“Small Gestures – Big Rewards. Atlanta Transit Angels’ work helping asylum seekers along their rocky path to safety.”

Grace Hawkins, Grandmothers for Peace, will speak about the “Overground Railroad” now called “Atlanta Transit Angels,” a group that goes to bus stations to meet migrants and give them necessities like blankets, baby diapers, children’s clothing. Some of the Grandmothers are going to the border to meet migrants, and Grace may tell us about that.

• Facilitator: Lorraine Fontana
• Musician: Mick Kinney

“Glimpses of Glory”

Rev. Chris Glaser has devoted his life to the reconciliation of the LGBT and religious communities. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he has authored 12 books and, since 2011, has written a free weekly blog for progressive Christians, Christians who recognize the value of every faith and no faith, as well as the need for science and political involvement. His free weekly blog can be found at: http://chrisglaser.blogspot.com.

• Facilitator: D. Patton White
• Musician: William Chelton

Neoliberalism and the Unraveling of Democracy and the Social Contract

Dr. Marian Meyers is a professor in the Department of Communication and an affiliate of the Institute of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University. Her research interests include the media’s portrayal of women and other socially marginalized groups from an intersectional perspective that views race, class, gender and other markers of social identity as inextricably interconnected. She has published articles or books on topics ranging from the status of women in higher education, the portrayal of women in the media, and how African American women journalists cover the news. Her most recent scholarly interest is neoliberalism, the effects of neoliberal ideology on democracy, and the dissemination of neoliberal beliefs through mainstream media. Her most recent book, due out in February with Routledge, is Neoliberalism and the Media. It explores how the media are complicit in promoting and naturalizing neoliberal ideology.

• Facilitator: Barbara Van-Helsdingen
• Musician: Jean Heinrich

“Watch Night:  Waiting for Freedom”

“On December 31, 1862, many enslaved waited in praise houses and churches on the Sea Islands to hear if the Emancipation Proclamation would become real. The first day of 1863 became the first day of freedom for many forced into bondage throughout the Southern states. The New Year’s Eve Watch Night service has been celebrated ever since that day to commemorate the end of slavery.”

Althea Sumpter is a researcher/scholar who uses her expertise as an ethnographer to document cultures and preserve the Southern story of the United States. Using as a prototype the oral histories she has collected from Gullah Geechee elders in her own culture, she teaches ways to research the cultural history within a community, along with methods to use documentation technology to memorialize and preserve those stories for future generations. She holds a Doctor of Arts in Humanities degree (African/African American Studies and New Media Technology) from Clark Atlanta University, as well as Bachelor and Master of Media Arts degrees from the University of South Carolina.

With extensive experience in the media production industry and an Emmy-nomination, Sumpter has taught digital media production and scriptwriting at Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University and The Art Institute of Atlanta. She is a member and past chair of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, created by Congress in 2006. Her research and her work can be viewed at altheasumpter.com.

Facilitator:  Libby Ware

Musician:  Kathy McGuire

“Holiday Thoughts – Little Women and Why It Matters”: 

“One of the most famous holiday lines in a novel may be this one, ‘Christmas won’t be Christmas without any present,’ grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

In this 150th anniversary year of the publication of what has been described as equal parts thinly disguised family memoir, complex social chronicle, and young adult novel. we will look at its American Christmas holiday messages, what is said and still says about growing up female– and whether it will survive the 21st century as a popular classic book.”

Marti still ranks Little Women among her favorite books, and arguably her first favorite book, has seen most if not all of the film adaptations, and is eagerly awaiting Greta Gerwig’s much anticipated remake with Meryl Streep, Saoirse Roman, and Timothee Chlamet, scheduled for a Christmas 2019 release.

Marti Keller graduated from David Starr Jordan Junior High in Palo Alto, California, and went on to degrees in journalism and theology. This is her 20th year as a Unitarian Universalist parish and social justice minister. She is the consulting minister for the UU Fellowship of Auburn, Alabama and the minister with the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation for whom she carries the gender equity and justice portfolio. She is a published poet and creative non-fiction author, and the project director for Decatur Haiku, a year of focus on this Japanese micro verse form.

Facilitator:  Jan Lister

Musician:  Alan Dynin

“Light in the Darkness:  A Meditation on Winter Holidays” 

Kim is a graduate of Candler School of Theology (Emory University) and Berry College, and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Prior to Saint Mark, they have served as a hospital chaplain and 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. Outside of their formal employment Kim serves as chair of the Spiritual Leaders Committee for the Transgender Health and Education Alliance (THEA), and is a member of the Atlanta Coalition of LGBTQ youth.

Facilitator:  Rev. Marsha Mitchiner

Musician:  Alan Dynin

“Power, American History, and Black Bodies”

Facilitator:  D. Patton White

Musician:  Aviva and the Flying Penguins