Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesFiercely UU: Resisting Evil
Fiercely UU is a blog series where Unitarian Universalist young adults tell stories about what our faith requires of us and how they follow that call. To be fiercely UU is to proclaim human worth and interdependence. In an individualist, greed-based, shame and fear fueled white supremacist patriarchy, we say no to isolation and oppression and yes to radical love and covenanted connection. Cultivate Love, Resist Evil by Cir L’Bert Jr. On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, was killed by Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department within view of the home he shared with his mother. His unattended body laid in the street for eight hours before it was removed, like “he didn’t belong to nobody” as…
For Dealing With the Again and Again and Again
again. it happened again on Monday, news spreading on social media today. this time he was a therapist trying to help his autistic patient. this time the “gun” was a toy truck. this time he survived the shooting. again. beloveds it is all too much and has been too much. it was too much when George Zimmerman was acquitted of Trayvon Martin’s murder and the #blacklivesmatter hashtag came into being. it’s been hundreds of years of again and again and too much. so if you need something today, something to deal with the again, here are a few offerings, gathered with love. for those who need to just stay with the pain for now, here is “a…
Multicultural Support Team Moves Toward Justice
In honor of the Standing on the Side of Love 30 Days of Love 2016 campaign, Steven Ballesteros speaks up about the important work of supporting Youth of Color. As a Unitarian Universalist young adult of color I have at times lacked a sense of belonging and of being in right relationship in this faith. I know I am not alone in this feeling. Luckily, there are places in which I can feel safe and ways in which I can apply myself. I currently live near Seattle, Washington, which places me in the Pacific North West District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. There I have helped create and serve on the PNWD Multicultural Support Team for…
Love set Ablaze
In honor of the Standing on the Side of Love 30 Days of Love 2016 campaign, Phebe Hawes speaks up about being a light of love in a time of hate. In order to love alike, we need not think alike ~Francis David. This quote got me thinking. I come from a suburban, mostly white, community. For the most part, we look alike. But we certainly do not think alike. And there’s not a whole lot of love either. So I turn to social media. Like many millennials, I spend most of my time online. I, however, spend a majority of that time defending my beliefs to people who don’t agree. I get the feeling…
Kick-Off a Great 2016 With the Best of Blue Boat 2015!
ALL MY BEST TO YOU AND YOURS In case you missed some – or all – of our recent social media blast campaign #BBTOP10of15 of the 10 most read stories of 2105 on The Blue Boat, we’ve compiled the list here: 10. Adulthood – Spiritually Guided Less than a year ago when we announced that Becoming: A Spiritual Guide for Navigating Adulthood, edited by Kayla Parker, was available for free thanks to generous donors, we were out-of-stock in less than a month! But don’t worry – this meditation and reflection manual, crafted with Unitarian Universalist young adults in mind is available – has been republished, and can be purchased at the UUA Bookstore. 9. Hanging…
We Can’t Keep Our Children Safe
Fear, safety, protests, and supporting the movement for Black lives When my daughter Moira was born I expected to feel deep love. What I wasn’t expecting was how much that love hurt. I love her in this deeply protective way that was horrifying at first and I still find overwhelming. My partner and I strive to be non-panicky parents and, for the most part, I think we do a decent job. Still, I have double checked to make sure she was breathing in her sleep many more times than is rational. She’s only three months old and I know this is going to get so much worse once she can crawl, walk, go to school,…
Spiritual Practices For White Discomfort
So, lots of folks in the progressive world I inhabit on social media had a lot of opinions about the event that happened on August 8th in Seattle when the white leftie politician Bernie Sanders went to speak to a crowd about social security and medicare and was interrupted by two black women raising awareness about the Black Lives Matter movement the day before the first anniversary of Mike Brown’s death. And sure, as a white progressive who is pretty into Bernie Sanders’ political stances and who staunchly supports the Black Lives Matter movement, I have opinions too. The opinion I wish to share here and now, however, is not about political analysis, history or strategy and…
We Show Up for Justice in Different Ways
August 9th, 2015 marks the first anniversary of Mike Brown’s extra-judicial killing in Ferguson, MO. All across the country Unitarian Universalists are showing up to commemorate this event that pushed a racial justice movement into the national spotlight, to mourn the loss of black lives and to demand a world in which black lives matter everywhere in every system at all times. Some UUs have gathered to be in Ferguson on this anniversary, invited by interfaith organizers. Others marched in their home communities, such as in Denver, CO. Still others use the power of social media, the pulpit, or interpersonal conversations as a way of showing up. Allie Carville, a UU young adult from Florida reflects on…
Which Emergency?
A Day of Civil Disobedience for Social Justice @RevElizabethN, UUA Leadership Development Associate for Youth and Young Adults of Color reports from St. Louis, MO. where she and more than one hundred Unitarian Universalists, local congregations, and others participated in acts of resistance to mark the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. This day of resistance was the result of organizing for social justice and change that happens here 365 days a year, and the history of justice work that has come before. On August 10th, Saint Louis County authorities declared a state of emergency as organizers shutdown interstate-70, faith leaders demanded that the Department of Justice do its job, and people marched in solidarity all…
Learn How the Black Lives Matter AIW Came to Be
Read the inside story from Youth Caucus 2015 Co-Business Manager Isabelle McCurdy on how the Youth Caucus sponsored Action of Immediate Witness, “Support Black Lives Matter” came to be. When Kara Marler, my Sr. Business Manager co-chair, and I started planning our programming for this year, we had relatively normal ideas of how things would go: we would attend General Sessions, be able to explain any GA Business to Youth Caucus, and we would plan a workshop. When the idea of writing an AIW was brought forward, we were both unsure. It’s safe to say leaders can often be the most unsure, that fear and concern is part of what makes you inherently driven to not…
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