The Communities Against Hate educational forum, The Rising Radical Right’s Threat To Our Safety And Democracy, will feature author and award-winning journalist David Neiwert on Oct. 26, from 6:15-8:15 p.m. at the Everett Civic Auditorium, 2415 Colby Ave., Everett. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The title of Neiwert’s presentation is “White Christian Nationalism or Cultural Diversity.” Several community organizations are co-sponsoring the program. The primary sponsors are Unidos, the Anti-Defamation League and Communities Against Hate and Violent Extremism (CAHVE). It is co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Panelists/speakers

Jennifer Bereskin, SeaMonster Human Rights Leader

Aneelah Afzali, executive director, MAPS-AMEN (American Muslim Empowerment Network)

Rev. Dr. Kelle J. Brown, Senior Pastor, Plymouth Church

Neiwert is an investigative journalist and a senior staff writer for Daily Kos. His books include The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy and Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump (Verso, 2017). Neiwert has also won numerous awards, including a National Press Club Award for Distinguished Online Journalism and an International Latino Book Award for Non-Fiction.

“This is a non-partisan educational event, and all are welcome,” says Maralyn Chase, former Washington State senator and one of the program’s organizers. “We are promoting dialogue and discussion with diversity, inclusion, equality and equity themes. We hope people will join us and stop white supremacists from cloaking their bigotry in Christian language.”

Juan Peralez, president of Unidos, added, ” Washington State ranks fifth in the nation in overall white supremacy activity, and Snohomish County ranks number one in the state. The safety of our people and preservation of our democracy is at stake, and elected officials at the national and county level must address the issue before it is too late.”

The Pacific Northwest region has been a haven for hate groups since the early 1970s. Neiwert has been tracking and researching extremist groups for nearly 50 years, beginning this work as a young reporter in Idaho. Neiwert continues to study how the Pacific Northwest has long been a breeding ground of extremist violence, from when neo-Nazis migrated to the area from southern California in the 1970s through violent confrontations in Portland, Seattle and neighboring towns over the last decade.

Finally, Neiwert asserts that groups have coordinated terroristic violence and attacks on democratic institutions at every level — including local, state and federal targets. Event attendees will learn about details regarding hate groups and what their strategies and plans look like for the foreseeable future and what communities can do about it.