“You Know What You Need To Do” – the ends and outs of funeral pre-planning

First Unitarian Universalist Church 5200 Fannin St., Houston, TX, United States

"You Know What You Need To Do" - the ends and outs of funeral pre-planning with Leslie Bonnie of Dignity Memorial Providers of Houston. She has been a funeral director and now works as a pre-planning advisor. We know we need to do it but often put it off. Leslie Bonnie of Dignity Memorial Providers of Houston. has been a funeral director and now works as a pre-planning advisor. Planning the funeral of a loved one is a stressful and emotional time, it can also be costly. You may be surprised by the issues involved, including pre-planning your own burial. Join us for this very informative program as Ms. Bonnie guides us through the steps involved.

Free

The Centennial of Women’s Suffrage

First Unitarian Universalist Church 5200 Fannin St., Houston, TX, United States

Political analyst and University of Houston Women in Politics professor Nancy Sims will present on The Centennial of Women’s Suffrage - Join us to celebrate Women’s Equality by learning about the unsung women of America’s Suffragist Movement. Nancy Sims will share the untold stories of sheroes who made a difference through sheer grit, determination and teamwork. We start a year-long celebration of the certification of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which took place 100 years ago on August 26, 1920.

Free

Art in the Space of Social and Political Advocacy

University of Houston Student Center Theater 4455 University Drive, Houston

The Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH) in collaboration with University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work Invite you to attend an engagement showcasing the artwork of socially relevant/conscious Houston artists: Patrick McGrath Muniz, Jessica Gonzalez, David McGee, Monica Villarreal and Kay Sarver.

Free

An Evening with Social Activist and Best-selling Author Patrisse Marie Cullors

University of Houston Student Center Theater 4455 University Drive, Houston

The Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH) in collaboration with University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work invite you to attend a day of perspective with Patrisse Marie Cullors.

Patrisse Cullors is an artist, organizer, educator, public speaker, social activist, New York Times best-selling author, and co-creator of the viral Twitter hashtag and movement, #BlackLivesMatter. A Los Angeles native, she is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and founder of grassroots, Los Angeles based organization Dignity and Power Now.

Free

Houston’s Air Quality Challenges & What You Can Do

In September, Bakeyah Nelson, Executive Director of Air Alliance Houston, will discuss air quality issues in Houston & how you can take action.  Air Alliance Houston believes that everyone has a right to breathe clean air. They conduct applied research, provide education, and engage in advocacy to accomplish their mission. Learn how, by working together, we can deliver cleaner air for a healthier future!

Free

2019 Houston Youth Voters Conference

UHD 1 Main St, Houston

The Houston Youth Voters Conference is a summit dedicated to the empowerment of Houston
youth as it concerns four pillars of civic engagement: voter registration, voter turnout, non-
partisan dialogue, and volunteering.

This event will celebrate our right and privilege as youth to participate in our democracy and
effect change in our communities. It will feature speakers, policy discussions, and opportunities
to meet other-like minded youth. We will get registered/pledged to vote together, and come up
with actionable ways to get civically engaged as a united Houston youth front!

Free

Coming Wars with Venezuela, Iran, Russia and China

Houston Mennonite Church 1231 Wirt Rd., Houston, TX, United States

Dan Kovalik is a human rights and labor lawyer, and his new book makes the case that the Trump/Russia scandal is a dangerous diversion that leads some progressives to agitate for war with Russia. Kovalik's book offers history and context for the current scene and the "blame Russia" memes promoted by  the media, based on anonymous leaks and unseen intelligence. From Vietnam to Iran/Contra, the Iraq war and intervention in Libya, false intelligence and spin have been used to justify illegal actions.

Free

Peace & Wellness Retreat

The Council on Recovery 303 Jackson Hill St #1,, Houston

Holistic wellness retreat focuses on Nutrition, yoga, mindfulness and sustainability. Lecture presentations, break-out sessions, cooking demo, and plant based lunch are included in this full day retreat.

$20

The Ecological Crisis & The Response of Faith

1st Unitarian Universalist Church & online 5200 Fannin St., Houston

The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston invites people of all faiths to learn about our present ecological crisis and consider how our faiths can enable us to respond. What is our present ecological crisis? What specific issues are central? Using the United Nations’ Global Environmental Outlook, issued earlier this year, the speaker will address these questions. All attendees, of all faiths, will then engage in facilitated discussions of how our faiths both inform and enable our response to this crisis, through both personal and collective action and advocacy.

Free

Conversation & Book Signing with Joel Edward Goza

Dominican Center for Spirituality 6501 Almeda Rd, Houston

Please join The Dominican Sister of Houston for a conversation with Joel Edward Goza author of America’s Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics.

Free

Be Bold Be Heard- Learn to Make Democracy Work

Westchester Academy 901 Yorkchester Dr, Houston

This is a 'lunch and learn' talk by a visiting activist from India. Jayaram Venkatesan heads a citizens movement in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which aims to create a just and equitable society. He and his team have led campaigns against corruption, for restoration of waterbodies, for improving quality of public health system, and for raising awareness about people's civic rights and responsibilities.

Free

The Earth Charter & Lutheran Social Statements

Live Oak Friends Meeting House & online 1320 W 26th St, Houston

Join Lisa Brenskelle, head of the Lutherans Restoring Creation Team for the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), for a talk on the Earth Charter.  The ELCA voted to endorse the Earth Charter at its national assembly in August. The Earth Charter, while a completely secular document, is an ethical framework for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful society. As such, it’s precepts have much in common with Christian social teaching, and indeed, with the social teaching of many faiths. This first half of this talk will cover the Earth Charter, its origins & principles, as well as materials available from the Earth Charter Initiative. The second half of the talk will explain the relationship between Earth Charter principles & Christian social teaching, using the social statements of the ELCA as a basis

Free

“Did They Really Just Say That?”

Center for the Healing of Racism 3412 Crawford Street, Houston, TX, United States

Have you ever wondered how to respond to that totally inappropriate racial, ethnic or homophobic slur uttered by Aunt So-and-So or Mr. Whatchamacallit when you least expect it?  You gasp; you cringe.  But what do you say and how do you say it?

 
Please join the Center for the Healing of Racism for "Did They Really Just Say That?", a dialogue with a panel of veteran Center members about how to respond to racist comments made by friends, families and co-workers.

Free. Donations appreciated

From Jamestown, Ghana to Jamestown Colony and Back

Center for the Healing of Racism 3412 Crawford Street, Houston, TX

Please join us for a panel discussion and dialogue about the continuing impact of slavery. Center member Barbara Paige will share her reflections on her family’s 2019 Year of Return trip to Ghana in memory of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the Jamestown Colony. Panelists will connect the dots between practices developed to sustain slavery and continuing inequities in our current economic, healthcare, and criminal justice systems.

Free

ROTHKO CHAPEL AND TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY CELEBRATE MLK BIRTHDAY WITH ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PROGRAM

Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, Texas Southern University 3401 Cleburne Street, Houston

Rothko Chapel and the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University (TSU) will partner for a program to explore the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement on environmental justice. The program, “Actions of Change: From the Civil Rights Movement to the Struggle for Environmental Justice,” is set for Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at 6 p.m. on what would have been Dr. King’s 91st birthday. Dr. Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at TSU, also known to many as the “father of environmental justice,” will give a keynote address then join in conversation with Yvette Arellano, senior staff, Policy Research & Grassroots Advocate for Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (t.e.j.a.s), and Bridgette Murray, founder of Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS). Dr. Richard McKinley Mizelle, Jr., associate professor of History at University of Houston, will moderate the discussion exploring the evolution of the environmental justice movement, continued environmental challenges and inequities faced by vulnerable and frontline communities, and actions being taken to improve the health of the region.

Free

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof

Congregation Emanu El 1500 Sunset Blvd, Houston

Nicholas Kristof and spouse and co-author Sheryl WuDunn discuss their new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for hope. Solutions to the crisis in working class America.

$150

EAT Lancet Commission on Food, Planet & Health: Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems

Stephen Long, a public health physician, will discuss the EAT Lancet Commission on Food, Planet & Health: Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems report at Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church in Houston on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 9:45 a.m. This study, compiled by 37 scientists and other experts from 16 countries, aims to establish a global food economy that could combat chronic diseases in wealthy nations like ours and provide better nutrition for poor ones, all without destroying the planet.

Free

United We Win – Collaborating to Solve Houston’s Toughest Environmental Challenges

Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church in Houston invites you to a monthly environmental education web meeting series. In January, Jaime Gonzalez, Houston Urban Conservation Programs Manager for The Nature Conservancy, will highlight a variety of local environmental issues, and how local people/organizations are coming together to address them. He will explain tools used for environmental action mapping that make collective action more effective.

Free