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Reeves' research examines the interchange between institutions and behavior with a focus on political accountability and public policy in the United States. His most recent book, No Blank Check: The Origins and Consequences of Public Antipathy towards Presidential Power with Jon C. Rogowski was published in 2022 by Cambridge University Press. From the publisher: Concerns about unaccountable executive power have featured recurrently in political debates from the American founding to today. For many, presidents' use of unilateral power threatens American democracy. No Blank Check advances a new perspective: Instead of finding Americans apathetic toward how presidents exercise power, it shows the public is deeply concerned with core democratic values. Drawing on data from original surveys, innovative experiments, historical polls, and contexts outside the United States, the book highlights Americans' skepticism towards presidential power. This skepticism results in a public that punishes unilaterally minded presidents and the policies they pursue. By departing from existing theories of presidential power which acknowledge only institutional constraints, this timely and revealing book demonstrates the public's capacity to tame the unilateral impulses of even the most ambitious presidents. Ultimately, when it comes to exercising power, the public does not hand the president a blank check.

We will explore how healthy relationships look and feel, with emphasis on the fact that every relationship has its own culture. But when the foundation of the relationship is built on solid ground and with intention and integrity, relationships can grow into whatever you may want them to be. We will draw on the expertise of our Interim Ministry Team Director, Amy, as she introduces us to her working theories on how to ensure that our relationships are rooted in–and hallmarked by–relative ease.

Shuron will elaborate on past and present efforts toward housing justice in St. Louis. Since and before the historic Kraemer ruling, St. Louis has provided spatial, economic, social, and cultural restraints and opportunities to advance equity and liberation through housing justice. Housing work has provided incentives for disparate communities to form alliances around changes and policies to better living conditions. This work, legacy, and alliance building continues because of the seemingly insurmountable current housing system that is broken for most: evictions, which affect Black women with children the most, are on the rise while wages remain stagnant; rents are continually rising with no checks on increases; assistance and moratoria have ended; and renter workers are retaliated against for reporting conditions issues. Renter-workers are demanding equity through housing justice and their voices have not and will not go unheeded.

After living under and being evicted by a slumlord, Shuron Danielle Jones (she/her) began organizing around housing with Homes for All - St. Louis in 2019. Jones' work focuses on the research, passage, implementation, and evaluation of legislation and policies that forward renter-worker protections. Shuron assisted in crafting the Four and More for STL Renters campaign to introduce a Right to Counsel, Tenant Bill of Rights, an Office of Tenant Advocacy, and a City-Wide Tenant Union to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. Shuron is also a public researcher, historian, and analyst, focusing on the work, lives, and organizing/advocacy/writings of Radical Queer Black Women in the Midwest from the 1970

It may be hard to keep up with all the "newfangled terminology." When we don’t understand something it's easy to get annoyed with it or dismiss it as not important. What is cisgender? What is nonbinary? What is demisexual? What is "ace"? What is pansexual? Why do pronouns matter so much all of a sudden? What does all of this mean? Approaching the idea of multifaceted (and mutable) identity from a curious, beginner’s perspective with the goal of education and normalization, we will leave Platform with a little more knowledge than we had before and some comfort around shared definitions.

Under Ethical Culture Founder Felix Adler’s leadership, the voices of prominent civil rights leaders were amplified within our congregations. People of color were given space within Ethical Culture to share ideas and advocate for equality. In honor of Juneteenth, we will discuss the connections between our movement and Black history.

Our time together will be set aside to intentionally explore the societal manifestations of imposed gender roles, a primary barrier to self-actualization from a variety of perspectives. We will acknowledge the confluence of powerful change agents–such as community-based activism, scientific advancement, and the preservation of human dignity–and their ability to initiate and maintain a more gentle existence for the gender-expansive community.

Ky A. Miller, MSW, LCSW (they/them) is a non-binary social worker who provides affirming and competent, attachment/trauma-informed psychotherapy to LGBTQ+ children, teens, adults, and their families throughout Illinois and Missouri. In addition to clinical practice, Ky is the director of Community Impact at Light Source (a group therapy practice) and founder of ALIGN, an education, training, and consultation program that enhances providers’ competencies in serving LGBTQ+ clients. Ky’s social activism regarding the rights and humanity of the LGBTQ+ community spans nearly three decades. Committed to enhancing the well-being of people who belong to traditionally marginalized communities, Ky consistently participates in policy change efforts at the local and state levels to ensure gender-expansive individuals experience inclusion and celebration across the lifespan. In 2018, Ky founded the Coalition for the Advancement of Ethical Practices, which focuses on creating policies to protect youth from sexual orientation/gender identity change efforts (or “conversion therapy”).

A discussion of what diversity, equity, and inclusion is, why it’s important, and what one can do to create safe spaces to support DEI.

Randy L. Rafter currently serves as the executive director of Black Pride St. Louis. Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Rafter has dedicated his work in service and advocacy. In his role as executive director of Black Pride St. Louis, Rafter has reshaped the organization from being a moment of the year, only producing its annual Black Pride Weekend event, to launching a movement campaign focusing on empowering, uplifting, and motivating people of color in the LGBTQIA/SGL community while advocating for diversity throughout the St. Louis region.

Gardening is a great way to promote wellness and self-sustainability. It is a form of physical activity that can help reduce stress and increase energy levels. Additionally, gardening can be a source of healthy food access, a way to create a source of income, or simply a tool to reduce your reliance on others. Join Jessica K. Carter as she discusses how gardening to grow your own food can help you connect with nature and your best self, as well as exploration of why it’s good for you and the earth to reduce reliance on commercial food supply chains. The future of food can be in your own backyard!

This talk will focus on the "art of protest" both in the sense of the visual media produced by grassroots activists and in the ways that they understood problems and mobilized communities. How they conceived, created, and constructed visual texts demonstrates not just their arguments and ideology, such work reflects states of mind, the ways activists dealt with the messy business of challenging corporations and institutions, and changing hearts and minds and policies and laws. Uncovering these internal states allows for two things: 1) As a way of understanding the humor, rage, and determination that motivated activists to persevere despite obstacles and 2) as an entry point into understanding agency that may not result in positive or negative outcomes. Most activism happens daily, often in small ways like phone calls and town hall meetings and letters to the editor. Change often happens incrementally, until it happens like a storm. But activists consistently exert agency that represents a kind of radical hope. They get up every day and fight for the better world they want. They win some important goals even as they lose some. They get up the next day and fight for the better world they want. They perform these daily acts as a form of radical hope. They speak truth to power and fight for a more just, cleaner, and better world.

Amy Hay is a professor of history at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Her research focuses on public health activism, specifically the mobilization of various groups of citizens protesting environmental pollution and its effects on human and environmental health. She has published on women’s activism at the Love Canal chemical disaster, and her book, The Defoliation of America (University of Alabama Press, 2022), examines the ways various groups – religious, grassroots, veterans – challenged the official narrative of using the phenoxy herbicides safely in South Vietnam and throughout the western United States. Her current project examines the connection between environment and health in the Rio Grande Valley over the long 20th century. It examines two groups of medical migrants – winter Texans and migrant workers – and considers the emergence of health disparities between the groups

When you look at the tiny sliver of earth that wraps around your house, what part of it reminds and connects you to the natural world? Is it reminiscent of the green planet we live on, or a reflection of the house next door? Are there ancient remnant plants and animals hiding in plain sight? Do you have a large tree or woodland growing along a creek in your neighborhood? Is your lawn diverse with native sedges, spring beauty or even dandelions? How do these fragments of a former natural community survive? More importantly, as stewards of your piece of earth, do you have what it takes to sustain nature and bring it back to your neighborhood? These are the questions we will ponder as we gather at the Ethical Society to celebrate Earth Day 2023. Scott has been tinkering with plants since the age of 12. Throughout his career, he has worked at a number of public gardens. He founded the St. Louis Wild Ones and developed the Whitmire Wildflower Garden before retiring and developing Cacalia Garden Design and Wilding, a consulting and design service dedicated to promoting the natural world through native plants and natural landscaping.