Lani Silver has been a political activist for thirty-nine years in which time she has received many accolades for her valuable work as a Holocaust Oral Historian and an anti-racism educator. Lani founded the Holocaust Oral History Project in l981 and coordinated l700 oral histories with 1400 Holocaust survivors and witnesses. Prior to that, Lani taught a course entitled “Violence Against Women” in Women Studies at San Francisco State University. She also served as Steven Spielberg’s first consultant for his Shoah Foundation for Visual History.  The Shoah Foundation completed 53,000 Holocaust oral histories.

In l993, Lani, along with military historian Eric Saul, and businessmen Noby Yoshimura and Harry Fukahara, discovered the story of Chiune Sugihara, who rescued thousands of Jewish refugees in the Holocaust, against the orders of Japan. After the war, Sugihara, was dismissed from the Foreign Service, for “that incident in Lithuania.”

Currently, Lani serves as the Director of the James Byrd Jr. Racism Oral History Project, which is a project of the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing. The project has conducted 2,500 interviews on racism in America with students and community members.

Lani was one of five people to be named KQED’s “Woman of the Year” in 2003. Recently, Lani received the coveted “Ally” award from the Center for Racial Healing in Houston.

Lani’s strength is in leading discussions that are interactive. Her lectures are moving and compelling. Lani describes the challenges of gathering a large collection of Holocaust oral histories. Lani’s workshops on racism are particularly powerful. She asks people to describe how racism has affected and shaped their lives. Lani uses the Socratic method to draw people out. Lani draws something special out of people. Her lectures or workshops teach people about the Holocaust; how to do an oral history; and how to analyze the issues of racism that surround them in their everyday lives. Lani concludes her talks by asking what people can do to reduce racism in the world. Many say that nothing will work. But after a vigorous conversation, people actually begin to feel that they can make a difference. Lani Silver is an inspirational speaker. 

American Program Bureau's web site is www.apbspeakers.com.

Michael Rosenberg's e-mail address is mrosenberg@apbspeakers.com.

Lani Silver's topics include:
• The Holocaust and Social Injustice Today
• Making the Links: The Holocaust, Genocide and Racism
• Chiune Sugihara, “The Japanese Schindler”
• Inspiring Activism

Speeches have been given at the following Universities and institutions.
Hillel, De Pauw University, Greencastle, Indiana
Hillel, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California
Jewish Studies, Old Dominion University, Norfolk Virginia
Metro Hospital Health Conference, Cleveland Ohio
Ohio State University, Diversity Conference, Bertram, Ohio
Ohio State University, Canton, Ohio
Mt. Union College, Alliance, Ohio
Walsh University, Canton, Ohio
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
University of Southern Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida
Hillel, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
Army and Navy Academy, San Diego
Gallaudet University, Washington D.C.