Silvia was eleven when an extraordinary message floated like ether into her attention. It wasn’t conveyed in voices like those that came to Joan of Arc. Yet it was crystal clear. Help end racism.

Inspired by Wonder Woman comic books and activist parents, she was already a warrior for justice. Her anti-racism outrage was fueled by a powerful empathy, as if she’d once been a slave herself. Anyone – child or adult – that used the ‘N’ word in her presence was subjected to a scathing lecture pointing out their confusion.

With her mission confirmed, a growing sense of purpose accelerated her maturity. She began to wonder about who it was that gave her this mission. The message had to be divine coming as it had. Maybe an angel had spoken to her.

Silvia wasn’t particularly religious; at least not in a church-going way. Her parents didn’t like the denominations they grew up with – Methodist for father and Catholic for mother – yet they agreed there was a Great Spirit who ran the show called life. And they wanted the community of like-minded friends that went with membership in a church. At the beginning of their marriage, they set out to find a faith that better fit their beliefs as well as their personalities.

Their research was still under way when their four children came into the world. Silvia, the second born, attended Sunday school with Presbyterians, Quakers, and Lutherans and Saturday school with Jews. Ultimately her parents declared the Unitarian Church the winner because its only dogma was that every member was responsible for seeking truth.