Wednesday 11 November 2020
17:00
Leon Ford
Life after being shot and paralysed by a Pittsburg police officer.
Leon Ford was shot five times and paralysed by a Pittsburgh police officer, after being mistaken for another black man with a similar name. He lost the ability to walk – but has chosen not to lose his spirit. Days after a U.S. election campaign riven by race tensions, Leon will give Pi Capital his insights on how his country may begin to heal.
In conversation with David Rowan, Leon shares how working to develop an understanding of the U.S. policing system led him to compassion and also to ideas to improve the system and to educate others.
On November 11, 2012, Leon was shot five times and paralyzed by a Pittsburgh police officer during a seemingly routine traffic stop. This short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7lk-GY8NQ tells his story. Instead of facing this tragedy with a broken spirit, Leon went on to develop a network of social reform and fight to see him, and countless others like him, receive justice. For the average person, this devastating event could, understandably, evoke a lifetime of post traumatic response to a familiar narrative in the African American community but Leon’s brilliant resilience served as a revolutionary act. Today, Leon travels the country working to be a catalyst for change.
Police-brutality victim, now working to build bridges
On November 11, 2012, Leon was shot five times and paralyzed by a Pittsburgh police officer during a seemingly routine traffic stop. This short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7lk-GY8NQ tells his story. Instead of facing this tragedy with a broken spirit, Leon went on to develop a network of social reform and fight to see him, and countless others like him, receive justice. For the average person, this devastating event could, understandably, evoke a lifetime of post traumatic response to a familiar narrative in the African American community but Leon’s brilliant resilience served as a revolutionary act. Today, Leon travels the country working to be a catalyst for change.
