The stage is set at DSI Comedy Theater in Chapel Hill for a community event that will focus less on laughs and more on coping with recent catastrophes.
According to Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue, the event is being planned by a committee formed over two years ago in the wake of three local murders.
“We started out being called the Muslim Inclusion Committee,” he recalled. “[There are] a number of community stakeholders there — there’s town staff, there’s some local religious leaders, there’s some disaster and crisis specialists, all of whom are community members who felt a need to come together and do something, and that group has evolved its focus a little bit over time to really focus on just general inclusivity.”
Blue explained that the purpose of the event is to promote the type of inclusivity that is often elusive in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and criminal atrocities.
“Given the world we’re in right now and the tension around so much division — and that’s not limited to our country as we know — it just feels right to be in a room together and to talk about how that feels, what can we do as a community to help people have an opportunity to be heard, and to hear others, and to do that in a way that’s safe and keeping with our community values,” he offered.
Principles to be discussed and conveyed in vignettes at the event include making connections, doing no harm, practicing self-care and endorsing empathy.
“All of that’s really conceptual kind of stuff, but we recognize and acknowledge that sometimes it’s helpful just to get in a room and talk with your neighbors and your fellow community members about how you’re feeling around those matters,” Blue relayed.
Blue also noted that police officers in town are prepared to protect residents and coordinate with federal agencies in the event of a local terrorist attack.
“We’ve actually had an incident in this community where someone drove a car into a crowd of people — happened on campus a few years ago,” he stated. “Local, state and federal authorities all responded to that matter, and I think that any incident that ultimately rises to meet the definition of terrorism will mean that we will have lots of resources here to help us address it.”
DSI Comedy Theater is located at 462 West Franklin Street and will open its doors to all residents for the event, which commences tonight at 6:30 PM.
Photo from visitnc.com.
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