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The E-Bulletin Continuously Updated News From First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington, MA

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Good Hair (PG-13) this Sunday - 12 Noon (Bailey room)

"Good Hair" is a hilarious story based on comedian Chris Rock's response to his young daughter's question: "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" Good Hair follows Chris on his quest to answer his young daughter's question. Finding the answer takes him on an international journey to better understand the African American hair “The Thing with Feathers" industry. He also seeks input from various African American celebrities, from Maya Angelou to Eve. This witty documentary probes important Life calls us on in our darkest moments. questions about America's beauty fixation in interesting, entertaining Hope waits for us in the darkness. and deeply insightful ways. Please join us this Sunday and help First Parish support the good work of Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Rev. Olav Nieuwejaar Preaching (BLUU), as we discuss and watch Good Hair together! Ann Mathes will provide an introduction and lead a brief discussion after the film. Sunday, February 10 10 am There will be refreshments and light snacks; feel free to bring your lunch. Free-will offerings support BLUU.

This is part of the RJCC's Celebrate & Learn Series on race, culture and identity. Questions? Contact [email protected].

Stewardship Pledging Off to a Great Start

Last Sunday, First Parish's 2019 Stewardship Campaign kicked off. This pledging effort provides all of us an opportunity to make a commitment to financially support First Clergy and Laity for Affordable Housing invites our Parish during the coming year. Our promises participation to provide funding help our congregational leadership plan and fund our budget Are you concerned about the lack of priorities. About 80% of our funding comes affordable housing in the Greater from pledges, helping us keep the lights on area? and the building heated, pay the salaries of our staff members, and provide the Clergy and Laity for Affordable Housing foundation for our community to continue to (CLAH) is an alliance of congregations and flourish. individuals who seek to address the housing crisis in two ways – hands-on The theme of our campaign this year is "Bringing Us Together," and the work remodeling older buildings and turning beautiful new mosaic in our worship space reminds us that our them into affordable housing, and strategic work with developers, wonderful community is created through the gifts -- large and small -- people in the building trades, and funders to create new housing that of all. The contribution of each and every one of you is needed. does not price out local people with community roots. And good news! You are already generously sprinting toward our goal. CLAH is a project of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, an interfaith As of earlier this week, the Stewardship Campaign had received 59 pledges -- 20% of our participation goal of 300 pledges -- and raised social justice network that First Parish belongs to. $219,000, almost one-third of the way toward our target of $680,000! Here are four ways you can help: Please help us keep on moving forward. Pledging is easy via our on- 1) Help renovate a house in Roxbury any day between February line database, Realm. With Realm you can record and track your 9 and March 23, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. each day. The house is located activity over the year, and generate tax statements. You can even use the Realm phone app to keep up with your pledging! To get the near the Story Brook T stop. The work will include basic restoration app, search for ''Realm Connect” on the iPhone or Android App store work and repairs (e.g., dry wall, painting and plastering, modest and download it for free. carpentry, and yard work) as well as working on code violations. Register here to receive details about the location and plans. Please make your pledge before March 10th, the last day of this year’s campaign, at onrealm.org/FPUU. 2) Participate in the Winter Planning and Potluck Dinner on Sunday, February 10, 5-7 p.m. in the Parlor of the Eliot Church, located at 474 Centre Street in Newton. Come hear about housing renovation plans for the spring and an exciting new venture with the The Spire National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). Please register here. February 2019!

3) Enjoy a fundraiser concert featuring AJ Smooth and celebrating View or download current and past the sounds of gospel, jazz, and Motown, with a special tribute to issues of The Spire. James Ingram – Saturday, March 2, 7:30-11 p.m. at the Hibernian Hall located at 151 Watertown Street in Watertown. Tickets $25 and up are available here.

4) Help purchase essential building materials by sending a check made out to Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, with CLAH on the notes line, to CMM at 474 Centre Street, Newton, MA 02458.

If you have questions about CLAH’s work, feel free to call 617-244- 3650.

To learn more about Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, or sign up for their weekly emails, check out their website here.

Separated and Divorced Group

Sunday February 10, 6:30pm-8:30pm in the Hedge Room

Are you recently (however you define the word) separated or divorced? Lay minister Loren Gomez is leading a two hour gathering to give you a chance to share your stories, to listen to those of others, and to learn from and support each other as you go through this momentous time in your life. The meeting will be organized similarly to the covenant groups, with each having a chance to share your story, as much or as little as you wish in a format of respectful listening; about your specific situation, and the hopes, fears, pain, challenges, growth, and stress that you are experiencing. Please RSVP to Sara Stewardship Month Continues! Join us in the Vestry on Sunday, DeLong at [email protected] February 10 from 6:30-8:30 pm. Parents of middle and high school youth are invited to an evening of community building, yummy food, and messages from Reverend Olaf, Stewardship Committee, Reverend Conversation circles during coffee hour - after each Aisha Ansano (Youth Group Program Coordinator) and Tina Schultz. All Sunday service in February are welcome! Winter Teachers are invited to join members of the RE Committee in Would you like a smaller and quieter alternative to the Damon Room for coffee, muffins and conversation from 9 - 10 a.m.. coffee hour?

Come talk in a small-group Conversation Circle after each Sunday service in February. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CALENDAR:

Sunday, February 10: Class #5. Muffin Breakfast for teachers. 11:45am - 12:30pm (Damon Room) Stewardship dinner for parents of middle and high school youth. Everyone is welcome -- just show up! Regular evening programs. YAC meets at 5 pm. Sunday, February 17: One Room Sunday School, no evening These conversations are sponsored by the STAR adult religious programs education program. Questions? Email [email protected]. Sunday, February 24: One Room Sunday School, COA and youth group meet at their regular times. Meet MA Rep Sean Garballey about Clean Energy and Climate Justice Policy

Monday February 11, from 7-9pm

The Climate Action Working Group (CAWG) at First Parish is sponsoring a pair of meetings with the members of the House of Youth Group Announcements Representatives that represent Arlington, Belmont, and parts of Medford and Cambridge. In Stewardship dinner is happening on Sunday, which means food for these meetings, we are discussing CAWG youth from 6:30-7 in the Vestry! No opening activity at youth group - priorities regarding clean energy and climate get yourself some food and come down to the Bailey at 7 for justice policy and we are hearing from our announcements. Afterwards, we'll jump into worship prep! There will be representatives about their priorities and strategies for progress in the band rehearsal (bring your instruments!), art projects, and Time for All current legislative session. We hosted Rep. David Rogers on January Ages prep. We'll answer questions for our litany, and start thinking 22, and this meeting will be with Rep. Sean Garballey.Questions? about what roles we want to take in the worship. Contact Alan Linov A reminder that we won't have youth group on Sunday, February 17th because of February vacation, but that morning youth group goes to church to hear Meredith preach! Preparing to Hire a Second Minister Aisha Ansano, Youth Program Coordinator, [email protected] The Parish Committee has created a Nominating Team that will guide the process of creating a Second Minister Search Committee. All members will be encouraged to participate in this process, which will start in March and conclude shortly after First Parish’s Annual Meeting on May 19, 2019. In September 2019 all members will be invited to participate in a congregational survey about who we are as a congregation and what we want in a second minister. The results of this survey, combined with other input and information, will inform the job description for the second minister. We hope to welcome a second minister to First Parish in August 2020. Click here to read a timeline outlining the second minister search process. Click here to read about the process of creating a job description for the second minister. Click here for draft minutes from the January 6, 2019, congregational meeting, which include the handouts distributed at that meeting. Lectio Divina Questions? Suggestions? Want to give input? Email [email protected], which currently goes to Lori Kenschaft Tuesdays at 7 am to 8 am in the Parlor and Tom Estabrook, who are leading the Nominating Team. and Thursdays at 8 am to 9 am in the Parlor

Lectio Divina is a method of reading and Upcoming Racial Justice Coordinating Committee listening, lingering with, and sharing personal (RJCC) Events responses to selected biblical texts. Diverse responses to the text provide new insights and help us grow in our spiritual lives and set intentions for our daily lives. Drop​ins are always welcome! Click here to visit the STAR page of the SAVE THESE DATES! web site. Join us for theatre, films and our potluck/dance party this spring!

Ragtime at the Wheelock Family Theatre Saturday, February 9 2019 at 2pm The theatre is a five-minute walk from both the Fenway or Longwood MBTA stops on the Green Riverside line (D train). We will travel as a group from Alewife station, please indicate if you plan to travel independently or with the group when you RSVP.

LIMITED $15 TICKETS: A kaleidoscopic journey of three distinct families at the turn of the 20th century in New York City. This musical is a story of immigration, innovation, and "a dream of what this country could be." Recommended for ages 10+. email to reserve your tickets. (Please advise if the cost of the performance is an obstacle.) The show is estimated to run 2 hours and 45 minutes with a 15 minute intermission, please consider your child's individual attention span for Arlington Food Pantry theatre. More information, including a "performance preview guide for determining individual child appropriateness is available here which Every day, thousands of people in outlines racial slurs used in the production as well as all references to Massachusetts suffer from hunger moments of violence, death, & sex. because they cannot afford adequate food. The Commonwealth has one of “Sit back and relax.” the widest income gaps of any state in Sunday February 10th, Noon to 2:30pm: Good Hair (PG-13) the country, and those on the low- A hilarious story based on Chris Rock's response to his daughter's income side of this gap are experiencing questions: "How come I don't have good hair?" Insightful, entertaining food insecurity at unprecedented and, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African-American hair levels. In 2017, the Arlington Food culture. Pantry is projected to serve roughly 400 families across 6,900 visits. "All love is created equal." First Parish has long been a partner with the food pantry and we Sunday March 10th, Noon to 3pm: Loving (PG-13) welcome your participation in this effort! The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for Donation boxes are by the front door and the office door. Please interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would consider donating: end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision. 2017 Oscar nominee. Cereal; canned fruit and vegetables; jelly and jam; peanut butter; tuna fish and canned meats; meals in a can such as spaghetti, stew, hash, BLUU Potluck/Dance Party ravioli, soup; fruit juices; coffee; tea; pasta; rice; spaghetti sauce; Saturday March 23rd, 6 to 10pm crackers, cookies, and baking mixes; baby food; diapers; soap, body Dance the night away! wash, and shampoo; toothpaste and toothbrushes; toilet tissue; paper Come to our BLUU Potluck/Dance Party featuring Stanley and the towels; and household cleaning products. Please make sure items are Undercovers. Enjoy unexpired and unopened, and avoid glass containers potluck, dance to great 50's, 60's, and 70's rock and roll music, and help First Parish support the good work of Black Lives of Unitarian Visit the Arlington Food Pantry website for more information on Universalism (BLUU)! donating food, to make a monetary donation, and to sign up to volunteer. Get Out (R) Sunday April 7th, Noon to 3pm: "Just because your invited doesn’t mean you’re welcome.” A young African-American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the Giving First Recipient for February -Spare Change weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him News/Homeless Empowerment Project eventually reaches a boiling point. Oscar winner for 2018 Best Original Screenplay. Over the last decade, family has risen by 94 percent in the All are Welcome! Commonwealth. The homeless population Films include brief discussion and light refreshments/snacks of Massachusetts has increased by 14 Questions? Contact [email protected] percent in the last year. This was the highest increase in the country over the last year. The homeless families counted include 7,614 children under 18 according to a recent report from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The report noted that Massachusetts sheltered at least 95 percent of its population experiencing homelessness

Spare Change News is a street founded in 1992 in Boston, for the Greater Boston Area and published out of the editorial offices in Cambridge, through the efforts of the Homeless Empowerment Project, a grassroots organization created to help end homelessness.

The Mission of Homelessness Empowerment Project/Spare Change is to present, by our own example, that homeless and economically disadvantaged people, with the proper resources, empowerment, opportunity, and encouragement are capable of creating change for ourselves in society.

Spare Change provides a locus of stability and community, and serves as a nexus of life transition for its primary customers – the newspaper Clergy and Laity for Affordable Housing invites our vendors. Meanwhile, the publication is devoted to producing quality participation editorial content, which includes journalistic, fiction, creative and opinion writing, illustration, and cartooning. This commitment is meant Are you concerned about the lack of to serve Spare Change's secondary customers, i.e., the readers affordable housing in the Greater Boston themselves. area?

Clergy and Laity for Affordable Housing (CLAH) is an alliance of congregations and individuals who seek to address the housing crisis in two ways – hands-on work ArCS Cluster Expands Services remodeling older buildings and turning them into affordable housing, and strategic work with developers, people in formerly Refugee Concerns Working the building trades, and funders to create new housing that does not Group price out local people with community roots. The ArCS Cluster now supports 18 local CLAH is a project of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, an interfaith asylum seekers through our outreach social justice network that First Parish belongs to. programs! In addition to our hosting program, we have expanded our Here are three ways you can help: services to offer a Passages program focused on providing short-term 1) Help renovate a house in Roxbury any day between February support to refugees not housed by the 9 and March 23, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. each day. The house is located Cluster. near the Story Brook T stop. The work will include basic restoration work and repairs (e.g., dry wall, painting and plastering, modest You can help us continue to deliver life-changing support services carpentry, and yard work) as well as working on code violations. through our entirely volunteer-based network in Arlington, Cambridge Register here to receive details about the location and plans. and Somerville by making a contribution to our fall Giving campaign. Click here to make a donation. Questions about our programs or 2) Enjoy a fundraiser concert featuring AJ Smooth and celebrating interested in volunteering? Visit us online or email us. the sounds of gospel, jazz, and Motown, with a special tribute to James Ingram – Saturday, March 2, 7:30-11 p.m. at the Hibernian Hall located at 151 Watertown Street in Watertown. Tickets $25 and up are available here.

3) Help purchase essential building materials by sending a check made out to Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, with CLAH on the notes line, to CMM at 474 Centre Street, Newton, MA 02458.

If you have questions about CLAH’s work, feel free to call 617-244- 3650.

To learn more about Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, or sign up for their weekly emails, check out their website here.

A Revolution of Being: Opening your Mind and Heart to Who You Really Are Diversity/Inclusion Group Next Meeting - February 19 Then Every Other Tuesday All interested First Parish folks are invited to meetings of the 7pm - 9pm Diversity/Inclusion Group (D/IG). Our mission: to work together to make Homer Room First Parish as welcome and inclusive as we can be and to assist outside efforts with a similar goal. We define diversity to include race, Please come and join others in exploring social class, gender, age, disability/special needs, and LGBT (Lesbian, the foundational guidance of the respected Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender). and well-known American spiritual teacher, Adyashanti. With a Zen Buddhist If you are interested in participating in decisions over upcoming plans, background, his own teachings are free of or if you are able to make a short- or long-term commitment to work any tradition or ideology. He encourages all people to have an on a particular issue, please join us. For more information, contact “unquenchable thirst for truth and love, and a willingness to access diversity @ firstparish.info. Click here to visit the Diversity/Inclusion Group the experience of where you are and what’s happening.” He offers page of the web site. teachings that are free of any tradition or ideology. He says “The Truth I point to is not confined within any religious point of view or doctrine.” He hopes to challenge your conditioning, beliefs, judgments and thoughts in order to embody an open mind and open heart in each First Parish Music Programs person’s everyday relationships. The group is perfect for anyone for Click here for more information on First Parish music programs for youth whom true understanding of who and what you really are might be and adults. meaningful, compelling or consequential. All are welcome. Concerts by First Parish Musicians For further information, please email Lou Fiscarelli. The Musical Connections page on the First Parish website provides information on concerts and events with First Parish musicians participating. Click the above link to check out what First Parish Play Reading Group (STAR Program) Musicians are up to in the weeks ahead -- concerts abound!

February 26 and April 30 from 7-9pm (Grady room) If we've missed your group or concert announcement, send a note via our musical connections form. Get in touch with your inner actor! This winter join us for a rollicking and enlightening evening of play reading! click here to visit the Music pages of the web site.

We will meet the last Tuesday of the month on January 29, February 26 and April 30 from 7-9pm in the Grady room to read together out loud a Stitch & Sew play. Now is your chance to star in a play or be a character actor without memorizing lines or rehearsing. (Wear costumes and makeup if Thursdays, 10:30 am in Pierce you like, but not required!) Join us for a weekly gathering of people to knit, The first play, to be read on Jan 29, will be "The Importance of Being sew, talk, eat lunch and prepare items for the Earnest" by Oscar Wilde. November Harvest Fair. We need ideas for knit, sew or other crafty things to make for the fair. For more information, contact Linda Brown Everyone invited to come or let us know if you can prepare items at home that would be appropriate for the Stitch and Sew Fair table. We meet every Thursday from 10:30 am to 1 pm in Pierce until fair week. Coffee and tea Listen to Past Sermons provided, bring a lunch to join us. Drop in or stay for however long you are free. Contact - stitchandsew @ firstparish.info The web site has been updated and sermons from this fall are now available for listening. Go to firstparish.info/index.php/worship-music/sermons to click on a date and listen to a sermon. Prayer Shawl Ministry

Do you like to knit or crochet? Would you like to provide support to members of the congregation? Participants in the First Parish Come ring our bells! The Handbell Choir welcomes all! Prayer Shawl Ministry knit or crochet prayer shawls for Marta or the Lay Ministers to give to Thursdays, 7-8 pm in the Sanctuary people who could use a “hug with blessings.” If Come ring chimes with us! The handbell you are interested please contact Barbara Tosti choir rehearses in the Sanctuary on at abtosti @ outlook.com. I would be happy to Thursdays at 7 pm for just under an talk with you and/or provide simple prayer hour before choir starts at 8 pm. You shawl patterns. are welcome to join us! We have plenty of chimes (3 octaves) but we could use a few more people to ring them. First Parish Men's Group Reading music is useful, but not required. All ages who can follow instruction and maintain focus for the length of the rehearsal are The First Parish Men's group provides a forum in welcome. There is no requirement to be a member of the choir or any which we help each other with spiritual, other First Parish musical group. We perform at various services emotional, and personal questions and concerns. Discussion themes often interweave questions of throughout the year. New ringers are welcome to join throughout the security, identity, authenticity, and purpose. We church year. Please contact [email protected] for more provide a place where men can share their lived information. experience & hear others in a small-group community.

The First Parish Meditation Groups Welcome You Our structure involves a check-in followed by discussion of issues that emerge. There are no attendance requirements Looking for support for your meditation although continuity benefits everyone. practice? Beginners and experienced meditators welcome. We meet every other week on Sundays from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm. For more information, meeting date, and location please send an email to mensgroup We hold drop-in meditations on Monday @ firstparish.info. evenings, we meet in the Damon room, the door is open at 6 pm and the meditation starts at 6:15 pm and ends at 6:50 pm. For more info, click here to visit the Meditation Group page of the web site.

About Our Minister's Sabbatical

Contact (by email) either Rev. Jeanne Nieuwejaar or Rev. Olav Nieuwejaar

Rev. Marta Flanagan is on Sabbatical until April 16, 2019. Sabbatical leaves are customary and part of a long tradition for Unitarian Universalist clergy.

Our minister's sabbatical will offer extended time for study, travel, reflection, rest, and renewal—all ingredients for effective ministry. Marta will be making pilgrimages to Alabama and Mississippi visiting the sites of turning points in the civil rights movements as well as touring apartheid sites in South Africa. A sabbatical leave is part of the congregation's letter of agreement with Marta who is in her ninth year with us as our settled minister. The congregation will benefit from the sabbatical by Marta returning with new ideas and rekindled energy for ministry. Further, it offers the staff and congregation the opportunity to learn from the vast experience and wisdom offered by her stand-ins in ministry during her sabbatical, co-ministers Jeanne and Olav Nieuwejaar (pronounced "new-e-r").

Jeanne and Olav Nieuwejaar will fill a full-time position as co-ministers during Marta's 3 ½ month sabbatical. Minister Wendy Page will provide emergency pastoral coverage April 1-15. Marta will return to the pulpit on Easter Sunday, April 21.

Jeanne and Olav are the minister emeritus and emerita of Milford, NH where they served for 24 years as co-ministers. They also served in Cambridge, England and at the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock on Long Island and as Co-District Executives for the New Hampshire Vermont District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Jeanne, who served as Director of Religious Education before being called to ministry, is the author of The Gift of Faith: Tending the Spiritual Lives of Children, published in 2002 by Skinner House Books and Fluent in Faith: A Unitarian Universalist Embrace of Religious Language which was released in 2012. Eleven lives... were taken in Pittsburgh by a man intent on killing Jewish people. In the face of any act of anti-Semitism, we stand with our Jewish neighbors. We stand against stereotyping, demonization, and acts of violence. We stand for compassion, understanding, and love.

Participate in Music at First Parish

The Music Committee and Music Director welcomes anyone interested in participating in music this year. There are a multitude of opportunities including the Adult Choir, Children’s Choir, Bell Choir, as well as instrumental groups such as the C-Winds and other ad hoc groups. For more information, visit the music pages of our web site, or email music @ firstparish.info

Sign Up to Bring Sunday Flowers!

► Follow this link to use our online flowers signup form

The flowers that grace our Sanctuary on Sunday mornings are donated by parishioners, often with a special dedication that is printed in the order of service. The Flower Coordinator can assist in ordering an arrangement from our florist, or you may provide one. You can find more information and sign up for a specific Sunday at www.firstparish.info/flowers, and you can email flowers @ firstparish.info to contact the Flower Coordinator. If a date is not listed on the sign-up form it has already been reserved. Please note that we will have special sign-up announcements for Christmas and Easter.

Get Connected/Stay Connected with First Parish

We invite newcomers to First Parish to fill out a Connection Card to receive our weekly email bulletin, give us your contact information, and (if you wish) indicate your interest in various aspects of life in our community. You can find the Connection Cards every Sunday at the visitor's tables -- in the lobby before the service and under the Welcome sign at coffee hour. For those who are not newcomers: You can use Connection Cards to let the church office know about your new address or contact information.

Send recommendations to [email protected]

Want more book recommendations? Click here for a list of books previously featured in this section.

NAACP annual wine tasting & fundraiser this Saturday

Come support our local Mystic Valley Area Branch of the NAACP!

The Branch is hosting a wine tasting fundraiser on Saturday, February 9, 3-7 p.m. at the Winchester Unitarian Society, located at 478 Main Street near Winchester Center. Tickets ($50) will be available at the door.

In addition to wine tasting, this festive gathering will include hors d’oeuvres, dancing, a 50/50 raffle, and a door prize, with entertainment by DJ OHH (Owen Howell). Elegantly chic attire is suggested.

Proceeds will support the after-school programs of the Medford Youth Center YMCA (formerly the Medford Boys & Girls Club) and the Branch’s continued civil rights advocacy in Arlington, Everett, Malden, Medford, Winchester and Woburn.

Dr. Darnisa Amante, educational and racial equity strategist, speaks on February 10

Dr. Amante is the president of the Disruptive Equity Education Project (DEEP), a professional development and strategy organization that challenges educators to rethink their thinking about equity and supports communities striving for real, meaningful change. She teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is deeply committed to the study of culture, innovation, and adult development.

Dr. Amante will offer a program titled “DEEP Dive into Racial Equity: Our Individual and Instutitional Challenge in 2016” on Sunday, February 10, 2-4 p.m. at the Jenks Center, located at 109 Skillings Road in Winchester. The snow date is Sunday, February 24.

This free program is sponsored by the Winchester Multicultural Network and the Winchester Interfaith Council. Learn more here.

Howard Thurman, poet and mystic and mentor to Martin Luther King

Howard Thurman was one of the great spiritual and religious leaders of the 20th century. “Do not ask what the world needs,” he said. “Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because the world needs people who have come alive.”

Thurman was very alive, and people who met him could feel that in his presence. But he also realized that the world needed healing. In 1935 he traveled to India and became the first African-American to talk with Mahatma Gandhi. He brought back a vision of non-violent resistance as both a way of life and a political strategy. He deeply influenced Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who often drew on Thurman’s words and ideas in his own work. Thurman’s landmark book, Jesus and the Disinherited, was the first to claim that Jesus – born in poverty as part of a powerless minority – lived a life that spoke directly to Black Americans.

A new film, “Backs Against the Wall: The Life of Howard Thurman” tells the story of Thurman’s life and his influence on American history, culture, and religion.

Read here about the film. Watch here an 8-minute overview. And look here for upcoming showings on WGBH.

UU Urban Ministry benefit concert February 10 & community reading February 12

Our neighbors at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton are hosting a benefit concert for the UU Urban Ministry, with classical, jazz, rock, and original tunes by a variety of musicians – Sunday, February 10, 3 p.m. at FUUSN (1326 Washington Street in West Newton).

The UU Urban Ministry is itself hosting a community reading series led by Civil Right Movement veteran and Roxbury activist Mimi Jones. The next community reading will feature selections from Dorothy Height’s Open Wide the Freedom Gates and Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s Mis-Education of the Negro on Tuesday, February 12. These moving readings – with audience participation – will be followed by a conversation about the authors’ words, their place in history, and their relevance today.

This free community event will include a hearty reception from 6-7 p.m. with the program from 7-9 p.m. All are welcome! Please preregister here.

Marianne Williamson on “Reparations for Slavery: The Role of Repentance in Politics” – article & February 19 talk

Spiritual lecturer and best-selling author Marianne Williamson is calling for the United States to make genuine amends for slavery, discrimination, and white supremacy by putting $200 billion into a Reparations Plan For African Americans – “an educational, economic and cultural fund to be disbursed over a ten year period by a council of esteemed African American leaders.”

Williamson will speak at the Harvard Divinity School on Tuesday, February 19, 5-8 p.m. in the Sperry Room of Andover Hall, located at 45 Francis Avenue in Cambridge. Register for this event here. Or read her call for repentance and reparations here.

Reparations are not a radical idea; they’re considered a basic tenet of social and political policy throughout the world. Why should America not pay reparations to the descendants of slaves who were brought to America against their will, used as slaves to build the Southern economy into a huge economic force, and then freed into a culture of further violence perpetrated against them? It’s not as though all that’s over now; if anything, the problem has grown within the cells and psyches of every generation since. America will continue to waste money on relatively limited fixes, until we buck up and pay this debt in a real way once and for all. Millions are indeed wasted if the billions we owe here are not paid. A Reparations Plan would provide a massive investment in educational and economic opportunities for African Americans — rendered as payment for a long overdue debt. Until that debt is paid, the cycle of violence that began in the 1600s and continues to this day will continue to haunt our psyche and disrupt our social good. It is time for America to atone for our past in both word and deed, and to heal our weary soul.

Lori Kenschaft on “U.S. Slavery in a Global Context, from the Bible to Today” – March 4

Slavery is one of the (many) topics where Americans tend to think just about the history of the U.S., which means we’re missing most of the picture and the images we have are distorted in important ways. The first Africans arrived in Virginia 400 years ago this summer, in 1619, and slavery is a continuing wound in the soul of our country. But we were far from alone. Only about 2% of captured Africans ended up in the 13 British colonies or the U.S.

This talk will offer a global history of slavery that puts our history in a larger context. How does slavery relate to global patterns of forced labor, race/ethnic/color prejudices, and gender inequality? What was distinctive about slavery in the United States? How did slavery wound other countries differently?

This program will be on Monday, March 4, 7-9 p.m. in the Parlor. It is co-sponsored by the Racial Justice Coordinating Committee and the STAR adult religious education program. Questions? Email [email protected].

Lori Kenschaft has a Ph.D. in American Studies and is the author of Lydia Maria Child: The Quest for Racial Justice and co‑author of Gender Inequality in Our Changing World.

WGBH programming for Black History Month

WGBH’s “World” channel is offering a rich series of programs during Black History Month.

Want to learn about Howard Thurman, John Lewis, Thurgood Marshall, Muhammad Ali, Fannie Lou Hamer, or Sonia Sanchez? Hear a hundred Black men in Baltimore discuss and debate the justice system, Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick and the NFL protests, opportunity, racism, and fatherhood? Learn about African-American art and music? Learn about Black women in medicine or why Medicare was one of the key goals and accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement? Hear about “talking Black” in America or the rise and disappearance of all-black towns?

Click here to learn about these shows and many others!

“The Life (and Death) Stories that Drive Andrea Campbell” – podcast

Andrea Campbell’s twin brother Andre died seven years ago while awaiting trial in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, and she says that has everything to do with how she wound up on the .

Government, Campbell says, needs to share more stories. We often gain greater clarity about how to approach public policy through stories that put a human face on the apparently dry matters of city and state. Campbell leads by example and shares some of her own stories on the February 4th Codcast. Hers is a voice worth hearing.

Overlooked: Obituaries of remarkable black men and women

Gladys Bentley – Scott Joplin – Margaret Garner – Major Taylor – Zelda Wynn Valdes – Alfred Hair – Nina May McKinney – Granville T. Woods – Oscar Micheaux – Mary Ellen Pleasant – Elizabeth Jennings – Philip A. Payton Jr. – Moses Fleetwood Walker

Do you know these names?

Most people don’t, though these African-American women and men were major figures in business, the arts, athletics, technological innovation, and working for justice. Most of them were born in slavery or just a generation removed from it. The New York Times didn’t publish their obituaries when they died – though by rights it should have – and now it is sharing their fascinating stories in its series, Overlooked.

Want to read more?

Check out the previously published Overlooked biographies of Ida B. Wells, Bessie B. Stringfield, Marsha P. Johnson, Elizabeth Keckly, Sissieretta Jones, Edmonia Lewis, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Henrietta Lacks, and Nella Larsen.

These life stories offer wonderful glimpses into the past and into the experiences of African-American people who deserve to be remembered. The Green Book’s Black History – articles, podcast, and 360° video

The film “Green Book” has been both praised as a compelling story about a white man’s racial awakening – a film that can change how white viewers feel too – and panned for not going deeper into the real-life experiences of its black protagonist. One thing people agree about, though, is that the film has raised awareness about difficult travel was even for elite African-Americans when segregation was both legal and customary.

Victor Hugo Green, a Harlem resident and postal worker, started publishing his guide for black motorists in 1936. The last edition was published in 1966, two years after Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act that outlawed racial discrimination in public accommodations. In between, tens of thousands of African-American families relied on the Green Book’s state-by-state listings of where they could sleep, get food, purchase gas or get car repairs, or use a restroom.

Want to learn more?

See great photos from the Green Book and/or listen to a 30-minute podcast by 99% Invisible here.

Read about the Green Book’s history and racial strategies and/or watch a 20-minute virtual reality film “Traveling While Black,” which can also be viewed as a 360° video, here.

Castle of Our Skins fiddlefest & family events – February 9, 21 & 22

Born out of the desire to foster cultural curiosity, Castle of our Skins is a concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music. From classrooms to concert halls, Castle of our Skins invites exploration into Black heritage and culture, spotlighting both unsung and celebrated figures of past and present.

The Celebrity Series of Boston is offering three free performances by Castle of our Skins – a fiddlefest on Saturday, February 9, 1 p.m. at the Community Music Center of Boston, and family events at the Hyde Park Branch Library at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 21, and at the Roslindale Community Center at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 22.

Learn more and RSVP here.

“Keeping Faith: Sisters of Story” – a special theatrical event, February 22-24 Rohina Malik, a Muslim playwright and storyteller, wanted to create a project to demonstrate peace and commonalities between us all. She approached Susan Stone, a Jewish storyteller, and Kim Schultz, a Christian storyteller, with an idea – what if they all told stories from their faith journeys with the goal of bringing people together? Both Kim and Susan jumped at this opportunity and “Keeping Faith: Sisters of Story” was born. They are accompanied by Lucia Thomas on violin, oud, and guitar.

The Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham will present “Keeping Faith: Sisters of Story” on February 22-24. Learn more and get tickets here.

ArtsFuse included Rohina Malik’ recent one-woman drama, “Unveiled,” its list of Best Stage Productions of 2018.

Arlington Reads Together Alan Gratz’s Refugee – events for ages 4 and up throughout March

This best-selling novel is the Arlington Reads Together selection for 2019. Alan Gratz’s Refugee tells the story of three children – a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany, a Cuban girl in 1994, and a Syrian boy in 2015 – who must go on harrowing journeys but never lose hope of finding refuge and safety.

The Robbins and Fox Libraries will host related events for adults, teens, and children age 4+ throughout the month of March. Come discuss the novel in adult-oriented or family-friendly groups – or read picture books about refugees with younger children – or learn about the roots of the Central American refugee crisis – or learn what various groups are doing locally to help refugees and asylum seekers – or see the film “Fire at Sea” – or enjoy a free concert. There’s something for everyone!

See the full schedule of these free events here.

The Robbins and Fox Libraries will also have collection boxes for the Arlington Food Pantry, which is an important resource for asylum seekers in our community. Learn more here about suggested donations, or drop off non-perishable food and household supplies at either branch of the library throughout the month of March – or First Parish any time. 630 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE ♦ ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02476 ♦ 781-648-3799 Copyright 2017 First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington Editor log-in & log-out

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