EVENT:  B2018 0622 GENERAL SESSION 3 9M
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Good Morning, everybody.  Good Morning, everybody.  All righty.  Are we ready?  Even you think you aren't, can you be?
I now call to order the Third General Session of the Fifty-Seventh General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Few announcements for you.  So today is, like you know, the second full day of General Assembly, two and a half days.  We've been here since Wednesday.  We're starting to kind of feel like we're losing courtesy to his each other.  Right?  Starting to really feel like we're at home and moving the furniture and doing things like that.  We need to remember we're in community so these are a couple announcements related to that.  The white accessibility chairs in the general session hall are covered for a reason.  Please do not remove those covers in order to sit there.  Again, we're not moving around the furniture at home.  Right?  We're keeping an eye on how we want to welcome people into the space and have them be here in ways that they need to be here.
[Applause]
Second to that, because if we do start moving the furniture, just like at home, somebody is going to come and tell you, hey, please don't move the the furniture.  We have folks with vests on that are ushers and tellers.  And it would be appreciated if when they tell you something or ask you to do something that you give them the grace to kind offal follow the directions.  I promise you they are saying it for a reason.  Okay?  If there's something that you're being asked to do that I just are like, whoa, remember, we have chaplains.  We have right relationship team.  We've got board members with hats.  We've got all sorts of folks that you can ask to talk to, but just try and follow those directions first.
And the third announcement I'm really thrilled, so the youth caucus would love you to know that all are called, elders and youth all.  This year the youth community worship asks all of us of every age to be part of their worship.  And we're going to do this by writing your call down on a quilting square.  If you'd like to do this, please go to room 2505 and find a quilting corner.  That's 2505 to receive and let's all be part of the youth caucus worship.
>>  I'm Sara Dan Jones.  I serve as one of your board of trustee members and I'm so pleased to be here with you this morning.  Thank you, yes.  I'm take T so I'm thinking, friends, that some of you know or don't know that I wrote this hymn, meditation on breathing and I want to sing it, because it's mine and I have pulpit privity moment in time.  And I can think of no better time or place to sing it than right now.  Right?  So I'm going to invite you to rise in body or spirit.  And you may sing whatever part resonates with you.
Good, you sing to me.
>>  Let's not forget is that.  I don't invite you to have a sit.  I sing where I come from.  We come from very similar places.  And we sing a lot.  And so there's some songs sometimes when I go through you things that I need to sing.  And so I will sing a line and you sing after me.  Okay?  Call it response.
Thank you.
>>  Carry on.
>>  Beautiful.  Can we hear from the right relationship team?  My friends, will you give it up, please?  Give it up, please.
>>  Good Morning.  We are your right relationship team co-chairs.  So sometimes during this time, the team offers reports about particular incidents that we have resolved or need your help resolving, but this morning I want to offer a report that is somewhere between an observation and an ad Monday I go.  Last night we heard the core at the service of the living tradition sing the song from the poor people's campaign, somebody's been hurting my brother.  And it's my experience that Unitarian Universalists are pretty good at showing up to that call.  When somebody tells us that somebody else is hurting, but we struggle to show up in the tender, tender place that is revealed when one of our siblings says to us, somebody has been hurting me.  Or more tender and vulnerable still, you have been hurting me.  In the coming days we are going to debate and vote on bylaws and statements and resolutions that are coming before us because our siblings have said somebody has been hurting me.  You have you been hurting me.  Friends, let us proceed tenderly.  We have been hurting one another and it has gone on far too long.
[Applause]
>>  And from our safety team?
>>  Good Morning.  Before we arrived, I prayed for us.  I found myself lingering on the Verse of the 27th?Psalm that can be heard on the subway among strangers and in conversations with grandmothers.  The Lord is my light and my salvation.  Whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?  A bold and perhaps aspirational assertion.  We are not asking you to be fearless or unafraid.  We are not asking our safety team volunteers to be fearless and unafraid.  We are asking everyone to be visionary, constructing an environment that is reflective of our paradise on earth, our home, until we are reunited with that which is beyond all human understanding, a world in which safety is transformative and collectively determined as opposed to punitive and determined by broken systems that protect few.  I am not here to argue and debate your experiences, but to listen.  And in turn, I ask you offer your neighbor a listening pair of ears and a compassionate heart.
>>  Good Morning.  A few of the things that the safety team has been engaged with, a few you nights ago we learned that youth in the youth caucus were being harassed by security guards here at the convention center.  We spoke with people with the GA planning to be able to talk with the security guards about the youth and the youth being here at the convention center at night and this is a place of socialize and go to not harass the young people.  We're doing the best we can to try to prevent that from happening and we continue to ask that if you hear of, if you're part of the youth caucus or the young adult caucus and you experience harassment to please let us know or anyone else who experiences harassment from either security or police.  We also sadly heard that a black Unitarian Universalist two nights ago was on their way during evening programming to come into the convention center.  Many white UUs were outside the convention center as well walking around.  I'm sure some of them had name badges on.  I'm sure some of them did not.  This black Unitarian Universalist was on their way into the convention center.  They were stopped by a police officer who asked, why are you in this area?  The UU responded, I'm here as part of the General Assembly.  The officer responded, well, where is your name badge?  Again, assuming that this is not true, that this is not legitimate.  The Unitarian Universalist continued to explain why they were here, need to go previous their ability to be present in public space, that they needed to prove that they could be connected to this General Assembly.  And so they were eventually able to come into the convention center, but another thing of note is that no other UU, no other white, no white UU or other UU came over to see what was going on.  And so if we see police interacting, often harassing people around the convention center, it's useful to just go over and ask, you know, officer, what's going on here?  To at least go and try to engage.  And so this is a reminder of why we are part of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Yesterday the Westboro Baptist church showed up.  Six of them, over 70 to 100 of us were out there singing, protesting.  It was powerful.  It was beautiful.  It was on fire.  We also had many of you continuing to go to the General Assembly programming so that they did not take the energy away from us building our movement.
[Applause]
Kansas poor people campaign leaders, reverend rose Schwab and Anna Muldanado led the singing and inspiration of why we are here.  Two local activists not a part of General Assembly, but a part of our justice community, two pulled up in front of Westboro Baptist, stopped their car.  The one driving came out, confronted the Westboro Baptist, got right in their face, explaining why their hate was not wanted in their city.  The police very quickly and very aggressively arrested that local activist and attempted to arrest the other activist.  India and others from the safety team were able to deescalate with police not arresting the second person, trying to get the police to chill out.  They were very aggressive.  They are very confrontational, trying to get the police to chill out and not escalate the situation as the boomerang effect that India has been talking about was so evident of the way the police quickly escalated everyone in the area.  That local activist, the UU world wases following up, confirmed that she has, in fact, been released.  Two misdemeanor charges, disturbing the peace and impeding the flow of traffic.  But she was released from jail.  Reverend Christa Tavea had the idea of a minister's delegation to try to talk to the police and get her released.  Many ministers with reverend rose at the lead tried to get the list for just release this local activityist.  That was unsuccessful, but eventually she was released from jail.  To close, a young person with a trans flag I think summarized what happened with Westboro Baptist.  They looked over at Westboro Baptist and said, I almost feel sorry for them.  They're trying so hard to hate us and we are so fabulous and so powerful, they can't do anything to us.
[Applause]
>>  As is required for every General Assembly, in large gatherings of this size we have convention center security and police officers on-site.  We are making a request of the General Assembly to shift our reliance and responsibility onto community, to turn towards each other when we were feeling unsafe and provide support for one another.  We are asking you to let the safety team know when these instances occur.  We cannot ignore power and powerful systems within our society.  However, we can begin to shift power towards everyday people.  We can continue building capacity to sustain our movements and each one of us choose the life generative practices that makes the miracle of waking up every day possible.  In the words of freedom fighter Assad Asacor that are offered during many demonstrations, rallies, and protests, we must love and protect each other.  We have nothing to lose but our chains.  We must love and protect each other.  We have nothing to lose but our chains.
[Applause]
>>  Thank you, Greg.  So the sound we heard was the Amber Alert.  I did not get it.  Some of you did.  So maybe at some point you can tell us what it is and with we can all be on the lookout.
It is now time for the President's Report. Please everyone give it up for the President of the UUA Susan Frederick- Gray!!!! And executive vice president Carrie McDonald.
[Applause]
It has been a pleasure to work With them this year.
>>  It is good to be here today and good to be together.  I want to shout out a congregation and some people in the audience that are important to me.  My mom and dad are here.  They raised me.  I'm lifelong UU.
[Applause]
>>  Later I'll introduce you to Elandria's parents, because they're here, too.  And I understand that Elliott chapel, I'm a Missourian, a Missouri native, grew up on the other side of the state if St. Louis at Elliott chapel and there's like 57 people from Elliott chapel.  So thank you all for supporting the UUA.  And being here.  What a time this is.  A time when we are all being called into a deeper practice of our theology.  Living into the calling at the heart of Unitarian Universalism for Beloved community.  A community that practices a radically inclusive and deeply compassion at anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multicultural, multigenerational faith within and acts powerfully in partnership and solidarity for justice and liberation for all.  This call to it our faith comes to us in the midst of a time marked by tumult and tremendous pain.  Last year in the months leading up to General Assembly, our association went through a major disruption.  UUA president Peter Morales and several other senior leaders resigned and we grieved for the death of our moderator, Jim key.  Our interim co-presidents, the reverend Sophia Bettencourt, and Dr.?Leon Spencer and Dr.?Leon Spencer provided a pastoral presence, stabilizing leadership and a call for deeper transformative action - a call to renewal and change - for the UUA and across our congregations and communities.
GA 2017 was a time of truth telling about the past and the present. We wrestled with and named the heartbreak, the mistrust, the broken promises and unfulfilled dreams of our faith. We were also confronted with an increasingly dangerous and dehumanizing political situation in our country and the world.
Last year was not the beginning of these challenges. And wrestling with them has been painful and difficult, but it has also been profoundly faithful. In a culture that loves debate but runs from conflict that can transform us and runs from discomfort, being faced with our own distance from the beloved community we espouse is an invitation to real and transformative change. And yes, we have many examples of both succeeding and falling short of this.my friends, There is pain in change and growth. There is pain in childbirth, in resetting a bone, in building new muscle. The most painful wounds though, are those that go unattended, unnamed. And so we are called to do the attending that these times necessitate because the stakes are too high if we don't.
Right now, the liberating achievements generations have won are being rolled back. The extrajudicial killing of black lives by police continue. The assault on the rights of gay, lesbian, Transgender people, and queer people, on folks living with disabilities, the repeated attempts to ban Muslims, rolling back reproductive and health care access, the separation and jailing of children at the border affront our values.
And all of this fueled by a rising nationalist movement that is proud to claim the symbols and ideology of Nazis and the Confederacy. I witnessed this all too clearly in Charlottesville, VA last August - a story I will tell on Sunday morning.
We are also living in a time in this county when mass shootings are becoming normal and our global climate is in chaos.  Last summer was a devastating season of storms and fires that moved us to establish a general disaster relief fund Knowing that this will continue.  And I am grateful to all of you who donated to that fund and helped us collectively, as a covenanted faith, show up and support one another in these times of crisis and trauma.
[Applause]
as this external heartbreak continues, our internal heartbreak also continues.
Unitarian Universalists have been examining the ways that a culture of white supremacy continues to inhibit the fullness of the practice of our theology, each of our liberation, and the ability of people of color to thrive within this faith. We have seen how the burden of this institutional change work does not fall equally on all people. This year, we have seen a record number of religious professionals of color face challenges and conflicts in their ministries. Each Context is different, but the overall number is heartbreaking.
It is also important to acknowledge and celebrate that the number of religious professionals of color in our movement has been growing. There are wonderful stories of success. And this year's attendance at Finding Our Way Home, the UUA's annual gathering of religious professionals of color for collegial support and continuing education, was the largest in its history.
[Applause]
To Unitarian Universalists of Color, and Unitarian Universalists with identities that have been marginalized, dismissed or ignored in this faith - I want to say first and foremost, I am sorry for the hurt that has been and continues to be done. I know that microaggressions and practices that diminish and discount your leadership, your presence, your dignity and humanity are real. And the work of changing this reality is for Every single one of our leaders and
congregations to take up. This is your faith. we have to shoulder and lift this work.  It is not okay for it to rest unequally and unfairly on leaders of color in our movement.
[Applause]
to Unitarian Universalists of color, who Unitarian Universalists who hold identities that have been marginalized, diminished, and dismissed in this faith, this is your faith.  You know its deep liberating theology and you see who and what Unitarian Universalism can be if we live into the fullness of our calling.  To each of you, I am committed to being a partner and ally with you so that you see yourself recognized at the center of this faith and it is felt with a clarity that no one can question.
[Applause]
What does it take to really live into Bold and transformative change?  First of all, it requires a clarity of direction and commitment to the values to guide the work. It also requires diverse leadership in the centering of the Marge pins and a commitment and knowledge about the work of change.  Requires skill building and muscle building for this work.
At the UUA, we are committed to institutional change work that we call the work of Inclusion, Equity and Change.  We are approaching this change work on three levels - at the Organization level of the UUA; at the Institutional level across the broader UU landscape; and at the Congregational level.
First - Organizationally and internally at the UUA. Here are some of the first moves we're making in changing the UUA's internal workplace culture:
This fall, we completed a thorough review of hiring practices to implement the diversity hiring goals set by the interim co-Presidents last Spring. These changes include -- this is one of my favorite parts, my friends.  These changes include putting our theological values in our personnel manual, in your job pointings so people know who we are in the vision we seek to live into.
[Applause]
it also means changing requirements for job openings to allow for a broader range of experience to be considered, and creating diverse hiring teams and training for hiring managers on these practices.
We embraced collaborative leadership models, including co-Directors for the Ministry and Faith Development department (Sarah Lammert and Jessica York) and in the Southern Regional Lead position (Connie Goodbread and Natalie Briscoe).
We've put diversity of leadership as a foremost priority - including professional diversity, promoting religious educators and lay leaders into top level positions at the Association.
[Applause]
I invited Taquiena Boston to serve as Special Advisor to the President for Inclusion, Equity and Change, recognizing that in order to live into multicultural religious community, the commitment needs to live not as a department of the UUA, but at its center And drive all the work that we do.
[Applause]
And I want to say that one of the lessons that has emerged in this work is the reminder that we can do big things at the UUA.  The justice GA created in response to the boycott in Arizona is one example.
The move from 25 Beacon Street to 24 Farnsworth is another. This was a major change and it was guided by the values of collaboration, accessibility, innovation and environmental sustainability. Our values guided the move and I am grateful for former President Peter Morales leadership in the move.for leading us for being in new ways to lead our faith and here's one more piece.
And similar to the work of dismantling a culture of white supremacy, our commitment was not a question of if the change would happen but simply how to make it so.The question was not whether we were going to move, but how.  Not whether we are going to move, but how.
[Applause]
Now at the larger Association-wide level, here's how we are engaging and supporting broader institutional change.
First is the UUA's support for the vital work of the Commission on Institutional Change which is examining in breadth and depth the culture and practices of Unitarian Universalism, the UUA and congregations - and how there are real differences in outcomes for members, leaders and religious professionals based on identity. The supportive relationship between senior staff and the Commission is essential to guiding the change work at the UUA. To the members of the commission, Leslie Takahashi, Chairperson, DeReau Farrar, Natalie Feinimore, Mary Byron, Elias Ortega-Aponte and Caitlin Breedlove - Thank you! And thank On you for your leadership and support.
[Applause]
and to the congregations that you serve and in which you lead, I say thank you to those congregations and lead forces supporting you in this work, because we recognized way that whenever our leaders support the larger association, there is sometimes a sacrifice by the congregations in that.  So thank you you for your support of the broader mission and the institutional change at the UUA.
[Applause]
Number two is The funding of the Board's $5.3 million commitment to Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism is another bold investment in institutional change and has been a key priority this year. BLUU is one of the most innovative and exciting ministries in Unitarian Universalism - committed to Providing spiritual care for Black UU's, Supporting and amplifying the leadership of Black UU's and Providing UU spiritual sustenance to grassroots justice movements. You'll hear more specific updates later at GA but we are approaching nearly $3.1 million in gifts and pledges so far.toward this fund for BLUU.
[Applause]
So if you haven't done a promise in your congregation, go home and get it on your calendar and your gifts will be matched.  Let's get there for $5?million.  Let's get there next year.  Let's fund BLUU and get that Monday through and help them do this innovative ministry.  Support the innovative ministry that they are leading.
And over the next few years, we need to be building and investing, right alongside the commitment to BLUU, the resources for the UUA and congregational change work, as well as support for the ministries of DRUUMM and TRUUST and EqUUal Access to make sure we are funding institutional change work across our association.  It's time to dream big and invest in this faith and its promise.
Okay, congregations! The most important part, yes? This year has been one of a lot of transition at the UUA and we are diving deep into examining and shifting our culture, but the Truth is if this change doesn't happen in our congregations, our faith will not be transformed, because it is in your congregations that people find Unitarian Universalism and are ministered by it or are not.  Right?  So that's where the change has to grow.
So, here is how we are bringing this work to congregations this Year.  But you know what it's not just the work of UUA.  We want to be partners in it, but it really belongs to all of you.  But here's how we're beginning.  We've created a cross staff team, including the Faith Development Office and Outreach and Public Witness curated resources and skill building tools for congregations on dismantling a culture of white supremacy.  I recommend in page to you.  Videos.  Articles.  All kinds of things to help deepen your understanding and skill building in your congregation.  The Office of Church Staff Finances has put together resources on staffing for diversity in congregations. We're strengthening our commitment to the annual Finding Our Way Home retreat, support for a TRUUST gathering of transgender religious professionals and THRIVE leadership school for young adults. We are also trying to build this work.  We're also doing an audit of the UUA's many scholarships, grants and assistance funds for congregations and leaders, making sure that they have
the lens of equity, inclusion and change at the center of those grants.
[Applause]
Next year, we will invest in training on cultural competency and race, gender, identity and power dynamics for UUA staff, particularly staff who work directly with congregations so we are skilled Partners, the killed partners that you need to nurture the change efforts in your own congregations.
We also are looking to invest more attention and support for ministerial start ups, particularly for congregations calling or hiring religious professionals of color.
These are just the next steps in the long haul work of nurturing cultural and institutional change.
And the work is not just internal.
One of the most important ways the UUA serves the -- the cultural change work was about educating and building skills internally, but also partnering directly beyond our own congregation with communities directly impacted by oppression.  That work of following, showing up in the streets, understanding the realities of the racial and systemic oppression in our country was critical to actually changing culture within.  One of the ways, amplifying a moral voice for our values in the world.  This year we've invested with grassroots organizing led by people of color, Indigenous people, and folks directly impacted by oppression injustice.  Interfaith work continues, but we are really prioritizing, grassroots organizing.  In collaboration with equal access, we responded to the change of ableist language of standing on the side of love and have renewed our justice initiative to be side about love.  I can get your new T-shirts and stoles online.  I bet there's some in the exhibit hall as well.  The UUA and UUs across the country have been showing up and organizing with the poor people's campaign in national numbers, a national call for a moral revival.  A campaign with a broad nearly an trend an that addresses healthcare, quality education, sovereignty rights for Indigenous communities, climate justice, LGBTQ I rights, women's rights and rights against criminalization, de-poor takeses, and expanding militarism, bringing all of these issues together to create a moral revival.  Last month I was arrested along with 19 other on first day of 40 days of action with more than 100UUs across the country taking direct action with that campaign since that first Monday.  It is incredible and needs to keep building this work.  The examples of our justice work this year go on, but one final one.  We see this centering in our justice work, centering with grassroots organizing in the growing response of Unitarian Universalists to the work of expanding sanctuary through love resists campaign, combating criminalization of immigrants and communities of color.  So love resist is our justice campaign that is specifically focused on fighting criminalization, and through you love recepients we are working to end the money bail system which is the highlight of the public witness this year led by black lives of UU.  We also offer education resources, coaching, and spiritual sustenance for those engaged in sanctuary policies, community support networks, and accompaniment programs.  Currently across the country, over 80 congregations are a part of the UU sanctuary movement.  Nine congregations.  This number changed as you of this GA.  Nine congregations are currently providing physical sanctuary to individuals or families and more are ready if asked and more are accompanying immigrants through the immigration criminalization system, through the Court system.
[Applause]
And this spring through the side with love campaign, when the U.S. president threatened to caravan of refugees coming to the U.S. border, many UUs opened their homes to sponsor refugees and to show that as hate tries to close our borders, we will he our hearts and our homes.
[Applause]
This means that right now, as we see children separated from their parents at the border that we must be clear, that the criminalization of ill I plants, migrants, and refugees is the source and system of the injustice.  To be clear, the decisions over the last few days by the president's administration is not a win.  It is not a win.  Instead, it is clear that their intention is to erect tent cities to detain families indefinitely without access to legal counsel, without basic rights.  Criminalization is what we must fight.
[Applause]
And we must recognize that the U.S. has been separating families and taking children from their parents for a long time.  Black families have been separated and continue to be separated by the police state and criminalization in this country.  Indigenous families separated.  Asian families separated and housed in camps.  This has been happening throughout our history.  This is not new.  But it is also urgent, and we have to be careful when we talk about the throwing authoritarianism in our country.  I hear people use the language of Nazis and fascism and some of those terms are accurate, but you what I want to be clear on is that what's happening in this country is deeply rooted in the history of this country.  It's a reemergence or a growing emboldening of the confederacy.
[applause]
and the genocide and the enslavement of black people.  Okay?  So it's not foreign.  But it's urgent right now.  And it's moving quickly as we all experience.  So there are two mobilizations that are being organized right now, and we've been working with partners on these efforts and I want to share them and the UUA through you UUSC in love resists is amplifying these callouts.  So if you have your calendar in your pocket, in your phone, take it out.  I want you to write these dates down.  July?2nd in San Diego, we have been asked to show up en masse numbers with long time immigrant rights partners, including Puente, Arizona, who we worked with on justice GA, long time partners to show up on July?2nd in San Diego to call for the end of this criminalization of immigrants and migrants.  And June?30th, June?30th?in DC, a national day of action.  A mass mobilization in DC, but also events happening across the country on June?30th?through families belong together.  Again, calling for a change to this zero tolerance criminalization of migrants and refugees.  July?2 idea San Diego, June?30DC.  The foundation of our justice work is the deep call to keep our hearts open open in the midst of policies that tell our hearts to be afraid and cut off from one another to eve H. keep hearts open in the daily onslaught of heartbreak.  To keep our hearts open to one another.  From love resists to side with love we are showing up again for humanity and for our own humanity.  But the spirit of bold and courageous love, All of this incredible internal and external work - and the work to come in years ahead - is the work of a tremendously faithful group of people, a tremendously faithful group of people that includes you all in your congregations showing up faithfully for your values.  It also includes an incredible team of people that I get to work it at the UUA,
the amazing staff of your UUA.  I want to take a moment to introduce the person that I have the great privilege to work most closely with at the UUA as the newly appointed Executive vice president of the Unitarian Universalist association, Mr.?Carey McDonald!!
[Applause]
Carey's experience and background in public policy, education, government and economics bring so much to the UUA. His skills in strategic thinking, organizational detail, management and his obvious love for Unitarian Universalism and his commitment to the ways our faith is being called into transformative work - make him an excellent EVP. I am - we are - so fortunate to have Carey McDonald as EVP.
[Applause]
>>  Thank you.  It is such an honor to be working at the UUA at this moment, especially side by side with the UUA's first elected president, Susan.
[Applause]
>>  Every day, I am grateful to have such a talented, committed, and Courageous group of colleagues. If you see them in the hall, with the staff ribbon on their name tag, feel free to stop them and to say thank you. I'll ask the UUA staff to rise so that you can show your appreciation for their service to our faith.Thank you all, colleagues.  We love you.
[Applause]
>>  And on behalf of both Carey and myself - we are grateful for the leadership of the Board of Trustees And especially the co moderators who we work with, Barb Greve and Elandria Williams.  What a pleasure it is to serve with both of you.
[Applause]
And we are grateful for the work that we are doing as a whole to invite Unitarian Universalists into a larger conversation about our purpose, our calling and how we can be organized not only for impact but to live more fully into our values. It is a pleasure to work with each and every one of you.thank you for your service and leadership to the UUA.
[Applause]
As UUA President, my priorities for this first year have been to strengthen the relationships across our faith and to put mission at the heart of all we do.
I have had been blessed to show up in witness and in worship with UU's and UU congregations all across the country. And guess -- it's one of things I love most about my job is being in your Congaree bases and seeing you all across the country.  And guess what I am finding? Good news comes when we live into our mission. In the past year congregational giving to the UUA has increased and adult membership across our Association has grown for the first time in years.
[Applause]
We are for the social clubs.  Right is this we're a deeply rooted faith community answering the call to love.
This is the power of mission unleashing the vitality of our communities. The messages of decline in religion are a testament to the ways that religious communities have succumbed to cultural and consumerist values and lost sight of a greater mission to heal the world, to side with the poor, the imprisoned, the oppressed, and offer all people a way of living, liberated from the systems that seek to define and confine us and our relationships. And I want to be clear - as a white person - I am in this work for my own liberation.We are all in this for our liberation, our collective liberation.
[Applause]
So that we can all be free.
The key to growth and health for our congregations is a recommitment not to be conformed to the dehumanization that infects our society, but to transform it in ourselves and organize to liberate our society from its destructive exploitation of life and the planet.
In this moment, we are being called to imagine and experiment with new ways of living our faith.As Sophia Bettencourt laid last night, to give those dreams wings.
We can be a faith where those who have been marginalized see themselves centered. We have to be a faith where those who have been marginalized now Thrive.  We have to be a faith that encourages the fullness unfolding of every person and indeed, our values, our theology call us to this future.  We are called to manifest our Unitarian Universalism as deep spiritual compassion and meaningful resistance.
In these times it must become a practice of protecting each Other.  You're hearing that again and again from the safety team, protecting each other.  And become a source of the practice of the world that we know is possible and that is longing to be born.
This is a time to invest in your faith and your values like never before. This is the time for each to keep our hearts, our spirit, our commitment, our generosity open while the forces of scarcity and de-human Itation swirl around us.  This is a time to invest in your faith, congregations, communities like never before.  This is a time for each of us to answer how are we going to answer the call and the challenge of this moment?  How are you you going to answer this call?
The way ahead, my faithful companions, will not be smooth. The challenges ahead internally and externally are Serious.  We're life and death.  And pain is always a part of growth.
We will make mistakes and fall short; forgiveness and grace will be needed.
I know, for me, some of answering the call will be on the streets, and in neighborhoods canvassing in Florida and Ohio for ballot initiatives that expand voting rights and, and give voting right back to people who have been criminalized.  Expanding democracy.  For you, I hope you might show up in Florida and Ohio on some of these ballot initiatives that are critical for expanding voting rights and democracy.  It may also be for showing up for candidates that you are excited for.  I hope for some of you it will be in direct action resisting criminalization and militarism, like on July?2nd and on June?30th.
It may also be in creating rituals of resilience and sustenance that we need to survive. Create in Music that inspires in us joy, tending the spiritual community that is a sanctuary of both resistance and resilience.  Wherever
you are, whatever your passion is, your gift, the feeling of calling in your own heart, say yes to that call.  We all need to show up, not all in the same ways, but in ways that we haven't shown up before, with more risk, with more courage, with more care for one another.  And I want to thank each and every one of you for how you are already doing this. because I know that you're already doing this.  And my heart breaks with your hearts.  And my heart is emboldened by your hearts and your leadership and your faith and how I see you showing up.
These times may be challenging but I fully believe we are Readying for them.  I think about when we can't know what's ahead, when we live in times of deep uncertainty and promises of wins and a brighter day around the corner are hard to imagine and cannot be promised, for me the question is, well, what am I going to do?  I can't control the outcome, but I can control how I live and where I show up and where I give my money and where I invest my heart and my file and that is my choice and my power and it's your choice and your power.  Of the focusing on the outcomes may bring us despair.  Focusing on what we can do right now and caring for one another gives us hope.  Hope is being able to respond out of our values, despite the systems we live in in small ways and great days every day.  So I thank you, Unitarian Universalists across this land.  Thank you for your commitment, your risks and your generosity to your faith, to your local congregation and to the UUA and to how you live your values every day.  As your president, it is my unbelievable honor and great pleasure to serve with you in this time.  Thank you.
[Applause]
>>  If that doesn't get you going, I don't know what will.  How many of you ever bought a book from beacon press?
Beacon Press has long been the UU's voice to the wider world. I'm happy to see that the Press continues to do good work and to flourish. Here to tell you about Beacon's work this year is Helene Atwan, who has been Director of Beacon since 1995.Helen, come up and talk to us.
[Applause]
>>  Well, thank you, and talk about a hard act to follow.  That was the most inspiring, the most electric speech.  I'm so proud to be the Director of beacon press working with this dynamic and wonderful administration.  It's a privilege to report to you the work on beacon press, and like the entire association we have con focused on confronting the systemic issue of White Supremacy and working to dismantle it.
First, I want to affirm that books do matter-we're reaching a lot of people! These are just two examples from our comprehensive Social Impact Report.you can read it on our website.  We're jumping a little ahead here.  Oh, I'm so sorry.  Okay.  Better?  Yeah.  I'm so sorry.
Sometimes our books work in ways even we couldn't foresee, like these two congressional interventions on gun violence and prison reform. Both issues, of course, which disproportionately impact communities of color.
Beacon first published this book 25 years ago, two years before I came to work as the director. After all that time, we've managed to pull back all the rights that were licensed so we now have the hardcover, paperback, eBook And the audio book, all with new material. This book may be older than some of you listening to me, but I promise it will speak to you as powerfully as it did to Readers of all races and generations 25 years ago. And Cornel West continues to be on the front lines in the fight for racial justice.
Today we are seeking out new activists, with new ideas and perspectives, who have a lot to teach us about what true racial equity looks like, and how we might achieve those goals. In fact, it was Cornel West who called out to us the work of Charlene Carruthers.
We're learning more about what it takes to build community, to honor people, and to find common ground. In Crystal Fleming's memorable title, we need to learn How To Be Less Stupid About Race.
We're examining closely what steps we need to take, all of us, to have a more inclusive and equitable society-in our churches, in our workplaces and even in our friendship circles.
Many of you have seen Robin DiAngelo in action and know the power of her ideas. For the first time, and for us, she's put those ideas into an accessible, inexpensive book. We couldn't bring her to Kansas City, but we do have the book at InSpirit in the exhibit hall-and we will try hard to bring Robin back for workshops at the next GA.
One of Beacon's most -- we couldn't have done it without a big assist from UUA staff.
One of Beacon's most celebrated strengths is in putting a historical lens on current issues-and reframing the "master narrative." These books look closely at the legacy of civil rights movements....
And at what we can learn from the outrages of our past- the terrible injustices we visited on African Americans, as in medical experimentation on slaves in the 1840s, or the Army hanging at Levenworth all 8 of the black soldiers on Death Row while all 9 of the white soldiers were freed-- and this in the 1960s. Our authors work to surface this history, to lift up these stories so we can learn from them.
And so that we can learn how history teaches us to resist. In the political arena, and on our playing fields.
Many of you know our ReVisioning American History through Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz's revolutionary book, AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE US. That book has now sold over 100,000 copies! That's something to applaud.
[Applause]
These are the latest books in that series, the Paul Ortiz was just published and the Daina Berry/Kali Gross is coming later this year. Again, Upending the "Master Narrative."
And while we focus on these urgent issues of racial equity, we're also publishing books that address the full range of social justice issues we're all concerned about. Part of the struggle for racial equity is the fight for economic justice, worker's rights, good jobs and good pay; and of course, it all starts with our public schools, and making sure all children are afforded a quality education, not the Betsy DeVos vision of privatized, religiously affiliated, and even *cyber* charter schools, that have White Supremacy built into their very fabric. All the issues you see displayed here are part of building a just society.  So, I give you these words from Reverend Barber: "We need you to stand up again, to speak up again, to come together again until justice is realized, love is actualized, hate is demoralized, war is neutralized, racism, classism, and religious bigotry is marginalized, and the beloved community is actualized."
And we have two powerful authors about to speak... hope you can join us!and I want to say that We couldn't do this work without your support, and the support of the UUA and the Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.
And for the past two decades, we have been lucky enough to have Tom Hallock helping to guide our work daily.
[Applause]
Tom, stand up.
[Applause]
Starting in July, he leaves us-but not entirely. We can't thank you enough.And thank you automatic for listening and for supporting our work.
[Applause]
>>  We welcome UU leaders from around the world to General Assembly each year, and extend our gratitude to them. Many have travelled a long distance to share their experience, their wisdom, and their faithful solidarity during challenging times.
To introduce them to you, please welcome Rev. Eric Cherry, the Director of the UUA International Office.
[Applause]
>>  Thank you. We say these leaders are "Guests" as a reminder to American Unitarian Universalists that hospitality is our privilege and responsibility when people journey here. In fact our 'Guests" are leaders of our global faith: your leaders. As we welcome them, please note the commitment they bring to our faith every day. And, we hope you will be inspired to explore how your local UU community can find itself within the global U/U story and engage supportively.
Dr. Rica Lamar is a physician and social activist, focusing her energies on issues relating to drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, and the health and welfare of women and children. She is the co-founder and Chief Functionary of Manbha Foundation, an organization working in the field Drug abuse and women's wing Seng Kynthei. Dr. Rica is focusing on a project to adapt and teach the Our Whole Lives curriculum in North East India.
[Applause]
Prof. Rupaia Lamarr is a church elder of the Unitarian Church of Jowai, North-East (NE) India, which is
The pioneer church established in 1887 by founder Hajom Kissor Singh. He was born to a second generation Unitarian mother and an indigenous religion (Niam- tre) practicing father. Professionally he has taught Political Science in Government Colleges for 30 years and recently retired. Rupaia is the Vice-Chairperson of the Church and the chairman of the Hymnal Committee. And he is one of the 5 U/U theologians from around the world who are leading a year-long theological dialogue inspired by the 450th Anniversary of the Edict of Torda.
[Applause]
Dr. Diptymoyee Das is a retired principal of government college, Jowai. She has done her M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy and her doctoral thesis 'Gandhi's Doctrine of Truth and Non- Violence: A Critical Study' has been published as a book. She has an interest in the Philosophy of Religion. She belong to 'Ek Saran Naam Dharma' faith a school of Hinduism in Assam. Through her marriage she came into contact with the Unitarian faith. She is an active participant in church activities and has also participated in UU conferences and pilgrimages abroad. She lives with her husband Rupaia and daughter Kheinkor.
[Applause]
Reverend Norbert Zsolt Racz is the Minister of the Central Unitarian Church in Kolozsv?r, Transylvania. He is a graduate of Hungarian Unitarian Church's John Sigismund College and the Protestant Theological Institute In Kolozsv?r. Before being called to serve the Church in Kolozsv?r he worked for the Hungarian Unitarian Youth Association: ODFIE. He is married to Reverend M?ria Racz. Norbi, as he prefers to be called, is also one of the 5 U/U theologians from around the world who are leading a year-long theological dialogue inspired by the 450th Anniversary of the Edict of Torda.
[Applause]
Rev. Lidia-Emese Bodor was born and raised in Cluj- Napoca/Kolozsv?r, Romania. She finished her high
School years at the J?nos Zsigmond Unitarian High School. After that she studied at the Protestant Theological Institute and became a Unitarian minister. At the end of her studies she returned to the J?nos Zsigmond Unitarian High School and started work as a religious teacher and school chaplain. For the last eight years most of her work has been related to children, youth and a variety of educational issues. She believes in the importance of education and loves working with students. This year Emese has been the Starr King School for the Ministry Balazs Scholar.
[Applause]
Paul Niyonizigiye is a member of the Allen Avenue UU congregation in Portland, Maine - but he is originally from Bujumbura, Burundi and served as a leader of the Unitarian church there before coming to the US. In Bujumbura he worked as a high school teacher and administrator, and supervised community-based grants on behalf of the Unitarian church. He continues to be involved with Burundian Unitarians, especially those who are refugees in Rwanda due to dangers in Burundi - and we introduce you to him today at his request that we all remain in faithful solidarity with Burundian Unitarians in whatever country they may be living in.
[Applause]
Rev. Dave Clements is excited to be serving as the Interim Minister to the Cape Town South Africa Unitarian congregation. Cape Town is a beautiful place to be serving and the Unitarian church is celebrating all this year their 150th anniversary.
[Applause]
Ministry is a second career for Dave, he was a organizational and fundraising consultant and he is finding those skills very useful in his ministry calling. Home base for Dave is Cleveland Ohio where his partner Jerry resides. Dave is a Meadville Lombard alumni and in his spare times enjoys painting and quite walks along the beach. If you have never been to South Africa come and discover the Unitarian church and the people. You will have a life changing experience.
[Applause]
I would invite all of you to visit the global UU story online and find doorways into it for yourself and your congregations, including ways to join the 450th anniversary of the Edict of the Edict of Torda and the upcoming Reimagining Interfaith Cooperation event that will take place in Washington DC from July 29-August 1.
Welcome into the Global U/U Story. And, please welcome global U/U leaders around the world at GA this year.
Thank you.
[Applause]
>>  Thank you so much.  I now want to introduce Christina Riviera for a distinguished service award.
>>  She's getting the love.
If Unitarian Universalism as a faith has a chaplain, it is Danielle Assunta Di Bona. Your service to Unitarian Universalism spans more than thirty years. During that time, you have touched thousands of Unitarian Universalists' lives in ways seen and unseen. If anyone in this hall has been the beneficiary of Danielle's ministry please wave your hand, stand or make yourself known.
Typically, this presentation of honors begins with a recitation of the honoree's educational degrees and qualifications. The ways in which our dominant culture recognizes those accomplishments forms a basis of the value we place on a person and their place within our society. Unitarian Universalism exists within our dominant culture, and our reverence of these accomplishments is no different. But for people of color, these accomplishments are not simply indicators of class status. Your successes, first at Smith College for your bachelor's degree and then at Ursuline College for your master's degree, were and are an act of Resistance. You dared to imagine institutions that would have no choice but to recognize your tenacity and brilliance. You dared to bring your whole self to institutions built upon the exploitation and oppression of the Ancestors. You dared to insist that your place at the table be recognized AND valued.
And it is that daring sprit that your Unitarian Universalist ministry embodies. In the earliest years before what we now know as DRUUMM (Diverse Revolutionary Multicultural Ministries), you were instrumental in recognizing that if we were going to confront racism within Unitarian Universalism, we needed a shared language to even discuss the issues. You were instrumental in creating the work around defining what anti-racism, anti- oppression, multiculturalism (ARAOMC) looks like for Unitarian Universalism. Because, at the time it, wasn't something that UUs really understood, and many bristled at naming it within their faith. If this looks easy because many now so easily utilize the language of ARAOMC, we need only look to our current difficulty embracing the terms around white supremacy culture. You are a steady, and sometimes fiery, presence in drawing UUs into conversation around ARAOMC and white supremacy, and then holding them in that space as they experience hurt, shame, anger, reflection, laughter, and resolution to begin again.
Several UUs of color were consulted in the writing of this commendation. Clyde Grubbs, who shares a similar native identity to yours, shared a meaning of the name of your people, the Wampanoag. He said, "The creator gives assignments to the People and an assignment to the Wampanoag is to be greeters of the dawn, of the morning light. This is fitting for a people who live on the shores of what is now known as Massachusetts." And it is in this bringing of the light to Unitarian Universalism's challenges and strengths that you have shone. One such time was at the 2001 General Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio. Folks gathered here may remember that Cleveland has this little problem with its baseball team, its racist name. Well, you were not about to let our faithful gathering take place in a city with so clear a continued attack upon our native communities. You helped coordinate a public witness event that included our siblings in faith, the United Church of Christ, and placed hundreds of UUs in protest directly outside a Cleveland baseball game. You led them through a torrential downpour in order to give witness to our gathered commitment to justice. Now public witness events are a part of GA schedules, with dedicated resources given to living out our faith in the world.
In your current "retired" professional life, you are a palliative care chaplain at hospitals in your community. You've also served in ministry positions at congregations throughout New England as well as a stint as the anti- racism program associate for the UUA. You currently serve on the Board of Trustees for the Church of the Larger Fellowship and are a past president for DRUUMM. The Nominating Committee of the UUA was blessed by your constant vigilance about diversifying the membership of our committees, including your deliberate and expansive allyship for our LGBTQ community. Congregations have been blessed with you as facilitator for Beyond Categorical Thinking workshops to help them move beyond narrow views of what ministry looks like. You have mentored dozens and dozens of religious professionals in their ministerial formation. And no recitation of your accomplishments would be complete without the fabulous triumphs of your Pumi dogs at national dog show events.Follow Danielle on Facebook.
But it is as a chaplain that your ministry has so beautifully flourished. Time and time again, you have offered yourself to Unitarian Universalism as the minister to come to in times of trouble, when grief is present and threatening to overwhelm, when anger is so palpable you can see it shimmer in the air, when joy and laughter are to be found. These are the times we find you, Danielle, at the center. You have been a chaplain for General Assembly, DRUUMM, and Finding Our Way Home, anD you currently serve as chaplain to the UUA Board of Trustees.
Many people wonder why Unitarian Universalists of color need our own a chaplain, so let's share why your chaplain ministry has been literally life-saving for so many POC. It is because you know the struggle of people of color down in your very essence. You too have been brought to the very brink of despair in Unitarian Universalism. Where any reasonable person would consider just throwing in the towel, where the thought of waking up to face one more day of micro and macro aggressions is just too much, where the abuse and injury is just too much to bear on behalf of and in service to our faith, it is your capacity to viscerally know those depths of despair and yet help the person you are ministering to transform that despair into a resiliency, a core of strength that brings our Ancestors to the center, and then witnesses our collective joy at faith reborn. That is what we honor here today. This type of service isn't often recognized--the one-on-one, quiet (and sometimes not so quiet!) service from the edges. So I'll ask again to the assembled faithful here, who have now heard all the ways in which you have served our faith, who here has been touched by the ministry of the Reverend Danielle Di Bona!!
[Applause]
Today we celebrate and consecrate your ministry, Reverend Danielle Assunta Di Bona, recipient of our highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.
[Applause]
>>  As Danielle is getting the love, I'm mention that Danielle's guest here today is the 2009DRUUMM Mel hoover winner.  We are so honored to have you here with us.
[Applause]
>>  Well well, first I want to say where are you?  Okay.  Thank you.  My hat, sister.  Never thought I'd be here.  My father, an eyal tall January immigrant, was Daniel deBana.  Changed at Ellis Island.  My mother, a Wopponoag Indian, was Helen Catherine.  As you honor me today, you also honor them.  I am deeply, deeply grateful and humbled to receive this award.  I know many of those whose names are on the distinguished servlist and I know that there are many people in this room who are just as or more deserving than I am.  And so I am grateful.  As I reflected on the distinguished service award, it occurred to me that it is about service, service, something we can all do.  And sometimes there is absolutely nothing distinguished about that.  Ask around.  Your service is no different than my service, and it's the way that we serve each other and the way that we share this saving faith.  This is truly a saving faith.  I can't see what I wrote because of the tears in my eyes.  Now, let me tell you a story.  Many years ago, as a biracial American Indian, I quickly became aware of the racism that permeates Unitarian Universalism.  I became one of those angry loud women of color that you have all come to know and fear.  My loud voice and the voice of so many UU people of color was ignored, was silenced, was put aside.  But I, we could not be Silenced.  Someone I, along with so many others, were put aside.  We were banished.  We were shunned.  Please hear that this was not happening in my community of color who held me and loved me all these long years.
[Applause]
And I love you all.  I see you sitting here, my family.  I love you, too.  We were put aside.  We were noisy.  We were loud.  We were so angry.  And our leaders and our church leaders didn't want to hear that.  And so we were put aside.  And then a miracle.  Many of us were somehow rehabilitated.  And I was among those who was rehabilitated, welcomed back into the circle of love and care of Unitarian Universalism.  And I never left.  I was just set aside.  Maybe it was because I was older, tired, and my voice was weaker.  And maybe my resolve was also weaker, but make no mistake.  Even my weak resolve is stronger than many of yours resolve.
[Applause]
And so you have the opportunity to grow a strong resolve.  As you know, I stuck it out and being rehabilitated, I worked my hardest to rehabilitate this faith that I love, a long, hard, heartbreaking task.  Today we are at another crossroads.  We are encountering another group of angry, loud, young Unitarian Universalists of color.  Young as I was so many years ago.  And maybe louder.  They should be angry.  We should be angry.  They should be loud.  We should continue to be loud.  Because, my Beloveds, although we have come a very long way, the road is long and hard and it is uphill in both directions.  When I was angry and loud, my community was being decimated by the racism within Unitarian Universalism and if I named all who were lost or pushed out or left of their own accord, I would use all of my four minutes listing them.  I beg you, do not, do not make that mistake again.  You will not have another chance and this is your second chance to make an incredible difference.  Not a little difference, but to transform our faith.  Listen to those young angry loud people of color.  Listen and hear with your hearts wide open, because you are given another chance and you may never, never get it again.
[Applause]
listen and follow.  Open your eyes and your heart and close your mouth and follow so we can be part of and build the Beloved community.  I am deeply grateful and moved for this honor.  I will for the remaining years humbly continue to serve you.  Thank you very, very much.
[Applause]
>>  I just have to say, thank you for everything.
[Applause]
All right.  Can we please welcome Jessica York, faith development director and Interim Director of ministries and faith development for the presentation of the Angus H Ma clean award for excellence in religious education?
>>  Good morning. Have you ever heard it said that ours is a questioning faith? Often, when I'm giving my elevator speech - you know, the answer to, 'Unitarian Universalism? I never heard of that religion. What do you believe?', part of what I might say is, "If you ask ten UUs what they believe about God or 'What happens after you die?'" you will probably get ten different answers. That is because, in Unitarian Universalism, we ask questions.
Dealing with life's big questions is the basis of our faith development. We feel it is not just our privilege - it is our responsibility to ask the question and wrestle with the answers, individually and communally.
Now sometimes you might will hear some of us say, "The important thing is not so much the answer but to ask the question." Yet, sometimes the answers are vitally important.
I am an Our Whole Lives facilitator and trainer. In that program, we use a Question Box. How many of you have used or created a Question Box? We tell participants that they can use the Question Box to ask any question and, at the next meeting, we will answer it. The first time the congregation I was serving offered junior high Our Whole Lives, the facilitators brought me a question from the Question Box. It was, "How do fish have sex?" They said to me, "We don't have to answer this, do we?" And I informed them that, yes, they did, so they might want to start researching.
Some questions that come through the Question Box may seem silly, but one of the values we want to lift up is that we respect the search for knowledge. Because knowledge can sometimes lead to power.
Another reason we answer every question from the Question Box is because we believe no question is too dangerous to be asked and no truth too hard to be told.
The religious educator being recognized here today is nothing if not an asker of questions.
Last spring, they asked a question whose answer forced a hard truth: that our faith was not living up to its ideals. That religious professionals of color were not only not playing on a level playing field, but that most were not even admitted to the ballpark. That a culture of white supremacy, inherited from the white, dominant culture, was engrained deep in Unitarian Universalism's norms of behavior and thought.
Since that time, the question has sprouted many other questions. It has also opened space for some possible antidotes. How many of you participated in a White Supremacy Teach-in in the last Year?  A nice majority there.  Thank you.  The first was created by three religious educators - Christina Rivera, Kenny Wiley, and this morning's honoree, Aisha Hauser.first
[Applause]
Now, Aisha could have stopped with just asking the question. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves, plunged their hands in deep, and went to work. Because that is what religious educators do: they do the work of sensing the margins of living our faith in this uneven, distorted, unjust world and they pull those margins out further yet. Or, from the inside, they push those edges, stretching them - not to a breaking point, because our faith is strong - but to a place of a greater wholeness.
Religious educators do this work from a deep, powerful love. A love for what we could be, together.
Bringing people together to create something more than what exists right now is ministry Aisha has been doing for
a long time. After working as a social worker, they found their calling in service as Director of Religious Education at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County, Orange, NJ and Fourth Universalist Society, New York, NY and as Director of Lifelong Learning at East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, WA. Aisha was a colleague of mine in the Lifespan Faith Development office for three years, writing and developing curricula and programs to bring people together in congregational religious education programs.
They have chaired the LREDA Integrity Team, a committee of the Liberal Religious Educators Association that works to try to keep LREDA true to its anti- oppressive, antiracist, multicultural principles.
As a religious professional and as a volunteer, Aisha has demonstrated and promoted different models of shared leadership in service to UU institutions from the UUA Nominating Committee, to the Religious Education Credentialing Committee and by co-authoring with Rev. Natalie Fenimore a chapter in the book, Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry.
Aisha created a bystander training to empower people to intercede in bullying situations. As Aisha received more and more requests for the training, instead of marketing it for sale to UUs, they created a webinar showing others how they could hold their own bystander training. Speaking engagements and requests for trainings from secular organizations are increasing and yet Aisha always finds time to collaborate with others toward stretching the margins of our faith, as witnessed by their work over the past several months on the team creating a White Supremacy Accountability Assessment Tool for religious education programs.
Now here is another hard truth: Asking the hard questions can make you a target for others' fear. Aisha has been attacked on social media, has lost friends, has been labelled as hysterical and a troublemaker. No one ever said our ministry would be easy. But one of the qualifications for this award is someone who has "Brought Dignity to the profession of religious education." I believe she has redefined dignity.
Aisha leads Unitarian Universalism to labor toward creating the heaven on earth we all dream of. Aisha makes me proud to be a Unitarian Universalist religious educator.
My people, I give you the recipient of the 47th annual Angus H. MacLean Award, Aisha Khadr Hauser.
[Applause]
>>  Thank you so much, Jessica.  Thank you to so many people that I love that are here today.  Thank you.  I love you, too.  I first want to wrote my friend reverend Natalie fin an more who says I am in love with the Unitarian Universalism that does not exist yet.  And then I'm going to quote my presented and colleague Kenny while I.  He wrote in a blog post that went viral, "There are so many things to fight-and fight for- in the world. We mostly do a great job on climate justice and immigration. Our LGBTQ work has saved and changed lives. Black lives, too, are worth fighting for. When the next Ferguson happens-and sadly, it will-we can and must do more. We have to show up, be willing to follow others, and be willing to change ourselves. The next call to action for racial justice has arrived. My people: Will we answer?"this was written years before the white supremacy teach in.
The UU White Supremacy Teach In movement was unprecedented in its scope, and it was just the beginning of a crucial conversation. This conversation has angered some and empowered others. It is for the first time an honest conversation. What is at stake is the heart and soul of Unitarian Universalism. We are a people of faith, a faith that demands of us reflection, determination, and yes, a commitment to justice. Centering the voices of the marginalized will be part of becoming whole as a faith and as a people.
I am grateful for this award and I thank the UUA and I share this honor with Kenny Wiley, Christina Rivera, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism and all the religious educators who collaborated together to help move this faith we love forward together. Thank you.
[Applause]
>>  Wow.  Are you feeling the love, people?  This is fantastic.  Makes my heart happy.  So quick announcements *ment coming to you from the safety team.  We heard a little bit this morning about what is happening around identifying ourselves as GA attendees.  Safety team would very much like folks to be wearing their badges, both in the general session hall, exhibit hall, basically any time you are in the convention center premises and as you are just getting into the convention center premises.  That's a little bit different from years past where you really needed to kind of show your badge when you came into general session and show your badge when you went into the exhibit hall and you could just wing it for the rest of the time.  That's not the case in the circumstances we're in today, so please help out by doing that.  I will note that whatever badge we wear, whatever clothes we wear, whatever identification we wear does not put people of color out of danger.  Right?  So this is not to say that somehow by doing those things, we will be out of danger.  So it is not on us to keep ourselves safe.  We need your help doing that.
[Applause]
And there being no further business I declare this general session to stand in recess until 1:30 p.m. in the average.  And the things we did not do we'll do at the very beginning of the next session.  Thank you.

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