“… and Another Black Woman Dies”

I recently wrote an essay about being exhausted. Exhausted by hearing how Black women will save the election, how Black women are so strong, and I am tired of being thanked as a Black woman for marching in causes that will save everyone. Too many Black women are dying too young from what is expected of us by our families, by our communities and by those who fantasize about our presumed strength. I am exhausted — but for the sake of saving my own life, those I love as family and holding up community, I pull myself up each day and do my best to help make an unbiased world a reality. The ebb and flow of building a just society is not new. It is not just in the last 50 years or the last 100 years. I reflect on the heightened levels of discrimination and legal wrangling from the 1850s that still resonate with the same elements of discrimination. Diversity then becomes imaginable, but the same stench of ugly hate is repeated. We are once again at a moment in time to ask ourselves what we can do to build what is possible for everyone — and not depend on another Black woman to do it.

Althea Sumpter is a researcher and scholar who focuses on ethnographic documentation and cultural preservation of the Southern story in the United States. With her native Gullah Geechee culture and her historical connection to the story of Reconstruction Era in Beaufort County, SC, she uses her expertise to teach how to research and document stories of a family and a community. She presents talks and workshops on how to find cultural heritage and to make the link to historical context in community. Her research and work can be viewed at: altheasumpter.com.

• Facilitator: Charlene Ball
• Musician: Mick Kinney

“Why We Must Remember Juneteenth”

Rev. Angela Denise Davis, M.Div., M.S., is an ordained minister, public speaker, activist, and community music teacher. She is the founder of Uke Griot, a program that focuses on
awakening musical skills in adults via the ukulele to increase social engagement and foster joy in making music. She also founded Sister Harriet, a spiritual collective created for queer
women to share their best selves and to find meaning in the sacredness of their lives. Her work as a Minister centers on the fusion of art and spirituality to enrich the ways we move in personal and social spaces. In addition, she is the creator, host, and producer of the ZAMI NOBLA Podcast.

As a Blind, Black Lesbian her public speaking centers around justice issues located at the
intersection of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. She believes her call in
life is to facilitate conversations and theological reflections along the fence line of those
differences. She challenges her audiences to wrestle with the difficult and to support each
other ‘s journey into new territory.

She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she earned a B.A. in Art. She also holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling from Georgia State University.

• Facilitator- Jan Lister
• Musician- Jean Heinrich

“All The World Is Crazy, Except Thee and Me: Navigating the
Existential Yin-Yang of Tears and Laughter”

Wade Marbaugh, recently elected by the First Existentialist Board of Directors as Chair of the Board, has been a congregation member since the 1990s. An Ohio native who moved to the South as a newspaper reporter, he married the editor who hired him, Stell Simonton. They raised two children, Anna and Olivia Simonton, who were greatly influenced by First E. Wade majored in political science and minored in communications at Defiance College and earned a Juris Doctor degree at Moritz School of Law at Ohio State University. Those academic experiences and his political activism in Ohio, Alabama and Georgia have inspired a lifetime immersion in history, current events and social justice movements, making possible his Celebration of Life presentation, “All The World’s Crazy, Except Thee and Me.” Additionally, he has always been interested in spiritual matters and the great mystery of our existence. He is deeply grateful to his family, teachers and peers who have contributed to this moment, for as a friend once said to him, “Each of us is both a cause and an effect.”

• Facilitator: Robert Stewart
• Musician- Craig Rafuse

“Free of God”

Leon has wandered for 86 years. Good and bad things have happened to him in this journey. The best things have been a wonderful wife of 63 years, three great adult children, seven beautiful grandchildren, and some spiritual and philosophical growth along the way. Leon has had four careers: Christian missionary, pastor, computer programmer, and addictions counselor, but he says that a part-time job of teacher of English to immigrants was the most fun (8 years). He has gone from fundamentalist Christian to evangelical, to liberal Christian, to agnostic/atheist. His goal now is to learn to love more and better.

• Facilitator: Patton White
• Musician: William Chelton

“The Power of (Existential) Friendship”

The role of Other in our lives is powerful, including the important relationship of friend. Some of the latest medical research reveals that the number and quality of our friendships may have a bigger influence on our happiness, health and mortality – let alone emotional well-being – than almost anything else in life.

Rev. Marti Keller has been a parish, community and social justice minister for more than 23 years. Her “Jewnitarian” involvements include co-editing “Jewish Voices in Unitarian Universalism,” and other UUA publications around the Jewish source of our living tradition. She has been the President of UUs for Jewish Awareness and is currently a board member. She is part of a ministerial team launching an online Mussar Jewish values program in 2022. She is also past vice president of the Society for Humanistic Judaism and serves on the advisory team for the international Secular Synagogue.

Facilitator: Robert Stewart

Musician: Susan Ottzen

“Recalculating Route: Reflecting on Our Spiritual Journeys”

Rev. Kimble Sorrells is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, with a ministry in
contemplative practices focused on equipping us with the peace and resolve to be justice makers in the world. They are also a Registered Yoga Teacher and draw on this and other spiritual traditions to inform their ministry. As a Bi-vocational minister, Kimble also works with Lifeline Animal Project as the Community Programs Manager, guiding caseworkers as they assist pet owners in times of challenge.

Kimble has experience in variety of ministry settings. They have worked in LGBTQ advocacy for many years including as staff for Reconciling Ministries Network and the Atlanta Pride Committee. They currently serve on the Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board and work primarily in advocacy with the Transgender community.

Facilitator: Jan Lister

Musician: Dr. Jean Heinrich

Who Am I? Who Do I Want To Be?

In these polarized and trying times, it can be hard to listen to our better angels and easy to
fall into angry, vindictive thoughts. But is that who we want to be? How do we remain
compassionate toward people who are doing horrible things? How do we remember the
common humanity we share, even with our enemies? How can we resist being dragged
down by the world, and remain true to who we are?

Patricia (Kim) Palmer serves the Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center as the Manager of Research Projects in Spiritual Health. She is a board-certified chaplain with over five years of clinical experience and earned an M.S.P.H. in Epidemiology from Emory University as a Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellow. She is ordained in the Unitarian Universalist tradition and serves as an affiliated community minister for a congregation in Roswell, Georgia. She is currently engaged in a multi-year, multi-study research effort to investigate the effect of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) on chaplains and the effect of CBCT-adapted interventions on patient and provider outcomes, and she is exploring the possibility of a part-time return to clinical work as a chaplain.

“Three Words: Ruminations on the Past and Future”

Anthony Knight is the President & CEO of The Baton Foundation, a Georgia nonprofit organization that serves the emotional, intellectual and cultural needs of Black
boys in grades five through nine. 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.

• Facilitator: Jan Lister
• Musician: TBA