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Displaying 1 - 50 of 87
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When someone lists Unitarians or Universalists, they usually name white men. Never anyone Black like me.Reflection | By Connie Simon | February 28, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Generations, History, Identity, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Respect, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Worship -
From the beginning, the story of Black people in America has been told through the lens of white supremacy.Reflection | By Bev Spears | February 21, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, Generations, History, Justice, Race/Ethnicity, Truth, Worship -
If you’re seeking sacred Black “text” in our tradition, you have to examine the way our Black ancestors lived.Reflection | By Takiyah Nur Amin | February 7, 2024 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Covenant, Generations, History, Identity, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Worship -
Spirit and Breath, create an openness that violence has constricted.Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | October 4, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anger, Body, Earth, Healing, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship -
I cannot assume anything when you welcome me into your spaces with suspicion and fear.Poetry | By Kristen L. Harper | March 15, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Justice, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
May we be our descendants’ bravest heroes, keepers of the flame.Blessing | By Vanessa Titang | February 28, 2023 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Grace, Healing, Identity, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Let us be grateful for the vital force that wakes us and moves us.Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | January 25, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Body, Generations, Love, Race/Ethnicity, Worship -
I rise on the shoulders of ancestors whose names I can not know.Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | September 14, 2022 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism, Worship -
Pleasure is one of the ways we know when we are free.Reading | By Adrienne Maree Brown | August 5, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Body, Direct Experience, Humanism, Joy, Secular, Self-Care, Sexuality, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Discomfort /in the name of holy wholeness / Bring all of ourselves / in the name of holy, of wholenessPoetry | By Kiakiali Bordner | May 23, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Justice, Leadership, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Purpose, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
There’s never been a time in the United States history when black rebellions did not spark existential fear among white people.Reading | By Michelle Alexander, Leslie Alexander | May 12, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), America, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Freedom, History, Juneteenth, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Slavery is made to sound as if it happened in a prehistoric age instead of only a few generations ago.Reading | By Clint Smith | January 27, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, History, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Violence
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White supremacy illuminates the exceptional instead of blaming the system.Reading | By Clint Smith | January 27, 2022 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Anti-Oppression, Generations, History, Race/Ethnicity, Violence, WorshipWeb, Worship
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In order to be welcoming, the systems of power and privilege in our spaces need to be actively dismantled.Reflection | By Shannon Lang | September 29, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Diversity, Equity, Hospitality, Humanism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Worship -
When we learn to dismantle the markers and habits of white supremacy in our worship life, we get free together.Leader Resource | By Erika Hewitt, Julica Hermann de la Fuente | July 30, 2021 | From WorshipLabTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Equity, Justice, Worship Tips -
To see how we fight still after entire lifetimes of struggle—and then to tell us to be more polite is just plain cruel.Reading | By Ijeoma Oluo | June 30, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Humanism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Do we who are UUs really believe in the values of our faith enough to enact to them in bold, clear, and unequivocal ways?Reflection | By Takiyah Nur Amin | June 23, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), America, Anti-Oppression, Conflict, Direct Experience, Division, Equity, Justice, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship -
Maybe if we add an 8th Principle, we will get closer to the BeLOVEd Community we dream about.Time for All Ages | By Karen G. Johnston | June 5, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Seven Principles, WorshipWeb, Worship -
Your individual niceness is inadequate to deal with the brutality and the viciousness of what white body supremacy has done to my people.Quote | By Resmaa Menakem | April 20, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Body, History, Race/Ethnicity -
A reflection from the Side With Love Sunday worship service.Homily | By Takiyah Nur Amin | March 10, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #30DaysOfLove, #BlackLivesMatter, #SideWithLove, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Direct Experience, Equity, Integrity, Justice, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Salvation, Unitarian Universalism -
This reflection was part of Side With Love Sunday 2021.Homily | By Julica Hermann de la Fuente | March 10, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #30DaysOfLove, #BlackLivesMatter, #SideWithLove, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Equity, Humanism, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Multiculturalism, Power, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, WorshipWeb, Worship
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We in the developed world are like homeowners who inherited a house on a piece of land that is beautiful on the outside, but whose soil is unstable loam and rock, heaving and contracting over generations, cracks patched but the deeper ruptures waved away for decades, centuries even....Reading | By Isabel Wilkerson | February 22, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Anti-Oppression, History, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
I've adopted the practice of spiritual reconnection with my ancestors to heal intergenerational trauma.Reflection | By Jabari S. Jones | February 10, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Diversity, Generations, Healing, History, International, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Transformation, Trauma, Worship -
Since I was a kid, I have had a penchant and passion for my touch on my body. This was sometimes shameful, sometimes wonderful, and deeply private from fairly early on, as I received messages from family and neighbors that it wasn’t “right.” It has only been as an adult, as i have witnessed...Reading | By Adrienne Maree Brown | January 30, 2021 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Anti-Oppression, Beauty, Belief, Body, Direct Experience, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Sexuality, WorshipWeb, Worship
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I named the truth as I perceived it, because it didn’t feel like there was any other option.Reflection | By Aisha Ansano | January 27, 2021 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, #SideWithLove, Direct Experience, Living Our Faith, Truth, Worship -
The person who enjoys privilege always knows less about the person who lives under the weight of that privilege than the people who are actually under it.Quote | By Ta-Nehisi Coates | November 24, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Justice, Power, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship
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Learning to love all of me—including the parts I used to be scared of—made the fear go away.Reflection | By Ndidi Achebe | October 28, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Family, Mental Health, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship -
At the core of American racism is the belief that the things we the Blacks desire, the fact that we the Blacks desire, are perversions.Reading | By Imani Perry | October 27, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Anti-Oppression, Challenge, Character, Imagination, Race/Ethnicity -
I do not believe the acts of oppressors are my people's shame.Quote | By Imani Perry | October 27, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Culture, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Humanism, Identity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Self-Respect -
I was born nine years after four little girls were killed in Birmingham, Alabama, and two other boys later the same day.Reading | By Imani Perry | October 27, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, History, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
The drug that says that whiteness is what matters most about white people is what makes so many of them think that is what must be protected at all costs.Quote | By Imani Perry | October 19, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Race/Ethnicity -
Black men are not a species. They, you, belong to humanity.Reading | By Imani Perry | October 19, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Character, History, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
None of us would be here were it not for those who lived and won a fight that they were not meant to survive.Reflection | By Daniel Gregoire | September 23, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Humanism, Justice, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship -
Spirit of light and love Spirit of resistance Spirit of generosity That which serves as our conscience in this work That we do to dismantle white supremacy To empower the marginalized To insist that black lives matter, matter We have been angered We have been saddened We have been pushed to the...Prayer | By Margalie Belizaire | August 13, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Race/Ethnicity -
"I believe firmly that to practice love is to disrupt the status quo which is masquerading as peace." —posted on Austin Channing Brown's Instagram, June 17, 2020...Quote | By Austin Channing Brown | June 27, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Activism, Direct Experience, Justice, Living Our Faith, Love, Power, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Solidarity, Transformation -
I learned the hard way that there is a deep difference between the Jesus that Black folks worship and the Jesus that white Christians worship.Reading | By Austin Channing Brown | June 27, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Christianity, Direct Experience, History, Power, Race/Ethnicity, Religion -
Sheltered in our homes, Or going to work, at risk, For week after week after week, We’re edgy, tired, a little raw. We are tender, vulnerable, Open. A little more open than usual. Those of us who are white, Who, before, might have been distracted Who, before, might have been too busy Who, before,...Prayer | By Ellen Quaadgras | June 17, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Direct Experience, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity -
Our conversations about the history of our country—the actions of our ancestors—can be made new and relevant and understandable. We can and must have these conversations.Reflection | By Heather Rion Starr | June 17, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Activism, America, Children, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Humanism, Parents, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
May we all remember how inextricably we are linked in this fight for justice and freedom.Reflection | By Otto O’Connor | June 10, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Direct Experience, Generations, History, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
My mother and father armed us with this truth: The world is awful, magnificent, and belongs to you as much as it belongs to anyone else.Reflection | By Carol Thomas Cissel | June 3, 2020 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter -
Deep in the shadow of night, down near the crossroads and cemetery gates, with bitter liquor and cigar smoke wafting, I greet you. Clad in white, upon the floor before shrines, following the names of the Ancestors being uttered, I greet you. You are the sacred and righteous rage of my people.Prayer | By Byron "Tyler" Coles | June 2, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Anger, Awe, Direct Experience, Generations, Indigenous American, Meaning, Power, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships, Secular, Wonder
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I come from a long line of strong Black women. My grandmother used to share stories about how she caused “trouble” in town when a white man hired her to put up the displays in his store window. At that time, all the Black women in town worked as domestics in the homes of white ladies, or in the...Reflection | By Rayla D. Mattson | February 5, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Friendship, Generations, Integrity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Truth, Women -
On August 25, 1619, the ship the White Lion arrived at Point Comfort, now known as Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia. The ship contained enslaved Africans. This is the first recorded arrival of Africans in America....Affirmation | By Kristen L. Harper | October 10, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), America, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, History, Juneteenth, Oppression, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
A common "issue" in anti-racism work is the use of the term culture of white supremacy or white supremacy culture, which many people view as charged, controversial, or even deeply offensive. Sometimes there are even challenges/dismissals from people in positions of power/authority about it....Reading | By Carolina Krawarik-Graham | August 15, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Secular -
Shirley Chisholm was asked why she, a Black woman, was running for president: "You don't have a chance. Why are you doing that?" And she said, "Because I am in love with the America that does not yet exist," and that's how Unitarian Universalism is also....Quote | By Natalie Maxwell Fenimore | June 25, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Change, Commitment, Direct Experience, Generations, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
Here’s a quiz about time travel posed by a friend of mine: Suppose you had a time machine but it only went back in time to specific events. If you used the time machine, you could only be a witness; you could not influence the events in any way and no one would be aware of your presence....Homily | By Heide Cottam | January 7, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Challenge, Compassion, Direct Experience, Empathy, Humility, Race/Ethnicity, Reconciliation, Truth, Worship -
Editor's note: This sermon was prepared for a white congregation, and thus speaks to those who identify as white, centering the dismantling of white supremacy from a white perspective....Sermon | By Amanda Udis-Kessler | July 27, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Race/Ethnicity -
When we say, "Save the rainforest," we don’t mean that we cease to honor the mighty cedars or the reaching pines. We mean that one particular piece of a deeply sacred whole is more at risk than others, and that this risk, this threat, is worthy of our very bravest actions. So it is with black...Quote | By Nancy McDonald Ladd | April 9, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Activism, Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Humanism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Wholeness -
Yesterday, a new employee—a white guy—walked into the bakery where I work. “Hi,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve met you yet.” He told me his name. “I’m Jabari,” I replied. “Are you American?,” he asked. I hesitated. “Yeaaaaaaaaaah.” “Well, it’s just that your name is...Reading | By Jabari S. Jones | July 31, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Multiculturalism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular -
We’re the faith of reason and science and dignity. There's nothing wrong with that. It’s just that too many of us have been taught by culture that what "smart" looks like is white, male, and middle class. We’ve been taught that credibility and authority are white. We’ve been taught that what...Quote | By Matthew Johnson | May 15, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Courage, Direct Experience, Identity, Living Our Faith, Multiculturalism, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Reason, Responsibility, Seven Principles, Unitarian Universalism