Westminster Town Hall Forum

Dr. Cornel West and Ms. Ifeoma Ike Esq. speaking at the Westminster Town Hall Forum's 2023 Arc Toward Justice program. Moderated by Angela Davis of Minnesota Public Radio News. The Arc Toward Justice series invites national racial justice leaders to reflect on a another year George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis and the international uprising that followed. We ask them to discuss where we have come on racial justice since then, and where they believe we still need to go. Dr. Cornel West, affectionately known to many as Brother West, is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. He is the former Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and for his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. Ifeoma Ike, Esq. is an award-winning advocate, writer and policy advisor focused on designing solutions to address disparities. She co-engineered Just Leadership USA and Mass Bail Out NYC. She also helped form three congressional caucuses: the Caucus on Black Men and Boys; the Caucus on Black Women and Girls; and the recently-launched Caucus on Black Innovation. Ike holds a LL.M. with highest honors from The George Washington School of Law and J.D. from CUNY School of Law, where she specialized in mediation and conflict resolution. The Forum was moderated by Angela Davis of Minnesota Public Radio News. It was recorded in front of a live audience of more than 1000 at Westminster Presbyterian in Downtown Minneapolis on May 20, 2023.

Veteran and author Elliot Ackerman speaking at the Westminster Town Hall Forum in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He spoke on his most recent book, "The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan." Elliot Ackerman is a writer, journalist, former White House Fellow, and decorated veteran. He served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart. He is the New York Times bestselling author of multiple novels. His books have been nominated for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in both fiction and nonfiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize among others. He spoke in front of a live audience at the Westminster Town Hall Forum in Downtown Minneapolis on April 18, 2023. You can listen for free to more than 40 years of Westminster Town Hall Forum programs on our website. They are all archived on our website: www.WestminsterForum.org

Parker Palmer is a writer, teacher, activist, and founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal, a nonprofit organization committed to creating a more just and compassionate world by nurturing personal and professional integrity. His bestselling books include, among others, A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, Healing the Heart of Democracy, and On the Brink of Everything. A graduate of Carleton College, he holds a PhD in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, and he is the recipient of 13 honorary doctorates and numerous awards for achievement and excellence. At the Forum, he will be in conversation with Sondra Samuels, president of the Northside Achievement Zone in North Minneapolis.

Jim Sciutto is CNN’s chief national security correspondent and co-anchor of the weekday program CNN Newsroom. He reports and provides analysis on all aspects of U.S. national security, including the military, foreign policy, the intelligence community, and the ongoing Russia investigation. An award-winning journalist, he has received the Headliner Award for the documentary Targeting Terror: Inside the Intelligence War, a Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting from Iran. Prior to joining CNN, he served as ABC News’ senior foreign correspondent. His new book, The Shadow War, explores Russia and China’s clandestine efforts to undermine the U.S.

Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, teacher, and bestselling author of fourteen books on religion and spirituality, including Leaving Church, An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark, named one of the best religion books of 2014 by Publisher’s Weekly. She has served on the faculties of Piedmont College, Columbia Theological Seminary, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and on the Certificate in Theological Studies program at Arrendale State Prison for Women in Alto, Georgia. She has been recognized by Baylor University as one of the top twelve preachers in America, and in 2015, she was named Georgia Woman of the Year. Her latest book, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, was published in April 2019.

David Hogg is a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He is among twenty Parkland students who founded Never Again MSD, a gun control advocacy group, and he is a founding member of March for Our Lives, one of the largest youth-led movements in the world. An advocate for ending gun violence in America, he has traveled the country calling for voter participation, civic engagement, and social activism. He and his younger sister, Lauren, are co-authors of the bestselling book "#NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line" and contributors to the book "Glimmer of Hope: How Tragedy Sparked a Movement," a compilation of writings from the founders of March for Our Lives. A recent graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he has received letters of acceptance from several universities but has chosen to take a year off to work on the 2018 midterm elections and to continue his activism on gun policy reform.

Michael Beschloss is an award-winning author of nine books on presidential history. He is the presidential historian for NBC News and a contributor to PBS NewsHour. A graduate of Williams College and Harvard Business School, he has served as a historian for the Smithsonian Institution, as a Senior Associate Member at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and as a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Foundation. His books on the presidency include, among others, "The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960-1963;" "The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler’s Germany;" and "Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989." His most recent book is "Presidents of War." He is the recipient of the Harry S. Truman Public Service Award, the New York State Archives Award, and the Rutgers University Living History Award. He is a trustee of the White House Historical Association and the National Archives Foundation and a former trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.