INDIANAPOLIS — Carlen Charleston is on a 100-city tour across America helping communities talk about racism with the hope of making it a thing of the past.
He made a stop in Indianapolis on Wednesday night in partnership with Amplify Indy, a group committed to giving people the space to talk about tough topics and better the community.
Wednesday night's conversation about racism in America started off with people singing and dancing, a way to break the ice for what was to come after.
"I think the key is that we can have authentic conversations, once we identify what it is," Charleston said.
Charleston, the founder of Erase Race, is traveling all over the country and having these open conversations.
"We believe that if we can build ethic and we can really strengthen the character of people, the importance and significance of color will fade," Charleston said.
That is something Amplify Indy hopes for, as well.
"We want to focus more on being united instead of so divisive," Amplify Indy founder Harrison Painter said. "Everything right now in our culture is divisive. We know that's not going to help us in any way shape or form."
And while this particular conversation was about racism, Painter said they tackle other tough topics and want people from all backgrounds to get involved.
"We've done homelessness, we've done domestic abuse. We've done empowering women of Indy, and we want to keep that flow going," Painter said.
Charleston said anyone can have conversations about race and other topics in their communities. People just have to go into those conversations with the mindset that they want to learn something.
