Guest Blog by Dana Buhl, Acting Social Justice Director
For When I Really Don’t Want to Learn This, by Reverend Elizabeth Nguyen
Spirit, I would really rather not learn this.
Didn’t think I needed to.
I thought someone else could do it. Thought a leader was coming to do it. Thought the young people could do it. Or the elders could do it. Or the professionals.
Or I don’t want to learn it ‘cause it means letting go of something I hold dear.
Letting go of being someone who knows the answers.
Letting go of being someone who doesn’t know.
Letting go of the way I see the world.
Letting go of how I might have to change.
Letting go of certainty, of logic, of facts, of control.
Of the myth that you can live on this earth and not harm.
Or the myth that I can’t learn anything new.
Help me to learn it. Please.
And then help me to live what I have learned.
And do right by the gift of being taught.
I had the honor of reading this prayer as we opened First U’s Seminary for a Day on January 27th. Reverend Nguyen prays for strength and stamina, willingness to learn, even when new knowledge shakes the very foundation of what we “know.” Her words speak to the need for humility and courage while we as individuals, congregants, national and global citizens delve into the necessary learning and action to make justice real.
In April of 2017, three UUs of color called our denomination to examine white supremacy culture and how it functions within our congregations and within our lives. We are challenged to live into the learning and make changes to how we do things. First Unitarian Church has taken this call, and the learning has been downright uncomfortable for many of us. Yet we sustain our commitment to expose what for most of us is difficult to see: how those of us who live as white people benefit from racism, how we have internalized patterns of dominance, and how challenging the culture of white supremacy calls us to intersectional activism.
This year’s Seminary for a Day approached the subject from several viewpoints. Robin DiAngelo explored white socialization and exposed white patterns of denial and defensiveness as a method of maintaining white supremacy culture. Reverend Bill presented a workshop called From the Margins to the Center: The Struggle to Claim This Faith by People of Color. UU justice activist, Cameron Whitten, led an interactive workshop, Anti-Racism and Spiritual Organizing, to examine how our faith is affected by racism and how we can respond to oppressive conditions with our whole selves. First Unitarian Board Member, Cindy Cumfer led a workshop to examine the Paradoxical History of White Supremacy and Racial Justice at First Unitarian Church. And, for the first time at Seminary for a Day, we created a caucus space for people of color with congregant Jala Waleed’s guidance. This is a practice we will continue.
There is much, much more for our community to learn and examine critically, and many more ways to take action to disrupt the systems of thought and practice that maintain white supremacy culture.
One immediate action is to direct our monies to the Promise and the Practice of our Faith for Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU). At the beginning of February, Rev Bill gave historical context for why giving generously during this campaign is an act of repair of our denomination’s broken promise to Black UUs. Parable of Privilege and Power outlines how when white people let go of material wealth and direct it toward black people and black organizations, we align our principles with our actions. Consciously doing so disrupts the pattern of white people accumulating wealth at the expense of people of color and underwritten by racism.
This Spring, as we continue to learn about and challenge racism and white supremacy culture, the Adult Education and Social Justice Programs have teamed up for several offerings. Please go to this link to sign up for classes In addition, our social justice action groups continue to offer community events that center racial justice and the voices of those affected by systems of racism. What follows are programs at First Unitarian starting this week through the beginning of May. We hope that you will participate in this learning and continue to find ways to disrupt patterns of white supremacy as we work for justice together.
To echo Reverend Nguyen’s prayer, may we let go of the way we see the world, of certainty, of the myth that we can live on this earth and not harm, and the myth that we can’t learn anything new. And may we live what we learn and do right by the gift of being taught.
Amen.
Book Discussion Group on The Fire Next Time: Eric Terrell and Isabel Sheridan will lead this two-part discussion on James Baldwin’s classic on race in America. Two Thursdays: Feb. 22 and Mar. 1; 7 – 8:30 p.m. Register here.
A Muslim Experience: First Unitarian’s Immigrant Justice Action Group hosts two Portland residents, Zahra Abukar and Wajdi Said. Ms. Abukar is a Somali refugee and students whose goal is to offer culturally competent mental health services to under-served populations such as immigrants and refugees. Mr. Said is the director of Muslim Educational Trust that works in our community to promote a better understanding of Islam. Both presenters will share their experiences related to America’s attitudes toward Islam and people of color. March 4; 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Book Discussion Group on The Fire This Time: Eric Terrell and Isabel Sheridan continue book study with Jesmyn Ward’s acclaimed work on race in America today. The class follows James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time (see above), and may be taken independently. Thursdays, March 15 and 22 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. Register here.
Screening of the Documentary “Priced Out”: co-hosted by Ending the New Jim Crow (ENJC), Committee on Housing and Homelessness (COHHO), and Economic Justice Action Group (EJAG). Cornelius Swart, Director, screens the film, “Priced Out,” an investigative and personal look at how skyrocketing housing prices are displacing Portland’s black community and reshaping the entire city. The feature-length documentary explores the complexities and contradictions of gentrification and what neighborhood life means after the era of “The Ghetto.” Tuesday, March 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Book Discussion Group on Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.: Shirlee Geiger will guide discussion on Danielle S. Allen’s exploration of why her 15-year-old cousin found himself in prison and what the prison-industrial complex looks and feels like. This is coming of age story, for the author and her cousin, and how this nation has lost a generation of young people. Thursday, Mar. 29; 7 – 8:30 p.m. Register here.
Engaging Race: Cameron Whitten will lead a five-week dynamic learning experience that leverages a peer-based, popular education model to address racial inequality. Through interdisciplinary activities and collaborative strategy, we help participants challenge themselves and build their power as organizers for justice. Five Tuesdays: Apr. 3, 10, 17, 24 and May 1, 6:30 – 9 p.m. Register here.
The Sewell Lecture: Jacqueline Keeler is a Diné and Dakota writer living in Portland, Oregon. She is the editor of the new anthology “Edge of Morning:Native Voices Speak for the Bears Ears” and the author of the upcoming book “Standing Rock to the Bundy Standoff: Occupation, Native Sovereignty, and the Fight for Sacred Landscapes.” She will speak about how the plunder of native lands and culture is legitimized through the US culture of colonization. Thursday, April 12, 7 – 9 p.m.
Listening to Front Line Communities on Climate Justice: Moving Toward Just Transition. Jacqueline Keeler along with Organizers and Activists from OPAL, NAACP and other front line communities collaborate to present this panel and workshop. This is an opportunity for us to hear directly from communities of color, those in the front lines of injustice, about what a just transition to economic and environmental justice can look like when we engage a shared analysis in our organizing. This event is co-hosted by by First Unitarian’s Community for Earth, Africa Connections, Economic Justice Action Group, Immigrant Justice Action Group and Ending the New Jim Crow. Saturday, April 14, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Intersectionality: Rev. Bill Sinkford offers two Sunday sessions to help us develop the ability to use more than one lens for social justice work, because we all have more than one identity. Together we will explore how to use the reality of intersectionality as a resource in our work for justice and as we build the beloved community. Sundays, April 15 and 22; 1 –2:30p.m. Register here.
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Dana Buhl
Acting Social Justice Director
First Unitarian Church of Portland