In a talk titled Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times Father Boyle tells how to seek the best in humanity and build strong communities
SUMMARY
- UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Father Gregory Boyle in a talk titled Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times
- Tues, Dec 3 | 7:30 p.m. | Campbell Hall
-
- Father Boyle is the 2024 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor
- He is also a recipient of the California Peace Prize and a member of the California Hall of Fame
- The Los Angeles City Council named May 19 as Father Greg Boyle Day in Los Angeles
- Father Boyle’s books, including his latest, Cherished Belonging, will be available for purchase and signing, courtesy of Chaucer’s Books
- $22.50 – $37.50 / $10 UCSB Students (Current student ID required)
- Tickets & Info: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu or (805) 893-3535
“There’s no denying how difficult things can be. But the way out to the place of resilience, the place of restoration, the place of not allowing your heart to be hardened by resentment, relies on one thing: forgive everyone everything.” – Gregory Boyle
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Father Gregory Boyle speaking on the topic of Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times on Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Campbell Hall.Over the past 30 years, Father Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the world. The program runs on two unwavering principles: 1) Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and 2) we belong to each other (no exceptions). Every community wants to be a safe place, where people are seen, and are cherished. At a time when society is more fractured than ever, Boyle’s new book, Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times, invites us to see the world through a new lens of connection and build the loving community that we long to live in. Boyle was named a Champion of Change by President Obama in 2014, and was a recipient of the 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Father Boyle’s books, including Cherished Belonging, will be available for purchase and signing, courtesy of Chaucer’s Books.
Los Angeles proclaims May 19 as Father Gregory Boyle Day
ABOUT FATHER GREGORY BOYLE
Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. A Jesuit priest, from 1986 to 1992 Father Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city.
Father Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, Father Boyle and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.
In 1988 they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.
Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller?Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. His second book, Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, was published in 2017. His third book, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, came out in 2021. The publication date for his newest book, Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times, is November 5, 2024.
He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. In 2020, he served as a committee member of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Economic and Job Recovery Task Force as a response to COVID-19 crisis. In the same year, Homeboy Industries was the recipient of the 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize validating 32 years of Fr. Greg’s vision and work by the organization for over three decades. He is the recipient of a 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Father Gregory Boyle is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures
Lead Sponsor: Mary Becker
Tickets are $22.50 – $37.50 / $10 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges 2024-2025 Season Sponsor Sara Miller McCune.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2024-2025 season.