North Carolina Peace Activists Lyndon Harris and David LaMotte to Speak and Perform in Maine

Brunswick, ME, March 11, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​The Restorative Justice Institute of Maine is hosting events in Brunswick with special guests David LaMotte and Lyndon Harris, authors and activists from North Carolina.  

These events, both an evening concert and an all day workshop, are part of a series to engage people from across the state in conversations focused on justice.

The first event – Working toward Peace through Song and Stories will be held on March 22nd at 7:30 at the Frontier Café.  Tickets are free but registration is required.

The second event– What is Yours to Do? – is a day long workshop on March 23rd at Bowdoin College.  The cost is $15 per person and registration is required.

More information about these events can be found on www.rjimaine.org

David Lamotte and Lyndon Harris bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives to the field of restorative justice; they share the common goal of elevating the conversation about the role and importance of the individual in large-scale social change. Through stories, music and engaging conversation, Lyndon and David will lead participants on a journey that will challenge commonly held notions about leadership and the power of individuals to create social change.

About Lyndon Harris:  In the summer of 2001, Lyndon Harris was the priest in charge of St. Paul's Chapel at Trinity on Wall Street. Amidst a world-turned-upside-down on September 11, 2001, he worked with a volunteer force that rose to 15,000 people. Day after day, breathing in the Ground Zero toxicity, Harris and the brave volunteers served more than 500,000 meals to courageous rescue workers. For Harris (who registered more than 240 days exposure to Ground Zero) and others like him, his volunteer efforts were repaid by suffering from compromised lung function, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, the end of his marriage, the loss of his home, and his priestly vocation. The man who had performed sacred rituals in satin robes became a ranch hand shoveling manure, and in those years of recovery he discovered the path to forgiveness.

About David LaMotte: 

David LaMotte is an award-winning songwriter, speaker and writer. He has performed over 2500 concerts and released eleven full-length CDs of primarily original music, touring in forty-eight of the fifty states, as well as extensively in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The Boston Globe writes that his music “pushes the envelope with challenging lyrics and unusual tunings, but he also pays homage to folk tradition,” while BBC Radio Belfast lauds his “charm, stories, humour, insightful songs, sweet voice and dazzling guitar ability.”  LaMotte suspended his eighteen-year music career at its peak in 2008 to pursue his other passion by accepting a Rotary World Peace Fellowship to study International Relations, Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. As part of that study, he also spent three months in rural Andhra Pradesh, India working with a Gandhian development organization.

About the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine and Just Conversations:

Founded in 2011, the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine provides education, training, networking, technical assistance, research and advocacy regarding restorative justice.   “Just Conversations” is a series of events to advance the use of restorative practices that heal, restore and transform individuals and communities.  The Restorative Justice Institute is based in Brunswick, Maine.

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