WHY ARE YOU YOU?

We are getting the full podcasts ready for season 2.  The first episode drops on Sept 30th. While you all wait we thought you might like to hear this conversation between Ayanna and their partner Chris. This is just one of many YRUU couples conversations that we had the privilege of recording. Enjoy! 
www.whyareyouyou.org

We have made it to the end of season 1 of this podcast. And what better person to end on than Ayanna Kafi Lobe.  We visited them at their home in Atlanta, GA with their partner Chris.  
Following the interview we had a YRUU dinner where folx came to chat, share food and there may have been a little singing.
We also wrote affirmations on taped pieces of paper on each other's backs–a practice that the youth did during YRUU conferences. 
Interviewing Ayanna was so refreshing.  They brought in the perspective of someone who really focused on their local and district youth group. A great example that having strong national youth support can trickle down to the local communities seamlessly.
www.whyareyouyou.org
 

Lindsay recently caught up with Meg Riley who reflected on her time working at the UUA and much more!
www.whyareyouyou.org

Caelan Schrama we met while visiting the YES conference on Star Island. YES is an acronym for Youth Empowerment and Spirituality.  
Kerri Bell-Delgado came up to our booth at the Unitarian Universalists General Assembly in Portland, OR in 2022. We loved the idea of getting a current young person's take on being a Unitarian Universalist.
Atticus Fisher is the child of Ginger Young Fisher whose interview you will hear in a separate episode.  Atticus at the time was highly involved in YRUUP. a youth-run organization dedicated to providing fun, safe, and spiritual programs for UU youth in the Pacific Western Region of the United States. 
This trio of voices lifts up the youths voices of today. YRUU may have ended nationally but the work and enthusiasm has remained in many parts of the country still. 
www.whyareyouyou.org

Lindsay recently caught up with Julia Pulver who gives us a great perspective on YRUU in Michigan.
www.whyareyouyou.org

This interview with Bill Sinkford was the most anticipated interview we conducted. 
The reason we wanted Bill to be interviewed was because he was the president of the Unitarian Universalists Association when the decision to defund YRUU took place. But what you will get from this interview is a deeper understanding of the life Bill had growing up and growing into leadership.
We met him in Portland, Oregon where the 2022 Unitarian Universalists General Assembly was taking place. Our hotel/studio offered us a quiet place to chat. 
www.whyareyouyou.org

Dawn connects with Aileen Dashurova for a very candid conversation about what it was like to be a youth advisor.
www.whyareyouyou.org

This episode features Matt Meyer. MATT HAS LED WORSHIP FOR HUNDREDS OF CONGREGATIONS, TRAVELING THE COUNTRY SHARING A MESSAGE OF LOVE AND JUSTICE, THROUGH RHYTHM AND SONG. He is currently the Director of Community Life for Sanctuary Boston.
One of our original ideas in making the documentary was to highlight different organizations that are continuing the ideas from the YRUU program. Either through their practices or by being led by someone who went through the program.  So, although we didn’t explicitly highlight Sanctuary Boston we used images from one of their worships in the film.
Matt truly encompasses the spirit of YRUU and you will hear that through his words and singing.
www.whyareyouyou.org

We first met with Emily and Aisha when they hosted a Dinner Church that we went and recorded. They call their gatherings Nourish. As the website–NourishUU.org  says “Dinner church is all about nourishing bodies and spirits through food and ritual. It is a worship service and a meal woven together to tap into the heart of what it means to be in embodied spiritual community with one another.”
We later visited them for a sit down interview along with (at the time) a 9 month old of Emily’s.  This made the interview interrupted slightly but that's what it means to be multigenerational. We decided to keep some of these inserted detours in this episode.
Talking with them both really showed us how YRUU has spread beyond the program itself. How it impacts family life and how ministry can look.
www.whyareyouyou.org

Lindsay recently caught up with Lisa Feldstein for another perspective on the Common Ground process and what it was like to work in the LRY Office.  
www.whyareyouyou.org