John Brown, A Catalyst for Change, Harbinger of the American Cataclysm (Members Blog)
Who was this man? History, more often than not, is a narrative agreed upon. By whom, you ask? By those who are read, who chronicle the events, set the tone and determine the mission of those acts which being read in the now will perhaps impact the future. Those...
Statement on Anti-Asian Bigotry and Violence
Statement on Anti-Asian Bigotry and Violence March 10, 2021 The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture denounces the increasing instances of bias, violence, and hate crimes toward Asian and Asian American individuals, both in the United States and in other countries. In...
Pondering War by Muriel Tillinghast (Members Blog)
(Download this document here) I was in my third year at Howard University when I had an unusual opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia. One of my stops was in the Philippines — an archipelagic country, a big word for a nation of islands, in this case about 7600...
Legislation Celebrates Juneteenth (Members Blog)
A Day Which Commemorates Black and African American Freedom and Achievements Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed into law legislation (S.8598/A.10628) designating Juneteenth as an official public holiday in New York State. The new law celebrates Juneteenth, a day...
Our Ethics for Children Program 2019-2020
As we look at our past year with so much joy and amazing moments, it becomes clear that to create new moments this coming year will require a re-invention of how our program works, at least in the near future. We look at our program last year as we are filled with...
The Sentry (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) (Members Blog)
We are mourning the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg who for 27 years sat on the United States Supreme Court. Her impact in writing, affirming and advocating primarily the rights of women in a fractious and increasingly conservative judicial arena gave her various...
Reusable Solutions ( Zero Waste)
We had a wonderful platform on August 2nd, 2020, about reusable solutions with Ben Kogan. Ben and some of our members and visitors shared a few links of resources to help us reduce waste and support our planet. They can be found below: Break Free from Plastic Bill:...
America Not at its Greatest (Members’ Blog)
Note: This is a statement of solidarity with and for the current public responses to the police murder of George Floyd, late of Minneapolis, Minnesota by the Ethical Action Committee of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. Today, millions of people around the...
BSEC Statement on the Protests
We at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture denounce the violence toward African Americans and other People of Color. We speak out against failures to reform police practices and to the underlying systemic racism that contaminates our world and distorts our common...
COVID Related Resources (Updated)
Dear friends, Below you will find a few resources that might be helpful during this difficult time. If you would like to suggest a resource, please send your suggestions using the form at: https://forms.gle/LJhMKvXaVY55U6Jx7 Please note that these are suggested...
This Black History Month, Support Black Businesses!
As we celebrate Black History Month try to use your money where it matters, at local black businesses. Here are some listings. have fun! A few resources: Black-Owned Brooklyn Black-Owned Restaurants in Brooklyn Shoppe Black Brooklyn One business who is...
Pledge Dinner 2019
On Friday, November 1st, 2019, our members and friends gathered for a celebration of friendship, art, and appreciation for our community. Below are a few pictures of the evening, which featured poetry read by Kim Brandon and Tasha Paley, a fun theatrical sketch...
Books to Prisoners Program
Hello all, I am delighted and proud to announce that The Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture now has a Books to Prisoners program. On Friday July 26th We mailed twelve cartons of books to the Montogmery State Prison in Mount Vernon, GA. I have spent the last year...
The Art of Dying with a monthly Death Discussion Group
What might we plan, hope, dream, imagine as we consider our mortality? The Ethical Living Committee at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture is championing a series for shared discussion and contemplation on death and dying. All topics welcome. There are no taboos....
Our Members News – Poetry in the Garden
Join some of our members at the Prospect Heights Community Farm for a series of Poetry performances and readings in the garden. When: Saturday, August 24th | 5:00-7:00 pm Where: Prospect Heights Community Farm, 252 Saint Marks Avenue (btwn Underhill + Vanderbilt...
Social Justice Books Recommendation
Learning to become more anti-racist involves many things. In our racial justice book group we learn from reading books by and about oppressed people as well as speaking about our experiences of racism, otherness, intersectionality, or awareness of how our society...
Juneteenth, a Historical Analysis (Members Blog)
Platform speech by Muriel Tillinghast (used with permission)July 7, 2019 It was an honor to delve into this annal of American history. It allowed me to probe some historical confusions and to, hopefully, correct a few misconceptions — mine and probably yours as...
Our Ramadan Gift and Food Collection
By Burt Hurwitz We received a request from the Arab American Association of NY for contributions of toys and food for needy families during the Ramadan season. We sent out the call to our members and over two Sundays they responded with a large collection of toys and...
Pictures from Families Celebrate Africa
Thank you so much to all who helped make this event happen. We are so thankful to the amazing performers, parents, and volunteers (of all ages) who showed up even though an Arctic front had hit us that day and it was 7 degrees and windy. You came early, stayed late,...
Families Celebrate Africa is happening today, Jan 21st at 3pm, no matter the weather!
YES, OUR EVENT IS STILL HAPPENING TODAY! We will dance and sing and keep warm in community. The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture offers a fun-filled family event to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr with African music, drumming and dance, face painting, African...
AnneMarie’s Birthday
This past Sunday, Sept 16th, we celebrated the 96th birthday of our eldest member, AnneMarie Mogul, who is forever young at heart and spirit. Below you will find some of the pictures of the day: You can...
Charley Horwitz Platform: Celebrate Activism
CHARLEY HORWITZ PLATFORM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2018 • 11:00am to 4:00pm at BSEC 53 Prospect Park West • Brooklyn, NY 11215 KEYNOTE SPEAKER DR. ROBYN SPENCER The Charley Horwitz Platform celebrates community building through peaceful resolutions, activism, and inclusion....
Renaming Our Newsletter
Our weekly email newsletter, which goes out to about 1500 people each week, has been called the "Community Builder." Readers include not just members of the Ethical Culture Society, but also many people in the larger community who want to know about events...
Ethics for Children on News 12
We are so very proud of our kids and all they have done and how they have inspired us this year. During their Stepping Up Celebration this year, they also got in the news. You can watch the report at:...
300 HOPE Dinners and counting
By Kim Brandon On the third Sunday in May, 1993, four guests and twice as many volunteers sat down together in the Dempsey Center here in Brooklyn to begin a journey of building community in the face of one of the worst epidemics of our time. We are still far from a...
Thank you for coming to Families Celebrate Africa (and pictures)
This past Monday, January 15th, 2018, we gathered with hundreds of families to honor and celebrate the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Together we sang, danced, heard stories about those who have dedicated their lives to the fight for human and civil rights and...
From Jone Lewis – How you can contribute to platforms
Lots going on right now at BSEC, and we're at the edge of making our platforms even better! Here are some ways you can contribute: 1) MUSIC: The Sunday Committee voted to form a Music Subcommittee to help bring live music including community singing to more platform...
Ethics for Children – First Day of 2017/2018
Dear parents We were so happy to see you all on our first class September 10th! It was exciting to meet so many new friends and to welcome our old friends back to Ethics for Children. Below you will find a short description of our classes and what is coming in the...
Ethics for Children – Lots of news for 2017-2018!
Dear EfC Parents, Taty and Lea here! Hope you are having a wonderful summer. We are looking forward to fall already! There will be lots of new additions to our kids class this year, such as regular yoga and midfulness classes, permaculture and volunteering and...
Pictures from our Refugee Welcome Dinner
Thank you all who helped make our Refuge Welcome Dinner Such a successful event. BSEC members and several organizations and volunteers got together to warmly welcome new friends from all over the world who recently came to make NYC their homes. We are glad you are...
Pictures from Charley Horwitz Event
We would like to thank everyone who helped make this event a success. Below you will find some images from this inspiring day.
Future of Ethical Societies (FES) in Asheville, North Carolina May 26-29
Dear AEU Members and Friends Future of Ethical Societies (FES), the young members of the Ethical Culture Movement, are preparing a fantastic conference in Asheville, North Carolina May 26-29 and fun activities at the AEU Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland June 8-11. Join...
Pictures from Families Celebrate Africa – A MLK Event
We celebrated Martin Luther King Jr's Day celebrating our community's diversity and talents. More than ever, it was a good time to honor the cultural richness of our country and the power of peaceful action. A huge thanks to all who helped make this event so...
Members’ Meeting – January 29th, 2017
Dear Members, We are looking forward to our next Members' Meeting, January 29th, 1-3PM. We will have a slightly abbreviated platform and luncheon that morning. As many of us have expressed, at this time, we are all called to action. As members of Ethical Culture we...
Our Winter Solstice Celebration 2016
In times of darkness, we celebrate the Winter Solstice together to welcome the return of the light. Our inter-generational event focused on ancient South American civilizations and how they honored the sun. DuPree led the musical part of the event and the children...
Ethics for Children Update – December 4th, 2016 class
Simba Yangala (Exploring Ethics, 3-7 years) It was fun being at the platform with the children, sharing a song with the grown ups this Sunday morning. Back in our class, after our greeting song, I asked the children which place they liked more, the children's place or...
A few easy ways to help BSEC:
Dear friends and members: We are approaching the end of the year and entering the shopping season. We encourage you to support local business and small, homegrown vendors and artisans whenever you can, but we understand that many of you will also shop online. If you...
A Letter to Members and Friends of the Brooklyn Society
November 20, 2016 Dear Members and Friends of the Brooklyn Society: We find ourselves in front of a computer trying to write a letter to our members and friends while feeling challenged, because words can seem so insignificant at this time. We write this today,...
Pictures of our Wampanoag Ceremony 2016
Every year, BSEC celebrates this time of the year with special attention and respect to our Native American communities during a beautiful intergenerational ritual we call the "Wampanoag Ceremony". The event is led by Remi Gay, a former board officer and long-time...
Pictures from our Pledge Dinner Party 2016
Once a year something deliciously fun happens at BSEC. Our Pledge Dinner, which is an event full of humor, surprises and most of all, community. This year's Pledge Dinner, last October 28th, was no exception. Thanks to the beautiful organizational efforts of...