FORUM
FORUM PURPOSE STATEMENT
The forum brings together Unitarian Universalists of San Francisco and fellow citizens to gain a deeper understanding of the issues of our time and to hear powerful presentations that both inform and inspire.
UPCOMING FORUM
Animal Rights and The Law
Sunday Forum with Wayne Hsiung
Sunday, April 28, 9:30 am, TSK Room/Zoom.
A light breakfast will be offered at 9:00 am.
Wayne Hsiung is an attorney who is an internationally recognized animal rescuer and investigator. Wayne was recently jailed for 38 days for organizing a peaceful protest and the open rescue of chickens and ducks from factory farms in Sonoma County, California. He was facing a maximum 16-year prison sentence last month for rescuing beagles from the 2nd largest breeder of dogs for experimentation in the U.S., Ridglan Farms in Dane County, Wisconsin. Charges were abruptly dropped right before trial to keep hidden from the public various criminal abuses of the dogs. Wayne has since petitioned for a special prosecutor to charge Ridglan Farms. Wayne works for animals despite the efforts of powerful industries to stop him and the dangers of the factory farming system in this country. Join us for an engaging discussion and learn what you can do to help.
You can phone in at +1 669 444 9171. Meeting ID: 933 4616 4242, Passcode: 991929
Palestine, Israel, and The U.S. Empire
Sunday Forum with Richard Becker
Sunday, May 5, 9:30 am, TSK Room/Zoom.
A light breakfast will be offered at 9:00 am.
The news from Palestine and now other countries in the Middle East has become worse each day since the outbreak of the crisis on October 7. The facts about this war’s origins and intelligence failures are still murky after 7 months. The known number of 30,000 Palestinian civilian deaths and 70,000 injured keeps climbing and appears to be unstoppable. Many of these known deaths are due to starvation. These catastrophic happenings between so-called “advanced” countries are the worst war statistics in history. This situation could lead to a broader international nuclear conflict. Protests in this country and around the world are demanding that the United States end its support for the Israeli government, so far to no avail. Here are some questions that might help us better deal with this crisis:
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What can an American citizen do to understand and try to stop this immoral and horrendous conflict at this juncture in history?
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What is needed when this conflict ends to have justice and equality for all the people directly involved in this situation?
Richard Becker is the Western regional coordinator of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition and has researched and traveled to Palestine and the Middle East for the past 50 years. He is the author of Palestine, Israel, and the U.S. Empire, whose new edition is out now and available for purchase. Mr. Becker has been an anti-war activist since the late 1960s and is a frequent speaker at our UUSF Forum.
You can phone in at +1 669 444 9171. Meeting ID: 975 1881 0812, Passcode: 559224
Sunday Forum with Dr. Paul Larudee
Sunday, May 12, 9:30 am, TSK Room/Zoom.
A light breakfast will be offered at 9:00 am.
Dr. Paul Larudee is a former Ford Foundation project supervisor, Fulbright-Hays lecturer in Lebanon, and US government advisor to Saudi Arabia. He has served on the faculties of several universities in San Francisco Bay Area and Lebanon. He has been an organizer with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine and co-founder of the movement to break the Israeli naval siege of Gaza. He was aboard the boats that entered in 2008 and the 2010 flotilla attacked by Israel. He was shot by an Israeli soldier in 2002. He co-founded the Global March to Jerusalem, the Free Palestine Movement, and the Syria Solidarity Movement. He was one of six US observers of the Syrian presidential elections in June 2014. He is CFO of the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, which sponsors human rights projects in West Asia, Latin America, and other regions.
You can phone in at +1 669 444 9171. Meeting ID: 928 1455 9714, Passcode: 806110
Project Survive
Sunday Forum with Leslie Simon
Sunday, May 12, 9:30 am, TSK Room/Zoom.
A light breakfast will be offered at 9:00 am.
Many people are familiar with the "Cycle of Violence" first outlined by Lenore Walker in her book The Battered Woman (1979), which describes intimate partner violence as moving through three phases: honeymoon, tension building, explosion, and back to honeymoon. In the scenarios Walker described, the victim does not fight back. But we now understand that some victims do fight back. Sometimes it's self-defense, but other times it's a phenomenon known as "violent resistance," which further complicates the escape from abusive relationships. By understanding all the reasons victims find it hard to leave, we can become more compassionate and supportive friends and family for them.
Leslie Simon founded “Poetry for the People” at City College of San Francisco in 1975 and taught for many years in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, which she chaired for a decade. In 1994, Leslie founded Project SURVIVE, City College’s nationally recognized, award-winning sexual violence prevention program, which she coordinated for nearly 25 years. Leslie has received awards for her teaching and program development, including the Stanback-Stroud Diversity Award from the California Community College State Academic Senate and the KQED Women’s History Month Local Hero Award. Leslie co-founded and co-coordinated (with Ann Wettrich) Groundswell, an architectural literacy program housed in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department at City College. They taught “Introduction to Museum Studies for nearly a decade and are currently developing a Museum Studies and Social Justice certificate.
You can phone in at +1 669 444 9171. Meeting ID: 951 2757 8495, Passcode: 689999