2026 Community Over Chaos Speaker Series
Overview
"Community Over Chaos"
A series convening scholars, organizers, and community leaders to examine how nonviolence, dialogue, and collective action can advance a more just and compassionate society in times of crisis.
Inspired by James Lawson’s lifelong commitment to nonviolence and Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to choose “community over chaos,” the series explores interconnected struggles for justice and the transformative potential of nonviolent action. Through critical dialogue and shared learning, Community Over Chaos fosters moral reflection and equips participants to engage in collective action grounded in solidarity, truth, and an enduring commitment to community.
This series is presented in collaboration with Dialogue Vanderbilt’s 250 Conversations on America: Civil Discourse in Action.
Click on an event below to learn more and register. Registration links will be updated as events approach.
Upcoming Events
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February 18, 2026
6:00 pm Woolworth Theatre
Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr. Memoir Release Celebration
This celebratory book release will feature musical performances, dialogue with Rev. Lawson’s son, John Lawson, and the co-author, Emily Yellin.
The program will highlight how Lawson’s legacy continues to inform contemporary conversations around justice, nonviolence, and collective action in times of social and political uncertainty.
The first 200 event attendees will receive a copy of Rev. Lawson's memoir: "NONVIOLENT: My Life of Resistance, Agitation, and Love by Reverend James Lawson, Jr. and Emily Yellin
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March 17th 2026
4:00 pm Vanderbilt Divinity School Room 124
Reclaiming Our Cities: Fighting Displacement and Building Belonging
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Tara Raghuveer, a national leader in the housing justice movement and Director of Tenant Union Federation. We will explore how everyday people are fighting displacement and building real belonging.
Together, we’ll examine the root causes of the housing crisis, hear stories from the frontlines of tenant organizing, and discuss bold strategies to reclaim our communities for the people who live in them.
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April 2, 2026
4:00 pm
Poverty: Community Over Chaos Speaker Series
Matthew Desmond on poverty, housing, and inequality in America. First 50 guests to receive a copy of "Poverty, by America."
Join us as we host Matthew Desmond, MacArthur “Genius,” Princeton sociologist, and leading scholar on poverty, housing, and inequality, for a conversation on the forces shaping economic hardship in the United States. Desmond rose to national prominence with his Pulitzer Prize–winning bestseller Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which combined years of embedded fieldwork and detailed data to transform how we understand eviction, inequity, and economic exploitation in America.