Healing from Hate: How Personal Transformation Elicits Social Change
“ Darkness cannot combat darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot combat hate. Only Love can do that. ”
A few breaths before Initiatives of Change USA’s events for Richmond’s National Day of Racial Healing in January, a wave of anxiety engulfed the city as preparations began for Lobby Day and a massive pro-gun protest at the Virginia state capitol. The haints of 2017 Charlottesville loomed large with the sheer unpredictability of thousands of gun rights enthusiasts gathering in the city. Perspectives, interviews, debates, and statistical reports blasted persistently on local, national and international news and within everyday conversations.
In an effort to consciously reflect and center ourselves and communities for this day’s event (concurring with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the first day of our National Day of Racial Healing events), IofC USA partnered with Richmond Hill on a conversation, “Healing from Hate: How Personal Transformation Elicits Social Change.” This evening discussion navigated three different but intersecting personal tales that tap into the root issues ramping up the relentless polarization, hate and extremism we see surfacing across the U.S. and world.
The panelists included: Jesse Morton, who after a long trek into and out of jihadist extremism, now works to combat hate-based ideologies and those that espouse them. Darryl Davis, a world-renowned African American Blues and R & B musician, author, expert in race relations and activist with experience engaging members of the Ku Klux Klan and establishing dialogue with those he has every reason to hate. And Mimi Olive, a lifetime healer and social activist who, as the granddaughter of the Rev. Vernon Johns, uncle of Barbara Johns and a mentor of Martin Luther King Jr., understands first-hand the power of hope and the agency of love.
The event opened with all voices raised in unison to “We Believe”:
“We believe, we believe
Unarmed love will have the final word
Disarm us, disarm us
Let us lay our weapons down”
After sharing their stories, the panelists continued in discussion with the audience processing for individual and collective healing and how a shift in consciousness can help us heal from hate.
See the panel conversation below: