Stay open and curious when you travel; you never know who you’re gonna meet…
When the PACT! team spent a few days at the One Young World summit in Munich last winter, we crossed paths with some of the world’s most positive power-people. Heads of state. Heads of global corporations. Olympic athletes. Gutsy journalists like the Philippines’ Maria Ressa. American TV stars like Terry Crews. And scores of young rabble rousers who you will most definitely hear about as the years go on.
But one of the most dynamic, inspiring and star-powered of all was a young man from Pittsburgh named Leon Ford.
What a story.
As a 19-year-old in 2012, Leon was shot five times by a Pittsburgh police officer during a case of racially profiled mistaken identity. When he woke up, he was faced with two life-changing realities: he was paralyzed and he was a new father. Instead of a life of resentment and bitterness, Leon discovered the power of forgiveness and letting go of his hatred. As the Boston Globe put it: “Leon Ford was shot by police. Now he's their partner in community.”
It was this deep-rooted goodness that drew us close to Leon; so much so that we’re developing two separate projects with him…both of which we’re working to debut in his hometown later this year.
The first is called The Pause II Effect, which is a teaching workshop/conference. Its basic principle is simple: every major mistake is made in haste…a concept born during the first in-depth conversation we had together.
The way Leon sees it, most damage is not caused by evil; it's caused by haste. People are overloaded and reactive. Systems fail when they move faster than reflection. Individuals burn bridges they later wish they hadn't.
There's a hair-trigger window between reaction and consequence that determines its eventual outcome. A comment that ends a relationship. A decision made in anger that can't be undone. A vote cast in rage.
What if we could interrupt that?
Yes, we believe that major mistake ultimately can be halted with a cultural intervention that makes the pause as universal and understood as a stoplight. That's what The Pause II Effect is built to do. Take a breath before you act.
And speaking about acting (see what we did there?), the second project we’re collaborating on is a “two-hander” stage play called Forgiving Forward that Leon wrote (his first ever).
Talk about chilling; the play is a penetrating dialogue where Leon confronts the police officer who shot him, and the two try to use this encounter to learn from, and about, each other. Soul-searching, inspiring and raw, the play leaves audiences with a surprise ending to keep them thinking long after it ends.
First reading of the script will be held May 3 at “The Writes of Spring” Promising Playwrights event at the Madison Arts and Entertainment Center. We’ll keep you in the loop as per next-step dates and other details as they concretize...and of other mind-altering, charismatic characters we may meet in our travels, as well.