FES Conference Wrap-up & Reflections from Simba

A "RAP-UP" from the 2009 FES Conference on Memorial Day Weekend in D.C.

FES stands for "Future of Ethical Societies" and was created 6 years ago to address the EC vision and needs of young adults.

Simba Yangala attended the annual FES conference as a representative of BSEC. She also introduced her friend Orlando Rivera to the movement through attending this conference. Their "report-back" follows. 

We arrived at 3AM on Friday night, welcomed by Matt Herndon, great conversation about ourselves and about ethical culture.

We awoke at 9AM for breakfast with other FES conference attendees, and prepared to participate in a service project at Capitol Area Food Bank.  This is a Non-Profit organization that distributes food donated from DC area grocery stores, restaurants, and residents to organizations such as food pantries and soup kitchens.

·      Transportation was well organized

·      Volunteers helped organize donated food into different categories

·      It was a lot of fun and everyone eagerly participated in the project

We returned to the FES conference location for pasta dinner.  We discussed the agenda for the next days platform at Washington Ethical Society (WES). 

·      FES had organized who would speak at the platform

·      The FES participants have a very efficient democratic system where suggestions are offered and voted upon

·      It was agreed that everyone would do their best to actively introduce FES to the WES members at platform

·      The FES mission for that day was to help WES attract new members by offering suggestions of activities and topics to be discussed at future platforms

·      There were speeches made by FES participants regarding:

o       Food politics (knowing where your food comes from, making healthful decisions regarding the food you eat and being aware of  inhumane actions committed by some food corporations to their workers)

o      Mental Health vs Mental Illness (an encouraging speech on how not to let a diagnosis destroy ones confidence and how to enjoy pleasure in your life regardless of being diagnosed with a disorder or illness)

o      Attracting new and younger members to ethical culture and promoting the movement (hosting fun activities, spicing up bulletins, discussing topics that may be important to young adults)

We returned to the FES conference to discuss a guiding document for FES going forward.  Issues included age limit of  FES members, the FES mission, and its self-defined identity.

·      The content of the document was put to a vote where many elements will be taken to a subcommittee

·      The topic of age limit seemed to be a very controversial matter within the group, it was voted that individuals over 28 could not become FES participants. FES members were as young as 18 years of age.

·      Their mission is to guide participants from YES into a future within ethical society and to also attract people not yet familiar with ethical culture.