step by step

Fez over at Chrysalis has a very interesting review and discussion of a recent lecture by Cornel West. (Scroll down to “White Girl Sings the Blues.” How can our committee help UU congregations hit all the notes that West elucidates?

This weekend DRUUMM sponsered a Youth and Young Adults of Color (YAYA) and White Anti-Racist Allies Conference in New York City hosted by the Community Church of New York and the First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn. The event was a great success, partly in thanks to the congregations that supported and donated their resources. One of the important thing that came out of the White Allies caucus was those present decided to form a group of ‘agitators’ that would organize a meeting at General Assembly in Long Beach. The meeting would be in direct response to DRUUMM’s unanswered request to form a White Allies caucus organization in the UUA. This meeting would be the first steps in forming this organization. White allies, not just youth and young adults, will be invited to this meeting. The agitators to create this meeting are:

Amy Leyenberger (amyharpist@yahoo.com) - youth
Tim Fitzgerald (tfitzge@rcn.com) - bridger
Stephanie Katz (kissmeandillkissyouback@bust.com) - bridger
Jyaphia Christos-Rodgers (jyaphia@aol.com) - adult
TBA UUA Staff Member

Also, on May 14-16, 2004 there will be the first Anti-Racism Training of Trainers in Boston. Participants will go on to lead Anti-Racism trainings for youth and young adults over the next few years. Applications are avaliable on the YRUU website (http://www.uua.org/YRUU/youthoffice/PDFS/ARTOTApplication.pdf)

The committee will be meeting at the UUA’s Washington Office for Advocacy April 23 - 25. The Friday portion of our meeting will be closed, in order to facilitate training and relationship building for the new members of the committee. (5 of 7 members are new!) The Saturday portion of our meeting will be open to all. Here is the schedule:

8:30AM Centering

8:45 Approve Spring 2003 Minutes

Report from Board Liaison

Budget Discussion

Budget cost saving ideas

9:30 Discuss Transformation Council model

10:15 BREAK

10:30 Assessment of Reports

Review reports from Leadership Council and Board of Trustees

11:45 GA Planning and reporting

Whom do we meet with and when? – (UUMA, DRUUMM, LUUNA, Youth and Young Adults, etc.)

12:15 PM Lunch

1:00 Strategies with UUMA and Laity – Public relationships and gathering information

1:30 The A-R Multicultural Welcoming Congregation Initiative

2:30 Future meeting Dates and Sites

November 11-14 Place TBD Boston E & P reserved

March 24 – 27 , 2005 Boston – E & P Reserved
(This is EASTER weekend, so will need to be rescheduled.)

3:30 BREAK

3:45 open for over runs

5:30 Process Review

5:45 Adjourn

Boy in the Bands asks us to read this article and wonders how these issues will get “on the radar” of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Class is definitely one of the things that’s been at the heart of the early criticism of the Journey Toward Wholeness process and we, as a liberal religious association, need to begin some real class analysis. How do race, class, age, sexual orientation, gender and disability inform and reinforce one another? What does that mean for the work that we do?

I traveled Northwest to San Francisco yesterday, to be a part of something that I had been following with joy for a month now. Two women in my congregation were getting their marriage of seven years legally recognized, and I had the honor of going with them. I arrived at City Hall about an hour ahead of schedule, and sat in the main entrance hall - more of a grand ballroom looking area - and watched and applauded as loving couples celebrated their marriages. The space itself was so crammed with feelings of love, liberation, and joy. It was palpable. The resonance of over 4,000 same-sex marriages in one month… powerful.

That feeling was interrupted as one or two news reporters began to gather, talking on their cell phones about the “call that was coming.” This was around 2pm. I had a worried flash that we somehow would miss our celebration. The cameraman in front of me said something about waiting to capture “the last couple” on film.

Then came the opportunity to witness a marriage between two women who were, in effect, renewing their vows from last July when they had a religious ceremony. They were expecting their first child, and full of joy. We climbed the sweeping stairs up to the ornate passageways surrounding that central space, and had a small wedding that was beautiful. After signing their license as witness I rushed down the stairs - not wanting to be late for our rendezvous - just as the news that the California Supreme Court had suspended the granting of licenses to same sex couples arrived.

The crash of energy and emotion in City Hall was just devastating. Our two members were in line just behind the couple who were stopped in the middle of filling out their license forms. It was almost surreal… for all that we knew that this act of liberation and demand for civil rights could be interrupted at a moment’s notice, none of us really believed that it would happen in the midst of a very human moment - and crash down upon very real, very beloved families who had traveled a long way. There were only 20 minutes of appointments left for the day when the whole system came to a stop. 20 minutes when we clustered in City Hall in small groups and watched in disbelief as a woman in a formal wedding dress climbed the ornate stairs to marry a man in a tuxedo.

This is why we give our hands to the struggle.

In the faith,
Sofia

During our most recent conference call I mentioned a book which lends a important insight into the complexities and interlocking of oppressions. Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation is an important work by Eli Clare. (ISBN: 0896086054, published by South End Press)

Gender reaches into disability; disability wraps around class; class strains against abuse; abuse snarls into sexuality; sexuality folds on top of race… everything finally piling into a single human body. To write about any aspect of identity, any aspect of the body, means writing about this entire maze. This I know, and yet the question remains: where to start? Maybe with my own white skin, stubbly red hair, left ear pierced, shoulders set slightly off center, left riding higher than right, hands tremoring, traced with veins, legs well-muscled. Or with me in the mirror, dressing to go out, knotting my tie, slipping into my blazer, curve of hip and breast vanishing beneath my clothes. Or possibly with the memory of how my body felt swimming in the river, chinook fingerlings nibbling at my toes. There are a million ways to start, but how do I reach beneath the skin?

from Exile and Pride, p. 123.

Congregations in Utah came together for one Sunday service focused on our ministry of openess and welcome. They got some great press. Way to go Utah congregations!

Some practical, wonderful things anyone can DO to make anti-racism a reality.

Two Unitarian Universalist Ministers may face prosecution in New York for marrying same sex couples. Kay Greenleaf and Dawn Sangrey began performing the ceremonies when New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West was stopped by court order from continuing to marry same sex couples.

Greenleaf said she would consider officiating again, despite potential criminal charges. Sangrey said it was too early to tell.

“I’d rather not be inconvenienced,” Greenleaf said, “but one has to stand up for what one believes in. And I believe in this.”

A great real-life example from Matthew Gatheringwater of how ideals and realities can collide (or completely miss one another.)