KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the second year in a row, because of the pandemic, the SevenDays events in Kansas City have had to be virtual.
But the response has still been strong, and it continues with "Others Day."
On "Others Day," we're challenged to reach out and embrace people in our lives who might come from very different backgrounds and learn their stories.
This year, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is the featured speaker. In 2009, three of his daughters were killed when an Israeli tank shelled his home in the Gaza Strip.
One of the organizers of "Others Day" is Rajitha Velakaturi, a senior at Notre Dame de Sion High School. She told 41 Action News anchor Taylor Hemness that she knows how it feels to be one of the so-called "others."
"I actually go to a Catholic school, an all-girls school," Velakaturi said. "Gender-wise I fit in, but religion-wise, or skin color-wise I don't. But I think that the beauty of it is, that we get to tell our stories at my school. I have felt like an "other" before when I was younger, but I think that getting to be part of this event has been healing for me too."
Velakaturi said that she's aware of how hard it can be to alter people's opinions, but she says her generation is much more accepting and has a real chance to make lasting change.
"Different generations have kind of exposed that there's no man behind the curtain idea. But my generation is like, 'Let's completely overthrow this man behind the curtain idea, and come up with something new,'" Velakaturi said. "So the next generations can take the ideas that we've pushed to the forefront of coverage in media, and television, and the news, and take those ideas and make them mainstream. Because all those ideas, the majority of them, are about kindness, about accepting people for who they are."
Dr. Abuelaish will speak and take part in an interfaith panel on Thursday, April 22, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The virtual event is free and anyone can register online.
