Not Another One!: A Play For Peace

NOT ANOTHER ONE! A PLAY FOR PEACE is a collection of stories generated to address gun violence and negative police-youth interactions by BIPOC artists and 16-24 year old youth in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Saint Louis Story Stitchers artists hope that schools, community centers, juvenile detention centers, police training centers, the fields of social work and African American studies, social studies high school and university faculty and students, and change-makers will utilize the body of work in Not Another One! to generate thought and discussion in your own communities. This leads to better understanding of the themes in the project including violence, racial bias, police-youth interaction, and how youth can use the arts and nonviolent collective action to organize and work towards change.

The book contains the full transcript of the youth-led discussion that took place during protests that erupted after the August 9, 2014, killing by police officer Darren Wilson of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Youth leading the discussion created an honest and frank conversation with the police, emergency room physicians, social workers and government officials about their concerns, rights, and police - youth interaction. A guide for youth who want to create their own youth-led discussion is included in the book.

The book also contains both the full-length script and the school assembly script, both of which are based on the Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective’s 2015 youth-led discussion with civic leaders and police on gun violence and police/teen interaction entitled, NOT ANOTHER ONE! A Discussion. The book provides content for educators or arts organizations who wish to stage the play at their own facility.

NOT ANOTHER ONE! is a multi-year signature project addressing gun violence through original music, youth-led discussions with adult leaders and police, related documentary videos, music, a book, and two scripts. Content has been collected and edited from 2015 to 2021 by over 100 artists and youth. Music, curriculum, and coordinating items needed to stage the play are also available at storystitchers.org.