"Look, a transfusion of hope in every human vein, youthful or aged. I name you, therefore, those who 'hope in Yahweh.' And I promise—youth, elders—you will be no more earthbound than eagles are."  -Daniel Berrigan

Older activists often bemoan the fact that younger activists aren’t interested in joining traditional resistance organizations. But vibrant activism flourishes among younger people. How do we bring a rich tradition in contact with new energy and different perspectives? This ZOOM gathering will host such a conversation. We’ll hear from and dialogue with two young activists Grace Aheron and Claire Hitchens about the inspiration they receive and the limitations they notice in the tradition of Catholic radicalism to which Dan Berrigan belong.

Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 7PM Eastern

Grace Aheron (she/her) is a multi-racial Asian American Southern queer femme. She was raised upper middle class in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in Southwestern Virginia. She was politicized in her progressive Christian church that planted a commitment to liberation theology and justice deep in her heart as a wee one. She helped start the Showing Up for Racial Justice  chapter in Charlottesville in 2016 and made it her political home as they survived and thrived through the Unite the Right Rally in 2017. She is married to a remarkable queer and they live in Virginia on traditional Monacan territory.

Claire Hitchins (she/her) is called to tend sacred spaces where connection, healing, imagination and justice-making become possible. In 2014 she first named this vocation as a call to priesthood - but as a young Catholic woman, she couldn’t imagine what that could mean. Her winding discernment path led her to the fertile fringes of the institutional church, where she seeds transformation with fellow Catholic change-makers. She is blessed to design and direct Re/Generation, a mentoring and leadership program connecting young progressive Catholics with each other and with elders to support them in their work for justice in the Church. She is a resident of Casa Alma Catholic Worker in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she supports community projects in sustainable agriculture and radical hospitality. Claire weaves music into her ministry wherever possible, leading group singing at church services, retreats, protests and rallies. She is a second-year Master of Divinity candidate at Vanderbilt Divinity School where she is widening her imagination around how churches and faith leaders can resist oppressive systems and theologies, and better serve the healing, repair and liberation for which all of creation groans. Claire received her BA in Religious Studies from The University of Virginia in 2013 and served with Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest ’15-’16.