UCE puts our values in action and Supports Reparations in Evanston and Beyond

In 2021, our congregation passed the 8th Principle, committing ourselves to 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.

In May of 2022, we passed a resolution to support reparations locally and nationally. We resolved to support reparations from the federal government of the United States of America to Black Americans; to support the passage of H.R. 40,“Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act”; and to support reparations being made to Black residents within the City of Evanston. Therefore, we support the City of Evanston’s reparations programs, the Evanston Reparations Community Fund, and related reparation efforts made with direct involvement by the Black residents of Evanston.

A month later in June of 2022, empowered by this resolution, our Senior Minister signed on to join our interfaith siblings in supporting the Evanston reparations initiative and the Evanston Reparations Community Fund. Rev. Eileen Wiviott signed on to this statement with clergy and leaders from 16 other faith communities.

The combined support of our interfaith community is a powerful statement being heard around the world and across the country. Other municipalities are observing Evanston as an achievable way to move the conversation and action forward on reparations. We will celebrate together Martin Luther King Day weekend, January 2023, the total amount raised through these interfaith efforts.

Support of Reparations includes:

1. Financial support, as individual members and as a congregation
2. Commitment to continued learning about the impacts of racism nationally and locally.
3. Ongoing efforts to help educate the community at large and our members about the Evanston Reparations Community Fund governed by the Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston and the City of Evanston’s Reparations Resolution 58-R-19, “Commitment to End Structural Racism and Achieve Racial Equity.”
4. Courageous and humble exploration of our own histories and a willingness to share the stories of when we, as a congregation and as individuals, have remained silent and complicit to the impacts of racism as well as when we have shown solidarity.
5. Dedication to building and maintaining relationships of healing and repair across differences.

These efforts will be ongoing. It is clear that no amount of money or actions will erase the atrocity and impacts of chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation laws, lynching and domestic terrorism, red-lining and housing discrimination, and mass incarceration or police brutality. But our faith calls us to make every effort to work toward repair, reconciliation, and healing.

UCE’s financial support will be multi-pronged:

1. December’s shared offering will be shared with the Evanston Reparations Community Fund (ERCF).
2. The Endowment has approved a matching fund grant in the amount of $20,000 and UCE members and friends are invited to make one-time contributions to be matched by the endowment funds, doubling our impact and the total amount going to the Evanston Reparations Community Fund. If you would like to contribute to this matching program, please make a check out to the Evanston Reparations Community Fund, with UCE in the memo line and submit to the church office.
3. You can give directly to the Evanston Reparations Community Fund through their website. Please write “Unitarian Church of Evanston” in the “Special Gift Instructions” section so that we can appropriately acknowledge your contribution and track the total amount raised by our congregation. This way we can share the results of these efforts at the Martin Luther King Day event in January 2023.

If one lump sum is not possible for you or you would rather commit to ongoing giving, please visit the ERCF page and set up a monthly giving amount for a 3-5 year period or beyond. Please still indicate “Unitarian Church of Evanston for Reparations” in the Special Gift Instructions box.

Learn more about Reparations in Evanston

• 2021 Faith & Reparations Three-Part Workshop
• 2022 Evanston Interfaith Congregation Leaders and Reparations in Evanston Letter
• UCE Supports Reparations in Evanston and Beyond