Building a world without hate
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on April 2, 2018 5:50 AM
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Rais Bhuiyan left behind the woman he loved and a career as pilot in the Bangladesh Air Force to come to America and study his true passion, computer engineering. Bhuiyan then left New York to pursue the opportunity further in Texas, where he made his way working in a convenience store. But a man bent on avenging the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and who'd already killed two people, shot Bhuiyan in the face and left him for dead. The shooter, caught, convicted and sentenced to die, would later find the man he targeted due to his religious beliefs would be the vessel that brought him back to his own God prior to execution. Bhuiyan now brings his story to communities such as Goldsboro, struggling with violence, and delivers a program based on a simple premise ---- A World Without Hate.
A grassroots, fundraising effort to help reduce crime in Goldsboro will result in bringing a hate-crime survivor and international peace activist on April 7.
Rais Bhuiyan, founder of World Without Hate, will share his story during an admission-free event at the Goldsboro Event Center, 1501 S. Slocumb St., at 2 p.m.
Just 10 days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bhuiyan was working at a convenience store in Dallas when he was shot in the face after his attacker targeted him as being of Middle Eastern descent.
Mark Stroman, who killed others during a post-Sept. 11 rampage, was sentenced to death, with Bhuiyan being the only survivor. Years after the attack, Bhuiyan, who relied on his Muslim faith, found forgiveness and sought to have Stroman's death sentence commuted.
Following Stroman's execution in 2011, Bhuiyan committed to continue his work in speaking against hate crimes and seeking more peaceful ways for people to co-exist.
He travels globally, sharing his story and speaking against violence and hate, and his story is chronicled in the book "The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas." A Hollywood film, based on the book, is currently in production.
Diana Hammond, a member of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Goldsboro, first heard Bhuiyan's story at church.
Around the same time, she also watched as young men continued to fall victim to deadly shootings in Goldsboro, in 2017.
The shootings, coupled with increasing violence in the United States and around the world, led Hammond and others to try and bring Bhuiyan to Goldsboro.
"I'm tired of kids getting hurt and killed," Hammond said. "I'm tired. I'm tired of the hate.
"If we can save one person from going down the path of hate and having victims out of that path, then this program will have done its job. This is what we can do."
Bhuiyan will share his story and will meet with area leaders during his visit. Two Goldsboro police officers will also talk about crime in the city and GPD programs working to remove youth from a life of crime.
Bhuiyan said he hopes to inspire others through his story and the need to help people, even if they've made wrong decisions in life.
"The people willing to go the extra mile, they need a little push and that's what my talk does," Bhuiyan said. "There is a strength that we all have and that is to improve ourselves and inspire others to make a difference in the world.
"It's a human trait -- mercy, forgiveness and compassion. We may not be able to solve all the problems that we face but that is no excuse to not try to be a better human being than we were yesterday."
Hammond, along with a group of women from St. Francis Episcopal Church and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, started raising money to bring Bhuiyan to the city in January. By mid-March, they raised the near $9,000 needed to secure Bhuiyan's visit.
The effort is also in partnership with Impact Teens Goldsboro, a youth-led nonprofit that has organized several events that promote positive change and a reduction of violent crime in the area.
"I think it's eye opening to them that the concepts of forgiveness, compassion and empathy are not the sole province of Christians," said Hammond, project coordinator, of the financial support.
The visit is part of a larger picture to bring the World Without Hate Empathy Ambassadors Leadership Training Program to Goldsboro.
Empathy Ambassadors is a multifaceted program that provides tools for conflict resolution, isolation, bullying, harassment and discrimination. It also encourages community building, with a focus on valuing all people regardless of their age, gender, race, religion, sexuality and socioeconomic status.
"We're hoping to get community support for that," Hammond said. "His organization can help us in Goldsboro. They would bring in teams of people to help the programs that are already here and give them more resources and more tools to do what they're already doing."
Donations given for the April 7 event that exceed expenses, as well as additional donations, will all go toward future programs in Goldsboro, including Empathy Ambassadors, Hammond said. Donations to the effort are being accepted through St. Francis Episcopal Church.
"It seems like there are an awful a lot of groups in this area that recruit younger people and teach them to hate and to be violent," Hammond said.
"I'm just hoping, even if a little bit, we have an impact on offering our youth and other people a different way of looking at things and maybe influence them against a road of hate and prejudice and violence.
"This is the very tip top of the iceberg, and I'm really hoping that through all this we can get some significant help to the wonderful organizations that are already here so that the impact can grow.
"Vigils and protests all have their place, but action is necessary."
Hammond can be reached atdiana27@ windstream.net or (919)457-7661 for additional information.