Honest, civil conversations goal of event

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

By Tristan Holman

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year, Mayor Eric Johnson and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum will co-host “Looking Back at 2020: Racism, Antisemitism and Public Safety Challenges in Dallas.”

The virtual event is scheduled for 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, the day after the MLK Day holiday.

Mary Pat Higgins, the museum’s president and CEO, will moderate the discussion with five panelists:

• Jesuorobo Enobakhare, Jr. (chair, Community Police Oversight Board)

• Eddie Garcia (incoming police chief, Dallas Police Department)

• Rev. Dr. Maria Dixon Hall (chief diversity officer and professor, Southern Methodist University)

• Bishop T.D. Jakes (The Potter’s House Church)

• Rabbi Andrew Paley (senior rabbi, Temple Shalom, and chair, Faith Forward Dallas)

Mayor Johnson will provide opening remarks for the discussion.

“Dallas, like all major cities, has its share of flaws. But we are a city that has consistently met the challenges of our times,” Mayor Johnson said. “The events of last year called for us to have honest and civil conversations, as Dr. King would want, about the roles of race, hatred and policing in our society and about how we can address these issues in a holistic way. Dallas is up to that challenge.

“I want to thank these incredible panelists and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum for facilitating this much-needed discussion. And I look forward to continuing these conversations in 2021 as we commit to making our city stronger, safer, and more equitable for all of our communities.”

The panel conversation comes after a year of calls for police reforms, protests over the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and antisemitic vandalism at the Reunion Tower parking garage.

“We have all been through a lot in the last year, and healing will require us to confront our differences and the challenges we face,” said Higgins. 

“We are proud to host this event with such distinguished panelists, and I want to thank Mayor Johnson for continuing this dialogue, which is central to the mission of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.”

For more information, visit dhhrm.org.

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