BEND, OR -- A national leader on racial inclusiveness will visit Central Oregon Community College, as part of COCC’s Season of Non-Violence. Professor John A. Powell will give two different presentations Wednesday, both are open to the public.
Karen Roth, with the college, says he will focus on how to increase respect and care for all people, even between those who disagree. "He’s asking us to think about how do we practice respect and care for all people. Not that we have to agree with their ideas or their beliefs, but that we care about them as human beings," she tells KBND News. "How do we open up our circle of human compassion to include what we have often called ‘the other’ and how all of us have this need to belong – to belong to a larger society, to belong to other people, and to be cared about by other people. So, how do we do that from our conditioning of ‘othering.’"
Professor Powell will speak at COCC at noon and 6:30 p.m., both presentations are open to the public. Click HERE to learn more.
COCC is hosting a series of events through February 29 as part of its 8th annual Season of Non-Violence. It’s part of an international effort corresponding with the anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination and Martin Luther King Junior’s birthday. About the events, Roth says, "Where conflict is, I believe, normal and a part of the human condition. But, it’s how we resolve our conflict that I think we can draw on the legacies of King and Gandhi and others who have fought for social justice."
To hear our full conversation with Karen Roth, visit our Podcast Page.
