Richard Hobbs and friends

September 23, 2018

1. Decentralizing Socialized Economy
2. State-Subsidized Cooperatives
3. Human Rights Based Constitution
4. Mass Participation & Corporate-Free Elections
5. Right to Housing
6. Single Payer Health Care
7. Universal Public Education
8. Federal Policies Saving the Planet
9. Gun-Free Security
10. Prohibition on Commercial Advertising

Richard Hobbs is the Executive Director and a co-founder of Human Agenda. Currently, he also serves as the moderator of Santa Clara County Move To Amend and principal in the Law Office of Richard Hobbs, focusing on immigrant rights. Richard previously served as the Director of the Office of Human Relations of Santa Clara County and as a trustee for the San José-Evergreen Community College District for 16 years. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan and Ecuador, he has lived, worked, made presentations, or studied in over 40 countries, including making a presentation to members of the Gross National Happiness Commission of Bhutan in 2011. Richard has master’s degrees from the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) and San José State University (California) and a Juris Doctor from Golden Gate University (San Francisco, California).

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Prof. Elizabeth Drescher

September 16, 2018

The portion of the American population who report that they are not identified or affiliated with an institutional religion continues to grow. Among all adults, more than a quarter identify as Nones; among adults under age 30, some 40 percent are unaffiliated. This is a dramatic sea change for American religion, as Nones rewire American religious practice and reshape the religious landscape.

Santa Clara University professor Elizabeth Drescher, author of Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America’s Nones (Oxford 2016), will discuss patterns of religious and nonreligious practice that Nones are bringing to contemporary American culture.

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Hank Pellissier

September 9, 2018

Brighter Brains Institute (BBI), a SF Bay nonprofit (https://brighterbrains.institute/), has promoted humanism for two years in religiously-conflicted Nigeria – Africa’s wealthiest and most populous nation.

This presentation will first explain religious extremism in the Islamic north (Boko Haram terrorism & the Almajiri system) and the Christian south (the “witch child” phenomenon).

Next, the heroic actions of Nigeria’s atheists/humanists will be examined (Leo Igwe, Mubarak Bala, etc.).

Thirdly, the efforts of BBI to promote secular humanism will be depicted: they’ve offered 20 Critical Thinking workshops, plus vocational training and humanitarian aid for the Almajjiri, and startup funding – accompanied by humanist lectures – to Women’s Collectives in the Al-amin Dagash Refugee Camp in Maiduguri.

Finally, BBI’s future goal to start a “mobile humanist school” for refugee children will be clarified.

BBI director Hank Pellissier will present.

Nigeria: Religious Conflict & Humanism – Hank Pellissier from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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Arthur Jackson

September 2, 2018

Arthur Jackson, author of “How to Live the Good Live: A User’s Guide for Modern Humans” (2011), and an activist in the American Humanist Association since 1962 and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley since the late 70s, will explore how stories influence our lives in ways we never even recognize. Is cheering when the bad guy gets caught compatible with humanism?

The Power of Stories: From Eden to Utopia – Arthur Jackson from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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