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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20

  • Black and white photo of only the arms of dark-skinned people, raised as if praying in a church pew
    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/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • A Black child around 8 years old stares down at a desk covered in books, with a dismayed or tired look on their face.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, Generations, History, Justice, Race/Ethnicity, Truth, Worship
  • Outdoors on a lawn, a group of Black friends are seated as if at a picnic. They're smiling and laughing with abundant joy.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • A Black woman in athletic clothing is in child's pose on a yoga mat: arms stretched forward, head bowing, kneeling back towards her heels.
    Spirit and Breath, create an openness that violence has constricted.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | October 4, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anger, Body, Earth, Healing, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • A small Black girl smiles, sitting at a table. Next to her, back to the camera, is a man we imagine to be her grandfather.
    Let us be grateful for the vital force that wakes us and moves us.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | January 25, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Body, Generations, Love, Race/Ethnicity, Worship
  • Seen from the chest up, a side view of three generations: a Black son, father, and grandfather standing side by side.
    I rise on the shoulders of ancestors whose names I can not know.
    Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | September 14, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • Five people of color are seen in a line, holding hands with arms crossed in a sign of solidarity.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Diversity, Equity, Hospitality, Humanism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • A white nationalist, wearing body armor with a white nationalist symbol, stands in front of a line of religious leaders, some wearing Side with Love garb, at the Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally (August 12, 2017).
    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/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • A black man in a dark space looks sideways into the camera. Across his face, in colored light, the letters A G C T represent DNA nucleotides.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • A black person's hand, holding a pen over a blank notebook.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, #SideWithLove, Direct Experience, Living Our Faith, Truth, Worship
  • a dark-skinned woman’s portrait blends into dissolving colourful paint
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Family, Mental Health, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • Washington, DC, USA - June 19, 2020: A young protester and celebrant of Juneteenth holds a sign that reads "I am my ancestors' wildest dream" at Black Lives Matter Plaza / Lafayette Square
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Humanism, Justice, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • A small child plays with dollhouse furniture in front of a dollhouse.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • In a sea of protestors wearing black, a person holds a sign reading "Black trans lives matter."
    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/Wiser
    Tagged 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
  • Two black children run, blurred, in joy and freedom down the street.
    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/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter
  • In a square, vintage black & white photo, two Black women pose in front of a car.
    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 WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Friendship, Generations, Integrity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Truth, Women
  • An African-American person bows their head, bare shoulders visible, holding both hands open with palms up.
    My stomach turned when I first heard the term "white supremacy" used to describe the culture of Unitarian Universalism and our institutions. But I've reconsidered that response. I understand the pushback: we’ve been trained to see white supremacy as an overt expression of racism, replete with...
    Reflection | By Krista Taves | April 28, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Activism, Anti-Oppression, Courage, Direct Experience, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • "We are buried up to our necks in a history of violence and brutality against people of color. I refuse to be silent anymore."
    We have an absurd amount to learn, or unlearn, about race in this country. America allowed slavery to exist by seeking out personal and regional salvation at the expense of universal salvation. Our country felt better about itself because with the South as the identified patient, it never had to...
    Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | April 27, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), America, Anti-Oppression, History, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarianism, Universalism
  • A black man, smiling into the camera, holds a toddler with his hand on the man's cheek.
    He phoned more than an hour ago to say he was on his way home. But I have yet to hear the scrape of the iron gate, the rattling keys, so I worry. Most married women fret about a tardy husband: black women like myself worry more....
    Reflection | By Rosemary Bray McNatt | March 29, 2017 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Family, Fear, Home, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Oppression, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • clergy wearing stoles walk arm in arm in the street
    I'm on my way to a job where I am the only black person in my office. I work with people who either don’t know or don’t care about Alton Sterling or Philando Castile. They are going to ask me “How are you this morning?” and the simple truth is that I can’t be honest. I can’t say that...
    Reflection | By Shane Paul Neil | July 10, 2016 | From WorshipWeb
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Activism, America, Anti-Oppression, Compassion, Direct Experience, Pain, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity