A broad range of legislators, clergy and social justice organizations invite the public to a second bold conversation entitled: What’s Next? A community conversation about rise of hate, racism and intolerance, Tuesday June 4th at 7:00 P.M at Educational Opportunity Center, 555 Ellicott Street, Buffalo.
The panelists include Hon. April N.M. Baskin (Erie County Legislature), Pastor Mark Blue, (Buffalo NAACP), Rabbi Jonathan Freirich (Temple Beth Zion), Dr. Nasir Khan (Network of Religious Communities and Ahmadiyya Buffalo), Richard Lipsitz (WNY Area Labor Federation), and moderated by and Judge Lisa Bloch Rodwin. County Executive Mark Poloncarz will present a proclamation about the importance of “Standing Up to Hate.”
“What’s Next?” will ask panelists to honestly share thoughts on how their communities are addressing the documented rise of hate in past two years. Organizers will also ask the public how they personally can make a difference. The event will end with a call to action for individuals to create change their own lives and their communities.
Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, an organizer of the event quoted Rabbi Jonah Pesner of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, who wrote in the wake of the attacks in New Zealand:
… Liberation from the plague of bigotry requires moral people of all faiths, races, and cultures to bind together against hateful forces that seek to sow division. We must say, with one voice, that white supremacy, xenophobia, and bigotry have no place in society.”
“In Western New York, Rabbi Freirich added, “we stand together, many voices speaking as one against those who preach and spread hatred.”
Dr. Nasir Khan, a panelist and President of Ahmadiyya Buffalo and Network of Religious Communities draws inspiration from the “motto of our community ‘Love for all, hatred for none’, coined by the third head (Khalifa) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Nasir Ahmad.
Sponsors include: Buffalo Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Family Service, NAACP Buffalo, National Federation of for Just Communities of WNY, and Temple Beth Zion, and WNY Area Labor Federation.
Refreshments served afterwards to continue the conversation.
Note: “Intolerance & Hate: Current Trends and Their Roots” the first in a series was held October 18, 2018.
