Book Launch for No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal

Boston University School of Theology’s Trauma-Responsive Congregations program, led by Dr. Shelly Rambo, will host a book launch and signing event for Rev. Liz Walker’s forthcoming book, No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal, on April 30, 2025 at 4:30 pm at Boston University’s Howard Thurman Center. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and refreshments will be served. Rev. Walker’s forthcoming book tells the story of “Can We Talk... Community Conversations on Trauma and Healing” a grassroots model for trauma-healing that draws on the power of compassionate neighbor-to-neighbor presence within a safe sacred space to build a new sense of meaning and trust. Endorsers include Bryan Stevenson, Otis Moss III, and Fr. Gregory Boyle. Rev. Walker, then pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church and a recognized public figure as the first Black woman to anchor the Boston-area evening news, created “Can We Talk…” In partnership with Colleen Sharka (LICSW) following the 2010 random fatal shooting of Corey Johnson, a promising young church member. Out of their ministry amid this sorrow grew a model of trauma-healing rooted in the belief that a caring community of peer support can protect against isolation and stigmatization and provide opportunities to process and transform our most painful experiences. Walker and Sharka have shared the “Can We Talk…” model with over 50 churches, both nationally and internationally.