Category: Celebrations of Life

“Finding Our Way Back to the Positive Aspects of Black Culture & Heritage”

Dianne Valentin is the mother of four, grandmother of ten, and has over thirty years of experience assisting small businesses and nonprofit organizations with their business needs and working directly within the community, private industry, and public education sectors. As a political scientist with training in the areas of international affairs and national defense, Dianne has used her training and education when advocating grassroots and progressive issues on Capitol Hill. She has had issues related articles published in a major news outlet.

Dianne is the founder and CEO of the Black Heritage Museum & Cultural Center, Inc. (BHMACC) Founded in 2005 and established as a nonprofit organization with federal tax-exempt status in 2006. Whose mission is to document and preserve Black heritage, culture, and scholarship and use it to encourage, empower, and uplift current and future generations through scholarly engagement, art, and artistic expression, while cultivating critical thought. Our vision is to find our way back to the positive aspects of Black heritage & culture.

Since its inception, the BHMACC has help over 3,000 marginalized and low-income students get into college. It does its work in the areas of arts, culture, education, social justice, environmental justice and stewardship.

Dianne works with national, state, and community nonprofit organizations providing strategic advice, technical assistance, program development, community outreach, and community organizing support.

During her corporate career working for an investment banking and accounting firm Dianne and her team managed the assets of twenty-six financial institutions with asset values ranging from $25 million to $10 billion, she managed the staff of asset managers, financial services and accounting representatives, researched and brought to resolution federal agency investigations, Congressional Inquiry and FOIA requests received directly from Congress related to those managed institutions, developed and initiated uniform training procedures for the handling of client issues. As a Senior Analyst for a government agency she was responsible for the analysis of negotiated contracts to insure commitment integrity and that the negotiated contracts fell within the guidelines for that financial product.

Dianne appeared before President Barack Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future to present her views on nuclear weapons, nuclear waste, and how they impact environmental and racial injustice. Dianne acted as editor of a climate report that has been presented to and accepted by the U.N. and the Pope.

Dianne is serving as President of the board of directors of a statewide women-led peace, environmental justice, political empowerment nonprofit organization, is serving as Chair on a national, women led United Nations recognized NGO, formerly served as founding President of an Atlanta based legal advocacy nonprofit supporting girls and women dealing with sex discrimination and abuses in the education and workplace settings. Dianne is a former President of the board of directors of a women’s health center.

Dianne has been honored with a United Nations’ National Human Rights Award and a National Grassroots Activist Award by a national organization comprised of organizations from all over the country.

• Facilitator: Libby Ware
• Musician: Alan Dynin

“Racial Healing: The Next Step in Our Collective Psychological Liberation and Racial Justice”

Anneliese Singh, PhD, LPC is an award-winning social justice scholar and community organizer. She is a Professor and Associate Dean of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Education at the University of Georgia, and a program faculty in the counselor education and supervision doctoral program. Her research, practice, and advocacy explores the resilience and liberation experiences of trans people, people of color, survivors of trauma, South Asian immigrants, and social justice and empowerment training. Dr. Singh has co-authored texts on trans and nonbinary counseling (A Clinician’s Guide to Gender-Affirming Care and Affirmative Counseling and Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients), in addition to the Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook and the Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing. In 2009, Anneliese co-founded the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition to work on the intersection of heterosexism, racism, sexism, and other oppressions in Georgia schools. She also founded the Trans Resilience Project to translate findings from her nearly 20 years of research on the resilience that trans and nonbinary people develop across the lifespan and across multiple identities to navigate societal oppression. 

• Facilitator: Lorraine Fontana
• Musician: Susan Ottzen

“Resilience”

Franklin Abbott has been a practicing psychotherapist in Atlanta for nearly forty years. He is also a poet, musician, community organizer and amateur oral historian. His connection to the Congregation and Old Stone Church goes back more than 40 years to early urban radical faery gatherings held in the sanctuary before First E became its steward. He has spoken at First E many times, performed music and poetry there, and coordinated events and memorials.

• Facilitator: Jan Lister
• Musician: Cecil Walker

“Words Matter”

In our changing awareness of language, how can we be sensitive to people who
are powerless, stigmatized, or marginalized? Where do we draw the line between
basic respect and the overreach of political correctness? Come explore these
issues around word choice and why it matters.

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 MSPH 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, GA. She is currently engaged in a multi-year, multistudy research effort to investigate the effect of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) on chaplains and the effect of CBCT-adapted interventions on patient and providers outcomes.

• Facilitator: Rev. Marsha Mitchiner
• Musician: William Chelton

” Open 24 hrs”

Rev. Mitchiner will be our speaker tor Sunday’s Celebration of Life at the First E Sanctuary.

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.”

• Facilitator: Robert Stewart
• Musician: Kathy McGuire

“Christmas is Everyday”

Rev. NaDine Rawls is a native of Louisiana. She is the daughter of the late John Q. Rawls and Bernice Rawls.

Rev. Rawls graduated from Plain Dealing High School and continued her education at then Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe, Louisiana and graduated with an Associates Degree in Law Enforcement. During her time at NLU, she became a member of NLU’s Interdenominational Gospel Ensemble and served as its choir director for 2 years.

Rev. Rawls begin ministry at Harvest MCC in Denton, Texas. In 1995, Rev. Rawls founded Unity Fellowship Church of North Texas. In 1996 Rev. Rawls located to Washington, DC where she served on staff at Inner Light Unity Fellowship Church. She later served as Assistant Pastor of Baltimore Unity Fellowship church and later Co-Pastor of North Capitol Unity Fellowship Church of Washington, DC. .

In 2006, Rev. Rawls became a member of Lincoln Congregational Church United Church of Christ. During her time there, Rev. Rawls served as Chair of the Diaconate. In 2009, Rev. Rawls relocated to Atlanta, GA and became of a member of First Congregational United Church of Christ.

For the past 25 years, Rev. Rawls has been a spiritual leader within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered community. God has allowed her to touch many lives and encourage individuals to follow the call God has placed on their lives and to live fully the person God created them to be. Her motto “One’s sexuality is not a prerequisite for the Love of Jesus.”

Rev. Rawls currently resides in Atlanta, GA. She is an active member of First Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Atlanta, GA.

• Facilitator: M. Charlene Ball
• Musician: Aviva and the Flying Penguins

“Existentialism and Holidays: Creating Personal Meaning”

Dr. Jean Heinrich, passionate human being, licensed clinical psychologist, musician, is nourished by existential philosophy in these times. Believing her knowledge of existentialism and the human psyche/mind/body/spirit make her a better musician and her music makes her a better clinician, and, both her knowledge and music make her a healthier/more vital human being, she invites you to join us as she speaks on: “Existentialism and Holidays: Creating Personal Meaning”.

• Facilitator: Rev. Marsha Mitchiner
• Musician: Mick Kinney

“We Hold these Truths: Human Rights, Blacks, and the Continued Struggle for Equality”

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.

• Facilitator: Robert Stewart
• Musician: William Chelton