Community Conversations

Matthew's Legacy: The Struggle for Equality and Acceptance Featuring Judy Shepard

Denver, CO
April 21, 2010
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Los Angeles, CA
May 17, 2010
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Join us for a Community Conversation with activist and author, Judy Shepard. In 1998, Shepard lost her son, Matthew, to a murder motivated by anti-gay hate. Turning tragedy into a crusade for justice, and determined to prevent Matthew’s fate from befalling others, she established The Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Shepard is the author of the New York Times best-selling book, The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed, a moving, intimate look at how her life, and the entire fight for equal rights, changed when her son was killed.

A Convervation with Dr. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity 

Memphis, TN
April 22, 2010
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Join us for a Community Conversation with Dr. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity. Both his book and the documentary film based on his book get to the heart of the phenomenon, genocide, which has caused more deaths in the modern world than military conflict. Goldhagen traveled around the world to interview perpetrators and survivors, peasants and politicians, those seeking to obscure the truth and those devoted to uncovering it. He explores the anatomy of genocide—explaining why genocides begin, are sustained, and end; why societies support them; why they happen so frequently; and how the international community should and can successfully stop them. The documentary film, Worse than War, will premiere on PBS, April 14, 2010. Facing History is the educational outreach partner for the film, helping it to reach classrooms around the world.

POSTPONED:
Congressman John Lewis – Cleveland, OH

* Due to his responsibilities as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman John Lewis is no longer able to be in Cleveland on December 1. We apologize for this inconvenience. A new date will be announced soon.

Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, often called  "one of the most courageous persons the civil rights movement ever produced," has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community" in America.  His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress.

This Community Conversation with Congressman John Lewis will be a featured event of Facing History’s Choosing To Participate multimedia exhibit that will be in Cleveland until February 26.

Highlights from Past Community Conversations

Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health
Chicago, November 9, 2009

Lisa See, author of Shanghai Girls
Los Angeles, October 29, 2009

Authors Alex Kotlowitz and Sonia Nazario, in conversation about immigration
Chicago, March 25, 2009

Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund and author of The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small
Cleveland, October 21, 2008

Marco Williams, director of the documentary film Banished
Chicago, October 21, 2008 

Mona Golabek, author of Children of Willesden Lane and concert pianist
Memphis, September 23, 2008

Film as a Catalyst for Social Change
Edward Zwick and Diane Weyermann discuss how filmmakers can make a difference
Los Angeles, June 6, 2008

Don Cheadle & John Prendergast
Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond
Spring, 2007

Azar Nafisi, of Reading "Lolita" in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
San Francisco, November 9, 2006

Taking an Active Role in African Affairs, with Romeo Dallaire
Memphis, September 14, 2007

Lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and Today, featuring Terrence Roberts, Judith Vecchione, & Sandra Robbie in
Los Angeles, October 26, 2006

Marco Williams and Whitney Dow, documentary film directors of I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education

Courage and Rescue During the Rwandan Genocide, featuring Paul Rusesabagina
September 19, 2005

Transformation in a Time of Democratic Fever, featuring Justice Albie Sachs and Vanessa September
Spring, 2006

James Fallows, national correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly
Chicago, April 4, 2006 

The Role of Media in a Democracy, featuring Jerry Mitchell
Memphis, May 3, 2006

Responsibility and Choice in our Global Community, featuring Carl Wilkens
Cleveland, May 5, 2006

Escape from Slavery, featuring Francis Bok
Los Angeles & San Francisco, May 2006