Description
Sacred Earth: Growing Beloved Community by Bridging Our Divides with Professor john a. powell
When: Tuesday, January 30, 2024 6:00 p.m. PST
Join hosts Bishop Marc Andrus and Dr. Paloma Pavel, featured presenter john a. powell, founder of the Othering and Belonging Institute, and guest musician Melanie DeMore for the Sacred Earth: Growing Beloved Community webcast.
john a. powell spells his name in lowercase in the belief that we should be “part of the universe, not over it, as capitals signify.” Professor powell is an internationally recognized social innovator in the areas of civil rights, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. john is passionately committed to the inner transformation required for deep peacemaking and building bridges across our differences. He is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research and practice institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society, and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world. His renowned conferences draw from such diverse fields as neuroscience, poetry, theatre and movement. OBI now offers free classes with changemakers from around the world to build more just and inclusive communities.
His recent book is entitled Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
john writes: “We’re dealing with three strong separations…One is the separation from ourselves. Another is the separation from the other, or the person we call the other. And the third is separation from the earth…This is actually what Western society has been about…building and celebrating separations. The reality is that we’re not separate. We are deeply connected to each other, but how do we actually learn to celebrate that, to exercise that muscle, to recognize it? We are connected, but how do we actually live that connection? And what we do is we figure all these ways to pretend we’re not connected. Our sexual orientation, our race, our gender, our age, our language, our disability. We use all these things to try to pretend that we’re not connected. And when we pretend we’re not connected, we’re in the process of othering. We’re in the process of denying not only someone’s humanity, but our own humanity, and denying our connectedness.
Our guest musician is three-time Grammy-nominated musician and vocal activist, Melanie DeMore, who states: “Life is for the seeking and sharing of light, joy, and deep love for what moves you.” Melanie has a remarkable voice, weaving the fibers of African American folk music with soulful ballads, spirituals, and her own original music. DeMore has served on the faculty of St. Paul’s School in Oakland and is a founding member of the critically acclaimed vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. Click here to see her amazing performance of “I am Sending You Light.”
Sponsored by The Episcopal Diocese of California and Breakthrough Communities project of Earth House Center, Inc.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Climate Justice and Faith at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, a graduate school of California Lutheran University and member of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. The PLTS Center for Climate Justice and Faith equips leaders to cultivate the moral, spiritual, and practical power to be effective advocates for climate justice. Through certificate programs, community organizing trainings, and a concentration in climate justice and faith for MDiv students, the center has prepared 124 people from 26 countries to address the climate crisis while simultaneously advancing racial and economic justice. Sign up for the monthly newsletter to receive updates on application deadlines and events.
Click here to access the event flyer