Category: Celebrations of Life

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July 14, 2019 – Rev. Kim Sorrells

“Embracing Your Life’s Story”

Rev. Kim Sorrells is a graduate of Candler School of Theology (Emory University) and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. They are now beginning a position with Atlanta Pride as the Programs and Partnership Manager and will be continuing ministry part time within the UCC. Prior to joining Atlanta Pride, Kim served as Georgia Field Organizer for Reconciling Ministries Network, focusing on faith-based advocacy around Georgia laws affecting the LGBTQ community. Kim has also served in local congressional, as Minister for Spiritual Formation and Youth at Saint Mark UMC, and as a hospital chaplain. They have worked in homeless services through their time in Americorps. Kim has special interest in using spirituality and contemplative practices to equip us with the inner peace to be justice makers in the world. Kim is also a Registered Yoga Teacher and draws on this and other spiritual traditions to inform their ministry.

  • Facilitator: Robert Stewart
  • Charli Vogt
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July 7, 2019 – Mona Reeves

“Oh, to Transgress: Living a Life I Love”

Mona Reeves is creating herself as a Renaissance woman. With a heart and mind for social justice, Mona participated in the UU pilot anti-racism curriculum, Building the World We Dream About, 10 years ago at First E and UUCA. In her master’s thesis, “Conjure Women: The Importance of the Humanities in the African-American Woman’s Fight against Racism,” research supported the conclusion that when people relate human-to-human, there is no room for racism. Mona inspires artists and is inspired by them in her work as a professional art model. She expresses her deep love for music through singing jazz standards, playing piano, and dancing to music that moves her. Mona’s deepest desire is for the eradication of all -isms. Her life quest is a commitment to the power of truth, transparency, and authenticity.

  • Facilitator: Cindy Lou Who
  • Musician: Aviva and the Flying Penguins
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June 30, 2019 – Loretta Ross

Calling In the Calling Out Culture: Dealing with Fears of Inclusion and Erasure

Loretta Ross is a Visiting Associate Professor in Women’s Studies at various colleges teaching courses on “White Supremacy in the Age of Trump” and “Reproductive Justice Praxis”. She started her career in activism and social change in the 1970s, working at the National Football League Players’ Association, the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the National Organization for Women (NOW), 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, until retiring as an organizer in 2012 to teach about activism. Her passion transforms anger into social justice to change the world.

Her most recent books are Reproductive Justice: An Introduction co-written with Rickie Solinger, and Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique, both published in 2017. Her forthcoming book is Calling In the Calling Out Culture: Detoxing Our Movement due out in 2019.

She has appeared on CNN, BET, “Lead Story,” “Good Morning America,” “The Donahue Show,” the National Geographic Channel, and “The Charlie Rose Show.” She has been quoted in the New York Times, Time Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, among others.

Her activism began as a rape and incest survivor as a teen mother. She graduated college at age 55. She is from San Antonio, TX and lives in Atlanta, GA. She is a mother and grandmother, and an avid pinochle player. Her dream is to see Venus and Serena Williams play tennis in person.

  • Facilitator: M. Charlene Ball
  • Musician: Mick Kinney

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June 23, 2019 – Dr. Althea Natalga Sumpter

Juneteenth: A Long Time to Freedom

June 19, 1865: Union troops land at Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery. Two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is put into effect on January 1, 1863, those still held in slavery begin their search for the meaning of freedom. Celebrations gradually gain momentum out of Texas and spread around the country —to become recognized by those of African descent as Juneteenth Independence Day.

Dr. Althea Sumpter is a researcher and scholar who uses her expertise as an ethnographer to document cultures and preserve the Southern story of the United States. With her native Gullah Geechee culture as a prototype collecting the oral histories of elders, she teaches ways to research the cultural history within a community, then how to use documentation technology to memorialize and preserve the stories of a community for future generations. She presents talks and workshops on documenting cultural history for others wanting to preserve stories in their own community or the cultural story of a family. Her research and work can be viewed at altheasumpter.com.

  • Facilitator: Robert Stewart
  • Musician: Dr. Jean Heinrich

Juneteenth Atlanta Events

Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival: June 14-16, 2019

http://www.juneteenthatl.com/

Juneteenth Celebration at Atlanta History Center: June 15-16, 2019

https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/programs/juneteenth-6

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June 16, 2019 – Anthony Knight

“I Love You, Buddy: A Father and Son’s Complicated Journey to Peace”

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.

Anthony Knight, June 16, 2019, Joined in Progress
  • Facilitator: D. Patton White
  • Musician: William Chelton
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June 9, 2019 – Rev. Angela Denise Davis

“Things I’ve Learned from Podcasting”

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 also 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.

  • Facilitator: Libby Ware
  • Musician: Alan Dynin
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June 2, 2019 – Clara King

“HOW TO KEEP YOUTH OUT OF PRISON”

Clara King is a criminal defense attorney, author, crime-prevention lecturer, and founder/president of Watchdogs For Justice (WFJ). WFJ was established in 2003 by a group of criminal defense attorneys who were appalled by the number of young people entering the criminal justice system. 

The current WFJ Team consists of attorneys and juvenile advocates who conduct interactive seminars, workshops, and mock trials throughout the United States. The emphasis is on “keeping Kids out of Prison”.

The WFJ Team has written four crime-prevention books to provide tips for young people, their parents, and concerned citizens on how to stay out of the system and make it back home alive.

  • Facilitator: Rev. Marsha Mitchiner
  • Musician: Aviva and the Flying Penguins
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May 26, 2019 – Dr. Robert Baker

“African-American Veterans of the Civil War and National Memory”

Robert Baker teaches history at Georgia State University. His work often involves an emphasis on the Constitution, laws, and how citizens behave in the context of moral conflict or ambiguity.

He is the author of Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution and The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War.

  • Facilitator: Robert Stewart
  • Musician: Jean Heinrich
  • Special Music: Paula Larke
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May 19, 2019 – Rev. Connie Tuttle

“Finding Your Prophetic Voice”

Connie Tuttle is the pastor of Circle of Grace, a small, progressive, ecumenical, feminist, Christian house church in Atlanta, Georgia. After seminary and before founding the church with a group of spiritual renegades, she directed the Atlanta Hunger Walk and later worked with the Southern Prisoners’ Defense Committee. She is committed to social justice and has a passion for cooking and providing hospitality. Her memoir, A Gracious Heresy: The Queer Calling of an Unlikely Prophet was published in July, 2018.

Rev. Connie Tuttle (joined in progress)
  • Facilitator: D. Patton White
  • Musician: William Chelton

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May 12, 2019 – Dr. Toni Rossi

“What is the Meaning of Mother’s Day?”

Dr. Toni L. Rossi is a Board Certified Internist who completed her training at Emory University after receiving her medical degree from the Ohio State University College of medicine in 1979. For 25 years, Dr. Rossi has practiced private medicine in the Atlanta area.

Dr. Rossi is a certified HIV specialist who served on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Research Consortium for AIDs (ARCA). Dr. Rossi also served on the Board of Directors for the physicians Association for AIDS Care.

In 2001, Dr. Rossi received the Dennie Doucher Healing Angel Award from the Atlanta Lesbian Cancer Initiative (ALCI). This award is given each year to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the health and well-being of lesbians living with cancer in Atlanta’s women’s community.

Dr. Rossi is the proud parent of triplets: Scott, Skylar, and Morgan.

  • Facilitator: Carla DeRosa
  • Musician: Kathy McGuire