Ismael Hernandez is founder and president of the Freedom & Virtue Institute, an organization dedicated to the promotion of the ideas of liberty, faith, and self-reliance. Ismael is a regular lecturer for the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has spoken for the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Foundation for Economic Education, and many other organizations. He is a regular speaker at service clubs around the country and is the author of the acclaimed books Not Tragically Colored: Freedom, Personhood, and the Renewal of Black America and Rethinking Charity: Restoring Dignity to Poverty Relief. He is a noted expert on race relations and on effectively serving the poor.
Lecture Topics
The Seven Principles of Effective Compassion
In serving others we must pay special attention to certain principles. Yet, people often go from “the heart” to “the muscle.” We tend to have an emotional attachment to the idea of helping and want to avoid the necessary step of intelligently assessing the real needs of the poor. This lecture offers an opportunity to overcome that difficulty.
A Journey to America
This lecture is a very personal account of Ismael’s journey away from the ideas of Marxism and into the discovery of a new way of looking at the human person and social processes. Coming to America was a transformative experience, and Ismael vividly recounts the revolution in his way of understanding the world.
Hope for the Inner City
Can there be hope amid the seemingly hopeless situation in the inner cities of our country? Can we find ways to help the poor while honoring their dignity? This lecture offers answers that go beyond political rhetoric and explores the substance of these challenges.
Theories of Race
Racial antagonism seems to be engulfing our nation. Is there a way to think clearly about this seminal problem? Learn the various theories and models of race relations in America and discover a path toward healing.
Subsidiarity and Sphere Sovereignty
Can we learn principles of social justice without the politically-tainted concept of redistribution or the ideology of class struggle? The Christian tradition offers a great opportunity to engage the questions of today and embrace principles that can help us better approach the role of government and the proper place of basic communities within the structures of society.
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