“Lena Gardner is the development director of a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, the Church of the Larger Fellowship, faith without walls!” If I’d been wearing something with buttons, they might have popped off from my pride as I heard those words, spoken from the stage to a room packed with glamorously dressed people last night at a gala for OutFront Minnesota.

At its annual Gala on November 21, 2015, OutFront Minnesota honored Lena with its Innovator Award:

“Lena K. Gardner, a queer Black woman and long time OutFront supporter, has helped lead Black Lives Matter Minneapolis into amazing intersectional organizing. She has brought together thousands of people from across our state to demand justice for Black Minnesotans while organizing to include diverse people across race, religion, sexuality and gender identities. Lena’s vision and gift for creating deep relationships has fostered a movement for racial justice that has space for LGBTQ people, people of faith and allies. Lena draws connections and parallels between racial, economic, gender, and sexuality oppression that allows communities to come together to demand change.”

Lena is the first to proclaim that her passion for justice is rooted in her deep belief and experience that she is held by a profound love and by ancestors who whisper in her ear. She talks about this in more detail in “The Hope of Our Ancestors” in the December 2015 issue of Quest Monthly.

Here in Minneapolis, I get to experience Lena’s leadership in the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter firsthand. This week, as our city has erupted over a police killing of yet one more unarmed black man, I believe that Black Lives Matter’s nonviolent resistance has literally saved lives.

For those of you who are learning about current events in Minneapolis only from mainstream media, please—I mean this very seriously—consider the sources. Little of what you read has anything to do with reality. Here is an article that explains some of the story, particularly if you follow the links that are embedded.

Congratulations, Lena!!!! Consider our collective buttons fully burst!

• Author
• Recent Posts

Rev. Meg Riley

Senior Minister at Church of the Larger Fellowship

Meg has been a Unitarian Universalist minister for more than twenty years. As a UU kid in West Virginia, she quickly learned to enjoy being "different," which has served her well in a "different" life. Meg lives in Minneapolis, where she enjoys walking by lakes, gardening, reading and writing. She also lives online, where she enjoys hanging out, keeping up with people, and playing the occasional game of Scrabble. She is the parent of a teenager, and the companion of a number of four legged friends.

Latest posts by Rev. Meg Riley (see all)

• From Your Minister - July 1, 2020
• From Your Minister - June 1, 2020
• From Your Minister - May 1, 2020