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In this episode, Scot Nakagawa talks about how storytelling has been effectively used by conservatives and the religious right to move power. He goes deep into explaining why all politics is identity politics. He talks about the need to build both the popular front and the united front.

Scot is a senior partner with ChangeLab, a grassroots racial justice laboratory. He’s a long-time activist, community organizer and provocative thinker.

The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, 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. This episode aired on December 8, 2016.

Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.

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Dr. Takiyah Amin and Kenny Wiley from the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism organizing collective join us!

The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Lori Stone Sirtosky. The VUU airs Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on November 17, 2016.

Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.

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The VUU talks with Bobbie Alicen, daughter of Munroe Husbands, who served as Director of Fellowships from 1948-1967 for the American Unitarian Association (AUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). We discussed how he worked, how he became Unitarian, his education and experiences that prepared him for the job, how he came to get the job, how he prepared for his trips to meet isolated religious liberals who would discover Uism/UUism for the first time, how CLF was important to his outreach, and how he supported the nascent fellowships.

The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support by Lori Stone Sirtosky. The VUU airs Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode originally aired November 3, 2016.

Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.

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Hear from UUs who went to North Dakota in solidarity with the Protectors to help stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. Scheduled guests are Carlo Voli, Florence Caplow, Alyzza May, Karen van Fossan.

The VUU is hosted by Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Alicia Forde, and Slim Moon. Meg Riley is on sabbatical. The VUU airs Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode first aired on October 13, 2016.

Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.

The poet Edwin Markham, who was born in 1852, and became the poet laureate of Oregon from 1923-1931, was invited to read his poem “Lincoln, Man of the People” at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922.
But UUs most often remember him for a tiny little poem that expresses his Universalist beliefs in love that is big enough to include everyone—and offers a radical understanding of belonging. The poem, called “Outwitted,” says:

He drew a circle that shut me out—
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!

Think about what the poem says: He wanted to shut me out and say that I didn’t belong. He said that my beliefs made me someone who had to be pushed away. But because I live from a place of love, I did something very clever and sneaky—I found a way to include and welcome him, even when he wasn’t willing to include or welcome me.

That’s Universalism—love big enough to offer belonging to every human soul. Not because everyone is like us or even necessarily likeable, but because Love is big enough to include everyone.