180 Excerpt: Yuri Yamamoto’s “Rant” About Privilege
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Yuri Yamamoto wrote what she calls a “rant” in response to Skinner House Book’s rejection of a book proposal for an anthology of stories by Unitarian Universalists of color. Her words go beyond the decision of the publisher and address the privilege that comes out of a broader culture of white supremacy. This is an excerpt from episode #180.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley (on sabbatical), Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been edited for a better listening experience. View the full original recording on YouTube.
179: Black Lives of UU
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Lena K. Gardner, executive director of the Black Lives of UU organizing collective, joins The VUU. Lena and the panel talk about the continual harm being done to Unitarian Universalists of color; how the use of covenant, right relationships and “safety” exemplify white fragility around racial discomfort; Rev. Don Southworth’s letter to the UUA Board of Trustees and Lena’s response; the upcoming UUA General Assembly; and so much more.
Show notes:
- Lena’s response to Don Southworth’s letter
- UUA Board of Trustees April 2017 meeting packet
- Getting Slammed: White Depictions of Race Discussions as Arenas of Violence – article by Robin DiAngelo
- White Supremacy Culture – excerpt from ChangeLink workbook
- How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist – video by Jay Smooth
- My Faith’s Crisis, My Faith Crisis – blog post by Mel Pine
- The Wilderness Journey – video of first-hand accounts of the historical struggle for black empowerment and racial justice within the UUA in the late 1960s
- Bystander intervention training – by Jess Banks
- Undoing Racism – conference by the People’s Institute offered in advance of General Assembly in New Orleans
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley (currently on sabbatical), Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience, although there is some background noise as Lena was in an airport. View the live original recording on YouTube.
178: Coming of Age with Bart Frost and Hannah Eller-Isaacs
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Coming of Age is a faith formation program for youth that centers on the creation of a credo statement. The VUU welcomes to the show Bart Frost, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries with the UUA, and Hannah Eller-Isaacs, one of the leaders of this youth program at Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul, MN.
We talk about the new Coming of Age journal, To This I Give My Heart, and the spiritual journey both youth and adults make together. The book gets its name from a common definition of credo.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley (currently on sabbatical), Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience, although Bart’s microphone did not provide very sound quality. View the live original recording on YouTube.
Creativity is Everywhere
There’s a place for creativity in pretty much all aspects of our lives, whether it’s work or play. This little song is a reminder of how creativity and art help us to learn.
177: UU White Supremacy Teach-In
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Kenny Wiley and Christina Rivera join The VUU to talk about the upcoming #UUWhiteSupremacyTeachIn. Unitarian Universalists congregations are being asked to shift their regularly scheduled Sunday morning worship to participate in a teach-in on racism and white supremacy. Learn more at http://www.blacklivesuu.com/teachin/.
Show notes:
- Informational webinars scheduled for April 13 and 27 at 8 pm ET. Organizers will talk through available resources and answer questions. Congregations who are signed up will get an email with the link. It will also be posted on BLUU’s website.
- Aisha recommends the resource: http://teachingtolerance.org
- Read Dr. King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”
- BLUU Urges Adoption of 8th Principle in Unitarian Universalism (article on medium.com)
- Congregations can sign up for #UUWhiteSupremacyTeachIn on other dates besides April 30 or May 7.
- Aisha and Christina define “woke” as a white person who comes from a place of non-defensive curiosity, who listens, asks questions, and is willing to risk doing the wrong thing and be called back in
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley (currently on sabbatical), Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
We Journey Together
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We journey together in a way that we believe is best for supporting an individual’s growth in the community. Read more →
Notice of Annual Meeting
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To all members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Universalist Read more →
Did You Know?
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…that the CLF has its own talk show? Catch The VUU Thursday mornings on YouTube live, or watch the archived version on YouTube at your convenience. Read more →
Creativity
April 2017
Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. —Bill Moyers
Articles
Creativity, Art and Failure
Neil Gaiman, who is a writer and creator of many things, gave a commencement speech that was later published as a book. Read more »
We Journey Together
We journey together in a way that we believe is best for supporting an individual’s growth in the community. Read more »
The Creative Spirit
My son is in kindergarten. Every morning before we leave for school, I check his backpack for the essentials… Read more »
Pure Imagination
We each were born with the powers of creativity. While we’re not all going to be famous artists or poets or musicians, we each have the faculties to use our imagination to create. Read more »
The Spirit of Creativity
While I believe it is true that no one can take your creativity away from you, there are those who sure try. Read more »
From Your Minister
Years ago, a therapist told me that people would rather feel absolutely anything besides helplessness. Read more »
Notice of Annual Meeting
To all members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Universalist… Read more »
REsources for Living
Many, many years ago I visited the palm reader’s booth at a Renaissance Faire. The palm reader studied my hand for a minute or two, and then pronounced: “You have a lot of creative energy.” Read more »
Did You Know?
…that the CLF has its own talk show? Catch The VUU Thursday mornings on YouTube live, or watch the archived version on YouTube at your convenience. Read more »
Your House
Your house has 1000 rooms… Every closet, drawer, cupboard… box and bin… opens up onto another world… Read more »
