Reel and Meal at the New Deal Cafe

The Reel & Meal at the New Deal Cafe will feature Living for 32, an account of the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shootings and the steps it inspired young survivor Colin Goddard to take toward strengthening the nation's gun-control laws. Long before the Newtown tragedy, Goddard was working with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Recently, he met with Vice-President Biden to discuss solutions to the problem of gun violence because “what happened to me keeps happening to other people, and we have to do something about it.”

Living for 32 was selected for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

The evening begins with an optional vegan buffet ($13.00) at 6:30 pm and the free film starts at 7:00 pm. Following the screening, we'll have a conversation around the issues of gun violence and measures currently under consideration regarding proposed new U.S. and Maryland state gun-control legislation and how local citizens can get involved.

Panelists for the evening:

• Elizabeth Ross, mother of Marckel Ross, a Prince George's County student shot and killed last September while walking to Central High School.


• Captain Carl Schinner, Greenbelt Police Department’s Patrol Division Commander. Captain Schinner has been a member of the Greenbelt Police Department since 1987. Prior to his current position, Captain Schinner served as the Supervisor of the Office of Professional Standards, which includes the disciplines of accreditation and internal affairs. Captain Schinner spent seventeen years in the Patrol Division as an officer, corporal, and sergeant.


• Lisa Miller Delity, president of the board of CeaseFireMaryland (previously known as Marylander’s Against Handgun Abuse). The issue of gun violence and reasonable gun laws became important to Lisa and her family when her brother, FBI agent Michael John Miller, was murdered in DC Police Headquarters in November of 1994. Since that time Lisa has testified in Annapolis and in DC numerous times in support of the Assault Weapons ban.


• Captain Davis Lloyd, Assistant District Commander at the Hyattsville station. During his nearly 20-year career with the Prince George's County Police Department, Captain Lloyd has worked at all three inner-beltway stations (District I, III, & IV) as a patrol officer, patrol sergeant, and shift commander. Additionally, he has served a total of eight years in the Special Operations Division as a tactical officer, counter-sniper, tactical flight observer and pilot.

The Reel & Meal series highlights concerns about environmental, peace, social justice and animal rights issues. January's program has been planned jointly by the three sponsor groups: Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group, Green Vegan Networking, and Prince George's County Peace & Justice Coalition.

Note: only this month's screening date is the 4th Monday. The Reel & Meal 3rd-Monday schedule resumes in February.