Race: Are We So Different?

Race: Are We So Different? is a temporary exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. Pam and I attended yesterday. This engaging and fascinating exhibit is available only through May 15. It is an excellent place to continue the congregational discussions we have been having about race through our First Principles Project and our cooperation with Messiah Baptist Church.

Learn more about the subject from the exhibit's permanent web site, which includes many interactive activities.

Updates from Vernon

As many friends at First Parish know, member and geographer Vernon Domingo is currently on sabbatical in Malaysia, where his work is focused on alternatives to the privatization of water. In Malaysia itself and elsewhere in the "neighborhood" of Southeast Asia, Vernon is learning a lot about the cultural landscape. Most recently he shared photographs from an excursion to the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam, which I posted on the BSU geography department blog. Vernon is also posting occasional updates on the blog of the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance.

EarthView at BSU for Earth Day

Many First Parish members have seen EarthView in our sanctuary as part of our annual Peace Vigil, but in that setting it is on top of the pews, and nobody can enter. For those who would like to see it in its "natural habitat," it will be on display in the Burnell School Gym at BSU for Earth Day. 

Come by between 1 and 3 pm on Friday April 22, when EarthView Wrangler and BSU geography student Natalie Regan will be making it available to the entire community. Ironically, First Parish members Vernon Domingo and James Hayes-Bohanan, who coordinate the EarthView program, will not be available, but we will leave it in Natalie's capable hands. (By the way, the BSU geography graduate and teacher-in-training shown above is Katharine Hill, not Natalie.)

MBB at AFA

Over the past few years, First Parish has enjoyed increasing involvement with the Bridgewater State University (erstwhile College). The connections have included several years of hosting a dinner with the GLBTA Pride Center, participation in the World Music Festival, and cooperation between the First Parish Social Justice Committee and the BSU Social Justice League on a number of projects.

For the second year in a row, the SJL has invited First Parish's own Male Bonding Band to share some tunes as part of the annual Arts for Advocacy event. Once again, it was a great pleasure to participate in a multi-media, intergenerational celebration of social activism. On Wednesday evening, March 30, the Bonders contributed some Pete Seeger, Woodie Guthrie, and Carter Family -- and a wonderful original piece by Joe Snyders -- to of an impressive line-up of musicians and poets sharing messages of hope, passion, and introspection.