Welcome to the conversation!


Welcome to the conversation!

Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1811-1896) best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), made her the most famous American woman of the 19th century and galvanized the abolition movement before the Civil War.

The Stowe Center is a 21st-century museum and program center using Stowe's story to inspire social justice and positive change.

The Salons at Stowe programs are a forum to connect the challenging issues (race, gender and class) that impelled Stowe to write and act with the contemporary face of those same issues. The Salon format is based on a robust level of audience participation, with the explicit goal of promoting civic engagement. Recent topics included: Teaching Acceptance; Is Prison the New Slavery; Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North; Creativity and Change; Race, Gender and Politics Today; How to be an Advocate

This blog will expand the reach of these community conversations to the online audience. Add your posts and comments to keep the conversation going! Commit to action by clicking HERE to stay up to date on Salon and social justice news.

For updates on Stowe Center programs and events, sign up for our enews at http://harrietbeecherstowe.org/email.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Salons at Stowe: Meet the Featured Guests

Join the Stowe Center for the first Salon at Stowe of 2016! This evening, featured guests Iran Nazario and Mike Lawlor will lead a discussion on Criminal Justice Reform in Connecticut. Learn more about the guests below!

Mike Lawlor, CT Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice in the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven.

Mike Lawlor served twelve terms as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives representing his hometown of East Haven. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 1995-2011, Lawlor played a key role in passing two amendments to Connecticut's constitution, the first established explicit rights for victims of crime, and the second eliminated the patronage-ridden and corrupt county sheriff system.

Lawlor also helped to enact a number of workable gun control laws, rewrite and toughen the state's domestic violence laws, reformed the juvenile justice system, addressed racial disparities in the criminal justice system, passed laws ending discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and addressed recidivism and prison overcrowding. He also played a key role is establishing and now modernizing Connecticut’s Sex Offender Registry. 

Iran Nazario, COMPASS Peacebuilders & Community Outreach Director, COMPASS Youth Collaborative.

Iran Nazario has worked in gang prevention, violence mediation, youth engagement and program management for 24 years, beginning as a volunteer on the streets of Hartford. As Director of COMPASS Peacebuilders, he leads a team of 16 men and women whose goal is to decrease the level of youth violence throughout the city. Since the program began, COMPASS Peacebuilders has served over 3,000 youth with a success rate of more than 80%. 

What do you plan to ask the featured guests? How can CT be a leader in criminal justice reform? Join the Stowe Center for the first Salon at Stowe of 2016. The program will begin at 5:30 pm in the Stowe Visitor Center. 

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