FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Citizens in more than a dozen cities will participate in town halls on American culture in the world beginning in late March. The town hall series, called American Culture in the World: Benevolent Force or Evil Empire?, seeks to facilitate discussion on the growing omnipresence of American culture abroad from Coca-Cola to Britney Spears. The series will feature leading U.S. and foreign artists (Nile Rodgers, Producer/Songwriter), journalists (Ashleigh Banfield , MSNBC; Abderrahim Foukara , Al Jazeera), business executives (Henry Schleiff , CEO Court TV), and scholars (Ziba Mir-Hosseini , filmmaker).

"The imprint of American culture is everywhere today, from the cinemas of Cairo to the fast-food restaurants of Beijing," said Seth Green, a co-organizer of the series. "For some, American culture is a source of freedom; for others, it's a source of oppression. We want to begin a global conversation about the role of American culture in the world, with an aim toward promoting cultural coexistence."

The events, dubbed "Coexistence Town Halls," will occur in New York City, Washington, D.C., New Haven, Albany, Oxford (England), Paris (France), Berlin (Germany), and numerous other cities. The "epicenter" town hall will take place on Tuesday, March 23rd at 7 p.m. at New York University's Eisner and Lubin auditorium (60 Washington Sq. South). This event will feature opening presentations by MSNBC anchor Ashleigh Banfield, Al Jazeera correspondent Abderrahim Foukara, Iranian filmmaker Ziba Mir-Hosseini, legendary songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers, and television executive Henry Schleiff.

Nile Rodgers, an American performer who will speak at several of the town hall meetings, said he is participating in the series because he wants to learn more about what he can do to promote cultural coexistence. "As an American artist, I'm honored and humbled by the tremendous interest in American culture overseas. I've loved performing to sell-out crowds in London and Tokyo. But as a multiculturalist, I'm also deeply concerned about local cultures being wiped out. I hope this town hall series can begin a conversation about how we can share our culture, without imposing it."

American Culture in the World is being co-organized by Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) and the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF). AID is an organization of young professionals and students from more than 70 universities who seek to promote global understanding through dialogue. WAFF is an organization dedicated to promoting diversity and multiculturalism and the vision of a global family through education. Other speakers involved in the series include World Press Review editor Alice Chasan , independent filmmaker and CNBC producer Danny Schechter , and A History of News author Mitchell Stephens.