The Racial Justice Advocates (RJA) of the First Parish Church invites everyone to two James Baldwin Summer events: a Zoom screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” on Thursday, Sept. 9 from 7–9 p.m. and a discussion of Baldwin’s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, on Thursday, Sept. 16 from 7–9 p.m. The Oscar-nominated film, based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript Remember This House, explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin’s recollections of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. The novel, based on Baldwin’s experiences as a teenaged preacher in a small revivalist church, describes two days and a long night in the life of the Grimes family.
The Zoom link can be found on the First Parish in Lincoln’s RJA web page.
The Racial Justice Advocates (RJA) of the First Parish Church invites everyone to two James Baldwin Summer events: a Zoom screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” on Thursday, Sept. 9 from 7–9 p.m. and a discussion of Baldwin’s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, on Thursday, Sept. 16 from 7–9 p.m. The Oscar-nominated film, based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript Remember This House, explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin’s recollections of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. The novel, based on Baldwin’s experiences as a teenaged preacher in a small revivalist church, describes two days and a long night in the life of the Grimes family.
The Zoom link can be found on the First Parish in Lincoln’s RJA web page.
Residents are invited to a watch party with Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. After the video presentation, there will be a live community conversation on diversity, equity and inclusion led by former State Rep. Byron Rushing and Salem State University professor Roopika Risam. All are invited to participate in the discussion (you need not have read the book in advance). Click here to register. Presented by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Massachusetts Center for the Book, and public libraries across the state in recognition of the National Book Festival.
Every journey begins with a single step, or in Anders Morley’s case, the shush of cross-country skis. Morley will discuss his book, This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter, on Monday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The book offers insightful glimpses into life at the edge of the great northern wilderness, the history of cold-weather exploration and Nordic skiing, the right-to-roam movement, winter ecology, and more. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library For Zoom invitation please, email lrothenberg@minlib.net.
Henry David Thoreau’s writing is filled with sense observations and perceptions of the natural world and philosophical perceptions of society. How can the natural world awaken our powers of observation? How can our social lives? Art forms? Why is close observation of all important? During this Lyceum, joined by scholars and artists in various mediums, we will discuss the connection between perception, the natural world, art, and society. Presented by the Walden Woods Society. Click here for more information and registration.
Ray Anthony Shepard — educator, writer and First Parish in Lincoln member — will speak via Zoom on “How Do We Talk About Race in a Time of Critical Race Theory Pushback?” on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. Following his talk, he’ll participate in a wide-ranging discussion of his work as historian and interpreter of African-American experiences in his award-winning 2017 Now or Never! 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery and his 2021 poetic retelling for young readers of the story of a woman enslaved by the Washington family in Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge. “I write for readers who understand the universal need for fairness” and “to tell a fuller story of our country’s history,” Ray explains on his web page.
The session will also provide room for reflection on themes related to Ray’s work, as they appear in the film Harriet and in books included in our suggested-reading syllabus: Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s Never Caught: The Washington’s’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge; biographies of Harriet Tubman by Kate Clifford Larson and others; William Still’s The Underground Railroad Records; and fictional recreations of the experience of fugitives from bondage by Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
To get the link to this Zoom meeting, go to fplincoln.org/calendar and click on October 21 and Ray’s talk. Hosted by FPL’s Racial Justice Journey Steering Committee.
“It’s Not ‘THE Talk,’ It’s an Ongoing Conversation: Talking with Youth about Friendships and Relationships” is the title of an online conversation with Molly Pistrang-Gomes from the REACH Beyond Domestic Violence’s prevention team hosted by the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable on Tuesday, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. She will talk about how to engage youth in age-appropriate discussions about relationships as young people interact with friends, family members, teachers, classmates, teammates, dating partners, coworkers, people online, etc. She’ll explore the importance of discussing and modeling boundaries, holding each other accountable with compassion, combatting gender norms and stereotypes, and practicing healthy communication. To get the link, go to the Roundtable’s website at www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org to register for the program. Email infodvrt@gmail.com with questions.
On Tuesday, Dec. 7 from 9–11 a.m., the regional group MAGIC the (Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination) will host the second part of a two-part series on racial justice and municipal governance. This event is open to the public. Register in advance for this meeting using this link. The workshop for MAGIC communities with Dr. Raul Fernandez focuses on examining municipal policies related to housing, transportation, governance, and finance through a racial justice lens. Participants will learn how racial justice intersects with these issues and will develop a firm understanding of their responsibility as municipal leaders to center communities of color in their policymaking.
“Navigating White Supremacy Culture in the Outdoors and Institutions” will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. via Zoom when Mardi Fuller will take us on a journey through her life of adventures as a Black outdoorswoman who has grown in her liberation-focused identity. She’ll discuss barriers marginalized people face in accessing the outdoors and how exclusion, a form of oppression, is detrimental to all people. Her writing and accomplishments have appeared in Outside magazine, the BBC, Melanin Basecamp, and NRDC.org.
This event is the next in the fall “On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” speaker series sponsored by the Walden Woods Project, Mass Audubon, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Farrington Nature Linc, the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, and The Food Project. Learn more and register at www.onbelongingoutdoors.org.
On Friday, Dec. 10 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., the Council on Aging & Human Services will host an open house for everyone at Bemis Hall featuring Ken Hurd playing the Bemis piano, cookies and refreshments, and surprise crafts. Also on hand will be Town Administrator Tim Higgins, Select Board Member Jennifer Glass, Town Nurse Trish McGean, and the COA&HS staff.
How did Boston’s western suburbs become the largely white and affluent communities they are today? Lily Geismer, Associate Professor of History at Claremont McKenna College, examines the results of post-war federal policies and local suburbanization and their impacts on race and class in residential patterns in Lincoln and surrounding towns. Geismer is author of Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party and Left Behind: The Democrats’ Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality. Elise Lemire, author of Black Walden, writes in the introduction to Don’t Blame Us: “This is local history at its finest, both particular in its questions and far reaching with its answers. I will never see my hometown of Lincoln, Massachusetts, in quite the same way again.”
Co-sponsored by First Parish Lincoln’s Racial Justice Advocates, Lincoln WIDE (Welcome, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity), an organization of Lincoln residents, and the Lincoln Historical Society. Click here for the Zoom link (meeting ID: 943 6533 7243, passcode: 392036)
“If I Had Known Then What I Know Now” will be presented via Zoom by the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. Loved ones of domestic violence survivors will talk about the signs they missed, the knowledge they lacked, and what they’ve leaned that helps the better recognize signs of abuse in relationships today. Click here to register.
Harvard ornithologist Scott Edwards will discuss “Bicycling, Birding and #BLM Across America in a Summer of Chaos” on Wednesday, March 2 at 7 p.m. The talk is part of the “On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” speaker series on access, inclusion, & connection in nature (spring 2022 funding provided by the Ogden Codman Trust). Discussing his 76-day, 3,800-mile bicycle trek across the U.S. with “Black Lives Matter” signs affixed to his bicycle, Scott will reflect on the people, landscapes, and birds he encountered and convey the challenges, generosity, and hope that inspired and surprised him throughout his journey. Click here to register and receive the meeting link.
See a screening of a TED Talk by Heather McGhee as well as an interview by Laura Flanders with McGhee discussing The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. on Zoom, sponsored by the First Parish in Lincoln’s Racial Justice Advocates. In her book, interview, and TED Talk, McGhee shows not only the cost of racism for everyone — not just people of color — but also offers us a road map for a better future for all. An expert in economic and social policy, McGhee has been applauded for her remarkable data-driven research and her thoughtful interviews with a variety of people and experts. Click here for the Zoom link (passcode: 034126).
The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable presents “Transforming the Culture of ‘Power Over’: Compassionate Accountability” on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The virtual event will help participants make key distinctions among safe relationship cycles and the dynamics that occur within relationships based on abusive values of dominance and superiority. It’s presented by the Roundtable’s White Ribbon Group and follows its successful event in March 2021, “A Call to Families: Discussing Healthy Masculinity with Young People.” Speakers will be JAC Patrissi, Jason Patrissi, and Regi Wingo of Growing a New Heart, an organization that aims to facilitate respectful and ethical power relationships and communications in families, workplaces, and communities. Click here to register.
Dr. Thea James, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Boston Medical Center/BU School of Medicine, will discuss “Race & Health Equity in Boston: How We Can Achieve Healthy Communities for All” on Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Questions she’ll address include: How did health inequities in Boston arise, and how have they persisted? What are the links with challenges in housing, economic development, and other social issues? How can communities in Greater Boston create effective partnerships to build healthy communities? Hosted by the FPL Racial Justice Advocates and Outreach Committee; cosponsored by the Lincoln Public Library, Lincoln WIDE, and the Lincoln Council on Aging and Human Resources. Click here to register.
Glynn Lloyd
“Redressing Injustices of the Past: Building Wealth in Communities of Color” is the title of a Zoom talk by Glynn Lloyd, Executive Director, Foundation for Business Equity on Thursday, March 24 at 7 p.m. Income inequality and financial insecurity are foundational to structural racism. The Federal Reserve cites the median net worth of a White family as $171,000 compared to $17,600 for a Black family. How are banks and financial institutions making amends for the redlining practices of the past? To what extent do lending barriers still exist for Black and Brown families and businesses? A pioneer in the field of transformative urban economic development, Lloyd helped found the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and most recently the Coalition for an Equitable Economy.
Hosted by the First Parish in Lincoln Racial Justice Advocates and co-sponsored by the Lincoln Public Library and Lincoln WIDE. Click here to register.
Staci Rubin, Vice President, Environmental Justice at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), will give a talk titled “Environmental Justice is Racial Justice: Centering Equity in the Climate Movement of our Region” with on Thursday, March 31 at 7 p.m. Introduction by Lincoln resident Andy Falender, Senior Advisor at CLF. Click here to register for this virtual meeting. Sponsored by The First Parish in Lincoln and the Conservation Law Foundation. Cosponsors include Lincoln Public Library, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Lincoln WIDE, Mothers Out Front Lincoln, 350 Mass MetroWest Node, St. Anne’s Climate Justice Ministry, and MetroWest Climate Solutions.
The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable will host a conversation about the book and TV series Maid on Tuesday, April 5 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. In addition to being one of the most popular shows on Netflix, Maid is also a best-seller written by Stephanie Land about her experiences as a single mother and housecleaner after fleeing an abusive relationship. The discussion will focus on the portrayal of domestic abuse and a survivor’s journey after leaving their relationship.
Reading the book or watching the series is recommended but not required to attend. Copies of Maid are available at the Lincoln Public Library as well as Wayland and Goodnow libraries. The books were donated by the Roundtable in memory of Nalini Goyal, a Roundtable member and a founding member of Gifts of Hope Unlimited. The program is free and open to all, but registration is required.
The First Parish Church’s racial justice journey continues on Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. on Zoom with a screening of the award-winning PBS documentary “The Power to Heal.” Central to the struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans is how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country in a matter of months. Before that less than half of U.S. hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South. It raises questions that resonate today: Is healthcare a human right? Must the federal government intervene to ensure equality? Click here for the Zoom link (passcode: 981552).