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'Crashing' Into Each OtherCLICK 'Crashing' Into Each Other
Residents discuss fear, bias and human behavior in times of crisis.
An African American FBI agent, a white woman who had formerly served in the Foreign Service, a young white Muslim woman, a white woman from the South and an Indian male Sikh.
Despite their obvious differences, these five people share two things in common — they all live in McLean, and they all sat at the same round table at the McLean Community Dialogue "Bias-Fear-Crisis: How Can Our Community Cope?" on Thursday, April 6.
This was the fourth community dialogue held by McLean Community Connections, a group that was organized in 2003 by local McLean community residents. The goal of the organization is "to promote deeper understandings and conversation within our diverse community, and to strengthen community resilience for times of emergency, unrest or crisis." The dialogues are organized in conjunction with the Fairfax County Community Interfaith Liaison Office in the Department of Systems Management for Human Services.
"This is our fourth dialogue and they have all been hugely successful," said McLean Community Connections Steering Committee member Jackie Eghrari-Sabet, a member of the Baha'i McLean Spiritual Assembly. "Most people describe this as a very worthwhile experience, and a life-altering experience in terms of community awareness.".....
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| An Ebru (water marbling) presentation |
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| Guest speaker norwegian Ambassador, H.E. Wegger Chr. Strommen |
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| Rumi Forum's President with Bishop Chane aduring the Iftar Dinner at Washington's National Cathedral |
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| Invitation that was used to invite members of the wider American community to attend a community Ramadan Iftar Tent |
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| Guests at the Ramadan Iftar Tent in Fairfax, Virginia |
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| Emre Celik with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton at the 2010 State Dept. Ramadan Iftar Dinner |
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| Farah Pandith from the State Department with Emre Celik during the Rumi Forum Kentucky Ramadan Iftar Dinner |
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| Amb. David Newton at the Annual Ramadan Iftar Dinner in Maryland |
