Virtual Salon on End-of-Life Care During COVID-19
A Harlem pastor, a funeral home owner, an artist, and an actor address how we mourn lives during the pandemic and shine a light on the “last responders”-- clergy and death care professionals who are navigating the challenges of virtual end-of-life ceremonies in a time of social distancing. Selected speakers will also share their stories of personal loss due to COVID-19.
Ariel Goldberg's publications include The Estrangement Principle (Nightboat Books, 2016) and The Photographer (Roof Books, 2015). From 2014-2017, they organized interdisciplinary readings at The Poetry Project. Goldberg has taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, The New School, and Rutgers. They were the 2018-9 Zuckerman Fellow, Curator of Community Engagement at the Jewish History Museum in Tucson, and now curate for the Leslie Lohman Museum in New York. Goldberg’s writing has most recently appeared in e-flux, Artforum, and Art in America.
Andrew Ingall is NYC co-director of Reimagine, a nonprofit sparking grassroots conversation and creativity that transform our approach to life and death.
Rev. Dr. Lisa D. Jenkins is the senior pastor of the St. Matthew’s Baptist Church of Harlem and the first woman to lead the church in its 95-year history. She is a cultural strategist, adjunct professor, and a former Human Resources professional for a Fortune 100 company. Dr. Jenkins is the CEO of LDJ Global Connections, which is committed to elevated transformation by examining our individual and organizational C.U.L.T.U.R.E. and by cultivating F.A.I.T.H. in one’s self and team.
As senior pastor, Dr. Jenkins has implemented an AIDS/HIV program in partnership with the New York City Council Faith-Based HIV/AIDS Initiative and the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS of New York City. She has recently led her church in a partnership with local restaurants where the homeless and underserved can have a dining experience with meals prepared by professional chefs. Rev. Jenkins served as a Faith & Justice Fellow for the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. She has also served as a member of Manhattan’s Community Board 10 and on the Manhattan Borough President’s Riker’s Island Task Force Initiative. She is a published author, a cancer survivor, and an advocate of both adults and children with ADHD. In a world of disruption, Dr. Lisa encourages people to understand that there is strength in our differences.
Robert Lomison is President of Letum, Inc., a Pennsylvania based corporation that owns and operates cemeteries and funeral homes in Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington State. He entered the business in 1981, as a memorial counselor in West Chester, PA and held a variety of sales management positions at cemeteries in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Lomison is a Past President and a member of the Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Cemetery Cremation Funeral Association; member of the Death Care Management Council; International Cemetery Cremation Funeral Association; National Funeral Directors Association; Washington Cemetery and Funeral Association; Louisiana Cemetery Association and New York State Cemetery Association. Presently, Lomison is a member of the Finance Committee of the ICCFA. Lomison is a 1977 graduate of Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA. A member of the University Foundation Board of Directors, and has served as chairman of the Long Range Planning and Audit Committee. In 1999, he was awarded the Alumni Service Award by the University. A conference room in the Alumni Center is named in his honor. He is a Past National President and currently Chairman of the Triangle Trust Fund, Phi Mu Delta National Fraternity. In 1998, was inducted into the Distinguished Service Chapter of the national fraternity.
Keith Randolph Smith: Broadway: Jitney; Fences; Come Back Little Sheba; King Hedley II; Salome; Piano Lesson; American Psycho. Off-Broadway: Paradise Blue; First Breeze of Summer; Holiday Heart; The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d; Midsummer Night’s Dream; Intimacy. Regional: How To Catch Creation; The Absolute Brightness Of Leonard Pelkey; Our Town; Water By The Spoonful; In Walk’s Ed. Film/TV: “Anesthesia;” “Malcolm X;” “The Warrior Class;” “Path To Paradise;” “Backstreet Justice;” “Journeymen;” “Dead Dogs Lie;” “Law and Order;” “NY Undercover;” “I’ll Fly Away;” “Cosby.” Fox Fellow in Acting. Lunt-Fontanne Fellow in Acting. Member of Actor’s Center. Grad of AADA Conservatory.
