Live Arts Open Spectrum Presents Right to Bear Arms Panel Discussion

As part of its Open Spectrum series, New York Live Arts is hosting a discussion on creating safety in an age of aggression. The panel will include photojournalist Amr Alfiky, organizer/journalist/award-winning author asha bandele, journalist Kali Holloway, and Loren Miller, executive director of the Center for Anti-Violence Education. The conversation will be moderated by visual artist/activist Shaun Leonardo.

Held days before the midterm elections, and in the wake of the unprovoked violent deaths of Nia Wilson and Botham Jean, this forum will explore some of the pressing questions of our time: What routes to self-protection exist for people who are painted as the Other? Does the right to bear arms come with a responsibility to defend ourselves? Is physical combat or the use of weapons an effective response to the dangers facing us today? At a time of angry political rhetoric aimed at the vulnerable, and a corresponding spike in bias cases and hate crimes, can attacks against those groups still be considered random? What does it mean to America when the use of force by marginalized people is called an ideological threat, while the violence that consistently targets specific communities is dismissed as justified, arbitrary, or "not hate-related?"

New York Live Arts' Open Spectrum Community Dialogue Series provides space for reflection on the most vital issues facing communities today. Open Spectrum offers an intimate conversational platform founded on the belief that cultural institutions can and should be catalysts for societal transformation by participating in a world of ideas.

Tickets: $10, newyorklivearts.org 212 924 0077