New London — Members of the community will be having the conversation Oct. 28 that Colin Kaepernick and other members of the NFL are calling for when they kneel during the national anthem.

Healing a racially divided community and keeping young people safe and out of trouble are on the agenda, as the Shiloh Baptist Church's prison ministry holds its seventh annual Community Prison Awareness & Prevention Gathering.

This year's theme: "A Community Response to Juvenile Justice — Breaking the Cycle."

Children and teens, college students, community leaders, teachers, ex-offenders, service providers, law enforcement personnel and religious leaders are invited to Shiloh's Family Life Center, 3 Garvin St., from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The program is free, but registration is required, according to Winston Taylor, facilitator of Shiloh's prison ministry program.  

Former San Francisco 49er quarterback Kaepernick sparked a national conversation — and alienated some football fans — when he refused to stand for the national anthem at games in 2016 in an effort to bring attention to the failure of the justice system to hold police officers accountable for unjustified shootings of African-American men. He initially sat during the anthem, but said he switched to taking a knee to show more respect to members of the military.

Now a free agent without a football job, Kaepernick, who is of mixed race, started a foundation to fight oppression and hosts a Know Your Rights Camp to educate youth on how to interact with law enforcement.

"I think as Americans we really need to figure out what's going on," said attorney Lonnie Braxton of New London, a juvenile prosecutor and one of the guest speakers at the prison ministry event. "The world that we all want to live in is a world we have to make."

As for the protest that has spread through the NFL and into other sports, Braxton said, "We don't mind athletes selling us stuff. So, if they sell us things, why can't they tell us things?"

The objectives of the Shiloh event, Taylor said, are to bring the community together to learn about creative ways to address school discipline, preventing crime by using early intervention strategies, empowering young people and understanding the impact of racial justice work across systems in order to move forward and heal a racially divided community. 

Sessions for young people will be geared toward three different age groups — 6 to 9, 10 to 12 and 13 to 18. Instructors in the "Youth Empowerment" session will share tips on increasing their success at school and in the workforce, developing leadership skills and taking steps to address unfair and unequal discipline in the school setting.

Youth advocates Tariko Satterfield and Johnice McCoy will lead the "Survival Skills" breakout session, with activities on staying safe, coping with peer pressure, the harmful effects of cyberbullying, and knowing how to interact with authority figures.

Adults will tackle the topics of racial justice, early intervention and prevention strategies and reforming the education system.

"What can individuals and groups do to be more aware of one's own biases and help build new systems that work for all? Solutions and next steps will be discussed and developed," says a handout on the session called "Racial Justice - Building Systems That Work." 

To register, contact Taylor at (860) 889-3292, wintston_taylor@sbcglobal.net, www.brotherwinston.com or call Shiloh Baptist Church at (860) 443-6046.

Light refreshments will be served.

k.florin@theday.com