April 15, 2022 | 12pm (PT)
Panel Discussion with Daryl Davis, Ryan Lo’Ree and Dr. Gary Slutkin, moderated by Randy Blazak
Cure Violence Global (CVG) and Parallel Networks (PN) each use public health models to interrupt and stop the spread of violence. Three experts will discuss the health approach to preventing violence and how it is being applied in Portland to reduce extremist violence. Our speakers are Dr. Gary Slutkin, the founder and CEO of CVG, Ryan Lo’Ree, former right-wing extremist and PN’s Program Director and interventionist, and Daryl Davis, a PN Interventionist and blues musician who has walked hundreds of Klansmen out of the world of hate. This program is co-sponsored by OJMCHE and WorldOregon.
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Randy Blazak’s scholarship on hate crimes and hate groups has made him a regular commentator in media outlets from NPR and CNN to BBC and Al Jazeera. Blazak earned his PhD at Emory University in 1995 after completing an extensive field study of racist skinheads that included undercover observations and interviews across the world. He became a tenured sociology professor at Portland State University and currently teaches sociology at the University of Oregon. His work has taken him from classrooms to criminal trials. His research has been published in academic journals, books and in the mainstream press. His co-authored book, Teenage Renegades, Suburban Outlaws Wadsworth (2001) and his edited volume, Hate Offenders (Praeger, 2009) have been widely adopted. Since 2002, he has been the chair of the Coalition Against Hate Crimes. He has worked with the National Institute of Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center on hate crime research issues. Blazak regularly speaks at conferences, consults on criminal cases, and leads workshops on the topics of hate and bias. He is currently the vice-chair of the steering committee in charge of implementing Oregon’s new bias crime law. https://www.randyblazak.com/
Dr. Gary Slutkin is founder and CEO of Cure Violence Global and credited with innovating the epidemic control approach to violence prevention. Gary is a physician and epidemiologist and has led efforts to combat epidemics of tuberculosis, cholera and AIDS. He worked in over 25 countries in east and central Africa, Latin America and Asia, consulted on SARS and Ebola, was the Director of Intervention for the World Health Organization and is currently tracking and advising governments on COVID19.
As a race relations expert, Daryl Davis has received acclaim for his book Klan-Destine Relationships and his documentary Accidental Courtesy from many respected sources including CNN, NBC, Good Morning America, TLC, NPR, The Washington Post, and many others. He is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Elliott-Black Award, the MLK Award, and the Bridge Builder Award among many others. Filled with exciting encounters and sometimes amusing anecdotes, Daryl’s impassioned lectures leave an audience feeling empowered to confront their own prejudices and overcome their fears.
Daryl is an international recording artist, actor, and leader of The Daryl Davis Band. He is considered to be one of the greatest Blues & Boogie Woogie and Blues and Rock’n’Roll pianists of all time, having played with The Legendary Blues Band (formerly the Muddy Waters band) and Chuck Berry. As an Actor, Daryl has received rave reviews for his stage role in William Saroyan’s The Time Of Your Life. Daryl has done film and television as well and had roles in the critically acclaimed 5-year HBO television series The Wire. https://www.daryldavis.com/
Ryan Lo’Ree is working for Parallel Networks as an Executive Board Member, Interventionist and Program Specialist, and is involved in producing Parallel Network counter narrative content. Ryan was once a right-wing extremist with the Rollingwood Skins, a Michigan-based offshoot of the largest Nazi movement in the United States. While in the organization, he moved up the ranks quickly to become Vice President. In his role, he was responsible for mainstreaming hate groups on social media. To finance these efforts, Ryan found himself in trouble with the law. After Ryan’s incarceration, he went through a process of transformation and healing centered around trauma associated with sexual, physical and mental abuse he endured from male family members.
As part of his healing and deradicalization, Ryan went on to create the Team Revelation Mixed Martial Arts, a program utilized to prevent troubled youth from entering gang and extremist cultures. They offered mentorship, leadership, and self-discipline training. The program’s success led to a partnership with local juvenile probation offices in Genesee and Shiawassee County. The program would go on to keep over 100 children from entering the school to prison pipeline. Ryan would later enter the political arena where he ran for County Commissioner going after political corruption, racial and environmental justice in his hometown. Ryan has now helped to organize hundreds of justice rallies across the country, and his research has been centered around environmental impacts and their links to violent extremism. Ryan has also helped to pull dozens of former extremists out of hate groups in Michigan where he had the assistance of several organizations around the country and state. Ryan has helped to pass policy and proclamations in Flint and surrounding areas. He will now bring his expertise to Parallel Network, contributing to the organization’s work on combating polarization, structural injustice, racism, hate, and violent extremism.