Bree Newsome, the community organizer and activist who removed the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina Statehouse in 2015 after the Charleston shootings, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s iUnite Week.
Her talk, titled “Tearing Hatred from the Sky,” will be presented Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. in rooms A, B and C at the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. The event is sponsored by the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, Inclusive Illinois and the Illini Union Board. The event is open to the public.
Newsome established herself as a touchstone of empowerment for disenfranchised people around the world when she tore down the Confederate flag in the name of social justice and equality. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Newsome blends her artistic talents with her activism, encouraging audiences to transform society into a world where the lives and contributions of all individuals are recognized equally.
