PORT ANGELES — Creating a safe space for conversation and dialog during an unprecedented moment in history was the impetus for an ongoing online discussion group, “Conversations Toward a Culture of Justice,” which will meet today, according to Peninsula College.
The group meets each Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. via Zoom through Aug. 9.
The series is free and open to the public. To join, go to https://zoom.us/ j/99105600039.
It is co-sponsored by Studium Generale, Magic of Cinema, Peninsula College Forks, the Peninsula College English Department, Peninsula College C Library/Media Center, and the House of Learning, PC Longhouse.
The programs are made possible through contributions to the Peninsula College Foundation.
The first hour each week will include brief presentations, poetry readings, speeches, stories and other content presented by the facilitator, speaker or poets, followed by a few questions, Peninsula College said in a press release.
The second hour will be an opportunity for extended dialogue in a less-structured framework.
This series, which began July 9, was inspired by Upward Bound Coordinator Nitasha Lewis.
“2020 has been a prodigious year,” Lewis said. “Apart from facing a health pandemic and an economic recession, this year has also brought us face-to-face with injustice.
“Injustice is not a minority problem; it is a problem for us all. Only together will we be able to transform our communities to reflect a system of equality.”
The Peninsula College Board of Trustees recently adopted a resolution urging the college community to take “actions that seek to dismantle systemic inequality and bias [and] confront hate and violence,” said Helen Lovejoy, series co-coordinator and English faculty member.
“These conversations are a step toward this important and necessary work.”
