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.
Janna Nelson currently lives with her husband, Scott Hooker, and her younger son, David Nelson-Hooker in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they have now lived for almost six years. They moved there after 40 years in Atlanta to be closer to family, and they have always preferred the New Mexican climate and open skies and country.
For Janna, it is a return to a land and people of her youth. Born the youngest of six in rural Alabama in 1958, she moved with her family to New Mexico in 1963. Her father, a Southern Baptist missionary, and the family spent the next seven years in various locations on the Navajo Reservation before moving to Albuquerque. Witnessing and being part of several traumatic and life-changing events left her a seeker.
She moved with her parents to Atlanta in 1975 and culture shock ensued. Due to accessibility issues with high schools at that time, she took a GED and went to Clayton Junior College, then GSU, taking whatever she wanted, working various interesting jobs until she started working at Sevananda, where she worked for seven years. During this time she had her older son. At age 25, she returned to GSU and graduated with a teaching degree three years later, starting a career in education that was deeply satisfying. She also started performing music solo and with others, starting her lifelong partnership in song and love with Scott.
She discovered First Existentialist Congregation in 1981 and it was the first place that felt open enough for her mind and spirit, as she had left religion behind at this point. After years of involvement in various aspects of the community, she entered into a five year Existential Ministerial Studies Program with Rev. Lanier Clance and was ordained as a minister by the Congregation in 1999, which she continued to serve in a varying capacity until moving to Albuquerque in 2014. She is delighted to see the flourishing of this intentional community and still calls it one of her homes.
“The Spirit of History: Toward a Different Understanding of the Pandemic of Race”
Anthony Knight is the President & CEO of The Baton Foundation, a Georgia non-profit 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.
Angela Denise Davis, M.Div., M.S., is a ukulele instructor, workshop facilitator, ordained minister, and public speaker. Her work as a minister focuses on how the fusion of art and spirituality can enlarge the ground beneath our feet and enrich the ways we move in personal and social spaces. In addition, she is the creator, host, and producer of the ZAMI NOBLA Podcast.
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
“Take the fear out of not knowing, and how to ask for what you want”
When I think about what I want to talk about it keeps coming back to, how I have learned to ask for my life’s lessons in a way that I wanted to receive them and how finding myself continues to change how I am able to perceive my circumstances.
The classic teachings of the Buddha and Jesus and Muhammad and many others have transformed millions of lives across the generations and the globe, our own included. How do these teachings align with the urgency of the Black Lives Matter Movement today? The connectionis both urgent and direct and worthy of our investigation. In a time when people all over the world are demonstrating their support for BLM, how do our spiritual communities strengthen this intention? Let’s name our best next step and take it. Let’s confirm and commit to our noble intention. Which personal, political and spiritual practices inform and strengthen us during these trying times? What are we doing to move ourselves and others towards liberation? Are there less than skillful ways that we may be holding ourselves and others back? The determination of freedom fighters past and present inspires our own practices both personally and collectively. In our community of spiritual friendship, let’s explore these connections together and garner the power and benefit they afford.
John Mifsud was born on the Island of Malta and identifies as Arab-American. He has practiced Insight Meditation since 2001 and graduated from the Community Dharma Leaders Training Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is currently on the Board of Directors. John has extensive retreat experience and practiced throughout Asia. He is the Guiding Teacher of the Malta Insight Meditation Society and a former Community Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC). He is the founding leader of EBMC’s Deep Refuge Sangha for Alphabet Brothers of Color. He teaches internationally with a special interest in delivering mindfulness tools to marginalized communities.
Rev. Marsha Mitchiner grew up in middle Georgia and was an active member of her church. In her teen years, she became disillusioned with organized religion but felt a need to find a community of individuals seeking answers without dogma. She found her spiritual home when she came to First E in 1980 and joined Rev. Lanier Clance’s ministerial training program.
“My spiritual life began as a Christian in middle Georgia . During my teen years I began to question the concept of “one truth”. Through personal exploration and with three years of guided study by Rev. R. Lanier Clance, I have come to believe that there are many paths to truth, each valid to the believer. Our journey through life is a unique, subjective experience that is enhanced and supported as we share with others our authentic self. It is a joy to serve the First Existentialist Congregation and the greater community.”
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.
Steve Jones, Ph.D.President, Meanders River Restoration, Inc. Dr. Steve Jones was employed by Clemson University from 1974 to 1992. During his 18 years in academia at Clemson University, Dr. Jones managed a graduate research program in environmental science and taught graduate and undergraduate level ecology courses. He has 46years of experience as a landscape ecologist and stream restoration ecologist. Publications in professional journals total 40 including a book chapter addressing ecosystem management in the southeastern U.S. He has presented over 100 papers at professional meetings including several invited papers on ecological land classification and stream restoration at regional, national and international symposia. Upon leaving academia, Dr. Jones has 28 years of experience as an environmental consultant. In the past 20 years Dr. Jones has designed and led restoration of over 100 miles of stream channels. Currently, he is president of Meanders River Restoration, Inc. Dr. Jones has been hired to consult with non-profit organizations and government entities including the Air Force Academy, Georgia DOT, Trout Unlimited, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Beaver Creek Watershed Association, Escambia County, Florida, Elachee Nature Science Center, US Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy. He currently serves on the board of directors for Gilmer Arts Association in Ellijay, GA.
“In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” Albert Einstein
“Even when opportunity knocks, one still must get up and open the door.” Anonymous
Dr. Jean Heinrich …. inspired and hopeful, saddened and awakened human being, licensed clinical psychologist, musician, longtime member of The First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta.
