So while I'm here at the John Hunt Plaza, just in front of the Morris Performing Arts Center, and I'm here with Lynn Coleman, who is the co-founder of Let's Turn It Around.

I know that you found this with your wife.

So tell me a little bit about what let's turn it around is let's turn it around.

Is a movement, a concept that my wife and I created to encourage people to love each other.

Let's turn around.

Is the image of a broken heart.

That's backwards.

Yeah.

And the thought is, is that if you turn that image around, it forms a heart.

The heart is a symbol of love.

And when we begin to love one another as human beings.

Doesn't matter if you're black and white, Hispanic, Asian.

Doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, short or tall.

It doesn't matter your sexuality or your political status or your religious, you know.

But as human beings, when we begin to love one another as human beings, we fix a lot of problems that we have in our society.

We believe that we don't hurt those that we love.

Okay.

You try to figure out ways to help each other rather than hurt each other.

And so we created the image and the message behind it.

And the mission simply says that we want to create peace and love among all members of the human race.

So we started it as our way to encourage people to love each other.

It's not a program, it's more of a movement.

And so we try to find ways and opportunities to get out and about in the community to just to share that message.

And so because of that, about four years ago, five years ago now, when George Floyd was killed.

That sort of struck us in a way that, you know what?

We can't just sit back and not do anything.

Let's call the community together.

Let's stand together and have prayer so that people don't go out and try to hurt each other because of that instead.

Why don't they put their arms around each other and support each other?

And so that was the start of the community wide prayer for peace rally.

And that's what Experience Michiana is here about today, because on June 14th you're having that prayer for peace.

So first of all, tell me a little bit about that.

Like people watching, how can they come out or what's the details of that event.

Well, the it'll be held here at the John Hunt Plaza Sunday the 14th.

Any and everybody is invited to come.

We have invited several people representing different faith based organizations Baptist churches, Catholic churches, Jewish churches, Muslim churches to come and to join together and offer prayer together for the total community.

And the thought behind that is that we didn't want to just have one denomination and leave others out.

We want to try to get as many as we could to make people feel comfortable about being here.

And we've asked those representatives from the different denominations if they would make short comments and offer a prayer.

And so we'll have 7 or 8 different, you know, yeah, religious backgrounds here, and we'll have people just mingling around and saying hi to each other.

Hopefully we'll find people that don't know somebody else and walk up to them.

And hi, how are you?

And, you know, smile and you know, and just have a peaceful atmosphere that day that not only can they do it that day, but they can take it tomorrow, next week, next month and build on that.

I, I find myself that there's a lot of powerful influence to divide us, whether we want to admit it or not.

If people say, oh, that's a conspiracy or propaganda.

It's like there's a but there's a lot of systems in place to try and divide us.

And so and we all as humans find ourselves leaning into that from time to time.

And my go to is always love one another as I have loved you.

Oh, so I find myself.

Maybe I'm like, even as you mentioned, George Floyd, right?

Like there's a divisiveness about whether he was killed or whether he died from an overdose or.

And so there's all these things, and then I try and stop myself and go, okay, let's love one another.

Let's start with love.

If we can start with love, it is very, very difficult.

And so there's all these things that are there to try and divide us and bring us together.

But how do you really reach the people?

It's not to say that like everyone is is adverse from violence, but how do we actually reach the people that are committing the most violence?

Because most of the people that will show up here will never even think about being violent to other people.

So.

So what's the example you're trying to set to younger people that might be more inclined, or people that might be more inclined toward the violence, like, how do you reach them through this?

I think the word that you just use is key example.

And so we have to be an example to others to see.

They have to see you smiling at her for no reason at all.

Yeah.

Offering your hand to someone else, you know, being willing to support somebody and help somebody rather than hurt somebody.

And if all our society sees is people mad and irritated and hateful to, that's what they'll do.

But if they begin to see people being just as much joy in the.

Absolutely.

And I tell people all the time that we get what we give.

Yeah.

And so if you give a lot of hate.

Yeah.

Animosity, you know, negativity, that's probably what you're going to get back.

Yeah.

But if you begin to give respect and kindness, you know, and understanding ultimately love, you get that back.

And when I, when I use the word love, it doesn't mean that I'm in love with you.

Okay, I hope not.

But I do feel your love today.

So yeah, I'm in love with my wife.

It's a different kind of.

But I can love you as a human being, okay, I can.

Respect is about loving yourself.

Absolutely.

You know, I can respect you and care for you and be willing to to assist you and support you.

And, you know, and when we begin to do that, we fix a lot of problems that we face, even if we are from different, you know, backgrounds and cultures and stuff like that.

You know, all of us have that space in us that we can care and love for one another.

What time does the prayer for peace begin on Sunday?

It starts at 3:00.

Okay.

We'll be here obviously a little earlier than that, but the the event will start at 3:00.

We'll only be here for about an hour and ten, 15 minutes.

It won't last long.

But after that, you know, if people just want to hang around and chat, hopefully somebody will meet somebody that they never knew before and start a conversation and build a relationship and that kind of thing.

But we'll start at 3:00 here at the John Hunt Plaza.

We come here because this is center to our city right downtown, and people hopefully could feel comfortable coming here from any place else in the city and join us here.

And so we're looking forward to it.

We're excited about it.

And hopefully people will come.

And please let me share that this is not just for South Bend, okay?

The problems that we have are not just in South Bend.

We have violence and hatred and negativity all over the country.

Okay.

And so if people are in Mishawaka, if people are in Michigan City, people are in Elkhart, people in Niles, Michigan, you know, Plymouth.

Want to come out?

Please.

You're more than welcome.

Do your own.

Your example.

Yeah, yeah.

Seriously.

Do it.

Come here and then do it.

You're.

Absolutely.

You're more than welcome to join us.

Yeah.

And so we just want people to begin to love each other.

Support each other.

Stand with each other.

So let's turn it around.

Let's.

Let's make it happen.

As somebody who came here from another country, I didn't come here being like I'm a Democrat.

I'm a I didn't think of any of those things that wasn't in my brain.

And so I've made friends across all demographics because I didn't grow up being told that I needed to be divided.

Yeah.

And so what I've realized is, though, is that, like.

And I know I'm not oblivious to the problems of the world, but the reality is the majority of people don't have hate for other people.

But I think we're sitting at home or watching our TV and we're told this thing and then it becomes our thing.

But I think if we get out and meet people, regardless of their background, we realize that it's like it's just the divide is not there.

As strong as I think we're led to believe.

And that's not to say there aren't problems, right?

Like, we see things, but and we do have problems.

And I'll admit that they're not as big as.

I don't think so.

And we can overcome them.

I think we can overcome them, but we can't sitting at home.

That's right.

And if we allow the negativity to overtake us, that's what will happen.

Yeah.

Okay.

But there's a lot of room, a lot of room for us to help one another.

And that, you know, that leads us to where we're trying to get to.

And I can't love you into.

I love me first.

That's true.

Okay, that is true.

Some of that comes with maturity.

Absolutely.

It's not.

And when I begin to love me, love is so powerful, you can't hold on.

You got to share it.

And so we want to share the love.

Share love.

We'll share the love.

Okay.

All right.

Thanks a lot.

Hopefully you can join us Sunday.

And we look forward to it.

I have two little kids.

So when you said 3:00, I'm like, that's when naps finished.

So it's a possibility I could get here if you said between 12 and 3 I'm like, no, they're naps are our.

That's what we pray for peace in our house.

Okay, so I get it I get it.