UPDATE: Registration for the Good Neighbor Conference is now closed.
The Good Neighbor Conference: Addressing Hate through Advocacy and Action will be held Saturday from 6-9 p.m. in Jepson Center, E. 330 DeSmet Avenue in Spokane.
The conference will be broken into three sessions. Each session will have four different sections for attendees to choose from. A schedule can be found here.
Conference organizers include SpokaneFāVS, the Spokane Interfaith Council, Gonzaga’s Institute for Hate Studies and the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force. Attendees will benefit from a fast-paced series of discussions, workshops and seminars designed to equip community members with tools to be better advocates for themselves and their neighbors.
Panel topics in Addressing Hate Online, Addressing Islamophobia, Grace, Empathetic Listening and much more.
“We are deeply concerned with the recent events in our community that demonstrate intolerance and aggression,” said Skyler Oberst, president of the Interfaith Council. “The acts of vandalism that occurred last week at the Martin Luther King Jr. Outreach Center and elsewhere in Spokane, call for the attention of all people of goodwill.”
Kristine Hoover, director of the Institute for Hate Studies, said now is the time for citizens to come together in an intentional way by acting in a “clear, respectful manner to stand against all forms of bigotry, intolerance and defamation..”
“Citizens of Spokane are calling for the tools to be better advocates for each other,” added Dean Lynch, president of the Human Rights Task Force.
Everyone is welcome to join in the evening of education and understanding.
The event is free and open to all, though a $20 suggested donation is requested at the door. Proceeds collected will go directly to the Gonzaga Institute of Hate Studies Eva Lassman Student Research Award, the Spokane Interfaith Council’s Meet the Neighbors Campaign and SpokaneFāVS operations.
For more information contact Oberst at spokanefavs.skyler@gmail.com or (360) 989-8217.
Review the tentative schedule here.
