“A Question of Fear: The Rule of Law and Human Rights in the United States.“

Anthony Knight is the Founder, President & CEO of The Baton Foundation — a Georgia nonprofit organization that serves the emotional, intellectual and cultural needs of Black boys ages 10-17. Before founding the Foundation, Mr. Knight worked for twenty-two years as a museum educator and consultant. Mr. Knight has extensive experience with and interest in African American history and culture, public and living history, informal education and Black youth. Mr. Knight’s work with The Baton Foundation reflects his ongoing interest in the issues and practices related to the collecting, preservation and interpretation of information about and material culture from the African Diaspora.  Mr. Knight’s undergraduate work was in Spanish and English (Ohio Wesleyan University), and his graduate work was in museum education (The George Washington University).  Mr. Knight also holds a degree in Spanish-to-English translation from the Núcleo de Estudios Lingüísticos y Sociales, Caracas, Venezuela.  Mr. Knight is a New York City native.

“Calling Out, Calling In- An Election Perspective”

Loretta Ross is a Visiting Associate Professor at Smith College teaching “White Supremacy in the Age of Trump.” She started her career in the women’s movement in the 1970s, working at the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the National Organization for Women, the National Black Women’s Health Project, the Center for Democratic Renewal (National Anti-Klan Network), the National Center for Human Rights Education, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. Her forthcoming book is Calling In the Calling Out Culture. Her most recent publications are Reproductive Justice: An Introduction and Radical Reproductive Justice.

“KARMONY – Finding Harmony in Our Collective Karma.” 

The message is: true unity is in relationships.

Scruples in Any Language: Culture, Class, or Personality?

Paula Larke is a storyteller, motivational speaker, spoken word/vocal innovator, bassist and percussionist.

She has used her music, passion, and humor nationally,  for over 38 years,  to unite, chide, inspire, and restore faith in the human potential for harmony.  Her primary work is in community – schools, churches, state fairs, businessmen’s luncheons, workplace employee training – every kind of community gathering allowing her access.

Most recently, Paula has been teaching artist in Eastern Kentucky and Clarkston, GA, adapting her delivery for Appalachian and international refugee audiences.  “It has been an enriching experience,  seeing through eyes so different from my own” she affirms.

Her CD, “ UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY”,  produced with activist/percussionist  Kim Nimoy,  is a performance  libretto, designed for use in schools and colleges.

• Musician: Aviva and the Flying Penguins

“Individual Experience and Personal Meanings:  Dread and Curiosity”

Dr. Jean Heinrich is a licensed clinical psychologist, musician, longstanding member of the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta. 

Grateful for this opportunity, she notes, “I’ve been struck by the many ways we individuals are facing traumas and tragedies in our country, the variety of individual experiences, and meanings we create.  I marvel at the impact of attitude and how attitudes fluctuate.  Please join me as I present a consideration of this via our Facebook page, and please leave comments and tell me what you think and how you fare.  Or text me.  Thanks.”

“Starting Over”

On this Yom Kippur Day, as human beings in progress, we will look at the challenges and joys of this particular year and time of accountability, renewal and charity in Jewish religious tradition.

Musical Presentation

Susan Ottzen – harp, Ron Freeman – synthesizer, playing 4 pieces
from Le Petit Pas (the little steps) by Bernard Andres, a contemporary
French composer. They are very sweet meditative pieces.

Susan Ottzen, harpist, is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music. She moved to Atlanta to play with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Shaw and has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

She has a large teaching studio. Her students perform at group lessons during the year and attend piano camp and harp camp in the summer. They also perform each year at Fall Fest held at Agnes Scott College, sponsored by the Decatur Music Teachers Association.

In addition to playing harp and piano, she is an accomplished composer with grants from the Fulton County Arts Council and Georgia Council for the Arts, among others. Susan’s arrangement of Stormy Weather played on NPR’s Marketplace Radio for twenty years (whenever the stocks were down).

Most recently, she played harp as an extra for Tyler Perry Studios for a TV episode called “Reunited.” She recently collaborated with Francine Reed recording Stevie Wonder songs with the Jez Graham Trio. She also has a Jazz Harp and Clarinet Duo with Don Erdman playing jazz concerts at the Tucker Library and the Decatur Library in 2018. She is also teaching History of the Harp workshops annually for the Tucker and Decatur libraries.

Ronald Freeman Jr. has been performing professionally as a musician for 15 years. As an Atlanta native, he was heavily influenced by the traditional southern marching band culture. His high school alma mater is the Academy of Richmond County in Augusta, GA. He is currently studying Ethnomusicology at Kennesaw State University with aspirations of becoming a licensed music therapist.

“How the Nineteenth Amendment Was Won.”

H. Robert Baker is Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University and is the author of Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution (2012) and The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War (2006). His scholarly articles have appeared in the Law and History Review, Common-Place, and the Journal of Supreme Court History. He holds a Ph.D. in History from UCLA, where he studied with Joyce Appleby. He has been a Fulbright Fellowship and been a fellow at the Institute for Constitutional Studies. He also writes about wine, law, and contemporary culture for the blog Tropics of Meta.