Enriching the county’s cultural and intellectual life

We do know that there is a synergistic relationship, one providing fuel and momentum for the other. Cultural and intellectual capital, however, seems to be the primary catalysts.

We live close to Washington but foreign affairs seems to be the least accessible to most Americans and the least interesting until the casualties of war start returning.

I have suggested that organizations like the chamber of commerce and the Economic Development Corp. do programs on foreign affairs but they already have too much on their plate.

To this end, the Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs created the Davies Forum, a series of programs on topics that further enrich the community’s cultural and intellectual capital.

The liberal modern world was created in the enlightenment salons and forums of Scotland, Britain, Germany and especially France, where they were hosted by women such as philosophers Maria Theresa Geoffrin, Claude Adrien Helvetius, Françoise de Graffigny or Julie de Lespinasse.

Author Benedetta Craveri called this the age of conversation in her book by the same title.

Our own Harlem Renaissance was created in the salons of writer James Weldon Johnson; heiress Mabel Dodge; writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten; actress Lana Turner; heiress A’Lelia Walker Robinson; and poet Wallace Thurman.

We believe that many hunger for meaningful conversation about serious matters and something magic seems to happen when people gather with the intent to do so. These kinds of gatherings can be transforming incubators of ideas; there are not enough of them.

The Davies Forum is a monthly program that invites the community to listen, discuss and be inspired to action. We will host subject matter experts and authors on relevant and current topics that engage the community, and invite all who are able to become co-creators of a better community and better world.

Our mantra is: ‘‘Ideas, authors, books - celebrating the life of thought and action.” The forums are free and open to the public.

In the first forum, on Jan. 26, we will discuss Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas, more than any other public figure, wears the open psychic wounds of racism; many of us have similar scars. Understanding him and ourselves is what really matters.

* Title of forum: ‘‘The Emotional and Psychological Injuries of Caste, Class, Racism, and Sexism — Understanding Clarence Thomas”

* Authors: Marita Golden, author of several works including ‘‘Don’t Play in the Sun;” Mike Fletcher, co-author of ‘‘Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas” and ‘‘Being A Black Man,” based on a series he co-wrote for The Washington Post; mental health input by Lee D. Crump, a Greenbelt psychologist.

* When: 7 p.m. Jan. 26

* Where: Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church, 7400 Temple Hill Road, Camp Springs

Beginning in February, the forums will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. Around 8 p.m., Café Florian, our open mike program, begins. They invite you to stay and listen or participate, bring your voice or other instrument.

Other programs include: ‘‘What makes an excellent school — culture, values, and class in academic achievement,” Feb. 9; ‘‘Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking,” March 8; and ‘‘Girls Need Daddies Too,” April 12.

Bring your teenagers; they, too, yearn for meaningful conversation with adults. If you have ideas for a forum topic or have an author to suggest, e-mail me.

Van Caldwell, a lawyer, lives in Kettering. He can be e-mailed at wvcaldwell@comcast.net.