AntiRacism Minute 9/15/21-Cat McIntyre

 Eracism Minute - Cat McIntyre, Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team

For over a year, I have been working with Black Lives Matter and many others in the congregation on anti-racism and anti-oppression training to continue the learnings from the Beloved Conversations program two years ago.

We organized in-person workshops led by black

women professionals experienced in working

with groups to achieve goals like ours. We

invited other UU congregations in Blaine and

Mt. Vernon to join us. We contracted for the

first series of workshops.

However, because of the current upsurge in

COVID in our community, we considered holding the workshops on zoom instead of in person. Now, with input from experienced educators, we realize that this training will lose its impact on zoom. So, we have decided to postpone the workshops until later in the year when, hopefully, we can meet safely in person.

I want to add a second, very important, reason to postpone: the recent resignation of yet another BUF Board president requires serious reflection NOW for all of us. We must work on BUF governance, policies and procedures, and how we deal with conflict within our congregation.

Our Healthy Relationships Covenant is designed for one-on-one problems, not systemic dysfunction. When we have resolved this important issue in a way that is consistent with a Beloved Community, BUF will be more likely to benefit from anti-racism/anti- oppression workshops.