Thursday morning's plenary session at the Drug Policy Alliance conference in Denver had several speakers, my favorite being DPA Board member the Rev. Edwin Sanders of Nashville, Tennessee. One of the clergy in Mike Gray's video about faith leaders and the War on Drugs, he's a tremendous speaker. I may be a backsliding Methodist but I'm not ashamed to admit he had me singing along, and I was in tears more than once.
Later in the day, I attended the "Can You Hear Me Now? Speaking the Language of Reform to Faith Leaders" panel/roundtable at which Rev. Sanders, the minister from Nashville's Metropolitan Interdenominational Church, spoke again, along with several other members of the faith community. It was an inspiring session. People often complain that many churches and the African-American community aren't involved in drug policy reform and should be. On the other hand, we've done a poor job of reaching out and of understanding how to communicate with people who don't already embrace reform as a political goal, so we shouldn't be surprised - it's our fault.
Check out my recording of the panel here.
