Workshop 12: Responding to Calls for Black Empowerment

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Part of Resistance and Transformation: Unitarian Universalist Social Justice History

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In This Section

Introduction
From Resistance and Transformation

“Black Empowerment,” “walkout,” “racist”…the words we use, the language we have to describe the period of the late 1960s and early 1970s are loaded. Why, for example, do we use the term “Black Empowerment Controversy”?…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 10 Activity 1: The Empowerment Controversy 20 Activity 2: The Black Humanist Fellowship 30 Activity 3: The Long Journey 20 Faith in Action: Your Congregation’s History in Working for Racial Justice Closing 10 Alternate Activity 1: The Charge of th…
Spiritual Preparation
From Resistance and Transformation

Read the workshop, and then investigate whether your congregation has had a significant conflict. When did the conflict take place? Does it continue to affect congregational life? What issues were at stake? Was the conflict an internal matter, or did it involve outside forces? Was it successfully…
Welcoming and Entering
From Resistance and Transformation

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use), and bold markers Copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule Optional: Refreshments Preparation for Activity Have copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule on hand for those who need one….
Opening
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Timepiece (minutes) Chime or bell Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook, for all participants Optional: Cloth for worship/centering table…
Activity 1: The Empowerment Controversy
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, The Empowerment Controversy Handout 2, Time Line of the Empowerment Controversy Story, “The Black Humanist Fellowship” Preparation for Activity Become familiar with the contents of Handout 1, The Empowerment Controversy and Handout 2, Ti…
Activity 2: The Black Humanist Fellowship
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Story, “The Black Humanist Fellowship” Timepiece (minutes) Preparation for Activity Read the story “The Black Humanist Fellowship.” Copy for all participants….
Activity 3: The Long Journey
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Sticky notes in three different colors, 3x3 or larger, several of each color per participant Writing implements Preparation for Activity Title three sheets of newsprint Congregation, Association, and Society. On each…
Closing
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table and chalice Participant journals Writing materials, including paper, pens, pencils, color pencils, and markers Taking It Home handout Preparation for Activity Customize the Taking It Home section of this workshop and copy…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Resistance and Transformation

Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other: What went well? What did not? Why? What do you think was the best moment of the workshop? Why? Did anything surprise you? Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a…
Faith In Action: Your Congregation's History in Working for Racial Justice
From Resistance and Transformation

Materials for Activity Materials from your congregation’s archives Notebooks and writing materials Optional: Audio or video recording equipment Preparation for Activity Examine your congregation’s archived documents and materials from the Civil Rights era, focusing on involvement with and…
Alternate Activity 1: The Charge of the Chalice
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 1, Video Segment -Davies Memorial Church, Camp Springs, Maryland Computer and digital projector Handout 3, Characteristics of Racially Integrated Unitarian Universalist Congregations Optional: DVD, “Breakthrough Congregations 2007”…
Taking It Home: Responding to Calls for Black Empowerment
From Resistance and Transformation

“Black Empowerment,” “walkout,” “racist”…the words we use, the language we have to describe the period of the late 1960s and early 1970s are loaded. Why, for example, do we use the term “Black Empowerment Controversy”?
The Black Humanist Fellowship
From Resistance and Transformation

In 1951, the congregation of First Unitarian Church of Cleveland decided to move from its building at the corner of 82nd and Euclid in downtown Cleveland to suburban Shaker Heights. This move was motivated by the economic decline of the Hough (pronounced “how”) neighborhood where the church was…
Handout 1: The Empowerment Controversy
From Resistance and Transformation

The involvement of Unitarian Universalist clergy and laypeople in the series of civil rights marches in and between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 is often regarded as a high point in Unitarian Universalist social justice efforts. During this time, three people were killed by white…
Handout 2: Time Line of the Empowerment Controversy
From Resistance and Transformation

From a 2006 unpublished paper, “A Financial Picture of the Empowerment Era” by Julia Hamilton and Megan Lynes. July, 1963 — Establishment of the Commission on Religion and Race March, 1965 — Many Unitarian Universalist ministers respond to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to join the March…
Handout 3: Characteristics of Racially Integrated Unitarian Universalist Congregations
From Resistance and Transformation

By the Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed. Used with permission. The following are characteristics of congregations that have successfully opened their doors to and attracted substantial numbers of African Americans. They are all in urban areas — New York, Chicago, D.C., Philadelphia, and Prince George…
Leader Resource 1: Video Segment Davies Memorial Church, Camp Springs, Maryland
From Resistance and Transformation

Video Segment Davies Memorial Church, Camp Springs, Maryland From Breakthrough Congregations 2007, produced by the Unitarian Universalist Association. Used with permission.
Find Out More
From Resistance and Transformation

https://books.google.com/books/about/Long_Challenge_The_Empowerment_Con… Long Challenge: The Empowerment Controversy (1967-1977) by Victor Carpenter (Chicago: Meadville Lombard Press, 2004) http://www.uuabookstore.org/The-Arc-of-the-Universe-Is-Long-P17039.aspx… Arc of the Universe Is Long:…

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The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 12: Responding to Calls for Black Empowerment

Tapestry is Sunsetting

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