MI Response To Hate (MIR2H) Conference 2026
About this Event
The MI Response To Hate (MIR2H) Conference is a gathering of community members, activists, and leaders who are committed to creating a more inclusive and equitable society. This in-person event will take place on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 08:00:00 am (Eastern Daylight Time) at 219 South Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48824.
Welcome to the MI Response to Hate Conference (MIR2H)! This year, the theme is “Click with Kindness: Shutting down Hate One Post at a Time.” Join us at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center for a day filled with engaging discussions and workshops aimed at combating hate in our communities. This in-person event will bring together activists, educators, and community leaders to share strategies and resources for promoting tolerance and understanding. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the change! Our goal is to provide a platform for individuals and organizations to share their experiences and strategies for combating hate in our communities.
The day will be filled with inspiring speakers, interactive workshops, and networking opportunities. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and make a difference in your community.
Morning Plenary: Digital Hate: A New Frontier or Ideological Convergence? Contextualizing Continuity and the Commitment to Hate.
The talk explores the normalization of the material and ideological progression of hate. Challenging notions of nuance, an investigation of cultural continuity offers a critical analysis of the MELTING POT through a critical autoethnographic lens of one who solidly operates in solidarity with the voices of the silenced. Through recognizing privilege, this talk works to contextualize the convergence of contemptuous frames of analysis and ways of knowing into digitally accessible formats. Reflect. Recover. Reconsider. Recommendations. Presenter: Kalvin DaRonne Harvell, Ph.D., Ed.S.
Lunch Plenary: Digital Choices, Real Impact
This presentation examines how social media algorithms and the gun industry contribute to the rise in mass shootings—and how intentional acts of kindness, digital responsibility, and community awareness can help disrupt these pathways to violence. Drawing on lived experience and legal advocacy, Mr. Elmore highlights how online hate spreads, how vulnerable individuals become radicalized, and how communities can respond with unity, empathy, and action. Participants will gain insight into recognizing harmful online patterns, promoting safer digital spaces, and using kindness as a counterforce to hate, both online and in everyday life. Presenter: Attorney John V. Elmore, Partner in The Law Office of John V. Elmore, P.C.
Attendees will select two of the following workshops:
• How to Understand the Rise of Digital Manosphere and Misogyny in the aftermath of #MeToo?
In recent years, online communities collectively known as the digital manosphere have expanded their reach through social media platforms, podcasts, video-sharing sites, and online forums, where anti-feminist and misogynistic narratives are increasingly normalized and amplified. This workshop examines the rise of the digital manosphere in the aftermath of #MeToo, with particular attention to two influential phenomena: gender trolling and “Red Pill” ideology. Presenter: Lina Qu, Assistant professor at Michigan State University.
•Prosecuting Digital Hate and the Power of Online Evidence
This workshop explores the Olson case and the critical role digital communications played in demonstrating the motivations behind the offense. Participants will be walked through the shocking text messages and emails used as evidence, and discuss why claims that such messages were “just jokes” cannot be taken at face value when assessing hate‑based intent. The session will highlight how online expressions of bias, hostility, and dehumanization can escalate into real‑world harm, and why recognizing and responding to these behaviors is essential for prevention. Select examples of harmful communications will be shown in a carefully curated, accessible‑reviewed PowerPoint to help illustrate the impact of digital hate. Presenter: Richard Cunningham, Assistant Attorney General, assigned to the Criminal Trials Division of the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
• Before the Rabbit Hole: Upstream Approaches to Preventing Online Hate
This workshop explores a public health-informed approach to preventing online manipulation, radicalization, and hate-fueled violence through practical, upstream strategies that give communities the tools to build resilience.Presenter: Bryce Kobe, State Program Manager for PERIL's Community Advisory, Resource, and Education (CARE) program.
•Take Back Your Feed: Navigating Technology and its Trade-Offs
This session provides an overview of research from ADL's Center on Extremism and Center for Tech and Society on how hateful and extremist content continues to proliferate across social media, online gaming spaces and artificial intelligence tools. It will continue with a candid discussion of ADL's engagement and advocacy with partners in the tech industry. Finally, we'll turn our focus to the choices and trade-offs that we, the users of these technologies, face every day and how we can retake control for ourselves, our families and our communities.Presenter: Aaron Tielemans is Assistant Director of Strategy and Operations at ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center for Technology & Society.
AGENDA
8:00-8:45 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45-9:30 am Welcome
9:30-10:30 am Morning Plenary
10:30- 10:45 am Break
10:45-11:45 am Concurrent Workshops
11:45 am-1:00 pm Lunch Plenary
1:00-1:15 pm Break
1:15-2:15 pm Concurrent Workshops (same as morning workshops)
2:15-3:00 pm Final Plenary and Closing
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights will make reasonable modifications to policies and practices to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in all programs, services and activities. There is an opportunity in the registration process to request an accommodation.
Attendees shall refrain from wearing personal fragrant products, (fragrances, colognes, essential oils, lotions, powders, and other similar products) as these items may trigger adverse health reactions in some attendees. Please refrain from smoking or using other nicotine products near the entrances of the building in order to minimize exposure to others. One table will be set aside at each session for attendees who require minimal exposure to personal fragrances.
There are areas of green space around and near the parking lot of the facility for service animals to use. Handlers are responsible for cleaning up after their service animal.
ASL and Close Seating will be provided. Anyone who requires additional auxiliary aids or services for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures should contact Kimberley Williams [email protected]. No surcharge will be placed on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy. However, because a cost is associated with the service please be sure you plan to attend or request a refund if you can not.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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