The Reverend William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach, and IREHR’s Leonard Zeskind will speak August 10 at a regional teach-in hosted by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) in Washington D.C. The event is aimed at offering effective ways to counter white nationalism. It comes just ahead of the August 12 Unite the Right 2 rally being organized by white nationalist Jason Kessler.

Rev. Barber will give the keynote address and Zeskind will explain the current context of far right organizing. The event will feature a panel discussion titled “Developing Effective Responses to Eliminate Hate.”

Congresswoman Norton stated, “Our teach-in will promote community engagement and feature experts and leaders who have spent their lives effectively responding to hate and bigoted speech, while respecting constitutional First Amendment principles.”

Congressman Raskin expressed that, “We want to say that the fascists speak under a First Amendment which they hate, but they don’t speak for us and they cannot intimidate a community which is thriving under the values of democracy, pluralism and tolerance they despise.  We stand together and we stand strong.”

See here for the full text of the press release announcing the event.