Following the attack on the MEN Arena in Manchester in May 2017, a Muslim man Baktash Noori stood blindfolded in the centre of the city with a sign saying,
"I'm a Muslim and I trust you. Do you trust me enough for a hug?"
and he waited.
Some people walked past but after about 30 seconds an older man walked past and read the sign, he then turned back and approached Baktash and hugged him. As he hugged the older man said, "You're not alone, kid. And don't think you're outside."
Straight away a woman approached Baktash and hugged him, saying, "Love you". Dozens of people then did the same.
Baktash said, "With every hug I received the comments were amazing. Some were getting all teary and it's not hard to tell by a person's hug and tone of voice how much better their and my day became because of this."
Show the first picture
What do you see? What do you think is happening? Where is the picture taken? What do you notice about the person standing in the photo with their arms outstretched?
Explain the story
Show the next photos as you tell the story to show the different people that hugged Baktash. What do you notice about the people hugging Baktash.
- Why is Baktash doing this?
- Why do you think he wore a blindfold?
- At first no one stopped - why?
- The first hug came from a man who read the sign as he walked past and then he went back to hug Baktash. Why do you think he carried on walking at first?
- Why did the man say to Baktash, "Don't think you're outside"? What does he mean?
- Straight away another person hugged Baktash - why?
- Baktash was hugged by many people; black, white, old, young, male female, with disabilities, probably different faith, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender; what does this show about people of Manchester?
- Do you think this could happen in our city? Why? Are people in our city different to people in Manchester?
- Next week a small group of people who don't understand about No Outsiders or about diversity say they are planning to hurt people. What could they learn from this story?
- Baktash is a grown man and he did this as an experiment. Is it safe for a child to do this experiment? Would Baktash want to see children doing this? Why not?
- Why are some people afraid of difference? (because some people don't understand about No Outsiders; some people think we all have to be the same. We know that's not the case - we know it's ok to be different, and our city is better because we are all different)
- If you see something that makes you feel worried, what must you do? (Keep safe, tell an adult)
- Think about this story and all the stories we've looked at in assemblies this year; what do they show most people in the UK think about diversity and difference?
- What can we learn from this story?
- Why is this story about No Outsiders
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