Beloveds, let us have a common vocabulary. In the midst of the conversation on race prompted by the verdict of the Zimmerman trial, allow me to point us toward the 4 I’s of Oppression, spelled out clearly here by YouthBuild USA:    – https://youthbuild.org/sites/youthbuild.org/files/Four%20Is.pdf Ideological, Institutional, Interpersonal, and Internalize Oppression.  Recognize that racism operates on many levels in this country.  If you do not know this, please take the time to learn about it before joining loudly in the conversation.  This matters.

Let us hear truth when it is spoken to power. Let us keep the dialogue grounded in the realities of oppression. And if you are white, keep showing up in solidarity with all who call for Justice for Trayvon. It is beyond time for more than a handful of white people to stand on the side of love in this country.

Dear ones, let us live into the possibility of Beloved Community with courage and grace.

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Rev. Deanna Vandiver

Deanna Vandiver is a community minister in New Orleans, LA, serving as the Executive Director for the Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal (http://www.celjsr.org).Since she accepted the call to ministry, she has not experienced one boring day.Good music, good food, and good friends have sustained her through heck and high water and she has a practice of gratitude for the wonders of this life.

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