Session Details Tue. May 10, 7-9 p.m. ET & Mon. June 6, 7-9 p.m. ET Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey Anne Klaeysen, Ethical Culture Leader Emerita Dr. Jennifer Harvey is a writer, speaker, and professor of religion and ethics at Drake University whose work focuses on racial […]
I’ve gotten a good amount of feedback on last week’s blog message which ended with a call to “cut off the blood supply” of structural racism by personally taking steps to demand accountability from the institutions that support it. I wrote: A good place to start is with your local police department. The police are […]
A friend and I had a frank phone conversation last week. She’d read the AEU’s statement on George Floyd and the Aftermath and my blog message and offered the feedback that they were not strong enough. I agree with her. And I appreciate her direct communication and her expectation that I (and we) have the capacity do better. The […]
Some deaths are especially personal. Recently the Ethical Movement lost one of its own longtime members, Bob Gordon, who succumbed to cancer on May 2 of this year. Bob’s son, Gregg, sent in a beautiful obituary the family put together which I urge you to read. Bob led a rich and colorful life: he flew planes for […]
After 4 or 5 hours of struggle I abandoned my Memorial Day blog post. In the end the topic was too big and the space too small for my capacities. I was going for a unifying statement, one that tapped into the grieving over painful losses and the yearning for positive connection. But the words […]
Sunday’s Zoom crash got me thinking quite a lot about vulnerability and frustration. I always look forward to Sunday platform meetings and was especially looking forward to yesterday’s meeting with the Ethical Culture Society of Westchester, my home Society, because, being Founders’ Day, there was an opportunity to wear both clergy leader and executive director […]
Thank you to all who have contributed to the American Ethical Union’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign! We raised almost $4600 and will be sending checks out to the Coronavirus Care Fund, No Kid Hungry, and the National Revolving Bail Fund. Given the level of economic upheaval we are facing, I do encourage looking into ways to support […]
One of the pleasures of being the executive director for the American Ethical Union is that I can visit the member Societies on a pretty regular basis. And ironically, during the coronavirus outbreak, I’ve actually had more visits to more Societies then I typically get to have. It’s been interesting to me to see how […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about the American Ethical Union’s participation with GivingTuesdayNow. In my efforts to understand how it’s supposed to work I went to the GivingTuesday website to see what the organizers were intending. They described the campaign as “a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their […]
My wife’s grandmother was fond of saying “you get used to hanging, too.” Perhaps that is what is happening for me. I can’t say that I am in active distress as I hunker down in my home and keep away from public spaces. I’m an introvert and do most of my work from home, anyway, […]