From your UCE Ministers: June 5, 2020

Beloveds, 

We’re running out of ways to express our weariness and outrage. Words are not enough. Like you, we are sickened by the ongoing killing of Black People by police officers who are shielded in a system designed to murder and oppress, rather than protect, Black life. We are working to stay in the discomfort and pain necessary to be in the struggle without succumbing to fragility. Dismantling white supremacy, so clearly on display in every single facet of our society, is ALL of ours to struggle with. 

We, your ministers, are working to contribute our voices and bodies and minds to this struggle in the ways we can. This struggle cannot wait another single minute. It cannot wait for another precious life to be snuffed out by abusive power without rebuke. We know that you are in the struggle too, each in your own way. We see you and we love you.  

We say enough is enough. We say white silence equals white violence. We say Black Lives Matter. We say all of their names and hold space in between for the thousands whose names we do not know. We hold silence for the millions who have not died but have been subjected to our racist systems. We hold space for the countless who have asked and even screamed over time for help, who we could not see or actively ignored. We say no more. You are our people. We are outraged and grieve with you. When George cried for his mother, all mothers heard his voice. When he said he could not breath, he demanded that all who breathe hear and be held to task.  

Some have asked if there will be a vigil in Evanston to honor the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless others. Our answer is this: we will go, as we are able, where we are asked to go by our kin who are suffering most at the hands of white supremacy in all the forms it takes – the neglect of our healthcare system, the indifference of our economic system, the bias of our education system, the cruelty of our prison system, and the grotesque abuse with impunity of our policing system. We will go where we are asked to go by organizations like Black Lives Matter, Color of Change, and leaders in the Black communities around us. We will show up with our bodies in solidarity with Black bodies who are valued less in every aspect of our shared society.  

We will show up with you even when it is hard and may cost us. We show up with you as we struggle to do it right. We show up with you as you once again put your trust in our working to dismantle the systems built to bring safety only to a segment of us. We see you. We will show up with you.  

We have a responsibility, in our mostly white progressive congregation, to stay in the struggle in whatever ways we can. Not everyone can go to a protest or a march. We want you to hear us: You do not have to put your life at risk to be in the struggle. You do not need to contribute money if you do not have money to give. But there are many ways to stay in the struggle, to not let up, to not let a fascist and cowardly dictator silence our constitutional right to protest abusive power. We will not be silent.  

We will work to engage our own racism, so People of Color do not need to lead in that fight as well. We will work to follow the lead of the communities most impacted and we will listen and give preference to their needs. We will call one another out and in, educate ourselves, and honor the life-giving resources People of Color have made available in abundance. 

There are many ways to contribute and participate. Here are some: 

Activate: Chicago March for Justice for George Floyd 

Saturday, June 6th at 11 a.m. 

Where: TBD 

Please wear masks 

This march will be peaceful

We will march to end Police Brutality
We will march because #blacklivesmatter
We march for justice for George Floyd and his Family

This march will be peaceful
 

Evanston United Black Men Rally to Support Black Lives 

Sunday, June 7th at 2pm at Fountain Square (downtown Evanston) 

Meet in the UCE parking lot at 1:30 to walk over together 

To volunteer contact: 

Omar Brown (312) 339 – 4537 

Jared Davis (847) 708 – 0426 

Jude Laude (708) 833 – 3017 

 

Go to the Movement for Black Lives. They have posted a week of action with understanding and appreciation for all the levels of risk people are willing and able to take: https://m4bl.org/week-of-action/ 

 

Contribute to the Chicago Area Bond Fund to help those who are detained as victims of structural violence. Many have been arrested unfairly during the extreme and militarized response to largely peaceful protests in the city and around the country. It is important that we not let people languish in jail. 

 

Display a BACK LIVES MATTER! Sign in your yard: 

REAL Message: Signs are now available for UCE members and friends and neighbors. 

1. Black Lives Matter signs may be purchased and picked up between 1pm and 6pm at Annette Wallace’s home.
2. Call Annette Wallace 847-826-6825 to assure a pickup time and for address and parking instructions.
3. Bring $10 cash per sign (you can donate more if you wish). You may also pay by check made out to UCE with BLM in memo line.
4. Contribution goes to Chicago Community Bond Fund www.chicagobond.org, The Moran Center www.moran-center.org, and the purchase of additional signs.
5. Safety measures are being followed. We ask that you wear a mask and keep at least 6 feet distance during pickup and payment.
6. We recommend that you display a sign, and that you take some additional antiracist action. Need some ideas? Check out the UCE home page “Take Action”: www.ucevanston.org.

 

Read this article on Performative Allyship and how to engage in powerful activism beyond social media.

 

This has been and will continue to be a long struggle. We will only be able to stay in it and recognize and dismantle the systems of oppression that are rampant all around us by being in community with one another and partners to our siblings at the front lines. 

With love and in our shared faith, 

Rev. Eileen Wiviott 

Rev. Karen Mooney 

Rev. Karen Gustafson