The Rotary clubs of Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Windsor, Ontario, in collaboration with Wayne State University’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, will hold a two-day conference highlighting the root causes and potential solutions to violence in our communities. The conference, titled “Peace in the Streets,” will take place Oct. 25 at Wayne State University’s Student Center ballroom from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Oct. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Windsor, Ontario, at the University of Windsor Law School, located at 401 Sunset Avenue. 

Interactive presentations and panel discussions over both days will focus on attaining peace and reducing violence in communities. Key topics include gun violence, human trafficking, human rights, restorative justice practices, immigration, indigenous rights, domestic and gender violence, neighborhood solutions, and other crucial topics involving collective community engagement.

Experts will present on projects, lived experiences and hands-on approaches from social justice perspectives to better understand the roots, dangers and threats involving levels of violence and misunderstanding, offering constructive and preventative strategies applicable to attendees’ lives.

“We’re excited to follow up last year’s Peace in the Streets presentations about peace in homes, schools, neighborhoods, bordering communities and offering solutions-based approaches. We also are proud to team with Rotary colleagues in Detroit, Windsor, Ann Arbor, Taylor and Toledo to broaden our impact. In conjunction with the conference, we are welcoming junior Rotarians, Rotaract clubs from across Michigan, Ohio and Ontario,” said Fred Pearson, political science professor and director for WSU’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies.

”Peace in the Streets” will include inspiring keynote speeches by Samantha Fuentes, gun violence survivor and activist from Parkland, Florida,  as well as  Sakeena Yacoobi, Nobel Prize nominee from the Afghan Learning Institute, and Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, international filmmaker, cultural anthropologist and social justice advocate. The cost to attend both days is $45 for adults and free for the first 100 students with valid school ID. Parking is $8 and available across various parking structures on the Wayne State campus.

To register for the conference, visit rotarypeaceinthestreets.org.  

For more information, please contact Barbara L. Jones: at 313-577-3518 or email barbaraljones@wayne.eduu.