First UU Church of San Diego
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BLOG

2021-2022 Taproot: National UU BIPOC Space

5/6/2022

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Second Thursdays Spring dates are May 12, 5 pm - 6:15 pm. Black, Indigenous and People of Color Leaders rooted in the Unitarian Universalist congregations are invited to take part in this monthly, virtual gathering. This space is created by the UUA explicitly for people identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC). Register online at uua.org/leadership/events/taproot-feb-2022.

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Do you want to help us create exciting events?

11/3/2021

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Help First UU become more of a “happening place” and promote more multi-generational, ethnic, racial, and class diversity at First UU, including greater offerings for events - among members, attendees and families. The Board has created a new board committee to administer the Outreach and Growth Fund (OGF) that was created as part of the generous Renewal and Growth Fund donation to the church in late 2021.  ​

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Journey Toward Wholeness (JTW) What Can I Do? Responding with compassion

5/28/2021

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When a BBIPoC person shares that they've been harmed by racism, please learn to listen and respond with compassion. It may seem that we hear about racism in our church more often than in our other spaces. This is not because racism is not happening elsewhere, it is because we have members who trust us with their truth because our principles say that we will hear them. How to Respond with Compassion when Someone is Hurt by Racism.
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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Learn more about California's history of anti-Black racism

3/11/2021

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California has a history of anti-Black racism and the unjust seizure of Bruce's Beach in Manhattan Beach tells the story of one example. "In April, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make amends for a massive land grab rooted in white supremacy, though this remedy came almost a century too late (MSN). In the early twentieth century, Charles and Willa Bruce opened a Manhattan Beach resort that offered other Black families the opportunity to vacation under the Southern California sun. The white residents of Manhattan Beach were not pleased. The Bruce’s neighbors slashed their tires. The Ku Klux Klan set fire to the resort’s deck. These horrifying acts of white vigilantism weren’t what forced Charles and Willa to leave. In actuality, it was Manhattan Beach itself. The city government condemned the entire neighborhood around Bruce’s Beach. They then seized the resort through eminent domain. Though the city said that they did this to construct a park, this park never materialized. The Bruce family, forced from the city, was compensated only one-fifth of their asking price for the land they were forced to give up."  Read the full article and see steps you can take to support the ongoing campaign.
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Celebrating​ Black History Month

2/1/2021

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Becoming anti-racist
​For Black History Month we're re-sharing resources from our Journey Toward Wholeness initiative. From videos and sermons to articles and stories, these first appeared in the ongoing series "What Can I Do?" which runs in The Window, our weekly church newsletter. Each presents a simple, daily action. If you've been thinking "What can I do about racism?" these are a great place to start. Visit our Celebrating Black History Month page. 

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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Read "a word for white people, in two parts" and watch "Loosen Loosen"

1/28/2021

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Recent events have exposed the extent of white privilege in our society. Working to dismantle white supremacy and institutional racism is messy, uncomfortable work.
Read slowly, reflect, and wonder at adrienne maree brown's "a word for white people, in two parts"
Listen to Aly Halpert's "Loosen Loosen" song/prayer.
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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? A Challenge to First UU White Males

1/24/2021

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Organizing White Men for Collective Liberation (OWMCL) is a national network mobilizing white men to learn, grow, and take action against white supremacy and patriarchy. "White Men Resisting Violence & Hate," is an online discussion of patriarchy, whiteness, & how to organize white men into our justice movements. Learn more and RSVP. 
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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Learn about alternatives to police action

1/10/2021

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For many communities, having police show up makes a situation worse or harmful. Are you confused about how you'd feel safe if police are defunded? The American Friends Service Committee offers a webinar "What to Do Instead of Calling 911" to explore ways to help all community members feel safe while treated with dignity, respect, and care. Learn more at www.afsc.org/ action/webinar-what-to-do-instead-calling-911.
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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Watch two short videos

11/26/2020

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​On this week where we focus on gratitude we recommend watching two short videos:
  1. Never forget dismantling white supremacy culture is spiritual work grounded in our values & principles. From First Unitarian Church of Chicago "Who Is Freedom For? A Reading for Thanksgiving" (4:14)
  2. And, a radical vision a future without oppressive systems: "A Message From the Future II: The Years of Repair" (8:57).
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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Listen to Brittany Packnett and Rev. Emily Hartlief

11/22/2020

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​Following the leadership of BIPOC folks & admitting we can (& do) harm others are important learnings. Gain some insights by listening to:
  • Brittany Packnett's TED Talk "It's About Time to Value Young Women of Color in Leadership" (9:34).
  • Our former Intern Minister, Rev. Emily Hartlief's sermon "The Courage to Be Wrong" (20:42 but especially 0-5:56 & 11:52-13:44).
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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Learn about the role of race in Biden's victory

11/15/2020

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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Learn about the role of race in Biden's victory & Trump's relative success by listening to NPR's podcast "How Whiteness Affected the Election" (35:39).  Listen to Krista Tippett's interview [51:00] with a trauma specialist "Resmaa Menakem in Conversation with Robin DiAngelo." It has made an impression with Beloved Conversations Virtual participants and may challenge you.
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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Read "A Message to White Unitarian Universalsists"

11/8/2020

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Read our UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick Gray's UU World column "A Message to White Unitarian Universalsists" about how her attitudes on policing has changed over the past years & the resource list at the end of the article. Then watch the brief (2:13) interview with Sonya Renee Taylor on combating racism with action.
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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Listen to "A Treaty Right for Cherokee Representation"

10/25/2020

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  • Listen to the NPR podcast "A Treaty Right for Cherokee Representation" (27:25) about a 200 year old treaty Americans don't know much about, but should.
  • Learn more about Tone Policing. Read: "What is Tone Policing & Why Is It Wrong?" and "What is Tone Policing & What Are Some Examples of It?".
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Discussing the UUA's Commission on Institutional Change (COIC) Report

10/1/2020

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Widening the Circle
September's worship theme at our church was Change and the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA) Commission on Institutional Change report is an important reflection on various changes that must be made, if the UUA is going to live its values into practice. At the June 2017 General Assembly (GA), after the resignation of then UUA President Peter Morales and due to the entrenched hiring practices and harm created by the UUA, a Commission on Institutional Change was "established and charged by the UUA Board of Trustees to conduct an audit of white privilege and the structure of power within Unitarian Universalism, and to analyze structural racism and white supremacy culture within the UUA." The Commission worked for three years interviewing and listening to people's experiences within the UUA examining the current practices that have maintained the status quo. At the General Assembly in June of this year, the Commission presented its report, Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change.


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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Learn about our work to become more inclusive, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive

10/1/2020

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​First UU San Diego has worked hard to become more inclusive, anti-racist, & anti-oppressive and we have many upcoming actions and work ahead. To learn more, read:
  • "Centering Dismantling Systemic Racism: How We Got Here & Why We'll Continue" in the October 2020 First Words.
  • An 8th Principle has been proposed as an addition to the Unitarian Universalist 7 Principles. It is "We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions." Read about it at 8thprincipleuu.org/background.
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Centering Dismantling Racism: How We Got Here and Why We'll Continue

10/1/2020

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​by Jan Garbosky
Have you heard, said, or thought:
  • "Why do we have to keep hearing about racism?" or
  • "Why in our service do I have to hear both English and Spanish"? or
  • "Why do I hear public apologies during services about things that aren no big deal?"
As UUs, we often refer to our covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Yet? just as often, we harm, in words and deeds(intended and not), thoseamong uswho areBlack, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Many were surprised to learn this in the Summer 2018 Town Hall meeting where BIPOC shared the pain of their experiences at First UU and presented a document whose introduction states:

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Reparations

10/1/2020

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Rev. Kathleen Ownens
The fall is a favorite season of mine. I enjoy the changes fall brings: cooler weather, the turning of leaves, and the food of the season. This month will also bring the opportunity to practice living our values and principles, to learn about ballot initiatives and engage deeply in important questions about who we want to be and what direction we want our country to move in as we approach the November election. Our monthly worship theme of Reparations is timely. This topic is both straight forward and complex. This topic brings up all kinds of emotions and there's a lot to learn together. For me, one of the biggest values tied to the theme of Reparations is truth-telling- recognizing the fuller story of our country's history and how it continues to play out in our lives today. This theme asks us important questions that affect our future. I recommend this article for you to read: Floyd’s America — Introduction: The Post-Slavery State, Homicide, and the New Case for Reparations.​


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​Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Listen to these podcasts

9/24/2020

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"Confronting Racism is an NPR TED Radio Hour series. Episodes range from seven to 13 minutes and link to the actual TED Talk on each of the five topics. Listen to "Confronting Racism".
Showing Up for Racial Justice's "The Get Together". Watch "White Women on Defunding the Police".
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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Read "Policing Is the Glue of Whiteness"

9/6/2020

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​Written for Beacon Broadside by Howard Bryant, correspondent for NPR's Weekend Edition & featured speaker ("Full Dissidence") at June's UU Virtual General Assembly (GA). Thanks go to Mary Severine for the suggestion. Read "Policing Is the Glue of Whiteness". 
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Journey Toward Wholeness: What Can I Do? Educate yourself about institutional racism

8/22/2020

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Need more examples of institutional racism & White privilege?
  1. ​Watch Debby Irving's TEDx Talk Finding Myself in the Story of Race. If you have more time, read Debby's book "Waking Up White".
  2. Have a question or an idea for a project? Email the Journey Toward Wholeness team at jtw@firstuusandiego.org.
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Journey Toward Wholeness What Can I Do? Find Your Voice.

8/9/2020

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​Take some time to reflect on the following questions to help you find your voice:
  • What are my values?
  • How can I use my privilege to support others?
  • Who inspires me to use my voice & why?
  • What's something small I can learn today about a White supremacy issue I care about?
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Staff Recommended Anti-Racism Resources

6/14/2020

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We have assembled a list of the best anti-racism articles, books, social media feeds and videos we know of to help people learn about a wide range of topics relating to racism. Please invest in yourself, your family, your community and our world by viewing and sharing these links and, more importantly, we hope you'll join us in taking the steps shared herein to begin to heal our world. 

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It Starts with Us

5/31/2020

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As Unitarian Universalists we must speak and act to stop the frequent, state-sanctioned violence committed against members of our shared community. The murders of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Tony McDade in Florida, and George Floyd in Minnesota, among so many others, were all committed by police or former police. Here in San Diego, we also see police brutality such as that perpetrated against an individual walking her dog on the beach as well as in La Mesa when a police officer had an altercation with a black man at a trolley station. This is not about a few rogue officers. This isn’t about the need for more training. This isn’t even about a change in leadership. Replacing one police chief with another is not enough if the pervasive racist system that empowers them is unchanged. The work of transforming our law enforcement and justice system into a true JUSTICE system will be long and difficult, messy and painful. We commit to that work, in solidarity with our partners. Violence against Black and Brown bodies, committed by officers of the law, demands this system must be remade.

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A Message from your Ministerial Team about the UUA and our Anti-Racist Work

4/20/2017

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Friends, many of you have heard or read about the changes happening at the Unitarian Universalist Association and the continuing conversation about hiring practices and issues of racism and privilege in our denomination. In short, the recent hiring of another white, male minister for the position of Regional Lead led many people of color in our denomination to share their anger and painful experiences of the ways in which our denomination has currently and historically systemically privileged white ministers in leadership over people of color and non-clergy people. This event provided us with an opportunity to examine a long and ongoing history. Whether an individual hiring situation can be said to follow this pattern is less important than seeing that the long-term cumulative pattern is clearly one which privileges white, male ministers over people of color -- a pattern that is a definition of a system build on white supremacy.

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A Statement from our Ministers on the Killing of African American Men

7/7/2016

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A Statement from our Ministers:
We are shocked – again – by the unprovoked killing of yet another African American man, most recently in Minneapolis, MN. Our hearts are broken for his family and his community. And we know many of us do not have the luxury of begin shocked by an event like this one. What some might see as series of isolated incidents or a system broken and in need of fixing is experienced as the reality of daily life by our neighbors and kin of color. We live in a world where people of color, immigrants, the poor, and the marginalized are stigmatized, criminalized, and feared. Where the systems of justice and finance are designed to serve the few at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of the many. Where we are taught to value white lives and bodies over the lives and bodies of people of color. This is not acceptable.

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(619) 298-9978  |  Staff Directory
Hillcrest campus 4190 Front Street, San Diego, CA. 92103  |  South Bay campus 970 Broadway, Chula Vista, CA. 91911
  For GPS to our Hillcrest Campus, please use 298 W Arbor Dr., San Diego, CA 92103
For directions, parking and more see our Contact page.
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©2004-2019 First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego. All rights reserved. Admin.
  • Home
  • Worship
    • Messages
    • Online Worship
    • Participate in a Service
    • Principles & Sources
  • Connections
    • Welcome Newcomers! > >
      • Visiting First UU
      • What is UUism?
      • Become a Member
    • Groups from A-Z > >
      • Affinity Groups
      • Archives
      • Art Guild
      • Christian Study Group
      • Earth Centered Spirituality Circle
      • Looking Glass Theatre
      • Meditation
      • Men's Fellowship
      • Neighborhood Groups
      • UU Seniors
      • Wisdom Circles
    • Member Networking
    • Listening Circles
    • Restorative Process
  • Music
    • Vocal Ensembles
    • Handbell Ensemble
    • Children and Youth Music Program
  • Education
    • Children's RE > >
      • Family Ministry Library
      • Children's RE Registration
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Family Ministry > >
      • All Church Camp
    • Youth Programs
    • Young Adult & Campus Ministry
    • Our Whole Lives (OWL)
    • SD Co-op Preschool
  • Programs
    • Caring
    • Food Pantry
    • Larger UU Connections > >
      • Denominational Relations
      • Friends of De Benneville Pines
      • Philippines Partner Church
      • Transylvania Partner Church
      • UU Service Committee
    • Leadership Development
    • Social Justice > >
      • Social Justice Executive Team
      • Climate Justice
      • Generosity Offerings
      • Organizing for Justice
      • Palestine-Israel Justice Group
      • Rainbow Action
      • Reproductive Justice
      • Sanctuary
      • SOLACE
      • Uptown Community Service Center
    • Ushering
  • Giving
    • Donations > >
      • Pledging
      • Planned Giving
      • Donate Your Vehicle
      • Donate Flowers
    • Dining for Dollars D4$
    • B&B Program > >
      • B&B Guest Registration
      • B&B Hosting > >
        • B&B Host Application
    • Specialty Sale
    • Shop and Support!
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