Freethought Dayton will be hosting Leo Igwe to speak in Dayton on July 15.  This talk will take place in the main auditorium of the downtown Dayton Metro Library, 215 E. Third St, at 6:00 PM.

Leo Igwe is a humanist, skeptic, and human rights advocate from Nigeria. He has specialized in campaigning against and documenting the impacts of witchcraft accusations in Africa, where up to 55% of the population believes in witchcraft, often with horrifying results, as the people (usually elderly women) accused of witchcraft are beaten, driven from their villages, or worse (more info here and here).

In 2012, Mr. Igwe was appointed as a Research Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, where he continues working toward the goal of responding to what he sees as the deleterious effects of superstition, advancing skepticism throughout Africa and around the world. In 2014, he was chosen as a laureate of the International Academy of Humanism.

His talk in Dayton is titled: A Debate of the Heart: Fighting for Human Rights in the ”Witch Camps” of Ghana.  This is Mr. Igwe’s description of the talk: For some time, humanists have been preoccupied with a very important debate – the debate of the mind. Humanists have articulated excellent, awakening, enlightening and groundbreaking ideas. Atheists and Agnostics have written best selling books marshalling arguments that have shaken the foundations of religious and dogmatic systems. But humanists focused so much on the debate of the mind that they have ignored another very important debate – the debate of the heart. My presentation focuses on how humanists can robustly engage in the debate of the heart by applying humanism’s best selling ideas to the fight for the basic human rights of persons- mainly old women- banished to witch camps in Ghana.

RSVPs are appreciated but not required.  To RSVP or for more information, email info@freethoughtdayton.org or join our meetup group.

More information on Leo Igwe and the Igwe Study Project can be found at Foundation Beyond Belief.