On March 15th Members of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth are hosting a forum aimed at discussing different issues impacting people who have received felonies. The forum is being called “Returning Citizens: Voting Rights, Employment, and Other Barriers Facing Former Felons.”
The forum, being held at the Mary Ann Mongan Branch of the Kenton County Public Library, located at 502 Scott Boulevard in Covington, will feature several former felons, ministers, and a reentry specialist from the community.
Before the forum begins local singer and former felon Kim Nichols will perform, and then attendees will observe a panel that will include Deacon Zippy Dirkes of New Hope Church in Newport, Ronald Herding and Hector Vega who will share personal experiences as returning citizens, Pastor Alonzo Malone, JR. of the Church Without Doors in Louisville, and David Phillips, Jail Ministry Coordinator and Parish Kitchen Case Manager for the Diocese of Covington’s Catholic Charities, as well as a former police officer in North Carolina.
The scheduled moderator for the event will be Dayton Vice Mayor Ben Baker. The scheduled program will allow each member of the panel to introduce themselves, and to answer a few questions from the moderator. After this time attendees will be able to ask the panelists their own questions, with the moderator able to follow up with any of their own questions.
Richard Young, a former felon who lives in Elsmere, is especially looking forward to the event.
Young often speaks of the hurdles he had to overcome to be a productive citizen again. However, he says “society has given me a life sentence by taking my voting rights away. I feel that I paid my debt to society, I feel like this is making me a second-class citizen living in a land without a voice… Remember Kentucky’s motto, ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall.’”
To learn more about the event, or for any additional information, please contact Joe Gallenstein at 859-380-6103.