The Avielle Foundation’s 2019 Brainstorm Experience, Season Two, will continue July 24 with Zak Ebrahim dropping in for a talk at Edmond Town Hall.

The Avielle Foundation, named in honor of SHS shooting victim Avielle Richman, works to prevent violence and to build compassion through neuroscience research, community engagement, and education.

The Brainstorm Experience, one of the foundation’s local efforts, is an ongoing series bringing the Newtown community together in a stimulating and engaging environment in which learning, connection, and inspiration can provoke imagination as well as enhance understanding of the brain.

Mr Ebrahim was only seven years old when his father, El-Sayyid Nosair, shot and killed the leader of the Jewish Defense League. While in prison, Nosair helped plan the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.

The author and celebrated TED speaker spent much of his childhood moving from city to city, hiding his identity from those who knew of his father. He now dedicates his life to speaking out against terrorism and spreading his message of peace and nonviolence.

His 2014 TED talk, “I am the Son of a Terrorist; Here’s How I Found Peace,” has more than 5 million views to date.

In his book The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice, Mr Ebrahim traces his remarkable journey to escape his father’s terrible legacy. The Terrorist’s Son is the story of a boy inculcated in dogma and hate — a boy presumed to follow in his father’s footsteps — and the man who chose a different path.

Ebrahim’s Brainstorm Experience talk will be at Newtown’s Edmond Town Hall Theatre, 45 Main Street, on July 24 at 7 pm — doors open at 6:30 pm. There will be a Q&A and book signing following the talk.

Copies of The Terrorist’s Son will be on sale courtesy of Byrds’s Books of Bethel.

The Avielle Foundation’s late Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Richman remarked in regard to The Brainstorm Experience: “We are inspired, heartened, and blown-away by the incredible support of our Newtown community to engage, evolve, and champion our mission to prevent violence and build compassion. The Brainstorm Experience is our flagship community engagement program, and due to the overwhelming support in 2018, our 2019 Brainstorm Experience lineup is incredible.”

The remaining 2019 lineup includes:

*August 29 — Nadine Burke Harris, author of The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity;

*September 12 — Nora McInerny, host of the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking;

*October 15 — AJ and Devin Wilde with the talk “Autism, Art, and a Parent’s Advocacy”;

*November 19 — Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me.

For more information or tickets ($15 advanced / $20 at the door) visit aviellefoundation.org or visit The Brainstorm Experience Facebook page.