Right to Bear Arms

Presented as part of For Freedoms’ 50 State Initiative

As part of its Open Spectrum series, New York Live Arts is hosting a discussion on safety issues in an age of aggression, both on an individual and institutionalized level. The panel will include  Amr Alfiky, organizer / journalist / award-winning author asha bandele, journalist Kali Holloway and executive director of the Center for Anti-Violence Education Loren Miller. This complex and nuanced conversation will be moderated by acclaimed visual artist and activist Shaun Leonardo–who will guide the speakers through topics, such as an American’s right to possess guns in the name of defense, to routes of self-protection for people labeled as “Other”, and ultimately the full weight of what it means for marginalized people to bear arms. This symposium is framed within the context of the recent deaths of Nia Wilson and Botham Jean. Both of these people were victims of unprovoked violence; one from the fatal actions of an individual and the the other from a government institution–a police officer. In thinking about these two instances that could be regarded as random–the speakers delve into means of protection and inch closer to solutions of security and justice that faltered for Wilson and Jean.

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.