Peace activist Rev. Sharon Washington Risher to speak at Rozsa Feb. 21

HOUGHTON -- With the latest horrific mass shooting in Florida just last week, and the national outrage ongoing over more senseless gun violence in yet another of our schools, nothing is more relevant than a discussion with peace activist Reverend Sharon Washington Risher. Risher was catapulted into the limelight after the Charleston, South Carolina, shooting at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015. Her beloved mother -- the church’s sexton -- Ethel Lee Lance, was killed along with eight others, including two cousins and a childhood friend. Since that horrific tragedy, Sharon has been very outspoken about the nation’s gun laws and is one of the national spokespersons for the grassroots advocacy groups Everytown and Moms Demand Gun Sense. The Rozsa Center and Michigan Tech's Center for Diversity and Inclusion, as a part of the Van Evera Distinguished Lecture Series and the Visiting Women and Minority Lecture/Scholar Series, have partnered to present a lecture by peace activist Sharon Washington Risher at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Rozsa Center. This lecture is free and open to all; however, tickets are required.

Audiences nationwide are saying that Reverend Risher’s talks are incredibly powerful, emotional, riveting, raw and authentic. Each of her talks covers her personal experience losing loved ones to gun violence, race, racism and hate in America, as well as the path to forgiveness and an offering of hope for tomorrow.

Tickets are available by phone at (906) 487-2073, online at mtu.edu/rozsa, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex, or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the lecture. Please note the Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances.

Inset photo: Rev. Sharon Washington Risher. (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)