Minds IRL finds new venue, books preeminent anti-racist headliner

After losing their venue in Pitman, New Jersey last week, the Minds IRL conference has found a new venue in Philidelphia and added a new headliner. Daryl Davis, a pianist and author of Klan-Destine Relationships, about his successfully deradicalizing over 200 KKK members through personal relationships, will headline the conference.

Free-speech oriented social media platform Minds had been planning the conference for months, with YouTube content creator and journalist Tim Pool, before it was protested and threatened by a local community group and Antifa activists.

Vitriol abounded on Twitter and social media, with local outlets picking up the story. It was a classic scenario wherein those who shouted the loudest about the offensiveness of the conference and the platform were the ones who knew the least.

While the naysayers and haters were successful in getting the venue, the Broadway Theatre of Pitman, in Pitman, to pull the conference from their schedule, they did not stop Minds IRL from finding a new location.

In a phone call with The Post Millennial, Minds CEO Bill Ottman told us that “the Minds event has only accelerated since being deplatformed by the Broadway Theater of Pitman. An outpouring of support and media coverage (both supportive and not) has helped us confirm a great new venue and many new attendees. This is Streisand effect in action. Any rational person can clearly infer the constructive nature of the gathering as express at irl.minds.com.

If anyone represents the solution to racism it is Daryl Davis. He successfully deradicalized over 200 members of the KKK by engaging in civil discourse and humanizing the enemy. We are honoured to have him headline and share his wisdom.”

Daryl Davis’ story is fascinating. He was featured on Glynn Washington’s podcast Snap Judgement where he detailed how he got into the personal project of deradicalizing KKK members. It was through his music, reasonableness, and friendship that the men he encountered gave up their membership in the KKK, relinquished their robes, and actively changed their racist ways. Davis argues that is through personal connection that individuals can make a world-changing difference.

Originally posted on Minds.

Addressing “ending racism, violence, and authoritarianism,” Minds IRL is a one-day conference featuring speakers including Tim Pool, Blaire White, Andy Ngo, Carl Benjamin, Lauren Chen, and Meghan Murphy, and now Daryl Davis.

Organizers have been vocal about their refusal to be silenced, and the conference promises to be a productive and enlightening opportunity for open-mindedness and free thought.

The venue will be revealed to attendees on the morning of August 31st.