On #GivingTuesday 2023, you could give to many local organizations that help people today and work toward lasting change for tomorrow. We have found several local organizations that align with our vision of a more inclusive city. Here are a few of the efforts that Oconee Street UMC invests in with time and money. We invite you to learn more … Read the rest
Racial Justice Task Force
In 5 years, Courtwatch clocks 1000 hours, bonds out 51 people
The all-volunteer Athens Area Courtwatch Project is completing its fifth year of observing criminal proceedings in the Athens-Clarke County courts.
By the end of 2023, volunteers will have logged nearly 1,000 hours in courtrooms, observing hundreds of hearings, providing moral support to families of defendants and encouragement to defendants’ lawyers. More than 100 unique individuals have volunteered in 2023.
The … Read the rest
Remembering African American WWII veterans lost to lynching
by John Vodicka
“First, it confirmed how inextricably interwoven the past is in the present, how heavily that past bears on the future; we cannot talk about Black lives mattering or police brutality without reckoning with the very foundation of this country. We must acknowledge the plantation, must unfold the white sheets, must recall the Black diaspora to understand what … Read the rest
A few ideas on Giving Tuesday 2022
On #GivingTuesday 2022, you could give to many local organizations that help people today and work toward lasting change for tomorrow. We have found several local organizations that align with our vision of a more inclusive city. Here are a few of the efforts that Oconee Street UMC invests in with time and money. We invite you to learn more … Read the rest
Come see work on racial justice at GMOA
OSUMC Racial Justice Task Force invites you to an Evening at the Museum on Thursday, July 28, 2022 at the Georgia Museum of Art. We will be viewing, experiencing and reflecting on two specific exhibits at the museum, “Carrie Mae Weems: The Usual Suspects” and “Call and Response,” a collection of works by African American artists. After, we’ll gather for … Read the rest
Books donated for Continuing Conversations June 11 and 18
Hattie Thomas Whitehead will lead conversations on her book “Giving Voice to Linnentown” the next two weekends as part of the 19 Days of Juneteenth observations. June 8 at 2 p.m., she’ll speak at the Athens Regional Library auditorium and on June 18 she’ll speak at … Read the rest
Linnentown activist and Athens Reparations Action table at Methodist Annual Conference
Familiar stories will be featured at the Classic Center starting Thursday at Annual Conference when United Methodist clergy and lay delegates from the North Georgia Conference gather in Athens for three days of worship and decision-making. Hattie Thomas Whitehead, consultant to Oconee Street UMC and local author, will have a table featuring her memoir “Giving Voice to Linnentown” … Read the rest
Bearing Witness
by John Vodicka
“In most places, when people hear about or see something that is a symbol or representation or evidence of slavery or the slave trade or lynching, the instinct is to cover it up, to get rid of it, to destroy it.”
– Bryan Stevenson
I’ve decided to step back from the rigorous courtwatching I’ve been doing these … Read the rest
A few ideas on Giving Tuesday
Today is the day when we give to causes that work toward mercy and justice. While good causes abound, here are a few of the efforts that Oconee Street UMC invests in with time and money. We invite you to learn more about them and donate as you are able.
WHAT THEY DO: ARK is an Athens-based organization … Read the rest
Future of Police Oversight Office uncertain
Athens-Clarke Commissioner Russell Edwards recently said that he has not heard from citizens who support a proposed Community Police Oversight Office as much as he has heard from those who oppose its creation. As a result, Edwards has questioned the wisdom of moving forward with the proposal which developed in response to 2018 incidents of police officer use of force … Read the rest