By Rachel Chesbrough
When I was offered an interview with a former neo-Nazi turned peace advocate, I had made up my mind to decline. From the media to the justice system in this country, we’re sympathetic enough toward troubled white minds. As a whole, the nation is constantly being fed a humanizing narrative; where people of color are monsters or terrorists and white folks are simply mentally ill or led down the wrong path.
My conscience balked at the thought of centering another white man in this way.
But then I casually researched Picciolini, just for the hell of it. What I read and heard changed my mind about taking the assignment. Because what we have in Christian Picciolini is something of an informant. He asks us to understand, yes, but not with the intention to excuse — rather the hope to dismantle. He is an unabashed truth-teller, and a willing weapon against hate and bigotry all over the world. This is not hyperbole.