Aid Reformed Neo-Nazi Group Life After Hate in Wake of Charlottesville|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/samantha-bee-full-frontal-life-after-hate-charlottesville-1202528089 |date=August 15, 2017 |website=Variety.com |access-date=August 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Rozsa|first1=Mathew|title=Trump's Department of Homeland Security is defunding an anti-Nazi program|date=23 June 2017 |url=http://www.salon.com/2017/06/23/trumps-department-of-homeland-security-is-defunding-an-anti-nazi-program/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Nixon|first1=Ron|last2=Sullivan |first2=Eileen |title=Revocation of Grants to Help Fight Hate Under New Scrutiny After Charlottesville|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/us/politics/right-wing-extremism-charlottesville.html?_r=0|date=August 15, 2017|access-date=August 19, 2017|work=New York Times}}</ref> A crowdfunding campaign established after the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally has raised $429,500 to go towards the organization.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publicgood.com/org/life-after-hate-inc/campaign/help-life-after-hate-fight-on|title=Public Good|website=publicgood.com|language=en|access-date=September 19, 2017|archive-date=November 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121215714/https://publicgood.com/org/life-after-hate-inc/campaign/help-life-after-hate-fight-on|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-life-after-hate-white-supremacist-met-20170818-story.html|title=Fight against extremism for former neo-Nazi from Chicago ramps up after Trump, Charlottesville|last=Pashman|first=Manya Brachear|work=chicagotribune.com|access-date=September 19, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>
==History== {{Listen|filename=Tony McAleer voice - en.ogg|title=<div style="text-align:center">Tony McAleer's voice</div>|type=speech|description=<div style="text-align:center">Recorded June 2018</div>}}
Life After Hate was founded in 2011 by Angela King, Frankie Meeink, Arno Michaelis, Antony (Tony) McAleer, Sammy Rangel, and Christian Picciolini. The organization was named after an online blog entitled "Life After Hate," created by Michaelis.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Providing A Way Forward From Hate - The Story Exchange|url=https://thestoryexchange.org/providing-a-way-forward-from-hate/|access-date=March 8, 2018|website=thestoryexchange.org|date=26 October 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref>
From the age of 17, Arno Michaelis was deeply involved in the white power movement. In 2007, Michaelis began writing a memoir and co-founded the online magazine Life After Hate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Einbinder |first=Nicole |title=Everything you need to know about Life After Hate — the organization that's partnered with Facebook to tackle white nationalist content on the platform |url=https://www.insider.com/life-after-hate-an-organization-will-tackle-white-nationalist-content-on-facebook-2019-3 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>
Angela King is one of the organization's co-founders, is currently its Director of Special Projects, and is the only co-founder employed by Life After Hate. King is an ex-white supremacist who struggled to forgive herself after being a Neo-Nazi.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40779377|title=I was a neo-Nazi. Then I fell in love with a black woman|last=Bates|first=Claire|date=August 29, 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=April 19, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref> King was raised in Southern Florida by parents she describes as racist and homophobic. King joined hate groups in her early teens after being bullied throughout school and dealing with tensions at home. She found people welcomed her aggressive and violent tendencies. After eight years of being involved with extremist groups, she was imprisoned. In 1997, she was involved in a robbery of an adult video store. After fleeing to Chicago, Illinois, she returned to Florida, where she was arrested and incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. She was originally sentenced to seventy months but was eventually granted a reduced sentence for her cooperation.
During her sentence, King met women who held her accountable for her beliefs but ultimately disarmed her aggression with compassion, which began the process of disengagement. King was released in 2001, determined to begin a new life. She completed three degrees, culminating in an M.A. in Issues of Social Concern, and graduated from the University of Central Florida (UCF). The University's literary magazine, Pegasus, interviewed her years later to explore her experiences and life's work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Life After Hate |url=https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/life-after-hate/ |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Pegasus Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Programs== ===ExitUSA=== ExitUSA is an organization that specializes in disengagement of individuals who were previously involved in hate groups and reintegrating them back into society as full functioning individuals that are capable of obtaining jobs and building healthy relationships within their communities. ExitUSA continues to use social media to help the ex-radicals deny their previous beliefs. "Asked about 'the Trump effect,' Picciolini said the president's election has emboldened the white supremacist movement. Calls to ExitUSA, a program through Life After Hate, have gone up from two or three per week before the election to 15-20 per week, he said."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2016/life-after-hate|title=Life After Hate|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=March 8, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://cwuobserver.com/11781/news/no-more-hate/|title=No more hate|last=McClure|first=Jewels|work=The Observer|access-date=March 22, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>
===#WeCounterHate=== In partnership with Possible, a company based in Seattle, Life After Hate created a social media business to spread messages of love to combat the hateful comments often displayed. The program uses computers that specialize in detecting hateful tweets. Once detected, #WeCounterHate sends a message to the author of the hateful tweet saying that a dollar will be donated to Life After Hate for every retweet that occurs. After the message is sent, many delete the original post and others will not share it.<ref name=":4" />
==Notable events==
===Grant repeal=== During the Obama administration, Life After Hate was awarded a $400,000 grant to combat extremist groups. This grant was one of 31 grants to organizations countering extremism made in January, 2017 and announced by then DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statement by Secretary Jeh Johnson Announcing First Round of DHSs Countering Violent Extremism Grants {{!}} Homeland Security |url=https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/01/13/statement-secretary-jeh-johnson-announcing-first-round-dhss-countering-violent |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=www.dhs.gov |language=en}}</ref> The grant was revoked by the Trump administration due to what Homeland Security explained as a normal review process and not based upon ideology.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nixon |first=Ron |last2=Sullivan |first2=Eileen |date=2017-08-15 |title=Revocation of Grants to Help Fight Hate Under New Scrutiny After Charlottesville |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/us/politics/right-wing-extremism-charlottesville.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A former government official close to the Trump administration, however, reported that the grant was revoked in response to Twitter posts critical of Mr. Trump by Picciolini himself.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-after-hate-christian-picciolini-says-grant-rescinded-by-trump-administration/|title=Life After Hate co-founder says grant rescinded by Trump administration|access-date=March 22, 2018|language=en}}</ref> DHS spokesman David Lapan denied these claims stating that this grant and others were reviewed with guidance from then DHS Secretary John Kelly.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Emails including the word "Hate" from Katharine Gorka |url=https://www.governmentattic.org/40docs/DHSemailHateGorka_2017.pdf |access-date=24 May 2025 |website=www.governmentattic.org}}</ref>
===Colin Kaepernick donation=== In March 2017, Colin Kaepernick donated $50,000 to Life After Hate for Interventions, travel expenses, social media, analytics software and refurbished laptop computers.<ref>{{cite web |title=March 2017 Donations |url=https://kaepernick7.com/blogs/million-dollar-pledge/k7-march-2017-donations |accessdate=April 21, 2019 |date=March 31, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Chicago activists rally behind Colin Kaepernick|last=Thompson|first=Phil|date=August 10, 2017|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=May 16, 2018|language=en-US|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chicagoinc/ct-colin-kaepernick-chicago-inc-spt-0811-20170810-story.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Refurbished Laptop |url=https://e-byte.gr/ |language=el}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.lifeafterhate.org/}}
Category:Anti-fascist organizations in the United States Category:Anti-racist organizations in the United States Category:Counter-extremism organizations Category:Left-wing politics in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in Chicago Category:2011 establishments in Illinois Category:American organizations established in 2011