"Deeper Than the Skin," a Community Forum of music, storytelling, and deeper engagement about race featuring two folk musician friends -- a Black man from the North and a white man raised in the South-- will be presented via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9.

The show is described as not a concert for entertainment or an evening of talk, but rather as a deepening connection with two musicians whose songs and stories of struggle and shared humanity move people to reconsider what they can do to help others find common ground about race.

In "Deeper Than the Skin," Reggie Harris, born and raised in Philadelphia's inner city, says he never experienced anything in the first 25 years of his life as a Black person that made him comfortable in his own skin, and he went on to devote his life to enlightenment and reconciliation. Greg Greenway, who grew up in Richmond, Va., recalls how little he knew in his youth about the history of slavery while he lived in a city whose towering monuments celebrated Civil War generals. He moved to Boston and learned lessons about humanity from his music idols that inspired him to do the same for whoever would listen.

Harris and Greenway, friends for 30 years, began their collaboration on "Deeper Than the Skin" in 2017. Their songs and stories are a journey through their experiences with race. "Don't be worried that you'll be preached at," a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wilmington, North Carolina, wrote in advance of the duo's appearance there. "This is an event of sharing and reflection, music and deep thought."

Reggie Harris co-leads tours through hallowed civil rights grounds of the South as Music Education Director of the Living Legacy Project of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Greg Greenway was part of the planning committee of Marching in the Arc of Justice, a 2015 Unitarian Universalist conference in Alabama commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march.

The Dec. 9 event is presented by Chalice Community Forum, a program of Chalice Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Conejo Valley. To attend via Zoom, register in advance at forum.chaliceuu.org. The suggested donation to support Community Forum programs is $10 per person or $15 for a family. For information, visit the registration website or contact Randall Edwards via e-mail at forum@chaliceuu.org, or through the church office at (805) 498-9548.