“The Long Struggle to Abolish Reproductive Slavery” with Dorothy Roberts Annual Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights Presented in partnership with the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at UT-Austin School of Law The Rothko Chapel and the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas at Austin present the eighth annual Sissy Farenthold Lecture featuring acclaimed scholar of race, gender and the law, Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology and the Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights, on the intersections between reproductive rights, criminalization of pregnancy, and the family policing/separation systems in the aftermath of the June 2022 Dobbs decision. Roberts will explore the histories of compelled births in the US dating back to Black women’s reproductive bondage during slavery, and the abolitionist frameworks that call for the dismantling of these targeted, oppressive structures for more compassionate and equitable reproductive rights and family support systems. The lecture will be followed by conversation moderated by Eleanor Klibanoff, women’s health reporter at the Texas Tribune, and a book signing on the Welcome House Plaza of Robert’s Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World (2022). Named in honor of Sissy Farenthold (1926-2021), who dedicated her life to exposing and responding to injustices as a lawyer, legislator, and global leader in human rights, this lecture series inspires audiences to think and act creatively in response to the greatest human rights challenges of the 21st century.

In partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) and The Gordon Parks Foundation, the 2023 Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance explores the role of the media in civil rights movements past and present. Inspired by the MFAH’s current exhibition Gordon Parks: Stokely Carmichael and Black Power, panelists share their work and perspectives on how photographers and journalists shape narratives around social justice movements and leaders. Presenters include Lisa Volpe, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Michal Raz-Russo, Program Director at the Gordon Parks Foundation; Baltimore-based photographer Devin Allen; and moderator Tony Diaz, Houston-based writer, activist, and media personality.

“Little Central America, 1984”: A Sanctuary Then, and Now Presented in partnership with DiverseWorks Pay What You Can $5-20 | In-person event with chair seating In advance of the Houston premiere of “Little Central America, 1984,” a performance that reanimates the history of the Sanctuary Movement that offered safe space to refugees fleeing Central American civil wars of the 1980s, performer-writers Elia Arce and Rubén Martínez offer a conversation about the role of art in solidarity and accompaniment. Drawing upon their first-hand witness of the civil wars of the 1980s and the subsequent creation of “Little Central Americas” in places like Houston, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C., they contextualize the most recent refugee crisis. What place does Houston’s Central American community occupy in the city’s culture, politics and imagination? What role does artistic representation play in collective memory and healing? Sixto Wagan, project director of BIPOC Arts Network and Fund, served as interlocutor, joined by Allison Sáenz, a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at the University of Houston who has been recovering history about Houston’s sanctuary movement via oral histories.

2022.12.01 World Aids Day by Rothko Chapel

Community members contemplated cycles of life and death across cultures with music, poetry and personal reflections in observance of Dia de los Muertos, All Saint’s Day, and National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Attendees were invited to bring a small memento, photo, or item to place on a community altar in remembrance of those who have passed on. Presenters included Acharya Bramdeo ji, Arya Samaj Greater Houston David Leslie, Executive Director, Rothko Chapel Rana S. McClelland, President & CEO, Houston Hospice Diana X. Muniz, Chaplain, Bayou City Hospice Juan Palomo, Poet & Guild Member, Rothko Chapel Tammy Zwahr, Bereavement Counselor, Houston Hospice Jesus Lozano, Guitarist, MECA Rice MusicMDs: David Nemoto, pianist; Serena Kim, violinist; Amara Anyanwu, violinist Houston Hospice is a nonprofit organization that provides uncompromising, compassionate, end-of-life care to patients and families across 13 counties in Texas. Since 1980, we have been committed to the highest quality hospice care for patients of all ages, races, ethnicities and places of origin, with or without insurance. Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated annually November 1 & 2 to reunite the living and the dead, where mourning is exchanged for celebration. Families create ofrendas (offerings) decorated with marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favorite foods and drinks of the family members being honored. The offerings are believed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as the departed souls hear their prayers, smell their foods and join in the celebrations! All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are known or unknown. National Hospice and Palliative Care Month takes place in November, honoring the millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists, and social workers who make a remarkable difference for the patients and families they serve. These heroic caregivers play a central role in our health care system and in homes across the nation.

Songs for Justice: A Series Exploring Music in Social Justice Movements 2022 Annual MLK Birthday Celebration in partnership with Community Music Center of Houston In 2022, the Rothko Chapel presents Songs for Justice, a series of concerts and conversations exploring the role that music plays to further social justice movements, addressing today’s inequities and injustices. Coinciding with the Chapel’s annual observance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday on January 15, the series opened with a performance of and discussion about music central to the US Civil Rights Movement. The Community Music Center of Houston Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dr. Anne Lundy shared a selection of music central to Dr. King’s transformative leadership and Black Americans’ historic and contemporary struggles for equity. Dr. Shana Redmond, scholar of music, race and politics, discussed the broader history surrounding the relationship between music and activism in the U.S., the importance of music in Rev. King’s life, and the strategic use of music within the Civil Rights Movement. Buy Shana Redmond's book Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora. Listen to Anthem: The Mixtape, compiled by Shana Redmond & The Dreadstar Movement. The Rothko Chapel started the annual MLK Birthday Celebration in 1979 to connect the contemporary implications of Dr. King’s legacy to the ongoing struggle for civil and human rights, captured by artist Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk. This sculpture, located on the plaza adjacent to the Chapel, is dedicated to Dr. King. Learn more about upcoming programs in the Songs for Justice series. About the presenters Community Music Center of Houston (CMCH), formerly the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals, was founded in 1979. In 1983 CMCH formed the Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra (SJCO), a 40 member predominantly Black community orchestra in response to the lack of opportunity for Black classically trained musicians in the world of symphony orchestras. Today SJCO is the nation's second oldest predominantly Black chamber orchestra actively performing. Dr. Anne Lundy, CMCH Music Director, Conductor, Violinist, Educator and Ethno-musicologist, began her musical studies on the violin. She received a Bachelor of Music Education in 1977 from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Houston in 1979. Dr. Lundy received her Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Houston's Moores School of Music in 2015. She has lectured extensively throughout the United States. In addition, Dr. Lundy has published articles on finding and performing music written by African American composers. In 1989, she is the first African American woman to conduct the Houston Symphony at Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, TX. She founded and currently conducts the CMCH Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra, the William Grant Still String Quartet, and teaches violin and viola. Shana L. Redmond, Ph.D. (she|her) is a scholar and author of Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora (NYU, 2014) and Everything Man: The Form and Function of Paul Robeson (Duke, 2020), which received a 2021 American Book Award. She has written widely for public audiences, including the critical liner essay for the vinyl soundtrack release of Jordan Peele's film, Us (Waxwork Records, 2019). She is President-Elect of the American Studies Association and Professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Center for the Study of Ethnicity & Race at Columbia University.

In commemoration of World AIDS Day, the Rothko Chapel hosted a morning observance to show support and stand in solidarity with the millions of people living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS. The morning program included live music, personal testimonials, and guided reflection. Shadawn McCants, Owner and Clinical Director of Know and Live Counseling and Consulting, provided first-person testimonial on living with HIV and issues facing Black women in the HIV community. Jeffrey Campbell, Chief Program Officer at AIDS Foundation Houston, shared information on the state of the battle against HIV in Houston and Texas. Moments of reflection were led by Rev. Troy Treash, Senior Pastor of Resurrection MCC, and music was performed throughout by Kelsey Sham on harp. Established by the World Health Organization in 1988 as the first ever global health day, World AIDS Day takes place on the 1st day of December each year. It is an occasion to reflect on the millions of people who have died from HIV/AIDS since the virus was first identified in 1984, and a time to consider how to better care for the 38 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and their families, friends and loved ones who have been deeply impacted.

Charles Kamasaki (Unidos US) & Sister Norma Pimentel (Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley) engaged in a timely conversation exploring immigrants' rights in the US, including how they have historically been understood and changed over time, and the current policy decisions that drive today's US immigration issues. Charles Kamasaki shared a national perspective and Sister Norma Pimentel gave first hand accounts of what is happening at the Texas-Mexico border, including the impact of these policies on thousands of families each year. Their addresses were followed by a moderated conversation with Q&A facilitated by Frances Valdez, Executive Director of Houston in Action. About the Presenters Charles Kamasaki is Senior Cabinet Advisor of UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). Previously the Executive Vice President of NCLR, Kamasaki for two decades managed the group’s research, policy analysis, and advocacy activity. He has authored, co-authored, and supervised the preparation of dozens of policy and research reports, journal articles, and editorials, testified frequently at Congressional and Administrative hearings, coordinated pro bono litigation and legal analysis, and represented the organization at research and policy conferences and symposia. Kamasaki is also a Resident Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, where he conducted research that produced the book, Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die (Mandel-Vilar Press, 2019), about the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and its follow-on bill the Immigration Act of 1990, the last comprehensive immigration reforms enacted into law. Norma Pimentel, a Sister with the Missionaries of Jesus, is Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley for over 12 years. She oversees the charitable arm of the Diocese of Brownsville, providing oversight of different ministries & services in the Rio Grande Valley through emergency assistance, homelessness prevention, disaster relief, clinical counseling, pregnancy care, food programs, and the Humanitarian Respite Center. Sister Norma has been recognized by many organizations for her humanitarian work on the US-Mexico border overseeing the provision of a safe space for migrants to rest and regain strength. Most recently Pope Francis sent her a video message encouraging her and all the volunteers to continue their work. She was also named to the 2020 TIME100 list of the most influential people in the world. Moderator Frances Valdez (she/her) is the Executive Director of Houston in Action, a collective impact initiative that believes that by working together to reduce systemic barriers we can increase civic participation in the greater Houston region. Their collective work is moved by the shared ethos that, regardless of social identity, people should have equal opportunities to participate in, and have a meaningful impact, on civic life. In 2020, Valdez engaged Houston in Action to be a leader in the first-of-its-kind 2020 Census coordination and historic 2020 election coordination in Harris County. In 2021, that work continued post-Census to include coordinating efforts for equitable Covid vaccination access in Harris County, the creation of Unity Maps with member organizations to affect redistricting lines, and the implementation and funding of Black, Latinx and AAPI Grassroots Organizing Cohorts in Houston. Prior to starting Houston in Action, Valdez had a 13-year career as an immigration attorney, advocacy and policy advisor, director, and civic engagement coordinator within the immigrant rights movement. About the series In conjunction with the Chapel’s 50th Anniversary and commitment to furthering social justice nationally and internationally, "Beyond the Rhetoric: Civil Rights & Our Shared Responsibility" speaker series will examine different understandings of and approaches to furthering human rights and civil liberties in the United States.

The Rothko Chapel presented a livestream lecture and conversation with art historian Sheldon Nodelman and Christopher Rothko. In 1997, Nodelman authored Rothko Chapel Paintings: Origin, Structure, Meaning, where he explored the Rothko Chapel as "a masterpiece of twentieth century art and incontestably the greatest work of pictorial installation to date, both dauntingly complex and enigmatic." The quarter century that has elapsed since the publication of Nodelman’s book on the Chapel paintings has allowed for further reflection and the emergence of some new evidence regarding Mark Rothko's design and creative process that promotes a fuller estimation of its achievement. Of particular importance is a new understanding of the second of the three painting design phases that culminated in the finished work. This revelation is not only impressive but also enables a better appreciation of the leap of inspiration that resulted in what we know as the Rothko Chapel today. About the presenters Sheldon Nodelman is Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at the University of California, San Diego. He received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D degrees from Yale University. Before joining the Visual Arts faculty at UCSD, he taught at Bryn Mawr College, Princeton University and Yale. His research fields include Classical Greek and Roman art--especially Roman sculptured portraiture, the twentieth century avant-garde, and art historical theory and method. Prominent among his published works is the major critical study so far of the Rothko Chapel paintings. He is currently pursuing two parallel investigations of the work of Marcel Duchamp. Christopher Rothko, the second of Mark and Mary Alice Rothko's two children, is a psychologist, writer and for the last thirty years, the custodian of the Rothko legacy. He is editor of his father's book of philosophical writings, The Artist's Reality. His book of essays, Mark Rothko from the Inside Out, was published in 2015 by Yale University Press. Dr. Rothko has helped prepare more than two dozen Rothko exhibitions at museums and galleries around the globe and is co-curator of the recent Rothko exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. He is Past Chair of the Rothko Chapel Board and is currently head of the Opening Spaces Project, guiding the restoration of the Chapel and enhancement of its campus.

Tink Tinker and Dina Gilio-Whitaker engaged in dialogue moderated by Suzanne Benally exploring the concept of rights for the American Indian people. Juxtaposed to western frameworks that focus on individual rights, for American Indians the idea of rights has often been used against the collective interests of tribal nations because the philosophical foundations at the core of Indigenous and western worldviews are dramatically different. About the Presenters Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) is a lecturer of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos, and an independent educator in American Indian environmental policy and other issues. At CSUSM she teaches courses on environmentalism and American Indians, traditional ecological knowledge, religion and philosophy, Native women’s activism, American Indians and sports, and decolonization. She also works within the field of critical sports studies, examining the intersections of indigeneity and the sport of surfing. As a public intellectual, Dina brings her scholarship into focus as an award-winning journalist as well, with her work appearing at Indian Country Today, the Los Angeles Times, High Country News, Time.com, Slate, History.com, Bioneers, Truthout, the Pacifica Network, Grist, and many more. Dina is the author of two books; the most recent award-winning As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock. She is currently under contract with Beacon Press for a new book under the working title Illegitimate Nation: Privilege, Race, and Accountability in the U.S. Settler State. Tink Tinker is a citizen of the Osage Nation (wazhazhe) and the Clifford Baldridge Emeritus Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff School of Theology. During his 33 year career at Iliff, Dr. Tinker brought a distinctly American Indian perspective to a predominantly White, euro-christian school, as he continues to do in lectures across the continent. For three decades he volunteered both administratively and as a traditional spiritual leader at Four Winds American Indian Council in Denver, and he continues to work closely with the American Indian Movement of Colorado. His publications include: American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty (Orbis, 2008); Spirit and Resistance: American Indian Liberation and Political Theology (Fortress, 2004); Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Genocide (Fortress Press, 1993); and nearly a hundred journal articles and chapters for edited volumes. Moderator Suzanne Benally is Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa, and she currently serves as the Executive Director of Swift Foundation. She has worked in higher education and the non-profit sector for 40 years. Formerly, Suzanne served as the Executive Director of Cultural Survival, an international Indigenous Peoples rights advocacy organization that advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, self-determination, land, language, culture, and political resilience. Prior to Cultural Survival, she served as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Naropa University and was a core faculty member and previous chair of the environmental studies department. Her extensive experience spans work devoted to social justice, diversity, and equity. Suzanne is currently co-chair of the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples and a Trustee of the Naropa University Board of Trustees. She was a cohort member of the Rothko Chapel’s Spirituality and Social Justice initiative to further contemporary understandings about spirituality and social justice. Deeply committed to social, environmental and climate justice, her work, passion, and interests center on relationships and interconnectedness between land, spirituality, culture,