Amanda Byron will speak about a truth and reconciliation project at West Sound Community Club next Sunday, Oct. 25
Sunday, October 25th at 11 a.m. at the West Sound Community Club, Professor Amanda Byron will present a talk on her experience with a truth and reconciliation dialogue about the Holocaust this past summer in Berlin. The dialogue was facilitated by One by One, a foundation committed to “transforming the legacies of conflict, war and genocide through dialogue, one by one.” Participants included the second and third generation descendents of survivors, perpetrators, bystanders and resisters from all over the world.
According to One by One, many people who have been close to war and genocide carry the pain of unresolved trauma, and often pass their fears, stereotypes and prejudices to the next generation. The dialogue process is designed to begin to alleviate the burdens of one’s traumatic past and interrupt the intergenerational transmission of trauma, prejudice and group hatred.
Byron, a core faculty member at Portland State University’s graduate program in Conflict Resolution Studies, has always felt a strong connection to her Jewish and German roots – even as her German-born mother and grandmother down-played the significance of their shared history. Seeking the truth, some validation of her own pain around the events of the Holocaust and the hope of peace through greater understanding and connection, Byron spent ten days in Berlin immersed in the dialogue process, visiting significant historical sites and taking in the country of her mother’s birth for the first time.
She writes, “One of the big questions that emerged during the course of the Dialogue was the importance of telling these stories. Specifically, many people brought up the importance of telling the stories to our children and grandchildren so that they know what is in their DNA and why. Those Dialogue participants who never learned their parents’ and grandparents’ stories were deeply troubled by the stories they felt, but didn’t know.”
Amanda Byron is a mediator, an educator, and an active community organizer in the fields of conflict resolution, violence prevention, and multicultural community development. Amanda has more than 20 years of experience working with diverse communities to heal trauma and transform conflict. Byron earned her BA in Business Administration at Lewis and Clark College, her MA in Intercultural Management at the School for International Training, and is currently a student in the Doctoral Program for Educational Leadership at Portland State, studying critical pedagogy and peace education.
This event is sponsored by the Orcas Island Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, which meets the second and fourth Sunday of each month at the West Sound Community Club. All are welcome. For more information on Orcas UUF go to www.orcasislanduu.org. For more information on the event, please call Suzanne Olson at 376-8007.
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