EASTHAMPTON — As a teenager, Christian Picciolini joined a neo-Nazi skinhead gang. Since leaving, he has traded hate for peace as founder of Life After Hate, a nonprofit organization that works to help others leave hate groups.
On Tuesday, Picciolini will speak about his transition at the event, “Understanding the Resurgence of White Power: A Conversation with a Former White Supremacist,” hosted by the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding and Critical Connections.
The discussion will take place at Flywheel Arts Collective, 43 Main st., from 7 to 9 p.m. It is part of a series, “Transforming this Moment: Bridging Our Divides.” The talk on Tuesday will be the third event in the series.
“This year it is a focus on identity and process of coming into and out of social spaces where violence can be justified,” said Keenan Powers, program associate at the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding.
Mehlaqa Samdani, with Critical Connections, noted the recent presidential election as inspiration for this year’s theme. “Since the election, we decided we needed to have a series that spoke to a large number of targeted communities,” Samdani said.
In his early twenties, Picciolini left the far-right movement to get a degree in International Relations at DePaul University. He later launched his own global entertainment media firm.
Music has been a major part of Picciolini’s transition, as he has served on the Chicago Grammy Rock Music Committee and been a board member for the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival. He has also published a memoir.
Powers and Samdani hope that people who attend the Tuesday event will learn from Picciolini’s past and progress.
“We feel that people’s stories are really where learning happens,” Powers said. “We feel that that’s where connection can happen and people can relate to.”
Samdani agreed that there is value in learning what kind of ideology leads people to both join and leave violent groups. She emphasized the importance of learning how to empathize with people who have different ideologies.
One goal of the discussion is to get the community to engage and connect with each other, Powers explained.
“We try and offer a space where people can really interpret whatever is being put in the room into their own lives,” he said.
The event is free and open to the public.