Past Events

Suffrage100MA and GBH Forum Network present acclaimed historian and writer Martha S. Jones, who will discuss her book, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (2020). In the book she recounts how Black women defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. From the earliest days of the republic to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and beyond, Jones excavates the lives and work of these women — Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Fannie Lou Hamer, and more — who were the vanguard of women’s rights, calling on America to realize its best ideals. Vanguard was selected as one of Time's 100 must-read books. Jones will be interviewed by Charlotte Golar Richie, a longtime Boston public servant and activist with a deeply held commitment to civil rights, racial equity and women’s political leadership. Fredie Kay, Founder & President of Suffrage100MA, will serve as moderator. [Link to Martha Jones' book](https://marthasjones.com/vanguard)

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is released by farming, mining, fossil fuel drilling, and by melting permafrost. For climate scientists, the increasing emissions are a major concern, and the 2021 COP26 emphasized the need to reduce atmospheric methane quickly. But reduction is a serious challenge. A potential solution has been developed by the Plata lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this discussion, Dr. Plata explains the serious challenge of methane emissions and an ingenious solution created in her lab: an inexpensive system using zeolite clays and copper. This solution is still in development, but is receiving a lot of attention. IMAGE CREDITS: [“Methane Leaking through the Cracks,” by NASA Earth Observatory. Image cropped. CC BY 2.0](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68824346@N02/7165132252) # Resources [It Might Be Time to Take Methane Removal Seriously](https://www.wired.com/story/it-might-be-time-to-take-methane-removal-seriously/) [A dirt-cheap solution? Common clay materials may help curb methane emissions](https://news.mit.edu/2022/dirt-cheap-solution-common-clay-materials-may-help-curb-methane-emissions) [How an ingredient found in cat litter could help fight climate change](https://www.fastcompany.com/90711976/how-an-ingredient-found-in-cat-litter-could-help-fight-climate-change) [Methane Leaks in New Mexico Far Exceed Current Estimates, Study Suggests](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/climate/methane-leaks-new-mexico.html?campaign_id=54&emc=edit_clim_20220325&instance_id=56747&nl=climate-forward&regi_id=74549671&segment_id=86590&te=1&user_id=555ee595e2e27c47f3dee1879dce3a3f)

The EcoRestoration Alliance grew out of the work of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. The Alliance is a rapidly growing global collaboration of scientists, thought leaders, conservationists, on-the-ground restoration practitioners and storytellers whose work challenges the prevailing view that reducing fossil fuel use at this late date can still result in the global cooling that we need. The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) tells us that restoring biodiversity and healthy ecosystems must receive the full attention it has never had before as the path forward. The panel will focus on the global grassroots level movement, that is doing this work. The panel is composed by Alliance members who believe that ecosystem restoration can be done in a way that supports and empowers local communities. Healthy ecosystems like forests, grasslands, wetlands, and regenerative farmlands with year-round cover crops cool the biosphere and tame extreme weather. ### Resources: * [Biodiversity for a Liveable Climate's website](https://bio4climate.org/) * [Ecorestoration Alliance website](http://ecorestorationalliance.net) * [John D. Liu's video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZjfYQL8jk) * [Another link to John D. Liu's work](https://environmentaljusticetv.wordpress.com/?s=john+liu) * ['The Holy Grail of Restoration' by John D. Liu](https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/the-holy-grail-of-restoration/) * [Ecosystem Restoration Camps](https://ecosystemrestorationcamps.org/) * [Ilse Koehler-Rollefson's work](http://www.ilse-koehler-rollefson.com/ ) * [Other link to Ilse Koehler-Rollefson's work](https://www.pastoralpeoples.org/) * [Valer Clark's website](https://www.cuencalosojos.org/)

The newly released United Nations IPCC Report tells us we are at the point of no return with climate change, and that the situation is worse than they thought. It’s easy to see: wildfires, epic storms, floods, and droughts worsen each year. Combine that with rising sea levels, loss of species and the changing weather affecting our growing seasons, and the situation looks grim indeed. World leaders attending COP26 last November did not produce an international agreement to mitigate carbon emissions and turn the tide. Meanwhile, President Biden’s climate proposals have been stripped from his major legislative efforts, forcing him to resort to executive action, which has in turn been blocked by courts. Young people have had enough and are taking to the streets to protest while climate skeptics and lobbyists push harder for the status quo. What are the implications of this impasse? Environment Correspondent Carolyn Beeler leads a discussion looking into the science, policy and politics of the climate crisis now and what actions must happen next to pull us back from the brink.

To celebrate its newly digitized collection of eminent historical black orators, Cambridge Forum, a long-established non-profit devoted to free public discussion, is hosting a live recording of BLACK HISTORY: ON REWIND with in-person speakers at the Lincoln Institute on March 21 at 5 pm. Starting in 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement, Cambridge Forum has been producing live events for 55 years from First Parish Church in Harvard Square, with the aim of providing a safe platform from which to examine salient, social issues. This event, BLACK HISTORY: ON REWIND offers a timely opportunity for past speakers Professors Randall Kennedy, Danielle Allen and Cheryl Townsend-Gilkes to return to the Forum and evaluate what progress they believe has been made in social justice and equality, to consider the importance of “who” writes the history and to highlight what outstanding issues remain to be addressed by Americans, as a democratic nation. Councilor Denise Simmons will make an introductory address and public TV producer, Roberto Mighty, will act as moderator. The program will be recorded and edited for Cambridge Forum’s weekly show on NPR, a podcast will be posted to the CF website, and WGBH Forum Network will upload the video to YouTube. According to CF Director Mary Stack, “In light of the disturbing events in Ukraine, it is more important than ever that Americans safeguard their democracy by protecting their freedom of speech, and by allowing respectful, meaningful discussion of potentially divisive issues. As Edmund Burke said, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”

A nationally recognized expert on race relations, Zen Buddhist priest, and high-profile attorney who served on President Clinton’s One America Initiative Advisory Board, Angela E. Oh in conversation with Boston Public Library President David Leonard will reveal how communities in crisis can turn tragedy into opportunities for healing. An audience Q&A session will follow the discussion. Angela E. Oh came to prominence in 1992 after the civil unrest that followed the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers charged with the beating of Rodney King. As a second generation Korean American born in Los Angeles, trained as a criminal defense lawyer, active in civil rights and civil liberties organizing, Oh found that her experiences gave insight into the causes of what was recorded as the worst civil disaster of the century. In speaking out, her clarity about the political, economic, social, and institutional failures that contributed to the implosion of 1992 resonated with communities across the region. Over 2000 small family owned businesses owned by ethnic Koreans were destroyed and Oh challenged the mainstream media narrative that the crisis in Los Angeles was due to Korean and African American conflict.

Thanks to the generous support of the Lowell Institute, BU School of Theology (STH) is able to host its bi-annual Lowell Lecture, which features a renowned speaker in a field related to theological studies. This semester, the school of theology welcomes Lee H. Butler, Jr., Ph.D. whose lecture is titled, "Stop Listening with Your Eyes: Transcending Stereotypes Wrapped in Color Consciousness." About the guest speaker: Lee H. Butler, Jr., Ph.D., is Vice-President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean, and the William Tabbernee Professor of the History of Religions and Africana Pastoral Theology at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, OK. Prior to joining Phillips, he was the Distinguished Service Professor of Theology and Psychology at the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) for 24 years. In 2006, he was promoted to the rank of full professor and became the first African American to achieve this rank at CTS. He is the founder of the Center for the Study of Black Faith and Life at CTS. He is co-editor of The Edward Wimberly Reader: A Black Pastoral Theology (Baylor University Press, 2020), the author of Listen, My Son: Wisdom to Help African American Fathers (Abingdon Press, 2010), Liberating Our Dignity, Saving Our Souls (Chalice Press, 2006), A Loving Home: Caring for African American Marriage and Families (Pilgrim Press, 2000), and numerous articles. He is a Past-President of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society for Pastoral Theology, and the Association of Black Psychologists. An ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches/USA since 1988, he is a preacher-scholar-teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University, Master of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy from Drew University.

Philosopher and popular author Lee McIntyre discusses his latest book, **How to Talk to a Science Denier**. This is a must-read for people who confront denialism on the one hand, and misinformation/disinformation on the other. Dr. McIntyre provides examples of various types of denialism together with a strategy for dealing with this serious problem. In an era when scientific facts and scientific thinking are essential for saving civilization as well as our planet, we need a plan for dealing with denialism. This book might be the starting point.

Sociologist, author, and happiness expert, Dr. Carter in conversation with Boston Public Library President David Leonard will reveal how three surprising, science-based strategies can help us lead to our most joyful, productive, and meaningful lives. An audience Q&A session will follow the discussion. An engaging and sought-after speaker, Dr. Christine Carter loves to share her work. Combining scientific research and practical application, she offers audiences not only a way to cope with modern pressures, but tactics to truly thrive. Christine Carter, Ph.D., is author of The New Adolescence (2020), The Sweet Spot: How to Achieve More by Doing Less (2017) and Raising Happiness (2011). She regularly keynotes at large conferences and fundraisers and is a popular commencement speaker. She is a frequent contributor to executive, general-interest, and parenting programs with other leading scholars and teachers.

From charged school board meetings to shouting matches in Congress, on social media platforms and increasingly partisan media outlets, the level of incivility and outright hostility to anyone with views opposed to one’s own is alarming and unproductive. Real policy debates and compromise cannot be accomplished in an environment in which participants ascribe malign intent or even dehumanize others. Polarization in the United States has created both legislative stasis at the federal level and also widened the red state/blue state gulf, all contributing to a widespread lack of trust in democratic institutions by voters. How did we get here and how can we dial down the divisions? How will this impact our democracy? President Biden promised a return to civility in his Inaugural Address. Has he made any headway or is the situation only worsening? Join us to unpack these questions with former policymakers and experts in the field. The Washington Post's Arjun Singh moderates a panel discussion with former congressmen Scott Klug (R-WI) and Larry LaRocco (D-ID) as well as democracy scholar Dr. Jennifer McCoy.