“The Power of Words” was the topic at the SpokaneFāVS Coffee Talk, which took place online on Aug. 1.
Panelists were:
- Former Spokane NAACP President Phil Tyler
- Rev. Melissa Opel, of the Spokane Buddhist Temple
- SpokaneFāVS Board Secretary and columnist Elizabeth Backstrom
- Emily Willet, Licensed Mental Health Counselor (MA, LMHC)
Here’s a list of recommended reading from today’s Coffee Talk:
Articles
- https://www.mic.com/articles/189433/what-will-queer-language-look-like-in-2030-we-tried-to-find-out
- https://www.queertheology.com/i-am-a-deviant/
- Painting With Words: How We Can Mean More Than What We Say: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/202007/painting-words-how-we-can-mean-more-what-we-say
- The Oatmeal: The Backfire Effect https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe
Books
- “The Big Sort” by Bill Bishop
- “Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam
- “Coming to Public Judgment” by Daniel Yankelovich
Stay tuned to SpokaneFāVS.com for info on our next event!
FāVS is trying to raise $2,000 to pay its reporters to cover COVID-19. Will you help?

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
[…] Power of Words” is the topic of Saturday’s Coffee Talk, which be online at 10 a.m. Register to get the Zoom […]