Kent Burbank
Denis Provencher
Barbara Starrett
On Sunday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. at the MountainView Ballroom, SaddleBrooke Freethinkers is proud to present Hate Crimes with Kent Burbank, MSW and Denis Provencher, PhD. The FBI defines hate crimes as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.” Hate crimes have existed for centuries but only in the latter part of the twentieth century has there been an effort on identifying Hate Crimes and passing laws that define bias-motivated acts as distinct crimes. Laws are intended to deter bias-motivated violence. Why does a hate crime differ from hate speech? Does hate speech incite hate crimes? What do the Federal and State agencies say about hate speech and hate crimes?
Kent Burbank is a full-time faculty member at Pima Community College. Kent has worked for more than two decades with the victims of violence, the LGBT community, people with disabilities and refugees and migrants. He has a MSW from the University of Chicago and a M.Div. from Meadville/Lombard Theological School. Kent served as the Director of the Victim Services Division of the Pima County Attorney’s Office, providing crisis intervention and criminal justice advocacy to thousands of crime victims each year. From 2001 to 2007, Kent was the Executive Director of Wingspan, southern Arizona’s LGBT Community Center.
Denis Provencher is Professor of French and Head of the Department of French and Italian at the University of Arizona. He is also affiliate faculty in the Institute for LGBT Studies. He received his PhD from Penn State University. Denis is interested in language and homophobia and discourse and conversation analysis. Can bias-motivated speech become a hate crime? How does that happen? Where is it happening and how to report it?
SaddleBrooke Freethinkers provides a forum for the responsible search for truth and meaning in understanding the universe and in understanding and solving human problems by applying science and reason. We believe that tolerance, compassion, equity and civility should characterize the interaction among peace-loving persons and organizations. We strive to achieve these goals through meetings, lectures, discussions and other means of communication. In 2017 the SaddleBrooke Freethinkers initiated a $10 annual membership fee. In addition to the program events which are open to all, members will also enjoy member-only events throughout the year.
The SaddleBrooke community is cordially invited to attend Freethinkers meetings at 10:00 a.m., usually on the fourth Sunday of each month, October through April. Attendees are encouraged to arrive by 9:30 a.m. for pre-meeting coffee and fellowship. While members are free, non-members are encouraged to make a $2 donation to defray costs.
Information about SaddleBrooke Freethinkers, upcoming presentations and programs is at www.sbfreethinkers.wordpress.com. For questions or to be added to the email list, please send your contact information to [email protected].
Freethinkers encourage attendees to bring non-perishable foods items and cash donations to the meetings to support the Tri-Community Food Bank.