A Message from CMM's Executive Director |
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And a Youth Shall Lead Them
Friday, April 9, 2021
Rev. Dr. Rodney L. Petersen
Faced with the global weakening of democracy and an environmental calamity engulfing us all, a collection of students from a range of backgrounds, including homelessness, exposure to gangs and poverty have been meeting at the Shriver Center in Fort Devens to participate in a program called, “Values over Violence,” offered by CMM. Set to graduate this week, they are pioneers in learning the social justice skills of forgiveness and reconciliation, and the power of restorative justice and civic engagement.
Following the lead of Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, these youth are learning how to identify and manage roots of violence with the skills of forgiveness for advantage in the workplace in a democracy badly in need of new civic leadership. CMM envisions further workshops in April and additional opportunities for the training of trainers as we counter the distrust, polarization, and lack of civility that surrounds us today.
To counter the cynicism, CMM envisions a new Freedom Hall, formerly Faneuil Hall, to grace a revitalized Freedom Trail with hearings scheduled to move forward in the Boston City Council later this month. Join the 2021 Interfaith Climate Summit: Healing, Helping, and Building Resistance, Sunday, April 11, 2-4 PM., featuring Jim Antal, author of Climate Church, Climate World. Participate in the annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup, Monday, April 19 - Saturday, April 24.
Negative narratives build defensive habits, over generalizations, overlook the positive, predict the future based on something negative and we fail to experience the liberation of Passover, the reconciliation of Easter or the prophetic word of Islam. The workshop around race, Facing Our Racism: Becoming Conscious Partners Workshop, Sunday, May 16, 2021, 12 - 4:30pm, online via Zoom alerts us to dig more deeply into our own stories for self-understanding in a time of pandemic as we "Share our Stories: Towards an Inclusive American Narrative" and celebrate the new stories of a rising generation.
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Sharing Our Stories:
Towards an Inclusive American Narrative
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Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM) is promoting a community-building exercise through the spring around the topic, “Sharing Our Stories: Towards an Inclusive American Narrative.” This topic was first explored by CMM at an event in December that featured Mr. Jean-Luc Pierite, Rev. Eugene Rivers, and Rev. Dr. Nancy Taylor). Issues of identity, spirituality, neighborliness, and the importance of hospitality are evident in video and transcript available here. They reach to the core of who we are and as that becomes expressed in social settings with civic implications. In her book, The Human Condition, political philosopher Hannah Arendt ties efforts like this to forgiving, promise-making, and political agency in society.
There are several ways by which your participation can be of help in this project that include modest gatherings to more intentional civic-minded circles of conversation. The following suggestions may help to ease your way into this project:
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Review the video and transcript from December panel.
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Invite several people with whom you have some acquaintance, between March and May, to join you in a virtual cocktail hour or over a cup of coffee/tea.
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Express your interest in fostering conversation while promoting hospitality amid the national debates around racism, the pandemic, and violence. A goal of this exercise is to broaden our racial and interfaith horizons and thereby contribute to civil harmony.
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Summarize your discussion in a paragraph and send to the initiative’s coordinator, Ariel Kayton, by clicking her name.
These conversations can be as confidential as the group wishes or recorded for further reflection. Depending on what we can discern together, the results of these conversations may help shape CMM’s annual fundraiser in the late spring and be codified into a booklet. (A member of CMM’s Advisory Council, Michael Felsen, writes about the value of circles of conversation at this point in our national agenda in his article found at: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/528010-red-and-blue-lets-talk-reconciliation).
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2021 Interfaith Climate Summit:
Healing, Helping and Building Resilience
Sunday, April 11, 2021, 2 - 4pm
We may not be to be together, but we can heal together. More info forthcoming.
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Facing Our Racism: Becoming Conscious Partners Workshop
Sunday, May 16, 2021, 12 - 4:30pm
Online via Zoom
(Registration ends at 11am on the day of, and the Zoom link will be sent right after that.)
The killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor galvanized White people to become “conscious partners” with our Black sisters and brothers to end racism. Crucial to this new understanding and awareness is the formation of genuine, open, truthful relationships between Black and White community members. You are invited to take part in a “Facing Our Racism: Becoming Conscious Partners” workshop which analyzes the systemic, institutional, policy, and power-driven persecution and discrimination against Black Americans since the very beginning of slavery.
Recommended Pre-Viewing:
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Dr. Ibram X. Kendi: Creating A More Equitable Society Is In White Americans' Self Interest: https://youtu.be/dCUOX3NMd4U
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Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo: https://youtu.be/DwIx3KQer54
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How Racial Bias Works – and How to Disrupt It with Jennifer Eberhardt: https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_l_eberhardt_how_racial_bias_works_and_how_to_disrupt_it
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A Blueprint for Reparations in the US | William "Sandy" Darity: https://youtu.be/hv88_R-XDDw
About the Facilitators
Dr. Connie Holmes is a retired psychologist who counseled cancer patients and their families for 28 years in Boston and in the San Francisco Bay area. She conducts these workshops throughout the United States. Her great-grandfather perished in Theresienstadt, a World War II concentration camp. Her exposure to the horrors of the Final Solution has motivated her to join the struggle for racial justice in the United States.
Dolores Moorehead, MS, APCC is the Lead Navigator/ Multi-Cultural Client Support Clinician at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center in Berkeley with over 30 years of experience that includes the American Cancer Society. She has worked with diverse populations including LGBTQIA+, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Pacific Islanders. She is committed to improving communication between doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals about the medical needs and access to care of diverse populations.
Sponsors: Grace Church in Newton, St. Mary’s Church in Dorchester, the Charles River Deanery, Temple Shalom in Newton, Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, ten other congregations, and Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM), the greater Boston area’s oldest interfaith social justice organization that has been fighting racism since 1966.
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Upcoming Community Events |
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Growing in Spirit: Exploring Interreligious Education at the High School and Undergraduate Levels
Friday, April 9, 2021, 12 - 4pm
Join the Journal of Interreligious Studies and the Association for Interreligious/Interfaith Studies for a spring symposium on interreligious education—classroom-based and co-curricular—at the high school and undergraduate levels. Hear from practitioners, scholars, and students who will share best practices, pandemic-related insights, and ongoing questions and challenges. The symposium will include small group discussion (breakout rooms) to allow for more intimate conversation. Click here for flyer with more details
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The Hinges Upon Which the Future Swings: Womanism as a Gateway to our Future(s) and BTI Talkback Session (TBA) Virtual Conference
April 8 - 10, 2021
Events throughout each day. Hosted by the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership. Registration is now open! BCTD and the BTI will host a post-conference talk back session led by Dr. Adkins-Jones from BC. (DATE TBA) KGCCWL welcomes attendees to the nation’s premier gathering of womanist scholars, practitioners, activists, and leaders. The 2021 Spring Virtual conference features leading womanist voices who explore pressing questions, engage rigorous inquiry, and energize open dialogue essential to the freedom and flourishing of Black womankind. Through panels, presentations, interviews, lectures, and multifaceted, transgenerational, innovative conversations across disciplines, this conference is the culmination of the work of KGCCWL integrating its six-core tenets – womanist wellness, witness, wisdom, worship, wares, and works – which represent the holistic interconnections that make womanist leadership flourish. This year, KGCCWL has curated a special series of events and activities for youth (ages 12-18) to promote and encourage future womanist leaders.
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The Monologue Project
Saturday, April 10, 2021, 8pm ONLINE
Newton Theatre Company's next virtual production celebrates the voices of Asian American girls and women in the Newton community. Directed by Edie Pike and Valerie Goldstein, the show brings together a group of Asian American girls and women to share their stories and experiences. The stories, from a population that has been continuously silenced throughout history, explore both hardships and celebrations of how Asian American women have been able to navigate their identity and break through stereotypes. The show will include original monologues written by cast members as well as performances by local artists.
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Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup
Monday, April 19 - Saturday, April 24, 2021
We hope you will join us for this year's Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup with a virtual twist! The Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers’ National River Cleanup®, which to date, has removed over 25 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways. From 2016 to 2019, the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup was recognized by American Rivers for the Most Pounds of Trash Collected and Most Volunteers Mobilized. Our cleanup brings together over 3,000 volunteers each year to pick up litter, remove invasive species and assist with park maintenance along all 80 miles of the Charles River. Residents are drawn to the popular Charles River Cleanup from a desire to give back to their community while enjoying the beauty and wildlife along the river. Volunteers hold onto the connections they establish during this day of stewardship by returning to the Charles to exercise, play and enjoy nature throughout the year.
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The 2nd Annual National Antiracist Book Festival
Saturday, April 24, 2021, 9am - 6pm
On Saturday, April 24, 2021, Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research will host the 2nd annual National Antiracist Book Festival. The #AntiracistBookfest is the first and only book festival that brings together, showcases, and celebrates the nation’s leading antiracist writers and helps to prepare the writers of tomorrow. Check out the stellar author lineup for this virtual event, and reserve your ticket today!
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The Third Jewish Climate Change Conference: Everything Is Connected
Sunday, April 25, 2021, 12 - 8 pm EST
Free & online
Sessions focus on carbon reduction, advocacy, spiritual resilience, soil and agriculture, as well as raising up the voices of youth and addressing environmental justice. The day-long event is geared toward action solutions and strengthening the national Jewish Climate Action Network. Opportunities are available for connecting with other climate activists in your geographic region or those with similar interests. View the schedule of sessions here. People of all faiths are invited to attend and learn more about climate action steps you can take. JCAN-MA encourages congregations to “bring” a team of people to the conference. There will be something for everyone! They also encourage all who attend the conference from a congregation to meet afterward to share what they learned.
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Reach Higher With Us 10th Anniversary Celebration
Tuesday, April 27, 2021, 5:30pm - 7pm
July 15, 2020, marked ten years since Boston’s Higher Ground launched officially as a nonprofit. We began a one-year-long celebration, and we are pleased to host this virtual gathering of partners, collaborators, supporters, stakeholders, and friends to observe the notable achievements we have accomplished through our collective impact efforts during our first ten years.
Special Guests include:
- Boston Children's Chorus
- Superintendent Brenda Cassellius
- Boston Mayor Kim Janey
- Tulaine Montgomery of New Profit
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Help Serve the Unhoused & Food Insecure |
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