ChiCago EthiCal humanist Newsletter of the Ethical humanist sociEty of chicago

FEbruary 2018

Welcome to Our Sunday Morning Programs in February EUGENIA CHENG, scientist in residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returns to speak February 4th on “Beyond Infinity: To the Outer Limits of Mathematics.” Cheng will explain the elusive meaning of infinity, ranging from how many numbers there are to the size of the universe,

from the simplest math to its loftiest abstractions.

ANASTASIA GENSLER, a certi-fied mindfulness instructor, health and wellness practitioner, and public school teacher, speaks February 11th on “Mindfulness: Learning to Live in the Moment.” Gensler will describe how mindfulness training is a powerful tool whose positive life-changing outcomes can transform the educational system.

JACOB MUELLER, Director of Administrative Operations at the Uni-versity of Illinois College of Medicine, Dept. of Medical Education, speaks February 18th on “The Way Home: A Transgender Journey.” Mueller will share his personal story of the long struggle of a male born into a female body and his work to educate others about gender identity and transgender people.

MELISSA METRO AND TEA-BUGGZ GRIFFIN, hip hop instructors at Dove- tail Dance Studios in Chica- go, present “The Art and Soul of Hip Hop” on Feb-ruary 25th. Their inter-active, intergenerational program and perfor- mance will explain and demonstrate an exciting, energetic, and popular dance form.

Other Society Events• Our Book Discussion Group, led by Sue Sherman, meets

on Sunday, February 4th, at 12:15 p.m. We’ll discuss Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Harvard University sociolo-gist Mathew Desmond looks at poverty-stricken Milwaukee neighborhoods and argues that eviction is not just a condi-tion of poverty but rather a cause of it.We’ll meet again on Sunday, March 4th, at 12:15 p.m.,

to discuss Commonwealth, a novel by prize-winner Ann Patchett that is a heartbreaking but humorous tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together. • Our Film Discussion group, led by Matt Cole, meets on Monday, February 12th, at 7:15 p.m. We’ve again chosen two current movies:

Phantom Thread is a romantic drama about a renowned dressmaker whose life is disrupted by a woman who be-comes his muse and lover. It was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps.

Call Me By Your Name, set in an Italian summer, is about

a developing relationship between a teenage boy and his father’s visiting research assistant. It was directed by Luca Guadanigno, with Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer.

All the Money in the World, our fallback movie, is a kid-napping thriller directed by Ridley Scott and starring Chris-topher Plummer, Michelle Williams, and Mark Wahlberg. • Our Creative Writers group, led by Sue Sherman, meets again on Sunday, February 18th, at 12:15 p.m. As usual, we’ll be sharing some of our short, original stories, poems, essays, and memoirs. A warm welcome to newcomers! • Our popular Second Saturday Coffeehouse, hosted by Vicki Elberfeld, is skipping February. We’ll resume on March 10th, with an early celebration of St. Patrick’s Day by the acoustic folk band Trilliam, performing Celtic music and other genres from their eclectic repertoire.

The meetinghouse of the Society is at 7574 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. Sunday programs start at 10:30 a.m. A social hour fol-lows. For parking, use our lot, spaces at the adjoining store, How-ard St. or Jerome St., or the lot at the Albany Bank. If you need transportation, call the office by 1 p.m., Friday—we’ll try to get a ride for you.

Recent Sunday Programs• David Ansell, Senior Vice President for Community Health Equality and Associate Provost for Community Affairs at Rush University, spoke January 7th on “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills.” Shari Pollack was moderator.

Dr. Ansell said that he was first “disturbed and disillu-sioned” about the lack of equal access to health care in the U.S. while still a medical student. Realizing that “health is a human right,” he became “a medical activist,” he added. Recalling his 17 years at Cook County Hospital, where he fought to avert the closing of this needed public facility, and then 10 years at nearby Sinai Hospital, he came to un-derstand the devastating effects of poverty and “structural, systemic racism” on those who are medically under-served.

Dr. Ansell decried the much lower life expectancy in Chicago’s minority neighborhoods, where he noted that people are much more vulnerable to heart disease and cancer than they are from gun violence. Lauding the better health care at Rush Hospital, as if it were “on a different planet,” he called for investing in our poor neighborhoods. He described efforts to mobilize local support and demand-ed that federal policy makers muster the political will to overcome racial bias and “white privilege” in the delivery of health care.

• Miriam Petty, Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio–Television–Film at Northwestern University, spoke January 14th on “Stealing the Show: African Ameri-cans in 1930s Hollywood.”

Petty called the 1930s the “age of the servants” for African American film actors, for whom, though playing stereotypical roles, it was a time of greater visibility and stardom. She showed film clips emphasizing the “central achievement” of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who through dance and play was a mentor for black children. He and others, like Hattie McDaniel, and her “mammy” roles, while conveying messages of both fear and intimacy, helped white audiences “became more comfortable” with black performers, she added.

Petty pointed to the Ulmer Scale as a measure of the “star power” and value of black actors as “economic commodi-ties.” She noted the problematic casting of black actors by their varying skin color and that of the characters they portrayed. She also noted “the legacy of American his-tory and slavery” on screenplays with African American characters.

• Susan Trieschmann, founder and executive director of Curt’s Café, spoke January 21st on “Curt’s Café: Serv-ing the Underserved.” Glenda Kenyon was moderator.

Trieschmann said that after many years in her “Food for Thought” catering business, she was inspired in 2012 by a college class in restorative justice to open two coffee shops

in Evanston to employ, train, and shelter so-called “hope-less” 18-to-24 year olds for whom few resources are avail-able. Most of them, she said, are homeless, food insecure, had been subject to domestic violence and verbal abuse, and had been in prison. At Curt’s, she said, they feel safe. Our aim is “to reprogram their minds.” Our volunteers, she said, train them in cooking, scheduling, and other job and life skills. We send them back to school and find them jobs, housing, and transportation, she added.

Trieschmann noted that there is a fulltime social worker at each cafe to give much-needed guidance to the young-sters. Adding, “We teach the community that these kids are wonderful” and “need our respect and forgiveness,” she expressed a desire to open other Curt’s cafes. “We never give up,” she concluded.

Sharing Thoughts . . .When our newsletter editor asked me to contribute this

month’s “Sharing Thoughts” column, the word “celebrity” came to mind. So I thought about what to say.

Years ago, Newton Minow, JFK’s FCC chairman and best known for labeling television a “vast Wasteland,” prophesied that TV’s ubiquitous quiz shows promulgated short answers, not nuanced essays. He likewise predicted that “celebrity” would overshadow competence and experi-ence as a qualification for elective office. The elections of Jesse Ventura, Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Donald Trump, and now the talk about Oprah for Presi-dent, seem to have confirmed Minow’s prescient warnings.

Curious, I Googled “celebrity, president” and up popped Ranker.com’s “Celebrities who should run for president.” 185 names are ranked: Tom Hanks is number one, Laurie Anderson is last. Only fourteen are not connected to either the sports or entertainment world, with twelve of them wealthy business people, the military, or fiction authors. Perhaps Article 6, Clause 3, of the Constitution should be rewritten: “While no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the United States, a test of celebrity shall be obligatory.”

A small ray of hope: informed, caring people of science Neal deGrasse Tyson, an agnostic/humanist, and Bill Nye, an avowed humanist, are among the listed celebrities. Let’s hear it for Humanist celebrities! —Matt Cole

Society members proudly display our bright blue banner at the massive “Wom-en’s March to the Polls” on January 20th.

Society Announcements• Sharing Thoughts is a column of personal commentary and reflection by Society members. Last month, longtime member Lisa Wertman Crowe shared her thoughts on our humanist community. This month, past president Matt Cole wonders about our fascination with celebrities. • Our Annual Pledge Drive is continuing. By mid-January we had got pledges of over $65,000 from 80 of our 101 members. A grateful thanks to each of you for your gener-osity and commitment of support to our wonderful Com-munity. • Stay for the coffee and social hour after Sunday morn-ing programs. We mingle and chat while munching on snacks brought by our members and friends, who use a schedule corresponding to their last names: 1st Sunday, A–D; 2nd Sunday, E–K; 3rd Sunday, L–P; 4th Sunday, Q–Z. We thank the volunteers who help with the setup and cleanup. • Check our YouTube channel. We update it with videos of recent speakers—like Janet Heimlich, Julia Julstrom-Agoyo, and Jason Climer. • Visiting the Society for the first time? By coming to a Sunday morning program? Enrolling your child in our secular Sunday School? Taking part in one of our activities and interest groups? Welcome to our caring humanist con-gregation. At our monthly Newcomers Chat, you can learn more about the Society and consider becoming a member. If you have any questions, please email joinus@ethicalhu-man.org.• Rent space in our building—for a party, meeting, class, concert, ceremony, or special event. It’s easy. One room or more. Reasonable prices. Contact our office for details. • Our Tribute Fund is a way we can honor each other—like condolences on the death of a loved one or congratu-lations on a birth, wedding, or personal achievement. Each tribute is printed in the newsletter. Forms are on the literature tables.• Get a weekly e-mail update on future programs and activities—subscribe to our website: www.ethicalhumanist-society.org. For our monthly printed newsletter, a subscrip-tion is $20 per year if you’re not a member, a contributing friend, or new on our mailing list.

• Public transportation to our Sunday meetings is easy. A #290 bus leaves the Howard L station at 9:30 a.m. and goes to Touhy and Cicero, a short walk to our building. A return #290 bus to Howard leaves Touhy and Cicero at 1:20 p.m. The Skokie Swift’s Oakton St. station is nearby.• Join one of our hard-working committees—like Ethical Action, Sunday Program, Hospitality, Development, Build-ing, Membership, Publicity, Audio-Visual, Adult Educa-tion, and Caring. Are you interested? To contact committee chairs, call Sharon Appelquist at the office.• Getting married? Naming your baby? Having a memorial service? Our Ethical Officiants are trained to perform weddings, baby namings, and memorial services. For a caring, secular ceremony, inquire at our office.

Sunday School Scoop . . . We started the New Year with some reflection on how we

have changed since last year and discussion about resolu-tions: why we make them and why they don’t always stick. Instead we practiced visualizing our Best Possible Self through collage. We interviewed our first Golden Rule graduate and wrote about the science experiment for our blog, which is about to go live! Look for a link to it on the EHS website. On our last Sunday in January we spent the day making animal treats for the wild creatures at Emily Oaks, braided dog toys, and started a food drive for the Niles Township Food Pantry.

We’ll begin February spreading love by packing lunches for our friends at the Lincoln Park Community Shelter and creating Valentines for the Caring Committee to send to members and friends who aren’t able to make it to the Society or just need an extra hug. On the 18th, we will host a Potluck Breakfast at 9:30 a.m. to thank the many volun-teers who keep our Society running. Are you a volunteer? We hope to see you there! Finally, on February 25th, come shake off the winter doldrums during our Intergenerational Program by the Dovetail Dance Studio, who will teach us their best Hip Hop moves! Thanks!

—Katherine Ross, Director

Who We Are

The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago is a self-governing, inclusive, caring community—providing a home to those who seek a rational, compassionate philosophy of life without regard to belief or non-belief in a supreme being.We focus on the ethical values that bring people together, not

on the beliefs that keep people apart. In the spirit of intellectual, philosophical, and artistic freedom, we come together to explore life, nature, and the universe.We celebrate births, conduct wedding ceremonies, and host

memorial services. We provide for the ethical education of our children, based on rational, critical thinking. We believe in working together for a better world, and strive to

act so as to bring out the best in others and thereby in ourselves.

The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago, founded in 1882, is a chapter of the American Humanist Association.Officers & Trustees: Katherine Ross, President; Matt Cole, Vice

President; Ray Berg, Secretary; Katie Merrell, Treasurer; Svet-lana Bekman, Glenda Kenyon, Kim McWhorter, Sue Sherman, Ed Thompson.Sunday School Director: Katherine RossOffice Administrator: Sharon AppelquistNewsletter Editor: Alan Kimmel Ethical Officiants: Matt Cole, Glenda Kenyon, Katie Merrell

Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago

7574 N. Lincoln Avenue, Skokie, IL 60077-3335Phone: (847) 677-3334; Fax: (847) 677-3335Web Site: www.EthicalHumanist Society.orgE-mail: office@ethicalhuman.org

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FEBRUARY 2018 CALENDARThe office of the Society is openevery weekday - 10 am to 2 pm.

Call 847-677-3334 with any questions.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

Film Discussion Group

7:15 p.m.

3

BoArD oF TrusTees

7:15 p.m.

1 2

10:30 JAcoB mueller

“The Way Home: A Transgender Journey” 12:15 - Creative Writers

10:30 AnAsTAsiA Gensler “Mindfulness: Learning to Live in the Moment”

4 108 96 75

11 1715 1613 1412

22 23 2418 20 2119

3025 26 28 292710:30 melissA meTro AnD TeA-BuGGz GriFFin

“The Art and Soul of Hip Hop”

10:30 euGeniA chenG “Beyond Infinity: To the Outer Limits of Mathematics” 12:15 - Book Discussion Group Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Golden Rule Sunday School: Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to Noon

Sundays next month: Mar. 4: Jacquelin Schmit; Mar. 11: Alice Eagly; Mar. 18: Kerry Kennedy/ Joanna Spathis; Mar. 25: Bart Campolo