Dear People of UUVentura,
And the curve balls keep coming.
In the midst of a pandemic, we are now also in the midst of a new wave of the Civil Rights Movement. The world watched George Floyd die slowly in front of our eyes, under the knee of an impassive police officer. The outrage and the protests were swift and keep growing. I hear outrage, despair, and helplessness. Yet I also see hope, energy, and passion. People who are even glad to be alive at this amazing turning point. We might even be able to change enough and make a real difference at last.
I’ve been reminding myself and others that the pandemic will be a marathon, not a sprint. The same is true of this “new” Movement for Racial justice. We need to be in this for the Long Haul. Remember:
The Freedom Rides lasted 7 months.
The Greensboro sit-ins lasted 6 months.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days – that’s 1 year, 2 weeks, and 2 days.
The protests arose so quickly, with people of so many backgrounds and races. My spirit leaps, especially when I see the engagement, the power, the commitment of young people. A change is coming with urgency. Yet a few days and weeks will not dismantle the structures of oppression that keep Black, Indigenous, People of Color – in America and around the world – under the knee of white supremacy and systemic racism.
It is our faith that every person is born with inherent worth and dignity. Yet as a predominantly white congregation and denomination, our work of dismantling oppression needs to be engaged on many levels simultaneously. Those of us who are white need to examine our own hearts, to see the ways that we have benefitted from – and even participated in – practices that keep BIPOC oppressed. We need to follow the lead of BIPOC who tell us what they need. We need to listen to the narratives of their lived reality – and believe them.
We have the chance to truly live the mission of our church in ways that actually can make a difference. We have longed for change for decades and centuries. Sometimes we have been part of it. Yet the work of dismantling oppressive systems is far from done, and we get to carry it forward. I, too, am excited and overwhelmed and outraged and committed and despairing and so glad to be alive – on this planet, in this time, with you good people.
Let us examine our hearts, be accountable to our values and each other. I hope that your spirit leaps at the possibility of being part of the changes we long for. And it will also be often-uncomfortable and hard work. Yet I know we are up for it and up to it.
In the next month, I will be forming a book group to discuss issues of racial justice, especially the work that white people need to do to dismantle racism in our hearts and in the culture. If you wish to join that, or be part of a group envisioning how the church join the struggle, please let me know.
Below are some resources for ways that we can begin this work of justice. There are lots, though these are local and a good place for us to start.
Let’s get to it, and keep going.
With love,
Rev. Dana