MLK Program To Feature "No Place For Hate"

In observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Limestone College will host the program “No Place For Hate: A Conversation In Black And White” at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19, at Fullerton Auditorium.

There is no admission charge and the public is invited to attend. The 12th-annual program is being produced through a partnership with Limestone College and the Cherokee County MLK Committee.

Professional musicians and race relations experts Arno Michaelis and Daryl Davis once stood worlds apart: one perpetrated violence while the other asked, “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?”

A founding member of the largest worldwide white supremacist, neo-Nazi skinhead organization, and lead singer of Centurion, a favorite hate-metal band among racists, Michaelis was once filled with rage. His book, “My Life After Hate,” vividly details how the forgiveness that was offered to him by people he once detested helped him turn his life around.

While Michaelis was inciting violence and calling for racial holy war, Davis, a black man, was on a mission to eradicate hate and bigotry. He accomplished something no black man had achieved before him – attending Ku Klux Klan rallies and interviewing KKK members for his book “Klan-Destine Relationships.” Davis travels and speaks to audiences all over the country as one of the nation’s leading experts on hate groups.

Today, Michaelis and Davis stand on stage as brothers, embracing and supporting each other’s passion to put an end to hate, bigotry and violence.

Their electrifying presentation will take those in attendance into the mind of someone who wants to hurt you for having a different skin color, and they will feel the danger and trepidation of walking into a Klan rally knowing you may not walk out. Their experiences are unusual, their messages are uplifting; they inspire audiences to become the change they want to see for the betterment of society. Both Davis, an internationally-known recording artist who has played with the founding father of rock, Chuck Berry; and Arno, who cut his teeth playing the frenetic rock music of extreme radicalism, both understand the healing power of music. They demonstrate how music – in conjunction with communication, understanding, forgiveness, trust, love, and gratitude – can change hearts and minds.

A luncheon will follow the program 12:30 p.m. at Bethel Baptist Church. Tickets for the luncheon are $15 each and can be purchased at Bethel Baptist Daycare. For more information, call (864) 489-7552. Limestone history professor Dr. Jonathan D. Sarnoff will make a brief presentation at the luncheon, entitled “A Historian’s Perspective on Martin Luther King, Jr.”