At North Las Vegas church, panel talks of achieving King’s dreams in 2017

About 120 people of various races and religions gathered at First African Methodist Episcopal Church for an event that advocated communication, understanding and love. The Jan. 15 discussion fell during the same week as Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

A panel of 11 residents spoke at the church, 2446 Revere St., in what was billed as a community dialogue on attaining King’s dream.

“Justice is the public face of love,” said Bishop Dan Edwards of Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, quoting activist Cornel West. “Justice cannot be forced; it must be posed.”

The proceedings began with prayer, followed by a young girl reciting King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Later, a video presentation of Lt. Sasha Larkin and Sgt. Ivan Chatman, who work together at the Metropolitan Police Department community outreach division, was shown.

“Las Vegas is a melting pot of communities, cultures and religions,” Larkin said.

After the video, more speakers expressed ways to encourage diversity by having effective communication and understanding.

“It’s one thing to be tolerated, but another to be understood,” said Rabbi Sanford Akselrad, a spiritual leader at Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson. “We should listen to understand and to share. We must teach our children to be empathetic of others and their actions.”

Akaisha Cook, a political science student at UNLV, and two other speakers talked about unity, race and taking nonviolent action.

Naweed Yusufzai, a Muslim UNLV student, recalled an experiment he conducted on campus.

Tears filled his eyes as he explained how overwhelming it was to see the number of people who hugged him despite others’ misunderstandings regarding his religion.

“Accept people for the humanity we embrace,” he said as his voice trembled. “Light drives out darkness; love drives out hatred.”

For social justice to be achieved in Clark County, young adults need to be heard, said speaker Joseph Rhodes, an assistant professor in residence at UNLV’s Honors College and the Department of Communication Studies.

He asked crowd members who were 30 or younger to raise their hands. Six people did so.

“These young people have something to teach all of you about realizing Dr. King’s dream, and you’ll miss it if you don’t listen to them,” he said. “Of course, they can learn a thing from sacred history as well.”

Contact Raven Jackson at rjackson@viewnews.com or 702-383-0283. Follow @ravenmjackson on Twitter.