St. Pete Mayor, Local Leaders To Gather For “Love Lives Here” Event Thursday

In response to a rash of national hate crimes including bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers and an act of arson at the Islamic Society of New Tampa Mosque last month, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, along with local community and spiritual leaders will participate in a “community dialogue” panel on Thursday (March 9) at The Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg.

Entitled “Love Lives Here”, the event “has a goal of encouraging a community-wide response by institutions and individuals to create greater understanding and connection rather than fear of differences,” according to a press release by Equality Florida Action, one of nearly a dozen organizations co-hosting.

The event will begin at 6:30 PM with a press conference, to be followed by the community dialogue panel, then interactive exercises designed to “help identify commonalities that bridge the diversity of the group” and will close with a call to action that will feature a visual display that organizers hope can be exhibited around the Tampa Bay area.

In addition to Mayor Kriseman, the panel will include: Elizabeth Gelman of The Florida Holocaust Museum, Nadine Smith of Equality Florida Action, Imam Azhar Subedar of EmergeUSA, Joran Slane Oppelt of Tampa Bay Interfaith Alliance, Father Bob Schneider of the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, Rabbi Jacob Luski of Congregation B’nai Israel of St. Petersburg, Rev. Kenneth Irby of Historic Bethel AME Church and Dr. Gagandeep Mangat of Tampa Gurdwara. Jeff Johnson, founder of Love Not Fear, will serve as moderator.

Love Lives Here is free and open to the public, but organizers are requesting that attendees RSVP. The Florida Holocaust Museum is located at 55 5th St S in St. Petersburg.

For more information please see the Love Lives Here: No Place For Hate FaceBook Events page.

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