Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesA Prayer for Freddie Gray
Prayer Because the world cracks open and here we are: For the 900 lives lost to the migration injustice – mothers, fathers, parents, children, trying to reach Europe by boat. For the over 4,000 lives lost to earthquakes in Nepal and South Asia. For the family and community of Rekia Boyd, an unarmed black woman shot in the back of her head by police 2012. For the officer who killed her and was cleared of wrongdoing. For Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man who died in police custody last Sunday. For his family, friends and community. For Baltimore and the protesters who call for justice. Help us to know that no matter our losses,…
The Symptom is Not the Problem
It is Overtime to Shift the Paradigm An acquaintance of mine named Molli King is a teacher and yesterday she posted an essay she wrote for an education blog about a school in New York City called Success Academy that had recently been profiled in the New York Times. In her essay she told a story, one that I remember her sharing in person when she still worked at Success Academy, and this story has been rattling around in my brain today. The story is found in her blogpost and I will also recount it here in Ms. King’s words: But of all of the awful stories from my time at Success, none will top the…
“Tracing Their Steps” – Reflections from Selma Pt. 4
Marching Forward Events of 50 Years Ago Today This is the final installment in a series of reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma Marches. Here are Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. – ed. Sunday was the day that most of us were waiting for, the anniversary of the bridge crossing. An opportunity to follow the footsteps of those who came before. Before we could cross the bridge, we had to get there first. After gathering on to the buses and heading out in the morning, we landed at City of St. Jude in Montgomery for lunch. During the Selma to Montgomery Marches in 1965 more than 20,000 people camped out on…
Looking Back to Move Forward
Undoing the “Third Reconstruction” This is part three in our four part series, here are links to Part One and Part Two. – ed. Rev. Dr. William Barber Saturday morning began with Rev. Dr. William Barber’s How to Build a Movement/Wake Up Call. I had the pleasure of witnessing his preaching on Thursday night at Tabernacle, so I pulled myself out of bed to make it to the workshop at 7:30am. Thursday night he spoke about the power within to fight for justice and was so inspiring I knew I had to see him no matter what. Saturday morning he spoke about the Third Reconstruction and grassroots organizing. (Beacon Press will publish his book “The Third…
Radical Hope and a More Perfect Faith
We post an excerpt of this important post by Kenny S. Wiley, Director of Faith Formation at Prairie UU Church in Parker, Colorado and UU World contributor. Read the full text of Kenny S. Wiley’s post tracing the history of Unitarian Universalist rejection of racism, and the call of UU history for Unitarian Universalists to make #BlackLivesMatter now, on his blog “A Full Day“, here. – ed. A Unitarian Universalist ‘Black Lives Matter’ Theology by Kenny Wiley, March 26, 2015 “If, while I hear the wild shriek of the slave mother robbed of her little ones, I do not open my mouth, am I not guilty?” –Lucy Stone In the Denver…
“A Holy Consecration”
The 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Part 1 From March 5th through March 8th, I had the opportunity to travel to Birmingham, Alabama to serve as Dean of Youth and a chaplain for young adults at the Unitarian Universalist Living Legacy Project conference “Marching in the Arc of Justice: Revisiting Selma”. This weekend long conference featured an optional Thursday bus tour of Selma, Alabama, keynote speakers like Mark Morrison Reed and Opal Tometi, workshops related to racial justice and intersectionality, worships, and concluded with joining 70,000 people in crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years after marchers were brutally attacked by police and civilian possees as they attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery. I…
Our Sankofa Moment
Unitarian Universalism Calls On Your Continuing Presence We share this letter about Selma and Unitarian Universalism as a voice for justice on Standing on the Side of Love. – Ed. Today, our nation again stands on the precipice of a significant movement for racial equity that calls to Unitarian Universalists to respond as people of faith anchored in the affirmation of the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We – five women of color who serve our Unitarian Universalist faith through the Unitarian Universalist Association – write this letter to express our hopes for the participation of Unitarian Universalists with regard to a Sankofa moment presented to us by the 50th anniversary commemoration of…
Can We Really Reclaim Martin Luther King?
What is “Unwise and Untimely”? The activists of #blacklivesmatter asked us this year to #ReclaimMLK (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) as we celebrated his life and legacy the Monday after his birthday. When I was six years old I marched in my first Martin Luther King Day parade and of course I was out there with fellow Unitarian Universalists from the Universalist Unitarian Church of Peoria, where my family first made our spiritual home. I don’t remember that march nor what I believed I was marching for, but I’m sure it was informed by my church and my family and our general commitment to equality. I vaguely recall learning about Martin Luther King in elementary…
Special Offer for Youth to Go to Selma
You Must Respond By Friday, January 23, 2015 The Living Legacy Project Will Get You There Registration for the Living Legacy Project Conference is full and closed UNLESS you are a youth – in which case you must register by Friday, January 23, 2015. Also, FOR YOUTH ONLY – the Living Legacy Project is offering financial aid to attend the conference, however you must apply by Friday, January 23. Learn more about the Living Legacy Project here.
Why Should Youth See Selma For Free?
Because Seeing Selma Could Free Us All Movie tickets are downright expensive. But African-American business leaders in New York and nationwide have come together to make tickets to see the film “Selma” free and available to 7th, 8th and 9th graders in New York City and now in other cities around the country! A quick search of #SelmaforStudents on twitter or Facebook reveals the popularity of the effort. But why fund tickets to see Selma? Selma tells one story and many stories. It’s the story of how black people won the right to vote in southern states. It’s a story about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his doubts, his relationships and his difficult…
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