Introduction to White Supremacy/Hate Groups and a Discussion-Driven Exploration of Racial Identity

Thursday, May 13, 2021, 6:30-8:30 PM

Our Presenters from the Southern Law Poverty Center:
Lecia Brooks and Diane Flinn

Co-Sponsored by Ill/Wisconsin District Church of the Brethren Leadership Team and Ministerial Leadership Development Team

Clergy can receive Continuing Education 0.2 credits for attending by registering for the event with the District. Please register by contacting Andrea at andreag.iwdcob@gmail.com. 

Topic: Introduction to White Supremacy Workshop - SPLC

Time: May 13, 2021 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84761569724?pwd=dUl2U3hIOTJndWsvay83YmdWSGN3dz09

Meeting ID: 847 6156 9724

Passcode: 636242 

Program Description:

Hate and extremist groups are both harbingers of and symptoms of the persistent and historical, unrectified racism central to the United States and our culture. Knowledge of these groups and their recent proliferation can help us understand current socio-political forces and invite us to explore race and its role in shaping beliefs, relationships, and who we are. This session provides an informative presentation and a dialogic exploration of how our understanding of race and racism impacts our effectiveness in creating equity and safety within a community.

Our Presenters

Lecia Brooks is the Chief of Staff for the SPLC, where she provides counsel to senior leadership, assists with strategic planning and works with people from across the organization to ensure the SPLC’s success, whether it is achieving long-term goals or maintaining effective daily operations.

Before her current role, Brooks served as the SPLC’s Chief Workplace Transformation Officer, where she supported leadership and staff efforts to build a culture of inclusiveness and ensure a continued focus on diversity and equity.

Brooks also previously served as the SPLC’s Outreach Director, where she traveled across the U.S. and abroad to speak about hate and extremism. Earlier, she was director of the SPLC’s Civil Rights Memorial Center, an interpretive experience designed to provide visitors to the Civil Rights Memorial with a deeper understanding of the Civil Rights movement.

Brooks, who joined the SPLC in 2004, has a wealth of experience in diversity advocacy training for corporations and nonprofit organizations, including Walmart, Lyft, Pixar, the Salzburg Seminar, and the Newark Public Library.

Diane Flinn, Senior Consultant, Diversity Matters

Diane Flinn is a diversity and social justice professional with over twenty-five years of experience developing programs and facilitating dialogue on race and racial identity, gender and sexual identity, interfaith alliance, and building institutional capacity for equity. She has been a consulting partner on projects across not-for-profit and for-profit sectors, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, City of Los Angeles, Raytheon, Marlborough School, Paradigm Treatment Centers, and the National Conference for Community and Justice.

Ms. Flinn comes to social justice and inclusive community building through her professional experience in social and mental health and education, as well as through her personal journey from a child of a small midwestern town to a long-time resident of Los Angeles; she is equally at home in both environs. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a teacher certification from the University of Washington.