Scheduled to honor the fifth anniversary of the 2015 shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, please join Parents For Peace for a critical and frank webinar conversation on overcoming bigotry and finding solutions for reconciliation. This timely discussion will empower people to productively and effectively address bigotry in their daily lives, as the country struggles to address racism in the wake of the death of George Floyd and others recently lost to race-inspired violence.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from former white supremacists, community activists, and law enforcement about their experiences confronting race-based bigotry and will learn effective strategies and tactics that can be used in their personal and professional lives to address issues of bigotry and hate. The event is a critical opportunity to explore how to turn recent tragedy and unrest into something productive, that strengthens our communities and addresses racial injustice. Following the moderated discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists.
Distinguished Panelists and Speakers:
Keynote Speaker: Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA) has represented the 9th District of Massachusetts since 2012, where he holds leadership positions on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees. Prior to that, Mr. Keating was the Norfolk District Attorney after serving several terms in the Massachusetts State House and Senate. Rep. Keating has partnered with Parents For Peace for a number of years to work on issues of extremism.
Moderator: Frank G. Straub, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies at the Police Foundation, where he leads analysis of extremist-drive violence, including the San Bernardino and Orlando Pulse attacks. He was formerly the Chief of Police of Spokane, WA and Indianapolis, IN.
Panelists:
Chief Reggie Burgess is Police Chief of North Charleston, South Carolina, who took over his department in the wake of the Walter Scott shooting.
Average Mohamed is a Parents For Peace member, peace activist, cartoonist and youth educator based in Minneapolis, MN.
Reverend Sharon Washington Risher of Charleston, South Carolina lost her mother, Ethel Lee Lance, as well as two cousins and a childhood friend after the shooting at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015.
Arno Michaelis is a Parents For Peace Member and former White Nationalist leader turned Youth Resilience expert who helps de-radicalize extremists. He is based in Milwaukee, WI.
