From Your Regional Lead: Prepping for General Assembly
By Megan Foley
One of the things I’ve been doing to prepare for General Assembly this year is to work through these excellent preparatory materials provided by the Planning team. As the GA webpage puts it, “General Assembly in New Orleans will awaken and deepen the commitment of Unitarian Universalists to the power and possibility of working in solidarity with those on the margins. [Here] are resources to help you prepare to enter fully into that experience.” Now that the UU conversation about white supremacy has intensified, preparing for GA in this way seems even more important. I’m doing as suggested, exploring the resources in each of the five sections (Encountering New Orleans; Understanding Intersections of Race, Class and Economics; Enhancing Capacity to Build Relationships; Centering the Experiences of People of Color; and Examining Whiteness) to get a broad overview.
I’m personally invested in centering the experiences of people of color. As a leader in Unitarian Universalism, I’ve had no shortage of opportunity to immerse myself in white culture and a white orientation to the world. I get really animated when I can participate in opportunities where the experiences of people of color are centered, instead. I learn more from those times than I would from reading ten books!
What is your next step in “awakening…the power and possibility of working in solidarity with those on the margins”? You aren’t going to dismantle white supremacy in yourself or in the world all at one time. Where’s the right place for you to start? What can you learn about this week that will make a difference? Seeing the world with new eyes can be enormously rewarding. Your efforts will benefit us all. Plus, if you bring your completed resource list to the UUA Expressway at GA, you can get a ribbon to commemorate your learning!
Megan Foley
CER Regional Lead