To commemorate Black History Month in 2023, UPA’s DEI-BElonging Team is pleased to announce a live performance of:

Words That Made the Difference: Brown vs. the Board of Education

on Saturday, February 11, 2023, in our sanctuary
6:15-6:45 PM – Q&A with the playwright
7:00-9:00 PM – Performance (no intermission)
9:00-9:30 PM – Q&A with the cast

Tickets are FREE and available only through Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/UnityBvB
Donations are welcome and will go to the UPA’s General Fund.
We have begun to publicize this event to our surrounding communities. For this reason, we are offering the UPA community an “early bird” opportunity to secure your seat. You can register here: tinyurl.com/UnityBvB

In Unity, we believe all people are Divine and made in God’s image. Racial equity and inclusion are aligned with both our name and core values. In presenting this play, we are practicing our fifth principle, taking action to increase our knowledge and understanding of this part of U.S. history and furthering our purpose. This is historical theater. Twenty-two professional actors will be performing on our platform. The audience will be observers in the courtroom.

This play is based on actual events in the fight to end school segregation, set in the courtrooms of history, capturing the actual words in court cases that culminated in Brown vs. the Board of Education. The script draws from trial transcripts of the five cases brought together in front of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Earl Warren’s memoirs.

Welcoming and presenting this play to a diverse audience from our surrounding communities will encourage open-hearted, courageous conversations. In addition, this performance will introduce our lovely campus to persons who may be seeking a spiritual home.

If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please contact Karen Friedman at kjfriedman2@gmail.com.

Dr. Cindy Acker, Ed.D. (Playwright and Director) is a five-time award-winning educator, author, and playwright. She was vocally trained by the late Johnny Land and has sung with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, the Glide Ensemble, Unity In Marin, and the MCC Worship and Praise Choir of San Francisco. She has led and toured three choirs, performing in the Governor’s chambers on behalf of marriage equality. Cindy has produced an Emmy award-winning feature entitled “Creative Parenting.” She has written several plays and performed in the US and Canada, including an award-winning musical entitled “In Our Hands.”