RRUUC’s Contemporary Issues Forum (Coffee, Controversy & Conversation – CC&C) has been informing our members and guests for the past 35 years with over 30 programs per season. The weekly programs often focus on social justice issues, but also include an eclectic range of topics including foreign relations, U.S. security, state and federal government policy, art, history, nature and more. The weekly CC&C programs are held mid-Sep. through May at 10:25 – 11:10 am (between worship services.)

January 26

Bridging Worlds: A Lebanese Arab-American Woman’s Story
Hala Buck, author, counselor, artist, and educator

RRUUC member Hala Buck shares what it’s like to leave her country of birth and her Lebanese Muslim/Christian family and spend 31 years with her Foreign Service husband in seven Arab countries and Canada. Uprooted every 2-3 years, all the while bridging cultures, Hala’s is a personal and a universal story – a search for a sense of belonging and “home.” Art and poetry were her guides providing insights into her mixed identity as a human bridge helping people cross over to understand each other. Her book offers fresh perspectives and a timely message that diversity and unity need not be at odds.

February 2

Planning for Long-Term Care: Prepare Now
Morris Klein, Esq., Elder Law Attorney

After age 65, people have a 70% probability of needing long term care.  Such care is expensive and not generally not covered by health insurance. Bethesda attorney Morris Klein will discuss the practical and legal issues you need to be aware of to prepare now and avoid a crisis in long term care.  Mr. Klein is the current chair of the Maryland State Bar Elder and Disability Law Section.

February 9

The Black Power Movement in Washington D.C.
Prof. G. Derek Musgrove, U. MD, Baltimore County

Though often dismissed as a hateful and destructive political impulse that ruined the civil rights movement, black power activism was, in fact, the principal means by which black activists secured basic city services, entered electoral politics, disciplined a racist and violent police force, and reclaimed their neighborhoods from slumlords and Urban Renewal programs. The District, with its massive black majority and national symbolic significance, boasted a large, diverse and startlingly successful Black Power Movement. Drawing from his latest project, a web based map of the Black Power Movement in Washington D.C., George Derek Musgrove will explore this critical moment in the city’s history. 

February 16

Emerging Energy Technology = Global Energy Security?
Peter Wilson, Adjunct Nat’l Security Analyst, RAND

U.S.’s ability to reach new sources of natural gas and petroleum in shale deposits on the North American continent and the increasing cost-efficiency of sustainable energy like solar and wind power now enables the U.S. to be significantly less dependent on Middle East and other foreign petroleum resources. But will this improve national security here, in the Middle East and elsewhere, even with the high unemployment rates and growing radicalism among a very youthful population in many Middle East countries? Peter Wilson, an adjunct senior national security analyst at the RAND Corp and lecturer at the National Defense University and OLLI, will address this question.