The 8th Principle calls on each of us to take responsibility for building beloved community by dismantling racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions. I see this as a call to commit ourselves to action not only within our congregation but also within our community. UUCT’s involvement with the Capital Area Justice Ministry […]
Saturday, April 16 for a workshop on Building a Culture of Inclusion. Unitarian Universalist congregations like ours are looking to create change not only in the communities that surround them, but their own churches, too. This April we will have a singular opportunity to begin the process of addressing remnants of racism and oppression in […]
Beyond Welcome: Building Communities of Love (Linnea Nelson, ed.) includes 20 short essays about the prospects for building community in Unitarian Universalist congregations. The book needed to become a discussion series for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee, and so it has. Rev. Holly Brown and Robin Gray have built five sessions for us all to […]
Most of the books we’ve read for Centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Voices focus on the American experience. In April, we’ll travel over the sea to change our perceptions about the history of Africans in Europe. Olivette Otele, a Professor of History of Slavery and Memory of Enslavement in the UK offers us a […]
For me, the 8th Principle is grounded in our Universalist theology. Our Universalist ancestors believed in universal salvation: that an all-loving God would not condemn anyone to everlasting damnation — that all would go to heaven. Our concept of universal salvation has evolved over time into one of an all-loving community here on earth. Our […]
According to law professor Kimberle Crenshaw, intersectionality is the idea that, if you are standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you’re likely to get hit by more than one. For example, Black women cross an intersection and are hit by both racism and sexism. The race ambulance and the gender ambulance arrive […]
The proposed 8th Principle calls on us to “dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” Does this imply that we are racists? That’s not how I see it. Ibram Kendi, in his book How to be an Antiracist, argues that it is not useful to label people as “racist” or “not racist.” […]
UUCT CAJM Network Members are working with CAJM research committees developing policy proposals for Affordable Housing and Gun Violence/Policing. The two committees will meet with Team Leaders from all the congregations on February 22 to share their work. At the full CAJM network Pep Rally on March 8th, the committees will reveal the action proposals to be presented to […]
The Tallahassee Community Remembrance Project (TCRP) hosts the first annual remembrance program for Leon County’s lynching victims on the afternoon of Saturday, February 12. The TCRP is a coalition of forty-six partner organizations and faith communities, including UUCT. The remembrance begins at 2:00 pm in Cascades Park, at the historical marker near the corner of […]
The most compelling reason for the 8th Principle is that members of color have asked the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to adopt it, as our commitment to the long-term work of dismantling racism and other oppressions. The UUA charged the Article II Commission with the review of our faith’s purpose, principles, and sources, including consideration […]
