Launches May 17, 2012
at 7:00 pm CST!

Come celebrate with us on Thursday, May 17, 2012,
from 5:30-9:00 pm at the OM Healing Arts Center,
1216 Howard Street, Omaha, Nebraska!

RavelUnravel is a multimedia exploration of the tapestry of spiritual and religious identities that make up our communities and world. Through this and our many other efforts at Project Interfaith, we are hoping to ignite a movement for people to openly and respectfully learn, talk and share about topics which are typically taboo but often define our interactions and experiences as humans: identity, religion, spirituality and culture.

Why and How Project Interfaith Created RavelUnravel

“Wait, you’re a Muslim? But you’re not even brown!” Such was the statement that inspired RavelUnravel.  Emina, a participant in Project Interfaith’s 2010 Interfaith Youth Service Project, faced this question from a fellow college student as she prepared to log her first video blog entry. However, instead of lashing out at someone’s ignorant comment, she used the opportunity to explain her identity as a Muslim and the diversity within Islam.

We at Project Interfaith were struck by this as we watched. We thought, “What if we could give more people the chance to define and share their religious or spiritual identity in their own words and confront the misconceptions they face because of this?” Thus, RavelUnravel was born: an opportunity for people to share their religious or spiritual identity, confront stereotypes, and learn about the great diversity within religions and belief systems.

We started in July 2010 by putting a call out for volunteers to serve as interviewers for this project and ultimately chose 35 individuals, ranging in age from 20 to 80 years old and belonging to 14 different religious or spiritual identities and multiple ethnicities.  Our goal was to have the interviewers armed with handheld, cordless Flip camcorders capture 150 videos of community members of diverse beliefs and cultures in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area answering the same set of questions:

• What is your religious or spiritual identity and why do you identify as such?
• What is a stereotype that impacts you based on your religious or spiritual identity?
• How welcoming do you find our community to be to follow your religious or spiritual path?
• Is there anything else you would like us to know about you and your religion or belief system?

To ensure we got a diverse cross-section of the community, we reached out to religious and spiritual communities, community groups, businesses, non-profit organizations, and colleges across the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area, inviting them to host an interview team for a morning or afternoon.  We also welcomed community members to drop in at the Project Interfaith office to be interviewed. 

The response blew us away.

We ended up having so many people that wanted to be interviewed for this project that we had to extend the interview period from September 2010 to March 2011 -- instead of ending in December 2010 as originally planned.  At the end of this initial interview phase, 47 local schools, businesses, community groups and places of worship had hosted an interview team. You can view a full listing of the sites which hosted these initial interviews by clicking here.

As RavelUnravel.com launches, it features the over 720 video interviews gathered from this initial interview phase. These interviews represent a wide array of theistic and non-theistic religious and spiritual identities including Agnostic, Atheist, Secular Humanist, Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Jehovah’s Witness, Jewish, Latter-day Saints, Muslim, Native American, Orthodox Christian, Protestant Christian, Roman Catholic, Seeker, Seventh Day Adventist, Sikh, Spiritual, Unitarian, Wiccan, and other identities. 

What's Next?

RavelUnravel.com includes the original 720 video interviews collected in Omaha as well as the ability for users to upload new video interviews.  We invite you to add your video answering the RavelUnravel questions.  RavelUnravel also has loads of other interactive features, including a comment forum, discussion guides and educational resources on religious and cultural diversity.  You can also share your favorite videos with your friends via social media.

Project Interfaith will be hosting a RavelUnravel Bus Tour from June to October 2012.  A RavelUnravel interview team will travel throughout the city of Omaha throughout the summer collecting additional video interviews for the RavelUnravel website. 

Project Interfaith is still searching for the right vehicle for this tour.  Do you or your organization have a minibus or bus you can lend, donate or lease to Project Interfaith?  Contact Sierra Pirigyi should you have or know of the perfect vehicle for our summer bus tour.

Click here to contact Tom Laird about sponsorship opportunities for RavelUnravel.

Check out RavelUnravel at RavelUnravel.com.

Like RavelUnravel on Facebook & Follow @ravelunravelpi on Twitter.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact us at ravelunravel@projectinterfaith.org or by calling 1-402-933-4647.