In Unitarian Universalism, democratic process is a sacred matter embodied in our fifth Principle.  Read “Working Apart So We Can Work Together” for a tour through the merits and challenges of racial identity caucusing with members of Fractured Atlas, an anti-racist, arts-focused nonprofit technology organization in New York City.

Refresh your familiarity with the role of “covenant” in Unitarian Universalism. Read Handout 1, Covenant As Promise from the Tapestry of Faith curriculum, The New UU. Answer the reflection questions, perhaps in a journal. Consider how your understanding of covenant can inform your faith.

Subscribe to Braver/Wiser and receive weekly reflection and prayer, grounded in Unitarian Universalism, in your inbox.

Read these tips from hospice physician and author Karen Wyatt and these from the Chopra Center to maintain a personal spiritual practice while traveling.

Check out the article, “Action as Prayer: Lessons from Oceti Sakowin” for a Christian perspective on the role of prayer in indigenous-led resistance at Standing Rock.

Learn about the Fight for $15 campaign focused on the minimum wage. They are affiliated with the national Poor People’s Campaign.

A model for understanding cultural differences designed by diversity consultant Dr. Edward J. Nichols has been useful for educators at the Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal in New Orleans (CELSJR.org). You can access the chart by going to this teacher resource page, and clicking on the link labeled ED NICHOLS’ CULTURAL PHILOSOPHIES.

• Review the chart. Ask yourself these questions and discuss them with others:
• What insights do you gain from this model that help you understand cultural differences?
• Where do you find yourself on this chart? Looking at your own life, what situations can you recall where cultural differences were at play?
• How do differing cultural values impact a society polarized by race?
• How does cultural competency help us with anti-racism work?
• How do we create spaces where we practice cultural competency that not just tolerates diversity but values it?

Read, reflect, and discuss The Third Reconstruction, by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.  A modern-day civil rights champion tells the stirring story of how he helped start a movement to bridge America’s racial divide. Video of Barber at GA 2016.

View #Eastside conversation with Stephen DeBerry and Rodney Foxworth from SOCAP (Social Capital Markets Conference) 2016 (26:16; begin watching at 5:47)

Watch, reflect and discuss 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, available through Netflix.

Read The Criminal Justice System is Not Broken: It’s Doing Exactly What It’s Meant to Do from the Kennedy School Review

Read and discuss Ed Nichols Model for Understanding Cultural Differences

View How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race by Jay Smooth (11:56)

Share children’s books in your congregation or home.

Books about Community and Justice:

• We came to America by Faith Ringgold (2016, Knopf Books for Young Readers, ages 5 – 8)
• A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara (and the Spanish translation A de Activista with Martha Gonzales) (2013, Triangle Square, ages 3 – 7)
• Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagara (2015, Triangle Square, ages 3 – 7)

Watch Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed speaking at conference commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma Crossing

Reflect alone or with a group: Voices from the Margins: An Anthology of Meditations (Skinner, 2012).

Read Recapping Whitewashed Conference Culture: My Reflection On Dialogue About Race in Progressive Christian Spaces  by Alicia Crosby

Read Unitarian Universalist Black Lives Matter Theology Kenny Wiley

Read 7 Principles of Black Lives and/or the Movement for Black Lives Platform

Watch  Hot Chicken Video with Devita Davison at the SOCAP (Social Capital Markets Conference) 2016 (8:59)

Read White Fragility: Why it’s so hard to talk to White People about Racism by Robin DiAngelo

View Aamer Rahman (Fear of a Brown Planet) on Reverse Racism (2:48)

Apply insights to your groups and committees: White Supremacy Culture, from Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001

Read from the Skinner House Books inSpirit Series – Voices from the Margins: An Anthology of Meditations

Jacqui James, Mark Morrison-Reed from Skinner House Books An anthology of meditations.

Carin Bringelson, 2018-2019 Student Minister, offered a reflection on Ramadan during our Sunday worship on May 26, 2019. Rachel Weiss, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, UW-Madison provided a reading list for children through adults on Islam and Muslim experiences for this service. This reading list can be accessed by clicking here.