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
Join the UCE Team Race Against Hate: April 15, 2022
In 1999, Ricky Byrdsong was murdered by a self-proclaimed white supremacist. Byrdsong was a Skokie resident and the first African-American coach of the Northwestern University men’s basketball team. He was also the father of 3 young children, 2 of whom were with him near their home when he was shot. The man who murdered Byrdsong also shot 5 other people of color in Indiana and Illinois, as well as 6 Orthodox Jews in Rogers Park. Byrdsong’s wife of 20 years, Sherialyn, established a foundation which has collaborated with the YWCA Evanston/North Shore to turn Byrdsong’s tragedy into a victory over hate. Each year on Father’s Day, Sherialyn kicks off the Race Against Hate, which she is proud unites thousands of people of different racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds to celebrate diversity, promote reconciliation and declare that racism is not welcome or tolerated ANYWHERE in America. Now in its 23rd year, the Race Against Hate will be held on June 19, and UCE will again be a part of it.
Some of us run, some walk, some roll! However you roll, please be a part of our Race Against Hate by joining the UCE REAL Team 2022. Join the team here.
If you can’t be with us in the Race, but want to join in spirit, support the team through your donation. Donate here.
Dana Deane is coordinating the UCE REAL Team 2022. Please let her know if you have any questions.
Update from REAL on Child Care: February 25, 2022
Heartfelt thanks to all the UCE members and friends who offered help during the Evanston school closure that left families in a bind in the thick of the Omicron surge. Unscheduled closures hurt families who are already pushed to their limits, especially parents who face job loss if they miss even one day of work. Thinking of our District 65 neighbors, Jennifer Crosby approached Reverend Eileen and the REAL Planning Group about creating a pop-up child care. We reached out to the Joseph E. Hill Head Start program and they sent out an announcement. Jennifer identified a trained child care provider from the community and we scheduled volunteers in teams of three covering nine shifts. Volunteers gathered supplies, snacks, and meals. We figured out COVID protocols and testing with advice from Rev. Eileen and UCE’s COVID Task Force. Members gave cash donations for snacks, supplies, and the child care worker’s stipend. We reconfigured a classroom downstairs and made pop-up child care available for the three days before Christmas Eve.
We made a difference for the family who took us up on our last-minute offer. The little boy who attended had a great time, and the volunteers did, too. Shirley Adams commented, “He felt very loved and got a lot of positive adult attention.”
We learned a great deal from this process. We are working on how to meet this need in a sustainable, effective, and scalable way. REAL Planning Group members met with the Evanston Early Childhood Council and we are reaching out to Evanston Cradle to Career. We will explore ways to gather information from families impacted by unplanned school closures to learn what would be most helpful for them. We are speaking with school administrators about what volunteers can do to help. We are learning requirements for volunteer classroom assistants and how to create activity bags designed for children to use at home in times of quarantine or home-based child care.
We were moved and deeply grateful for every person who pitched in for the pop-up child care. Stay tuned!