On Sunday, June 12 at 3 p.m., Stephen C. Widom Cultural Arts at Emanuel will present a Video Conversation with Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (retired), former chief of staff to the late General Colin Powell, moderated by NY1 news anchor, host of Inside City Hall, and CNN political analyst, Errol Louis. Their discussion is entitled: “The True Crisis Is Ours.”
This program can be viewed through June 26, 2022.
According to Colonel Wilkerson, the crisis in Ukraine is not fundamentally about Ukraine, but about the United States, whose domestic program is generated from U.S. incapacity to self-govern, and therefore “…we reach out with our still awesome power to govern others—in this instance, most directly the NATO Europeans…. This generates our foreign policy, summed up in two words: force and sanctions.”
Wilkerson will offer his views in a conversation with moderator Errol Louis, expanding upon the most pressing issue of all, as he sees it, that while seeking to accomplish these foreign policy goals, the effects of the changing global climate grow more and more evident and, like an out-of-control freight train, bear down relentlessly on humans everywhere; nuclear weapons proliferate once again, and now without any meaningful arms control. Both crises demand cooperation and collaboration, not war and sanctions.
“It is a complex world, but rarely does killing people for the state—particularly when that state is well-nigh the most powerful on earth—the right answer,” says Wilkerson, adding, “and you are hearing this from a professional soldier.”
He asks: “What will it take to wake up and energize enough people to effect change?”
Wilkerson is Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. His last positions in government were as the late Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff (2002-05), and associate director of the State Department’s Policy Planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard N. Haass.
Before serving at the State Department, Wilkerson served 31 years in the U.S. Army, including as deputy executive officer to then-General Colin Powell when he commanded the U.S. Army Forces Command (1989), special assistant to General Powell when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and as director and deputy director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97).
Since leaving the State Department, Wilkerson speaks to groups all over America, publishes articles in newspapers and magazines across the country, and regularly offers commentary on television.
This program is funded by Daniel & Pamela Perla.
Registration for this event is $10.
For further information, to register and purchase a ticket online, go to:
https://www.scwculturalarts.org/sunday-series
After June 12th at 2:00PM, call 516, 482.5701 to purchase a ticket.
Please call 516.482.5701 if you have additional questions.
