This is an interactive community event that begins with a conversation between physicians and faith leaders. The conversation will focus on the dehumanization and deprivations of children in immigration detention, that compounds the trauma from the conditions from which they flee and the harrowing journey towards the specter of freedom that follows.
in people of good conscience, physicians and faith leaders bringing visibility to the human rights violations of the 134,000 children detained in 2017 by immigration (we have already exceeded this number for 2018). Come as a volunteer in a caravan of cars filled with relief supplies, including bottled water (no sparkling or flavored), easy open and individual sized fruit, peanut butter, veggies, protein snacks, cereals, crackers, natural juices, bags of dry rice, canned beans/soup, and blankets. We are heading to Ursula CBP detention facility in McAllen, Texas to bear witness to a system that has for too long ignored the basic needs of migrant children in immigration detention.
John Kerry will appear at The Progressive Forum September 29. All attendees will receive a free copy of his memoir, Every Day Is Extra. Kerry was a decorated Vietnam War veteran but returned disillusioned and became a leader of the anti-Vietnam War veterans movement which led him into public life. He is a former five-term U.S. Senator, Democratic presidential candidate, and the 68th Secretary of State.
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to attend an Adult Forum that addresses scripture and science. Lisa Brenskelle & Elmer Ledesma, leaders of the Creation Care Team at Christ the King, will consider: Is there conflict or connection between scripture & science? If there is connection, what connection exists? If a connection exists, then scientific understanding matters for people of faith - but, how can they distinguish good science from “fake news”? Join us for this insightful Adult Forum! Christ the King is located at 2353 Rice Blvd. in Houston. Metro buses 41 and 27 stop nearby. For more information, contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com.
Mahatma Gandhi, apostle of peace and non-violence, demonstrated to the world the effectiveness of non-violent means for bringing about profound social changes and lasting peace.
Mahatma Gandhi Library is pleased to announce the Kick-off event of the yearlong celebration of Gandhi Sesquicentennial (150th birthday) which falls on October 2, 2019!
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to a monthly environmental education web meeting series whose theme in 2018 is Stewardship. In September, we welcome Jordan Fengel, Executive Director of STAR (State of Texas Alliance for Recycling). For nearly 50 years, recycling has been a staple practice throughout many American communities. A recent policy change by the Chinese government in 2017, enacted in 2018, banning many recyclable materials from being imported, has created a conundrum in the recycling industry. The US has relied on China to process our mixed plastic and mixed paper recyclables for the last 20+ years. With China set to eliminate all imports of recyclable materials by 2020, Jordan will discuss what STAR is doing to turn the tide.
The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston invites you to join their team for this year’s Eco-Challenge. This online event offers you the opportunity to care for our common home, the earth, by taking on a challenge in: waste, food, health, transportation, energy, community, nature, water, simplicity, or a custom challenge of your own. Create a new eco-habit over the course of the 3 weeks of the challenge
Day Retreat focused on educating the community on plant based nutrition and mindfulness. The event will feature yoga classes featuring different styles of yoga, introduction to different types of meditation and nutrition talks which discuss the benefits of plant based nutrition. Plant based lunch is included in the price of attending the retreat. The retreat will also feature cooking demonstrations on preparing plant based meals.
Camp Congress for Girls Houston Fall 2018 is a leadership program that introduces girls ages 9 to 15 to politics. Camp begins with a lesson on the structure of our political system. Each girl will choose to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives, the US Senate or for the presidency. She will create her own campaign with a platform, campaign slogan, campaign finance plan, campaign marketing materials and a political ad for YouTube. All campers will register to vote and then vote in an election. Once elected to Congress and sworn in, the newly installed members of Congress will learn how to introduce a bill, debate the merits of the bill, lobby fellow legislators, collaborate with the Executive branch and finally vote on the proposed bill. Camp will culminate with a ceremonial signing of the bill by our Ms. President. Girl Scouts participating in Camp Congress for Girls Houston will earn a Citizen Legacy Badge for participation. All participants will receive Certificate of Completion.
The Jerusalem Conference is a one-day conference on Thursday, October 11 that brings together scholars, ecumenical theologians, and peace-doers around the topic of: Jerusalem: What makes for Peace?
What a year it has been for West Street Recovery. They started with bikes and boats and now have five staff members who rebuild homes, help residents navigate a complex and incredibly difficult recovery, connect families to large rebuild aid groups , and advocate for policies that promote an equitable recovery and create lasting benefit for people of Houston. Their advocacy has gotten them invited to the Texas State Senate to testify on the FEMA Preps program, sent families to DC to testify, and brought the BBC, PBS, and 60 Minutes to Northeast Houston.
Please join them to celebrate their first birthday as an organization with a lovely evening at Finca Tres Robles in 2nd Ward. The night will include a farm tour, dinner including local meat, produce and locally brewed beverages, and stories from the West Street team and some of the people they have worked with.
The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston, a Houston affiliate of the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, invites you to an educational talk on going green for events at houses of worship. Lisa Brenskelle, who has organized a number of green events for her church/Christian denomination, will address her tips & tricks to do so. This talk will cover events of all sizes, from small events for one faith community, to large events for national meetings. Food, waste, transportation/travel, materials, housing, energy use, equipment & more will be included. Learn how to go green for your next event at your house of worship!
Need more incentive to stand up for better treatment in the workplace and worker's rights on a wide range of issues? How about the dismal state of affairs in worker treatment and protections being a major contributing factor to poor health, including public health and safety, and higher health care costs. Discuss how chronic, costly and often serious health conditions (ie: heart disease, diabetes, etc), as well as injuries (esp. auto accidents and workplace related) are exacerbated and made more common as a result of lack of worker protections, lack of paid sick and maternity leave, overwork and poor work/life balance and hostile work environments.
1000 Lights For Peace will take place on Sunday, October 14, 2018 from 5 PM to 8 PM at the Miller Outdoor Theatre.
The most brazenly racist, sexist, anti-working class and authoritarian president in recent decades will be at a Ted Cruz rally at the Toyota Center on Monday, October 22nd. A spirited demonstration against Trump will begin at 6 pm. Please plan to join other Houstonians in giving him the welcome he so richly deserves. This action is being called by Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha (FIEL), Houston Socialist Movement, MORENA Houston-Southwest, Refuse Fascism, Socialist Alternative, Young Communist League, and other organizations (list in formation).
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to the 2018 Harvest Gathering/Creation Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 27. This free event has fun & educational environmental activities for all ages. Adults can attend lectures by experts addressing the latest science on major environmental issues & what action you can take. Kids can enjoy planting in our pollinator garden, games, fun educational activities, and decorating a pumpkin to take home. Exhibits by local environmental nonprofits will offer more opportunities to learn and engage.
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to the 2018 Harvest Gathering/Creation Fall Festival. This free event has fun & educational environmental activities for all ages. Adults can attend lectures by experts addressing the latest science on major environmental issues & what action you can take. Kids can enjoy planting in our pollinator garden, games, fun educational activities, and decorating a pumpkin to take home. Exhibits by local environmental nonprofits will offer more opportunities to learn and engage.
We're Hosting Houston's 2nd Annual Repair Café and We Need You! Saturday, October 27th from 1:00pm - 5:00pm TX/RX Labs @ 205 Roberts Street, 77003 Sign Up to Participate! Recycle/Reuse/Repair Your Stuff! Online at: https://repaircafehouston.eventbrite.com or contact Steve Stelzer at 832.394.9050. A Repair Cafe celebrates fixing through a fun, collaborative, hands-on, fix-n-learn, community event. People bring […]
A Repair Cafe celebrates fixing through a fun, collaborative, hands-on, fix-n-learn, community event. People bring us their broken items for assessment, disassembly and repair. Bring your toolkit and join us to have fun and learn while helping others troubleshoot and fix their broken stuff! Volunteers assess, take apart, and hopefully -- REPAIR.
Join this dialogue to discuss the generation gap, how it influences our perspectives on religion, faith & culture, and how changes from one era to the next impact our future.
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to a monthly environmental education web meeting series. In October, Lisa Brenskelle, head of the church’s Creation Care Team, will speak.
Arik Ascherman has dedicated his life to upholding the Jewish tradition of universal human rights, fighting alongside Palestinians and Israelis alike. After leading “Rabbis For Human Rights” for 21 years, Rabbi Ascherman recently founded “Torat Tzedek-Torah of Justice.”
Rabbi Ascherman will introduce Torat Tzedek and speak about his work to prevent the destruction of Negev Bedouin villages and the villages of Khan Al Akhar and Susya in the West Bank. He will also reflect more broadly on the structure of power in Israel and whether Israel can still be called a democracy.
Nervous about biking in Houston? Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church and Bike Houston invite you to a free Community Bike Safety Course where you’ll gain the confidence to cycle safely around town.
Grace United Church of Christ is hosting a Care Van, providing free immunizations for children up to 18 years of age. Please bring shot records!
This year the walk will again be along the Heights Esplanade Trail on Heights Boulevard, a beautiful setting for a walk of compassion with friends! We invite everyone to participate by registering to walk, making a donation, or volunteering. Your efforts and generosity will help with programs that provide direct relief, promote sustainable agriculture, and provide education and right livelihood opportunities for women.
The 3.1 mile walk will begin at the Houston Zen Center, located at 1605 Heights Blvd, Houston, TX 77008. We will then walk south down Heights Boulevard towards I-10 and turn around to end the walk at the Zen Center. Participants may turn around at any point to return to the Zen Center as needed.
In Conjunction with HPJC's 2018 Peacemaker Awards Dinner, here's your chance to meet the 2018 Peacemaker Awardees!
The United States’ postwar housing policy created the world’s largest middle class. It also set America on two divergent paths—one of imagined wealth, propped up by speculations and endless booms and busts, and the other in systematically defunded, segregated communities, where “the American dream” feels hopelessly out of reach. Some ten years after the last housing collapse and well into a perceived upswing, the election of Donald Trump and urban uprisings in places like Baltimore suggest that there’s a far more fundamental problem with housing policy in America. And we haven’t even begun to ‘recover.’This documentary is a fever dream vision into the dark history behind the US housing economy. Tracking its overtly racist beginnings to its unbridled commoditization, the film exposes a foundational story few Americans understand as their own.
In this timely follow-up to his documentary Casting By (HCAF 2012), Tom Donahue explores the insidious and systematic sexism in Hollywood through the voices of leading actors and directors, including Geena Davis, Meryl Streep, Sandra Oh, Jessica Chastain, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon and many other ambassadors of the #TimesUp movement. Filmmaker Maria Geise will be in attendance.
We all know what a huge rip off our health care system is. But aside from just the extortion level pricing, the system is rigged so well it is nearly impossible for even a prudent and well informed consumer to navigate and avoid nasty billing surprises. Just a few examples: You make an effort to go to an in-network hospital and receive one or more out-of-network bills from doctors or other hospital staff, often for astronomical sums of money, and were given no warning of such. You receive over a dozen different bills from one hospital stay in our fragmented system, and they keep you in limbo for months, sometimes even a year or longer, after your procedure/discharge, not knowing if you will receive another unexpected bill. It is rare that any medical provider will disclose prices for a procedure, etc. beforehand, and often will not make clear whether or not it is covered by insurance. Come to our gathering, vent your frustrations, and tell your horror stories, or those of a family member or friend, in dealing with the shenanigans of our health care system, and then lets discuss how we can fight back.
Arguably, James Blue’s most ambitious project, this complex documentary was originally made in five one-hour episodes as an interactive public television series. The sixth episode, which summarized the series, will be screened. Blue and renowned architect Adele Santos take us on a tour of 1970s Houston, a divided city, growing in the midst of an oil boom. Skyscrapers going up, unemployment going down. One thousand new residents were arriving per week. But the filmmakers see two cities. Visible Houston is populated by well-educated citizens earning high wages with no state or income taxes. Invisible Houston, for whom the most basic city services did not exist, was inhabited by poorly educated citizens earning low wages. Blue was founder of Rice University Media Center and a leader in the movement to democratize media access and production across America, including Houston’s Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP), a media arts organization founded in 1977.
