Our communicative access to one another has expanded considerably in the digital era. Along with it, so has our ability to reach into the lives of others and influence them with compassion, inquiry, solidarity and unfortunately, animosity, cruelty and distrust. In 2007, Özlem Cekic became the first female Muslim to win a seat in Danish Parliament and experienced this venom firsthand. After a friend encouraged her to reach out to the authors of her hate mail, she took on the project of sharing “dialogue coffee” and coming to share conversational space with these previously-faceless aggressors. In September of 2018 she shared her experience on the TED stage and this week we welcome Lee Ann Song to unpack Özlem’s insights. How does the act of conversation disarm initial charges of rancor? Why do many shift with palpable discomfort when considering said aggressors as equal or as human? Can others help us overcome internal flames of hatred?

Further Reading:

TED, “Why I have coffee with people who send me hate mail”

Lee Ann’s Email: leeannsong2015@gmail.com