Arno Michaelis
Author and Speaker
2023
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Arno Michaelis was a neo-Nazi skinhead, a reverend of a self-declared Racial Holy War, and lead singer of the hate-metal band Centurion, which sold 20,000 CDs and is still popular with racists today. Single parenthood, love for his daughter, and the forgiveness shown by people he once hated all helped to turn Arno’s life around, bringing him to embrace diversity and practice gratitude for all life. After spending over a decade as a successful information technology entrepreneur, Arno is now a speaker, filmmaker, author of My Life After Hate, and co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds. His storytelling stems from an intention to inspire people to see themselves in others, and see others in themselves. Arno also works as an interventionist at Parents 4 Peace, helping to lead people away from all violent extremist ideologies, and to support their families. Refuge, his latest film project, is now available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu.
At the Summit
It is a tragic reality that hateful ideology has found fertile ground online and offline, with consequences affecting not only Americans but people around the world. We cannot stand idle in the face of bias, bigotry, and extremism. Together, at the Eradicate Hate Summit and beyond, the collective will of individuals and organizations is needed to galvanize all people of good will to protect and defend our communities.
