Join us for a screening of Waking in Oak Creek. Waking In Oak Creek profiles a suburban town rocked by hate after six worshippers at a Sikh Temple are killed by a white supremacist. In the year following the attack, the film highlights a community and law enforcement working together to overcome tragedy, stand up to hate, and create a safe town for all.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion in observance of Human Rights Day, in partnership with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. Panelists include:
Patrice O'Neill (film producer) - Patrice is an award-winning media producer dedicated to telling stories about everyday people transforming their communities. As co-founder of the Oakland-based non-profit strategic media production company The Working Group, she has produced successful national series on PBS for fifteen years, using a multi-platform approach that utilizes documentary film, social networking, outreach and organizing efforts to encourage dialogue and spur action.
Pardeep Kaleka - Pardeep is the eldest son of Satwant Singh Kaleka – the president of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, who was gunned down during the attacks of August 5th, 2012. Pardeep is a first generation immigrant who grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Marquette University. A former Milwaukee Police Officer and current educator in the inner city, Pardeep is the founder of Serve 2 Unite, a nonprofit organization is founded in response to the deaths at the temple in Oak Creek. Serve2Unite combines Art, Service Learning, and Positive Global Mentors to foster peaceful identity in schools and communities.
Kalia Abiade - Kalia is the Advocacy Director at Center for New Community. She spearheads the organization's work to equip and mobilize allied organizations and coalitions to challenge organized nativism and racism. Kalia has more than a decade of journalism experience and is the managing editor of the Center's blog Imagine 2050.
Precious Davis - Precious is lauded both locally and nationally as an award winning diversity professional, social justice facilitator, and performance artist. She currently is the Assistant Director of Diversity Recruitment Initiatives at Columbia College Chicago , her alma mater from which she received a BA in Liberal Arts. Precious currently implements and oversees the Campus Wide Diversity Initiative and is the first woman of color to hold this position. She recently was awarded the prestigious "30 under 30" award from The Windy City Times and included in the 2014 Trans 100 list.
Sargent Lori Cooper of the Chicago Police Department - Lori joined the Chicago Police Department in 1992 and from the academy was assigned to the 23rd District on the North Side of Chicago. By 1994 she was working as a community resource officer and began to recognize incidents of hate crimes committed against the LGBT community. In 1996 she was named the district LGBT liaison and in 1998 became the city wide liaison and was assigned as a Civil Rights Hate Crimes Investigator. Cooper became an educator nationally on the importance of positive relationships between the LGBT community and the police Community, advocating for all departments to establish LGBT liaisons. In 2005, Lori Cooper was promoted to Sergeant and following several years in the patrol division, returned to become the Commanding Officer of the Special Activities Section which includes the Civil Rights Hate Crimes Unit
Stephen Scaffidi, mayor of Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Seating in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium is first come, first served, limit of 385.
This program is presented as part of One Book, One Chicago's 2015-2016 season, exploring the theme of "Chicago: The City That Gives." This program is a partnership with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
