mumcnews

Music in the Air

Click here to view a flyer about this upcoming event.

Eliot Battle Documentary

MU faculty members Juanamaria Cordones Cook, Barbara Williamson and Julie Middleton have been collaborating with the MU Extension Cooperative Media Group to film a documentary about Educator Eliot Battle and the role that he played in desegregating schools, housing and the Columbia Missouri community. Eliot and his family have been longtime members and leaders at Missouri UMC. This powerful and inspiring documentary will be shown in Bush Auditorium in Cornell Hall at 7pm on Saturday, February 25th. The event is free and open to the public.

Battle: Change from Within is the story of educator Eliot Battle and his pivotal role in the desegregation of Columbia Public Schools. Battle, who had been an assistant principal at the all-Black Douglass High School, became a guidance counselor and the first black faculty member at Hickman High School in 1960, serving as an advocate, mentor and mediator during the crucial early years of Hickman’s transformation into an integrated school.

Battle faced resistance from both the White and Black community. Battle’s calm demeanor and work from within the institutions and systems of Columbia allowed him to bridge the gap between the two communities and get things done.

The 58-minute documentary tells that story through archival film, newspaper accounts, still photos and interviews with former students, colleagues and community leaders as well as Battle himself, who believes that “Fighting from within is the right way to go."

The film was directed and produced through MU Extension. Click here for a printable flyer.

Naomi Tutu Speaking Event

Naomi Tutu, scholar, activist and community educator, will present, “Now you have struck the women, you have struck a rock: Women, Africa and the Diaspora Struggling for Justice” next Tuesday, February 28th, at 6pm in Tate Hall Auditorium, Room 22. This event is free and open to the public.

Ms. Tutu is the third child of Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu. She was born in South Africa and has also lived in Lesotho, the United Kingdom and the United States. She was educated in Swaziland, the US and England, and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the US. Growing up the "daughter of..." has offered Naomi Tutu many opportunities and challenges in her life. Most important of these has been the challenge to find her own place in the world. She has taken up the challenge and channeled the opportunities that she has been given to raise her voice as a champion for the dignity of all.

Her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa, to being program coordinator for programs on Race and Gender and Gender-based Violence in Education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. In addition Ms. Tutu has taught at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina.

Ms. Tutu has also led Truth and Reconciliation Workshops for groups dealing with different types of conflict. Together with Rose Bator, she presents a workshop titled "Building Bridges," dealing with issues of race and racism. The two also lead women’s retreats through their organization Sister Sojourner. They are also writing a book provisionally titled I Don’t Think of You as Black: Honest Conversations on Race and Racism.

In addition to speaking, Ms. Tutu is a consultant to two organizations which reflect the breadth of her involvement in issues of human rights. The organizations are the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV), founded by renowned author Riane Eisler and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Betty Williams, and the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA).

Cornerstone Coffee Shop

The Cornerstone Coffee Shop will open this Sunday! Lakota coffee, lattes, cappaccinos, mochas, hot chocolate, chai tea, Tazo tea, Pepsi products and Upper Crust pastries will be featured. This is the start of another great ministry. It is part of the overall plan to develop the connector into a hospitable gathering place, because we know that churches are the center of making disciples. Creating a comfortable environment makes it easier for those less familiar or less comfortable with church to have an entry point. All income from the coffee shop will be cycled back into the church for missions and special projects.

Hours for the coffee shop initially will be Sunday mornings, 7:30am-Noon, Wednesday evenings, 5-8pm, and for special events, such as the True/False Film Festival. Volunteers are needed for the various roles associated with keeping the coffee shop running. Volunteer orientation will be Friday, February 24th, at 5pm, and Sunday, February 26th at 12:15pm, in the coffee shop area. We will need lots of volunteers to keep the shop running during the True/False Film festival, March 1–4 (afternoons and evenings). If you can volunteer, please contact Dana Schuermann, Coffee Shop Manager, at danaschuermann@gmail.com, or Sandy Ward at sandy.ward@moumc.org, or come to one of the volunteer orientation sessions.

The Cornerstone Coffee Shop is located in the west wing of the Connector.