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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Faith Commons
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20221023T160000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20221023T183000
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SUMMARY:Screening of "Boycott" Documentary & Panel Discussion
DESCRIPTION:Faith Commons will screen the documentary “Boycott” in partnership with the Dedman School of Law First Amendment Clinic on Sunday\, October 23 at 4 p.m. at SMU’s Underwood Law Library. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion on current threats to free expression and the First Amendment. Boycott traces the impact of state legislation designed to penalize individuals and companies that choose to boycott Israel. It follows three plaintiffs—one in Texas\, one in Arkansas\, and one in Arizona— whose rights were impacted by this legislation. \nAnti-boycott laws\, like book bans\, aim to suppress certain ideas and narratives. Since 2015 a slew of anti-BDS legislation has been passed on both the Federal and State levels\, with very little consideration of legal precedent. In 2021 Governor Abbott signed a bill banning government contracts with companies that “discriminate against the firearms or ammunition industries.” Now our tax dollars cannot be spent to access goods and services from companies or contractors who choose to divest from these industries in any way. A parallel law was signed in the same legislative session with regard to the fossil fuel industry. \nBoycotts are a non-violent way to rally social and political change. Just as anti-abortion laws prevent women from accessing resources they need to protect their health and wellbeing\, anti-boycott laws prevent citizens from advocating for themselves through the exercise of free speech\, in any of its forms. \nFaith Commons has chosen to screen this film in advance of the November midterm elections to raise awareness and understanding about the intended and unintended consequences of anti-boycott legislation\, including the legislation that Governor Abbott signed into law in the 2021 legislative session. \nPanelists \nNancy Kasten \nRabbi Nancy Kasten is Chief Relationship Officer for Faith Commons. A community educator\, volunteer and activist\, as well as a certified Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher\, Rabbi Kasten’s work is founded on her intention to create deeper and more meaningful relationships with and between people of all backgrounds and beliefs. She serves on the Social Justice Commission of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center and several boards\, including the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas\, Dallas\, Texas Impact (based in Austin\,TX) and the Polyphony Foundation (based in Nazareth\, Israel.) \nTom Leatherbury \nTom Leatherbury is Director of the First Amendment Clinic at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. Focused on First Amendment issues including free speech\, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly and petition\, the clinic is funded by a grant from the Stanton Foundation\, created by Dr. Frank Stanton\, long-time former president of CBS from 1946 to 1971. The clinic uses best practices of clinical legal education to strengthen First Amendment values and to improve access to justice. \nLeatherbury serves as practice group leader of Vinson &Elkins’s firm-wide appellate practice and has more than forty years of experience representing clients in state and federal appeals and trials. Throughout his career\, Leatherbury has regularly represented traditional and digital publishers and broadcasters in all aspects of media litigation throughout his career\, including libel\, privacy and other torts\, reporter’s privilege\, newsgathering and access\, misappropriation and breach of contract actions. \nAmong his many honors\, Leatherbury was recently named a fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers\, was presented with the Dallas Bar Foundation Justinian Award and was awarded a Presidential Citation from the State Bar of Texas for his commitment to helping its diversity and inclusion efforts. \nHis past leadership roles include serving as director and president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas\, president of the Media Law Resource Center’s Defense Counsel Section\, chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Media Relations Committee and board member of Texas Appleseed. \nKate Schwartz \nKate is the Public Engagement Manager at Just Vision\, an organization that fills a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. In this role\, Kate manages the development and implementation of Just Vision’s public engagement and digital media strategies across the organization\, including film outreach\, journalism and press\, social media engagement and more\, in the US\, Israel-Palestine and internationally.\nFaizan Syed \nFaizan Syed is the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations\, Dallas/Fort Worth (CAIR-TX DFW.)  He moved to DFW in October 2019 after being the Missouri Director of CAIR for 8 years. While serving as Director of CAIR-MO Faizan responded to the Joplin Mosque Arson\, Missouri’s anti-Sharia and anti-BDS legislation\, and Michael Brown’s murder by police officer Darren Wilson. He has worked to bring justice to countless families suffering discrimination.  \nFaizan is not afraid of engaging with all people regardless of political belief and potential hostility. He was thrust into the media spotlight in 2016 when he passed out doughnuts at a Trump rally in St. Louis in order to engage in conversations and build bridges with Trump supporters. He is more than happy to dialogue with people who have different opinions because he fundamentally believes that the best way to build bridges is by fostering understanding between people who hold different opinions. \nModerator \nGeorge Mason \nRev. Dr. George Mason is a Christian theologian and the Founder and President of Faith Commons\, an organization he founded in 2018 to lift up faith voices in the public square for the common good. He served as Senior Pastor of the Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas from 1989-2022. A nationally recognized leader among Baptists\, especially with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest\, Rev. Dr. Mason is the Lead Advisor for the Baptist House of Studies at Perkins School of Theology (SMU) and participates in numerous local and global ecumenical and interfaith endeavors.  \nParking Details \nParking is available in the Daniel Parking Center located at the corner of Hillcrest and Daniel Avenue. From Hillcrest Avenue\, go east on Daniel Avenue. The Daniel Parking Center is the first building on the left. \nParking is also available in the Airline Visitor Parking Garage located at 6506 Airline Road. At SMU Boulevard and Airline Road\, turn north onto Airline and follow the road until it intersects with Airline Circle. Turn left to the garage entrance on Airline Circle. \n\nTickets & Details \nYou can purchase tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/screening-of-boycott-documentary-panel-discussion-tickets-438611016357
URL:https://faithcommons.org/event/screening-of-boycott-documentary-panel-discussion/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20221027T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20221027T200000
DTSTAMP:20260509T031653
CREATED:20230126T060000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250424T165228Z
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SUMMARY:The T.B. Maston Foundation Award Dinner
DESCRIPTION:Please join us for The T.B. Maston Foundation Award Dinner. \nThursday\, October 27\, 2022 @ 6pm\nWilshire Baptist Church\n4316 Abrams Rd.\, Dallas\, Texas 75214 \nThis biennial celebration honors those leading work in the area of Christian Ethics. \nThis year\, The T.B. Maston Foundation will recognize the work of Faith Commons and its leaders—Rev. Dr. George Mason and Rabbi Nancy Kasten. \nFaith Commons is a Dallas-based organization convening faith leaders and people of good faith for conversations around issues critical to life together. \n  \nTickets & Tables: \nTable of 8 honoring Faith Commons\, $1\,000 | Table for 8\, $500 | Individual ticket\, $60 \nReservations: \nReserve your spot by email then pay for your ticket or table here. \n 
URL:https://faithcommons.org/event/the-t-b-maston-foundation-award-dinner/
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