I believe that our world will get worse before it gets better, and I believe that the current federal government is doing some long-term damage to our democracy and to our economy. I don’t know exactly what that means for our future together, but I also believe that everything that’s happening doesn’t mean the immediate end of the world. If this is the beginning of the end of late-stage Capitalism and the beginning of the fall of the great American experiment, then we must plan to keep surviving during the fall - no empire falls overnight. We are in the position to be the ones who are preparing the soil for what will be planted next to grow.
We must ask ourselves, are we giving nutrients to our soil? Are we transforming what we’ve been given into things like love, resilience, beauty, power and hope, or are we creating more despair? Certainly, as humans, we will feel despair, hopelessness, and hatred. I’m not advocating for a pretend positivity or denial of the full spectrum of our human emotions. What I am advocating for are cultivating more and more ways where we can ensure that our actions in the world build more love and connection and less hopelessness and despair, less inequality and less violence.
Even if this is the great fall that some theorists speculate, then we must do more than survive. As one of our BLUU Principles tell us, we must thrive. Whatever meaning we make of our lives, I know we aren’t meant to only be anxious, to only be afraid, to only be thinking from day-to-day, to only be in acute grief or suffocated or burned out by our righteous anger. I know we are meant to have love, joy, healing, peace, acceptance. I know we are meant to see beauty and pause and appreciate its presence, because somehow that presence calms the storm and chaos. I believe that there have been times in US history when Black people have done more with less. If we are to continue in a tradition and spirit of hope, love, and tenacity and believe what our UU faith tells us - everyone is already saved, everyone is worthy of love, and there is only this one precious and wild life - then we must keep finding ways of coming together and thriving, loving, growing, building. Of being free. Whether you are a Black UU or non-Black supporter, a Unitarian Universalist or don’t resonate with that label, I hope that being in touch or a part of BLUU helps in some way, helps you to dream a little more and feel a little more free each day. And I hope you can enjoy this July’s Executive Director update from yours truly!
Worship Invitation and Reminder
The BLUU Ministerial Network’s Summer Online Worship Series,
Black Being
, will conclude with worship on Sunday, August 19th at 9pm EDT, and we hope Black UUs and UU-adjacent folks from far and wide will join us for the fourth and final installment of the series,
Be a Witness
! If you haven’t already, join our Facebook group
here
and/or join our email list by completing the form at
http://www.blacklivesuu.com/mailing-list
for more information about and access to worship.
Also, if you can’t make it on the 19th, we will resume offering two online worship services a month beginning in September. We will be together each month in explicitly black sacred space on the 1st Thursday at 9pm ET and the 3rd Sunday at 4pm ET via Zoom. So be on the lookout for these announcements!
For our non-Black siblings in faith receiving this ED Update, please DO share this invitation with Black UUs in your life and community. We often hear from people who stumbled upon BLUU and didn’t know that we existed. Getting the word out about BLUU is one area where we could really use your help!
Did you miss it?
At General Assembly in Kansas City, MO this year, BLUU did a question and answer session with the organizing collective. Here is a
link to the video
in case you weren’t able to join us during the event!
We also are very proud of the GA 2018 Public Witness events. Through the leadership of BLUU Organizer Paige Ingram and BLUU OC Lead Organizer Leslie Mac, and hundreds of hands putting together care packages, we were able to put together just over
1,200 care packages
for domestic violence survivors that were donated to the
Reale Justice Network
in Kansas City, MO. We also did an on-site project building shelves and helping organize the clothing closet at the prenatal health justice organization
Uzazi Village
. Stay tuned for more to come about increasing our UU presence in the fight to
End the Cash Bail system
. You can also
watch this video
from a panel discussion led by Leslie Mac from this year's General Assembly on efforts in Kansas City to end cash bail.
Sign Up as a BLUU Patron!
We are fundraising through Patreon to expand our programming, and we need patrons to do it! Once each level is reached collectively, we’ll be issuing the content associated with that level of giving! You can check out this
video
for more in-depth description of the various levels of Patreon and how you can be a part of it all!
BLUUMicro30
Attention all Black UUs and those Black folks flirting with UUism who also want to get active in the Movement for Black Lives, or start working with Black liberation organizations across the country! We’re gearing up for an important launch this fall, don’t miss it!
Sign up here
and don’t miss out on the exciting events coming up in the fall!
BLUUSupports for July, upcoming in August
Thank you
to everyone who donated to our Faithify for the African Francophone Ministry! We are happy to report the campaign was a success and we helped fund the faith development retreat in Rwanda with a check for $10,000! We couldn’t have done it without your help. And we are grateful for your contributions. You can see more about the African Francophone ministry by watching this
video of me talking with Rev. Fulgence
about his ministry or by reading more on the
Faithify site
!
We’re excited for next month’s
BLUUSupports
organization which is
Uzazi Village
! Stay tuned for more about Uzazi and how you can be a part of changing dismal maternal health outcomes for Black and brown women in Kansas City, MO.
In Faith,