Virtual town hall ‘Becoming the Beloved Community’ on June 23

Join the College of Liberal Arts' "Becoming the Beloved Community," the Lee County Remembrance Project, First Presbyterian Church of Auburn, Lee and Macon County interfaith leaders, as well as local mayors and political leaders for a virtual town hall on Tuesday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.

“‘Becoming the Beloved Community’ and the Lee County Remembrance Project are working with neighbors of Lee and Macon counties to share personal stories, build trusting relationships and collectively work together with intergenerational neighbors from all walks of life to memorialize lives that have been lost to racial violence,” said Rev. Dr. Joan Harrell, lecturer and diversity coordinator in the School of Communication and Journalism. “And to implement constructive actions to rid our local communities and the United States of racial inequality in all aspects of life including public health, because racism is a public health issue.”

According to Harrell, local and national communities are still in the process of "becoming." She said that the virtual dialogue gives community members of all backgrounds the opportunity to share their personal narratives, to talk with each other and to develop short term, as well as long-term, action plans that neighbors can individually and collectively implement to rid our communities of racial inequality.

Harrell said that the “Becoming the Beloved Community” and the Lee County Remembrance Project are responding to the call for local communities not just to talk about racism but to speak to it.

In April 2018, residents of Auburn, Opelika and Tuskegee were invited for community engagement and conversations that started on the 50th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and asked, "How we are becoming the beloved community in the 21st century?" The First Presbyterian Church of Auburn was the host for the multicultural, intergenerational and interfaith dinner and dialogue, "Intentional Listening: How to Love your Neighbor in the Midst of Domestic Terror," in September 2019. Nearly 300 students, faculty, staff and residents of Lee and Macon counties attended.

Since September 2019, community members have been hosting smaller potlucks, sharing personal stories about racism, sexism, classism, religious and gender discrimination and resolutions. The “Becoming the Beloved Community” dialogue was scheduled to gather again on April 4, the 52nd anniversary of King's assassination, but the in-person dialogue and sharing of on-going intentional individual and collective community work was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virtual dialogue, "Becoming the Beloved Community in the Midst of Racism, Inequality and COVID-19," is free, and registration is available by clicking here.