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On Tuesday, September 12, at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, a sizeable crowd gathered to hear from an esteemed panel of public intellectuals and activists, moderated by professor and activist Rev. Dr. Nekima Levy-Pounds. My understanding of the purpose of this conversation regarding Charlottesville and Race in America was that the voices we needed to hear were those in communities most directly affected by racism in the United States. The panelists were:

The last two weekends remind us that religious intolerance and white nationalism are potent forces that use the methods of fear and terror in the United States. We live in troubling times, evident in the bombing of the Dar Al Farooq mosque in Bloomington, MN, and the full-scale attack by white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK in Charlottesville, VA.

Early on August 5, 2017 a fire bomb was thrown into the Dar Al Farooq mosque in Bloomington, MN, during the first prayer of the morning. We renounce this cowardly act of hate which appears meant to terrorize our Muslim brothers and sisters. The Minnesota Council of Churches has a special affinity for Dar Al Farooq, where we recently celebrated an Iftar dinner during Ramadan as a part of the Taking Heart program that we coordinate in partnership with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.

Early on August 5, 2017 a fire bomb was thrown into the Dar Al Farooq mosque in Bloomington, MN, during the first prayer of the morning. We renounce this cowardly act of hate which appears meant to terrorize our Muslim brothers and sisters. The Minnesota Council of Churches has a special affinity for Dar Al Farooq, where we recently celebrated an Iftar dinner during Ramadan as a part of the Taking Heart program that we coordinate in partnership with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.

As you might have read in the Star Tribune, I began my tenure two weeks ago. Rev. Peg Chemberlin and I spent the week conferring and transitioning. I celebrate her 22 years of leadership at the Minnesota Council of Churches that spanned nearly 1/3 of the Council’s 70 years of work for social justice in Minnesota. She has created a significant legacy that I hope to build on. I am excited to be here.

In response to requests for our retiring CEO’s retirement speech. (Her last day will be mid-July).
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Thank you, distinguished leaders, many of you colleagues for many years, family and friend I’m very honored by all of this and all of you.