Join Santa Monica Black Leaders For An Anti-Racism Conversation

SANTA MONICA, CA — Community members are invited to join Black leaders in Santa Monica for an anti-racism virtual forum titled “Courageous Conversations: Why Black Lives Matter.”

The live conversation is planned for Jan. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. and the event will explore ways that community members can work together to advance anti-racism in Santa Monica.

Featured speakers at the panel discussion include Los Angeles Times columnist Erika D. Smith and author and political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson, the city announced.

"The pair will discuss their experiences covering social justice issues and perspectives about how change can be made within communities," according to a news release. "The conversation will touch upon the history of the Black community in Santa Monica as well as the legacy of systemic racism that continues to affect the Black community. Forum attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions for the panelists during the event."

Black community leaders also plan to formally introduce the public to the Black Agenda and the newly formed nonprofit, the Santa Monica Black Lives Association, "with a mission aimed at promoting the wellbeing of the Black community and working toward a more just and equitable Santa Monica," the city announced.

The forum will also include a special spoken word performance by mental health entrepreneur, author and speaker Nakeya T. Fields.

Longtime Santa Monica resident Karen S. Gunn, Ph.D., an advocate for social justice and founding member of the Santa Monica Black Agenda, will help lead the event.

"This forum provides a wonderful opportunity to drop some knowledge and share the vision of the Black Agenda,” Dr. Gunn said in a news release. “We will explore the urgent, undeniable necessity for reckoning with the systemic racial inequities in our city's history and currently. It is my hope that it will build awareness, empathy and expand the community's commitment to social justice and change."

Barry Snell, a founding member of the Black Agenda, will open the event, followed by Mayor Sue Himmelrich with remarks from Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan.

“I encourage every member of our community to jump on this opportunity to be part of an insightful dialogue that is steeped in our own painful Santa Monica history,” McCowan said. “Let’s continue the positive momentum for racial justice we unified around last summer and support the Santa Monica Black Lives Association as they, with the City, lead us forward.”

Register and learn more at www.eventbrite.com/e/135390674151. The forum will be live-streamed on CityTV Channel 16 and the City’s YouTube channel.