Closing Keynote—Freedom from Fear: First-Person Voices from the Movement Moment
Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 5:00 PM CDT • General Session Hall A
Rep. Keith Ellison
What do we understand about a single person’s journey from fear and immobility to becoming a frontline actor in the struggle for freedom and dignity? In this “hearts and minds” session, we will hear first-person voices of immigrants and allies who are among the 15 winners of the new national Freedom from Fear Award, a one-time national award that will honor fifteen ordinary people who have committed extraordinary acts of courage on behalf of immigrants and refugees—individuals who have taken a risk, set an example and inspired others to awareness or action. Through these stories of personal transformation, we will gain a sense of why social justice movements matter and how they can propel advocacy campaigns, and how creative online and offline organizing can coalesce, accelerate and sustain a critical mass of empowered individuals taking action to move a broad progressive agenda. Keynote speaker: Rep. Keith Ellison The program will also feature the personal stories of three award winners. We’ll also have remarks from leaders including Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Donna Edwards and Arizona State Senator Kyrsten Sinema and an original song presentation by Jill Sobule and music from Outernational. The emcee for the night is MSNBC host Cenk Uygur.