About this Event
A MORE PERFECT UNION calls us all in to find out more behind the moral vision of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Beloved Community, something that King didn’t coin but popularized to support his idea of what society could look like. The Beloved Community for King was a realistic, achievable goal where everyone shares in the wealth of the Earth- a place where poverty, hunger, homelessness, racism, bigotry, etc. did not exist. King envisioned a community filled with an all-inclusive spirit of kinship that resolved conflict peacefully and nonviolently. While this may be difficult to envision here in the United States of 2021, Rev. Adam Taylor takes us on a journey of self exploration, faith, and morality to replace distorted and sometimes destructive myths and stories of our nation’s history and cherished ideals. Along the way, he paves the foundation for us to begin truly understanding one another’s histories and ties within the United States to honor them and these truths.
Taylor goes beyond illuminating the wrongs of our past as a nation, but asks what we as individuals need to do to begin redefining and reclaiming patriotism for our own. Not only for our own sakes, but for a healthier, happier, and united nation. With his guests Andy Shallal and Emira Woods, come listen to how we as individuals and members of our community can make the world a better, more caring place: a Beloved Community of our own. This event is free and open to all, accessible through our Facebook and Youtube pages (@busboysandpoets).
Please RSVP if you are joining us in person or are interested in purchasing a signed book with shipping (limited to those tuning in via livestream)
The program will begin at 6 PM following a half hour mingle session for guests, starting with an introduction from Busboys and Poets Books Director of Operations, Lori Barrientos Sanchez, before we get right into it with Adam and guests. There will be time for Q&A with the audience before the end of the program, as well as the opportunity to purchase a copy of A MORE PERFECT UNION for Adam to sign the night of!
About A MORE PERFECT UNION: A NEW VISION FOR BUILDING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY- America is at a pivotal crossroads. The soul of our nation is at stake and in peril. A new public narrative is needed to unite Americans around common values and to counter the increasing discord and acrimony in our politics and culture. The process of healing and creating a more perfect union in our nation must start now. The moral vision of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Beloved Community, which animated and galvanized the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, provides a hopeful way forward.
In A MORE PERFECT UNION, Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, reimagines a contemporary version of the Beloved Community that will inspire and unite Americans across generations, geographic and class divides, racial and gender differences, faith traditions, and ideological leanings. In the Beloved Community, neither privilege nor punishment is tied to race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status, and everyone is able to realize their full potential and thrive. Building the Beloved Community requires living out a series of commitments, such as true equality, radical welcome, transformational interdependence, E Pluribus Unum ("out of many, one"), environmental stewardship, nonviolence, and economic equity. By building the Beloved Community we unify the country around a shared moral vision that transcends ideology and partisanship, tapping into our most sacred civic and religious values, enabling our nation to live up to its best ideals and realize a more perfect union.
Rev. Adam Russell Taylor is president of Sojourners, an ecumenical Christian organization that works to advance justice and peace. He previously led the Faith Initiative at the World Bank Group, served as Vice President of Advocacy at World Vision U.S., was cofounder and executive director of Global Justice, and was selected as a White House Fellow under the Obama administration. A graduate of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Taylor is ordained in the American Baptist Church and the Progressive National Baptist Convention and serves at the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.
Andy Shallal is an artist, social entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Busboys and Poets, a restaurant group in the Washington Metropolitan area where art, culture and politics intentionally collide over mindfully sourced food, drinks, books and event programming. With eight, soon to be nine locations in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, Busboys and Poets has become a home for progressives, artists, creatives and intellectuals. Shallal received his B.S. in biology from Catholic University of American and attended Howard Medical School and Robert Smith’s University of Maryland School of Business. He is a husband and father of four.
Emira Woods is an environmental justice strategist, researcher, and advocate specializing in social impact and innovation. Emira is Senior Advisor at Shine, a community of practice bringing together philanthropists, faith and values-driven investors dedicated to financing community based renewable energy. She is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Trustee of the Wallace Global Fund, Trustee of the Janelia Fund, and member of Action Aid International’s Board Risk and Internal Audit Committee. Emira completed her undergraduate studies in Political Science at Columbia University and her graduate studies in Political Economy and Government at Harvard.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th Street Northwest, Washington, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 38.00