Panelists
Andre Henry – Speaker, Writer, Musician
Andre Henry has a passion for making the invisible visible. In the summer of 2016, he began lugging a solid granite boulder around Los Angeles to show the weight of systemic racism on the black psyche. Months later, he walked around dressed for a funeral with the names of the victims of state violence written on his jacket; and in response to the police involved death of his mentally ill neighbor, J.R. Thomas, Andre founded an activist collective called “Something Disruptive” dedicated to creative, nonviolent direct action.
Together, “Something Disruptive” convened a group of community leaders, students, clergy, and civilians from around Los Angeles County for a year-long vigil in protest of police brutality in the wake of J.R. Thomas’ death at the doors of the Pasadena Police Station called “A Subversive Liturgy.” Through this year-long action, the group raised financial support for J.R.’s family and local Black Lives Matter activists, as well as mobilized support for the Black Lives Matter Pasadena Freedom School serving the youth of Northwest Pasadena. Andre is a student of nonviolent struggle and social change, including studying leadership in nonviolent movements for social change through the Harvard Kennedy School. He specializes in using digital media to educate and mobilize audiences for racial justice and social progress. He has served as managing editor at RELEVANT Media Group and is currently a contributing editor for The Sider Center for Peace and Justice in Philadelphia, a Content Expert for the Fuller Leadership Platform, and a Research Assistant for the Innovation for Vocation Project. He has also earned theology degrees from both Southeastern University and Fuller Seminary.
Jer Swigart – Co-Founding Director of The Global Immersion Project
As a modern-day peacemaker, Jer has found himself contending for peace in beautifully bizarre corners of our global village. Whether in the tribes of northern Pakistan, the slums of India, the red-light districts of Southeast Asia, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, or the racial divides within his own neighborhood, Jer loves people in a way that disarms violence and eliminates divides. His engagement within national and international conflicts as well as his experience as a faith leader and educator has formed him into a guide for individuals, churches, and organizations that are yearning to leverage their influence as instruments of peace in the places they live, work, and play. When he’s not navigating alpine life with his family in Bend, OR, Jer travels the country and world as a practitioner, coach, and speaker. He’s written for numerous publications, has contributed to several books, is a Pepperdine Cross Sector Leader Fellow, and is the co-author of the recently released and award winning book, Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World (IVP, 2017).