“People of faith, particularly those of us who are white progressives, need to combat the systems of criminalization in our country. Systems of policing and criminalization in this country are inherently violent, steeped in and created to reinforce white supremacy, anti-blackness, and racialized control.”
— President Reverend Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray
As people of faith, we must bear witness to this moment. That means that we must name hard truths, but that we also must act. Commit to joining other UUs in working to combat the violence of militarism and the police state: Share this message widely with your networks. Speak about your convictions in support of Black liberation. Articulate your support of Black organizing, grounded in your Unitarian Universalist faith. Have hard conversations with your family, your social networks, your neighbors. And sign up at this link to be connected with a network of UUs committing to learning, reflecting, and acting together.
Support the front-line organizers providing leadership. Give your money, ask others to give, and take up a collection at this Sunday’s service in support of organizations like Black Visions Collective, Reclaim the Block, and Minnesota Freedom Fund.
Helpful Links from the web
This list, compiled by UUCDC’s Anti-Racism Coalition, is by no means complete. However, it provides links to myriad websites that offer suggestions for where we, as individuals can offer support, financial and otherwise, to help heal the racial divide while educating our selves about the societal and systematic inequities.
Note: Some of the items identified in the links that follow are time-limited fund-me campaigns and may have expired.
A Timeline of Events That Led to the 2020 ‘Fed Up’-rising
An article tracing the history the history of slavery and racism in the United States. It goes back to 1619, and identifies the creation of what many call “the nation’s first slave.”
97 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Though this was written in 2017 (which seems like a lifetime ago), it has many suggestions of what we CAN do, as individuals. And most of them can be done in our COVID-19 world.
They range from checking whether your local police department requires usage of body cameras, and buying from black-owned businesses and not buying from companies that use prison labor (a link is provided), to reading “The Color of Law” and seeing the movie “13th” (great film, available on Netflix).
How to respond to “riots never solve anything!”
Provides “a quick roundup of things to say to Saltine Americans clutching their pearls over rioting and looting.” It gives good answers to several questions along those lines.
It ends with: “There are better ways… Don’t let the riots stop you. Fight for criminal justice reform, fight for income equality, fight for universal healthcare, fight for free education, fight for higher taxes on the 1% — fight for all those things that would make rioting less likely. And while you’re fighting the long, slow war toward Black people having a fair shot in this country, the same war we’ve been fighting for hundreds of years, there will be times when some people directly affected by the war see your actions as futile and they just wanna break some stuff. Clutch your pearls less and speed up the war if you’re so offended by property damage.”
An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing
Recommended by former President Obama, this is a 153-page document that covers a broad range of concerns: profiling, stops and searches, First Amendment protections, police training and much, much more. There is information on how police departments and other law enforcement agencies are organized, and how to make changes building coalitions, building campaigns and evaluating the impact of your actions.
How To Support Protesters in Every City
This article contain links to a number of funds to which people can donate. It also has phone numbers of the mayor of Minneapolis and the City Attorney’s office. Among the organizations seeking funds are a Los Angeles Black Lives Matter chapter that is supporting organizers and fighting to adopt a “People’s Budget” that reallocates police funding to vulnerable communities; Unicorn Riot, a non-profit media organization dedicated to fair, on-the-ground reporting on civil disobedience, police brutality and white supremacy; and The Bail Project, which works nationally, including several cities where protests are taking place.
40 Ways White Women Can Help Fight Racism and Do Anti-Racism Work
A discussion of the problems and needs, followed by a list of things that can be done, from fighting gerrymandering and voter suppression, to recommending the support of independent journalism. Many of these suggestions come with links.
Produced by the Obama Foundation, this site offers lots of information on police violence and antiracism in America. It also offers advice on steps that can be taken and how one can lend support to encourage reform. There are links to organizations that are on the front lines of social justice. And there is a section where one can see how neighbors are joining forces to advocate, mobilize, care, and heal.
A website dedicated to ending police violence in America, containing a comprehensive package of urgent policy solutions – informed by data, research and human rights principles – can change the way police serve our communities. It includes links to hundreds of reports, statistics, legislation dealing with police and opther justice issues, and more. Unfortunately, some links, such as the one for the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (which probably dates to Obama), either no longer exist or are blocked
Note: Solutions is only of several sections on the Campaign Zero site.
Resources For A Church That Wants To Fight For Black Lives
Listening and learning is a way of walking humbly as we seek to be a community of grace and peace for our city and the world. As we listen and learn, we can expect discomfort and disagreement. That’s ok. The linked document contains recommendations for reading, for watching, for listening. It also recommends a series of websites that should be visited and black faith leaders and organizations that can be followed. The contents of the document were compiled by the staff team and black members of the South Bend City Church Community.
Organizations That Support Black Trans People
Black trans people often face a specific set of structural, institutional, and personal barriers to accessing basic needs like housing, employment, and safety due to the intersections of their identities. Black liberation will never be possible without uplifting and protecting Black transgender people and communities. A related article from the Prison Policy Initiative points out that LGBTQ youth of color are at disproportionately greater risk of homelessness and incarceration.