Change in July Eliot Theme speaker

So many of us were looking forward to a week at July Eliot to engage in the work of learning about systems of white supremacy with the Rev. Meg Riley and Aisha Hauser … and with the experience coming out of physical distancing during the pandemic, Meg, Aisha and the Program Committee have come to the conclusion that this is not the time to engage in this work. Just as we all need to put on our oxygen masks first before we help our loved ones, we need to take care of ourselves before engaging in the difficult work of examining our own biases and prejudices around racism. 

We as a Program Committee as well as the Eliot Board continue to place a high priority on our work on equity and inclusion  and we have not lessened our commitment to that goal. Janelle Durham, one of the co-deans for July Eliot, summed  up our sentiments well: "The planned topic was work that requires us to be present in a way that might be difficult this year...we're not dismissing it because it's not important work, we're postponing it until we are able to give it the full attention it deserves." And in fact, we already have Meg and Aisha's program re-scheduled for July Eliot 2022.

Instead, we have found an alternate speaker for July Eliot who we hope will provide comfort and bring delight as we reunite to share our stories with our beloved Eliot community. Storyteller Will Hornyak has agreed to step in to fill the speaker vacancy for this summer's July Eliot. We are delighted to have him back! He knows our community well and will help us heal. His July Eliot 2020 program is entitled, "Lifting Up the Sky: Myths, Poems, Songs, and Rituals of Healing and Renewal."

The program will employ a variety of stories, songs, poems and rituals to recall threads of meaning, feeling, healing and renewal that are inspired by such difficult times, and have campers considering what ‘medicine of healing’ is made by and required of us in these days.