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
Reparations in Evanston Workshop Update: September 24, 2021
The second session of our workshop on Faith, Justice and Reparations in Evanston will be held this Sunday afternoon from 4 to 5:30 pm. The three-part series is being held completely on-line. Register today to attend.
Our first session last week, which focused on the history of Reparations, was very well-received. We heard from both Rev. Michael Nabors of Second Baptist Church and Woullard Lett, a leader with N’COBRA (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America) and New England UUA Regional lead.
There were also several opportunities during last week’s session for workshop participants to reflect on the issue and share their views. Next week we’ll focus on the history of race relations in Evanston and the ways our faith traditions call us to be involved. We’ll be joined by Dino Robinson of the Shorefront Legacy Center, as well as by a panel of local religious leaders. Evanston Reparations founder Robin Rue Simmons will join us for week #3.
Each session will offer participants a chance to exchange ideas, ask questions, and get involved. We’ll also give you updates on the Evanston Reparations project and on various related funding efforts. Before each session, you can enhance your learning by reading and reflecting on selected articles and videos.
Over the summer, several members of the Racial Equity (REAL) and Peace and Justice teams have been working to develop this faith-based workshop series on Reparations. We will explore what “reparations” means, how Evanston’s history of exclusion and discrimination calls for repair, what is happening with the city’s current Reparations programs — and consider how we, as people of faith, are called to act at this significant moment in history.
To find out more and to access links to articles and videos on Reparations, Evanston history and faith statements on slavery and racial justice, visit the workshop website here.
This program is a joint effort by UCE, Lake Street Church, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Saint Luke Episcopal Church, and Sherman United Methodist Church. It is endorsed by Interfaith Action Evanston and funded by the UCE Endowment Fund.
With many different faith traditions involved in our sessions, we’ll have the chance to exchange ideas and learn about the experiences of residents throughout the community. Working with church archivists and religious leaders from throughout Evanston, we plan to focus on how local faith communities have responded to racial discrimination in the past and what we can do to level the playing field moving forward.
Carceral Systems and Siding with Love Workshop: September 10, 2021
UU Prison Ministry of Illinois, REAL, and the UCE Prison Ministry team invite you to join us for the last two sessions of Carceral Systems and Siding with Love.
How do we actively side with Love in the face of harmful carceral systems that especially target black and brown people? We will welcome nationally known advocate Joyce MacMillan on Family Separation and Surveillance on October 21. On November 4 we will discuss the Basics of Restorative Justice. Registration is required, and a short reading or video will be emailed to you one week before each session. The last of these 90-minute Zoom workshops is on November 4.
Thursday, November 4, 7:00-8:30 p.m.: Basics of Restorative Justice
What is the framework for restorative or transformative justice and how is it different from the criminal legal system? How do restorative justice community courts work? What other models to address harm are being developed?
We hope you will join us! Please register here for any or all of these workshops.
Past Sessions:
Thursday, September 23, 7:00-8:30 p.m.: Policing
Why do activists make the call to “Defund Police”, and what do they mean by this? What is the impact of spending a large percentage of local budgets on police while disinvesting in low-income neighborhoods? What other approaches are being tried?
Thursday, October 7, 7:00-8:30 p.m.: Prisons
What are the dynamics and history that brought this country to mass incarceration? What is the impact of prisons on individuals and communities? Does prison make us safe?
Thursday, October 21, 7:00-8:30 p.m.: Family Separation and Surveillance
How does the foster care-to-prison pipeline affect poor communities of color? What is the history of child removal? What assistance is available for families when poverty creates less than ideal conditions? What remedies are anti-racist activists suggesting?