Racial Justice Task Force
The task force will be meeting Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 at 7 pm via Zoom. This will be the first meeting of the task force since our congregation’s adoption of the 8th principle. “We, the members the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, Indiana, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”
The main focus of the meeting will be a brainstorming session on ways the task force can “walk the walk” of the 8th principle. Martha Oakley and Ruth Aydt, who became co-chairs in late November, will share brief introductions at the start of the meeting and invite others to do the same. All are welcome as we deepen our understanding, build relationships, and take action. Email aydt@nullicloud.com to get the Zoom invite for this meeting.
Building on the past work of the task force, we’ll revisit and revise the task force goal and activities, found below, in light of the 8th principle and the restrictions Covid-19 places on our ability to gather in person.
Contact Ruth Aydt (aydt@nullicloud.com) or Martha Oakley (oakley@nullindiana.edu).
The task force’s goal is to participate in the transformation to a more racially just work with respect to its economic, social, political, and criminal justice systems.
- Make available education resources, opportunities for conversations, and times for reflection to explore structural racism and how to best respond to it.
- Provide service to current civil rights movement to help dismantle racism and dismantle white supremacy.
- Promote strong anti-racist community.
- Raise awareness ongoing UU congregations and role of the General Assembly In civil rights movement.
- Create space more welcoming to people of color.
- Organize and engage in non-violent actions intended to further the goal of racial justice.
Possible activities for year
- Fundraising events for financial support as well as raising awareness of task force
- Distribute Black Lives Matter materials
- Begin a resource page on UUCB website
- Film and/or book discussions
- Support General Assembly Action of Immediate Witness that call for UU Congregations to support Black Lives Matter.
- Identify meaningful ways to work with Religious Education.
Resources
Criminal Justice in Monroe County, Indiana: A 20-Year Perspective
UU Church Bloomington and Local Resources
- Book table: Some Racial Justice books and materials available Sundays between services at UUCB. See selected reading list below.
- Art exhibit at UUC Bloomington: Mothers of the Movement, by Kate Deciccio
- Videos produced by Alan Backler contact Martha Foster for information: MarthaLETV@nullgmail.com:
Resilience: Indiana’s Untold Story, stage performance written by Dr. Gladys DeVane andLiz Mitchell
Rev. Ernie Butler, 2nd Baptist Bloomington
Living with Jim Crow in Monroe County
- NAACP Monroe County Chapter
- Bloomington United: coalition of representatives from social justice organizations in Bloomington
- SURJ – Standing Up for Racial Justice – Bloomington Chapter
National UU Organizations and Resources
- Unitarian Universalist Association
- Standing on the Side of Love (SSoL)
- Facebook Standing on the side of Love
- Sign the pledge to support the movement
- SSoL Webinars
National Organizations and Resources
Selected Books on Racial Justice
Whiteness and white fragility work by Robin DiAngelo
- White Women’s Tears and the Men Who Love Them http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-womens-tears-and-the-men-who-love-them-twlm/
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism – See more at:http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/#sthash.rRVL74f0.dpuf
- DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, O. (2014). Calling in: Ways of speaking, thinking, seeing: Cultivating humility, curiosity, and vision in service of anti-racist practice. Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 4(2).
- Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2014). Respect differences? Challenging the common guidelines in social justice education.Democracy in Education, 2(1)
- Matlock, S. & DiAngelo, R. (2015). “We put it in terms of “not-nice”: White anti-racist parenting. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 26(2)
- DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2014). Leaning in: A student’s guide to engaging constructively in social justice content.Radical Pedagogy, 11(1)
- DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2014). Getting slammed: White depictions of cross-racial dialogues as arenas of violence.Race & Ethnicity in Education, 17(1) 104-128. DOI:10.1080/13613324.2012.674023.
- DiAngelo, R. (2012). Nothing to add: The role of white silence in racial discussions. Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 2(2), 1-17.
- DiAngelo, R. (2011). White Fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3).
- And there’s a lot more here: http://robindiangelo.com/publications/
- Putting Racism on the Table: Learning Series
https://www.washingtongrantmakers.org/putting-racism-table-learning-series
More of the episodes are available on Youtube than on the website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii4pLywfGnU&list=PLsZho11YpZnhRq3hW9JmG3uSgbc3FH9-j
