Christian Picciolini is an author and an activist who has devoted the last couple of decades to helping people free themselves from the white power movement in America. He comes to this work with tremendous credibility, as he himself was a radicalized member and recruiter for some of the most violent neo-nazi groups in the country for years. His story is fascinating and provides something of a blueprint for understanding how radicalization occurs among young people and how they can be turned away from hate.

Christian’s work has made him one of the most prominent voices on this subject right now, and he’s bringing his message to larger and larger audiences all the time, most recently through a documentary series on MSNBC called "Breaking Hate." We were honored to have him join us as the guest speaker at a recent public meeting of the Council Against Hate. While he was in Chattanooga, he was also interviewed by Council Against Hate co-chair Alison Lebovitz for her show on WTCI, "The A List."  Special thanks to Alison and Emily Compton for their support and assistance, and to our friend Allison Padilla-Goodman at the ADL for connecting us to Christian and his organization, Free Radicals Project.

Referenced in this episode:

“My descent into America's neo-Nazi movement & how I got out.” TEDxMileHigh, December 20, 2017.

“Christian Picciolini shares his story of emerging from white supremacy and how Chattanooga can fight hate.” Chattanooga Times Free Press, November 12, 2019.

“The A List with Alison Lebovitz, Episode 1107 with Christian Picciolini.” WTCI-TV, January 16, 2020.