Racial Equity Action Leadership (REAL) Team
“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identies and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” – bell hooks
The REAL Team members support and engage in anti-racist and anti-oppression work. All UCE folks are welcome to join us at the REAL Team monthly meetings to share ideas and collaborate on education and action programming. REAL Team meetings are 7 – 8:30 pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month except during holiday months. See the newsletter for more details. Your voice is needed!
The REAL Planning Group is small and meets monthly or more often and we encourage you to contact us if you have questions or an initiative to propose : Becky Crawford, Alison Issen and Cheryl Mounts. Contact REAL via any of its Planning Group members at email addresses in REALM.
Click on the button below for ideas on how to fight racism.
Contact REAL at ucerealteam@gmail.com or contact any of its Planning Group members listed above.
What has been your experience of oppression and equity at UCE? The Anti-Oppression Task Force would like to know. We have worked with the YWCA Equity Institute to create a survey. We hope that the survey results can be used to help make UCE a place of radical welcome. Click here to participate in this 20 min survey. Members of the Anti-Oppression Task Force will be available during kinship hour to answer questions and provide paper copies of the survey for those who prefer the paper and pen format. Feel free to send a message to uceantioppressionsurvey@gmail.com with questions or if you would like a paper survey mailed to you. If you have already completed the survey, stop by the table Sunday to get an “I Completed the Equity Survey!” sticker to wear.
Bettina Love explains what a co-conspirator is in this video. We think it better describes what we are trying to be than the term “allies.”
Our congregation is reading Widening the Circle…
Our Unitarian Universalist Association, through the Commission on Institutional Change has issued a powerful report which names the way white supremacy culture lives within our systems, just as it does throughout our larger society. The good news is that it also provides tools for dismantling systemic racism within, among, and beyond us. We can use these tools to build a more loving, anti-racist, anti-oppressive world. We can use these resources to practice building the Beloved Community. You may choose to buy a copy of the Widening the Circle book ($16) here.
Actions with REAL
Join the REAL Team History Group for continuing discussions about the Netflix series “AMEND: The Fight for America.” Meetings starts at 8:00pm. Contact Dana Deanne for more information.
- January 26: We will discuss Episode 3, WAIT: Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement.
- February 2: We will discuss Episode 6, PROMISE: Immigration to the United States, hope, xenophobia and systemic discrimination faced
Black Lives Matter signs and buttons are available – text Martha Holman (number in the directory and Realm). Signs are $10 each and come with a stand. Buttons are $1 each.
Important Links:
REAL Lending Library Annotated Book List
The UCE Racial Equity Action and Leadership (REAL) team has often been asked to give suggestions for books to read to further our understanding of race in America. Many books about race in America, both fiction and non-fiction, are published every day. The UCE REAL Lending Library volunteers try to continually update our collection of current and time-honored books that have been recommended by members of our congregation, but as you can imagine, it is not feasible to have all books on oppression and racism available in our library. If we don’t have a particular book, we may be able to provide information about other that may interest you and that may be available at local libraries.
The attached annotated listing is an almost up-to-date compilation of some wonderful books you might explore. Some are on the UCE Racial Justice book cart (at the back of the sanctuary) and are noted as such. The listing categorizes books by author, title, genre, date of publication, and numbers of pages. It also provides a short description to further help you choose what to read.
Because so many in our congregation are voracious readers and participate in book clubs, the Lending Library volunteers ask that you send us your recommendations for books that can be annotated and placed on our book list. If you would send us the title, author, and date of publication, we will complete the remainder of the annotation.
You may contact Joan Retzloff, Jackie Seaman, or Cheryl Mounts through Realm or via admin@ucevanston.org.
Thanks to Sarah Vanderwicken, Joan Retzloff, Jackie Seaman and Carolyn Laughlin for putting together this resource. Thanks in advance to future volunteers who will help keep the listing and the cart up-to-date.
News & Updates from the REAL Team
REAL Update: June 12, 2020
This is a time when we are redoubling our efforts to step up in response to continued and increasing police violence against Black people. It is a time when those of us who identify as White need to speak out, act up, and keep on educating ourselves to be effective antiracists.
The UCE Racial Equity (REAL) planning group has been working on several new ways for members and friends to look more deeply into white privilege, into how to speak our truth, into ways to show up, to learn, to donate.
Days of Social Action: June 5, 2020
There are so many ways you can participate in social action, from showing up, signing on, donating, or committing yourself to learn more. Here are daily lists of actions you can take part in, on the front lines or from your home. Actions are gathered from the UUA, Moveon, Indivisible, UUSJ, Color of Change, SUR, Faithful America.
Saturday
- Show UP Stand WITH: Activate: Chicago March for Justice for George Floyd – Saturday, June 6th at 11 a.m. Where: Humboldt Park Boathouse (former home of Chance the Snapper). We will march to end Police Brutality. We will march because #blacklivesmatter. We march for justice for George Floyd and his Family. Please wear masks – This march will be peaceful.
- Show UP to Stand WITH: Display a BLACK LIVES MATTER! Sign in your yard: REAL Message: Signs are now available for UCE members and friends and neighbors. Signs may be purchased and picked up between 1 pm and 6 pm from Annette Wallace. Call 847-826-6825 to assure a pickup time and for address and parking instructions. 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. Contribution goes to Chicago Community Bond Fund, The Moran Center, and the purchase of additional signs. Safety measures are being followed. We ask that you wear a mask and keep at least 6 feet distance during pickup and payment.
- 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.”
- Read this article on Performative Allyship and how to engage in powerful activism beyond social media.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: Color of Change: Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was in her home in Louisville, KY on March 13thwhen officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department barged in without a warning nor announcement and broke through her door, fired off more than 20 bullets, and ultimately took Breonna’s life. #JusticeforBre: Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor must be FIRED.
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Read this article in the Atlantic titled “When People View Citizens as Enemies.”
Sunday
- Show UP to Stand WITH: Faithful America: Keep showing up. If you’re a white person who can attend protests, please do so. Be sure to follow the lead of organizers of color, and be willing to protect them if asked when the police arrive. Wear something that identifies you as a person of faith lifting up the moral voice. Learn de-escalation and bystander-intervention tactics.
- Show UP to Stand WITH: Join in the Movement for Black Lives in daily action. The time for action is now, people are taking to the streets, flooding social media, calling local officials and demanding justice for those who have been killed by the police all over the county and now is the time to join them.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: Color of Change: Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was in her home in Louisville, KY on March 13thwhen officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department barged in without a warning nor announcement and broke through her door, fired off more than 20 bullets, and ultimately took Breonna’s life. #JusticeforBre: Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor must be FIRED.
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Black Lives Matter Global Network
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: UUA: Join the “Unfinished Business” political education series hosted by Side with Love and Love Resists (starting Wednesday June 10).
Monday
- Make CALLS to Stand WITH: UUSJ: Police/National Guard murdered David Mcatee in Louisville around 12 am as they shot blindly into a crowd outside Mcatee’s business. Governor Beshear is allowing LMPD to independently investigate themselves. This cannot stand. Calls must be made:
- Mayor Greg Fischer – Call (502) 574-2003
- Governor Beshear – Call (502) 564-2611
- County Attorney- Call (502) 574-6336
- SCRIPT: My name is [X] and I am calling to ask for the following actions in response to the murder of David Mcatee:
- Immediate release of all body camera footage
- Appoint citizen review panel with subpoena power to investigate
- (Mayor only) immediately appoint interim police chief
- (Mayor only) immediately fire the officers involved in shooting David Mcatee as well as those responsible for Breonna Taylor’s murder.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: Color of Change: Keep echoing the demands of Black organizers. Sign the “State of Emergency: End the War on Black people!” list of demands from Color of Change, one of the most important civil-rights organizations of the digital age.
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Chicago Community Bond Fund: Chicagoland bail fund
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Listen to Trevor Noah as he reflects with wisdom and compassion on what is going on in America. https://youtu.be/v4amCfVbA_c He speaks truth to power.
Tuesday
- Show UP to Stand WITH: SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) Check to see if a local SURJ chapter near you is already planning an action, join them and help them organize — find a chapter near you here. Stay in this moment by taking one of the actions listed here.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUA: Support the uprising and commit to joining other UUs in working to combat the violence of militarism and the police state: Share this message widely with your networks. Speak about your convictions in support of Black liberation. Articulate your support of Black organizing, grounded in your Unitarian Universalist faith. Have hard conversations with your family, your social networks, your neighbors. And sign up at this link to be connected with a network of UUs committing to learning, reflecting, and acting together.
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Color of Change Education Fund – Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization.
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: UUA: Check out this full list of “Resources for Accountability and Action for Black Lives” which will be updated regularly
Wednesday
- Show UP to Stand WITH: From SURJ: Post images and content from the Movement for Black Lives @mvmnt4blklives. They have called for Trump to resign and continue to call for the defunding of the police. Find, follow, and amplify local Black-led organizing.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUA: We have called on the Minneapolis City Council to become these visionary leaders by pledging to defund the Minneapolis Police Department and invest in the resources that really keep us safe and healthy, especially in Black communities, Indigenous communities and communities of color.
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Black Visions Collective – Black Visions Collective (BLVC) believes in a future where all Black people have autonomy, safety is community-led, and we are in right relationship within our ecosystems.
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Read this article about 75 things that white people can do for racial justice.
Thursday
- Make CALLS to Stand WITH: Use the Winning Justice Prosecutor Project from Color of Change to make calls to keep pressure on the two District Attorneys to take responsibility for the large role they played in delaying justice for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Make calls now.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUSJ: On May 27th, 2020, Tony McDade, a black transgender masculine person was shot five times in the back and killed by a Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) officer. TPD, notorious for its racism, white supremacy, and transphobia has consistently misgendered Tony and refused to release the officer’s body camera footage and/or admit their wrongdoing in murdering and misgendering an unarmed black trans person. Please join us in demanding #JusticeForTony.
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Reclaim the Block: Community fund
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now.
Friday
- Show UP to Stand WITH: Poor Peoples Campaign: Join the June 20th virtual march on Washington with the Poor Peoples Campaign. Stay in Place! Stay Alive! Organize! The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is calling for people across the country to Stay in Place! Stay Alive! Organize! And Don’t Believe the Lies! Right now, states are beginning to reopen against the best recommendations of doctors, public health officials and other experts. State legislatures, governors, and the federal government are putting millions of people, especially the poor, at great risk by reopening too soon.
- Sign ON to Stand WITH: UUSJ: Demand resignation of Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson for not issuing a warrant of arrest for the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020. On Sunday, February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was unarmed when he was chased and gunned down by Travis and Gregory McMichael. They should have been arrested on February 23rd and as a result she should resign due to judicial malpractice. Click here to sign
- Give MONEY to Stand WITH: Black Visions Collective: Supporting Black activists on the ground
- Commit to LEARN to Stand WITH: Watch Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III – As our country struggles with a fresh epidemic of senseless deaths of African Americans, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III has a powerful message for us, “When Is Someday?” This message serves are a prelude to his sermonic video, “The Cross and the Lynching Tree: A Requiem for Ahmaud Arbery.” Two messages to awaken your spirit, open your hearts, and inspire you to action.