If you go
What: “Rebuilding the Village” youth forumWho: Alana Simmons, granddaughter of the preacher who died after the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church massacre in June 2015, will be the guest speaker.When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. SaturdayWhere: New Monumental Baptist Church, 901 Woodmore LaneAdmission: Free. Lunch will be provided for youth. Parents also encouraged to attend.
A woman of faith recognized by President Barack Obama and named among Glamour magazine's women of the year in 2015 will be the main speaker at a local conference for hundreds of local youth from middle and high schools.
Alana Simmons, the 26-year-old CEO and founder of Hate Won't Win, will speak at the "Rebuilding the Village" youth forum at New Monumental Baptist Church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The forum comes less than a year after then-21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed Simmons' grandfather and eight other parishioners attending a prayer meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
Simmons gained national attention after Obama tweeted a picture promoting her "hatewontwin" campaign.
The campaign encourages people to show acts of love and kindness to those who differ from themselves and post their acts of kindness on social media.
"I can't live my life harboring despair everywhere I go," Simmons said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
She met Obama after the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney's funeral. Pinckney was the Emanuel church pastor and state senator killed during the June 17 church massacre.
The Rev. Roderick L. Ware, pastor of New Monumental, wants Simmons to share her story with youth so they may have an example of how to respond to tragedy, he said.
The forum will also include local attorneys and law enforcement representatives who will advise youth on how to act when they have encounters with police officers.
Ware recalled how Chattanooga police fatally shot 24-year-old Javario Eagle while he held a weapon, and he said he wants to prevent more youth from dying. He also recalled an incident when a man was shot while reaching in his car for his driver's license as police thought he was reaching for a gun.
"I don't feel like we have to protest as much as train," Ware said.
Church member Chandra Wilson sent several text messages to friends this week informing them of the forum.
"This should be a phenomenal event for our city," she said in the message.
It was June 17, 2015, one day before the last day of school in Newport News, Va., and Simmons, then a high school teacher, was leaving a hair salon feeling good and stress-free.
Then her dad called with the news her grandfather was the only survivor of nine people shot while attending a Wednesday night prayer meeting. She later learned her grandfather died at the hospital.
Simmons said she felt despair and disappointment.
It wasn't until she reached Charleston and was immediately surrounded by people that she began to feel love. Then came outpourings of love and support from around the country, she said.
Instead of displaying hatred, Simmons and the families of other people shot at the church spoke words of love and forgiveness to Roof while in court.
Simmons went on to start her "hatewontwin" campaign.
It had about 10,000 followers until Obama tweeted a photo of himself and his wife holding one of Simmons' "hatewontwin" T-shirts. Simmons' followers went up to about 20,000 in less than a day. And she got so many calls and requests for interviews that she still hasn't had to promote herself to get speaking engagements and interviews.
Simmons has been featured in Essence and Ebony magazines. She's been on "The Steve Harvey Show," and Glamour magazine listed her as one of its women of the year in its Oct. 29, 2015 issue.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6431.