192: BLUU with Lena Gardner, Didi Delgado and Rev. Mykal Slack
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Join our hosts this week as they chat with Lena Gardner, Didi Delgado and Rev. Mykal Slack from BLUU. BLUU stands for Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism. Its mission is to provide information, resources and support for Black Unitarian Universalists and it works to expand the role & visibility of Black UUs within the UU faith. Read more →
Whose Streets?
“The thing is, cops lie,” my friend says, looking at me sadly from across the table in the café. “They look you in the eye, and they lie to you, right to your face.” Read more →
Charlottesville is Us
This morning the nation must look squarely at images of people marching through Virginia with hateful slogans, confederate flags, and Nazi swastikas, who proudly proclaim that White Lives Matter and scream hateful epithets about Jews and gays and immigrants, who believe that slavery reflected a natural order. Some will say, in coffee hours in Unitarian Universalist congregations, that THOSE people are the white supremacists and people like Unitarian Universalists should not call ourselves that because it is confusing, people might think we are like them. I dearly hope those words will not be spoken from our pulpits. Read more →
187: Writing in Black and White
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Our guests are the Rev. Nathan Ryan, assistant minister of the UU Church of Baton Rouge, and Kimberly Hampton, candidate for ministry and blogger. We talk about the difference in racism between the north and the south, how as a nation misremember our American history around racism and slavery, and how institutional UUism doesn’t consistently show up for times of crisis in the black community. The panel and guests also react to the breaking news about the UUA’s $500,000 severance package.
Show notes:
- Southern Baptist Convention’s vote to condemn white supremacy
- Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal
- The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
- Announcement from UUA co-presidents about severance package
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, 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. View the live original recording on YouTube.
183: Black Lives of UU
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Lena K. Gardner and Leslie Mac join The VUU to talk about the 2017 UUA General Assembly and the needs for Unitarian Universalists of color around safety/security, worship, and community.
Show notes:
- Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU) organizing collective
- 2017 UUA General Assembly, June 21-25 in New Orleans
- BLUU’s programs at General Assembly:
- “Black Power Challenges Liberal Religion: Fifty Years Later” on Thurs., June 22 from 5:00-6:15 pm — A retrospective conversation led by Dr. Mtangulizi Sanyika (aka Hayward Henry Jr.), founding chair of the Black Unitarian Universalist Caucus (BUUC) and Black Affairs Council (BAC), 1967-1973, highlighting the challenges and outcomes of the Black empowerment movement of the 1960s and its relevance to the movement for Black Lives today.
- “BLUU Organizing Collective: An Introduction to Anti-Blackness” on Fri., June 23 from 3:15-4:30 pm — Anti-blackness is a global phenomenon that affects people in every cultural and ethnic group. Within larger systems of structural oppression, it translates to higher rates of social ills, including poverty, unemployment, poor health outcomes, and substandard housing. We will also discuss the impact of anti-blackness in our congregations and beyond.
- The Wilderness Journey: 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
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. View the live original recording on YouTube.
180: Stories of UUs of Color
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Co-editors, Yuri Yamamoto and Chandra Snell, along with contributor Mike Jenkins, join The VUU to talk about a new anthology of 15 authentic stories written by Unitarian Universalists of color. The book is called Unitarian Universalists of Color: Stories of Struggle, Courage, Love and Faith and is available in either a softcover or electronic edition through Lulu.
Show notes:
- Learn more and purchase the book at https://uuofcolorstoryproject.com
- Mike Jenkins, using the name Tr1umph@nt!, explores UU principles using Conscious Hip-Hop music; his debut album is called album “Oilskin Duster”
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 Yuri’s sound quality is poor due to popping noises during the first 20 minutes of the episode that couldn’t be removed. View the live original recording on YouTube.
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
Podcast: Download (Duration: 56:06 — 51.4MB)
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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.
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.
UU White Supremacy
Many of you who are involved with social media know that over the past few days, a painful conversation has been taking place about the white supremacy which is evident at the national UUA headquarters and indeed throughout our religious movement.
As leaders entrusted with the care of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), we have been witnessing the conversation carefully and wondering what, if anything, we need to say. Ultimately, we feel the need to speak out to our members and friends, and particularly to the people of color who have joined the CLF as a last resort in Unitarian Universalism, after experiencing marginalization or being discounted in bricks and mortar congregations. We do not want you to feel marginalized or discounted at CLF, and yet we harbor no illusions that we are made of different DNA than other historic UU institutions.
And so we’ll say three things: First, we applaud the breaking of silences and the direct communication which is taking place now, particularly by people of color. We know that there is risk in breaking silence, and we see these voices as voices of love. We pray that this moment will provide opportunities and motivation for necessary changes to come in all of the institutions that make up our religious movement, including CLF.
Second, we understand that it is the responsibility of white Unitarian Universalists in all of our institutions to examine our practices and see their impact, to listen without getting stuck in defensiveness as people of color point out where we fail to be conscious in our work, and to keep moving towards justice, knowing that we will do all of this imperfectly.
Third, we witness and grieve the pain that people of color in our movement have carried historically and continue to carry because of the lack of consciousness and courage of white people. Religious institutions should be places of healing and transformation, not one more place to need healing from.
With deep awareness of our own imperfections as individuals and as a congregation, we vow to keep trying, keep listening, keep evolving.
Rev. Meg Riley
Senior Minister
Arif Mamdani
Incoming Board Chair
