Business Meeting Minutes 11/1/21

 Minutes - Business/Planning Meeting

November 1, 2021

 

 

Present: Murray Bennett, Michael Brunt, Lauralee Carbone, David Curley, Brenda Dundas, Naomi Gary, Judy Kasper, Tom Kirchner, Claire Lending, Cat McIntyre, and Donna Starr

 

We welcomed our visitors from Blaine and Mt. Vernon, Donna and Brenda

 

Anti-Racism Minutes:  

         Nov. 7       Naomi Gary       

         Nov. 14     David Curley

         Nov. 21     Henry Ohana (added after meeting)

         Nov. 28     Donna Starr

         Dec. 5       Claire Lending

 

The speaker should remember to alert the person running the service on or before the Wednesday before the service that they will give the anti-racism minute at the service. Also, send the script of their minute after the service to Lauralee Carbone and Deb Cruz to publish in Midweek Update and on blog.

 

Program Meeting.  The program meeting on November 8 will be the RadioLab podcast, “The Vanishing of Harry Pace,” on Zoom. We will be able to listen to it together during the meeting. For December, we would like to have a conversation about anti-racism and Beloved Community more broadly, following up on a discussion that began during our October retreat. We will also get to know more about our neighbor congregations, Blaine and Skagit.

 

January Training: The first training will take place the last two Saturdays in January, and may be compressed into two, four-and-a-half hour trainings by zoom. The contract with Courtney Wooten is in process. Also in process is another grant which would allow both trainings to be free. As soon as information is complete, notifications will go out. We expect to encourage participation by personal invitations. 

 

Follow up to October Retreat.

-       Survey of 46 people on BUF Black Lives Matter mailing list is underway by Naomi and Henry. Naomi reports some initial feedback:

o   People appreciate getting minutes when they are unable to make it to meetings

o   Monday nights don’t work well for some

o   Most believe Black Lives Matter at BUF is important

o   Some did not feel our meetings were as welcome as other social justice groups they attended

o   In general, they were happy to get a call from us (this may be something worth repeating a couple times a year

Cat reported that she had heard from Henry that some members feel that Black Lives Matter is too narrow a focus, and that we might expand, for example, for anti-racism minutes to include other SEJC groups concerned about anti-racism.

 

We decided to try this for December, with each Sunday anti-racism moment from another group (Community to Community, Immigrant rights, Native American connections, and Black Lives Matter) as an experiment.

 

-       Charter. Our new charter is nearly complete, based on discussions during the retreat. It includes a new list of activities we wish to address over the next three years. It is attached to these minutes. Also attached is the anti-racism minute given to the congregation the Sunday following the retreat.

 

-       New facilitator(s). Cat will be moving to Tacoma in the spring and asked to be replaced as a facilitator of the group. She would like someone named soon so she can pass on all the records accumulated over the past four years.

 

-       Meeting with Paul. David would like to begin the twice yearly meetings with Rev. Paul and BUF staff to discuss what we are planning, what we need from them and what they need for us.

 

Next Program Meetings on Zoom: 7 pm on both November 8 and Dec. 13

Next Business Planning Meeting on zoom:  Dec 6, 6 pm

AntiRacism Minute 10/31/21 - Lauralee Carbone

 

Good morning,

I’m Lauralee Carbone and I’m a member of the BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team. We meet for business on the 1^st Monday of each month and for our programming on the 2^nd Monday of each month via zoom, and we’d love to see you log on! Together, we will listen to and discuss, “The Vanishing of Harry Pace,” a RadioLab podcast. The Vanishing of Harry Pace is a series about the phenomenal but forgotten man who changed America. Harry Pace founded Black Swan Records, in 1920. It was Motown before Motown; it launched the career of Ethel Waters, inadvertently invented the term rock n roll, inspired Ebony and Jet magazines, and helped desegregate the South Side of Chicago in an epic Supreme Court battle. Then, Harry Pace disappeared.

In addition to providing these AntiRacism Moments each week to raise the consciousness of our congregation, our charter also reminds us to reach out to the community at large to raise Bellingham and beyond’s consciousness. We did this recently when we gathered funds and bought 10 copies of Heather McGhee’s book, THE SUM OF US, to make a book kit at our local library. What struck me most about this book is its emphasis on the economic impact of the entire economy, not just black lives, when racism prevails. She illustrates with example after example the core dysfunction of our democracy and the moral crises that grip us all. It’s a story of how public goods in this country--from parks and pools to schools--have become private luxuries. She talks of the benefits we gain when people come together across race to accomplish what we simply can’t do on our own. She analyzes how when we are divided we are self-destructive, materially rich but spiritually starved and vastly unequal, through humble stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, leaving us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than a zero-sum game.

Thank you,

AntiRacism Minute 10/24/2021 - Rose

 ANTIRACISM MINUTE (edited from October 24)

 

​Good morning.  I am Rose Edington, a retired UU minister, happy to be here today!

​During the Black Lives Matter planning retreat (Saturday, October 12), we discussed the question – do we still need the Antiracism Minute? 

​The short answer is --  Yes!

​The longer answer is – Yes, but, we’re wondering if they need to be part of every Sunday service. 

​It’s good to wonder.  Meanwhile, I’ll share my experience as a relative newcomer to BUF.  When you started sharing antiracism minutes, you didn’t know who would show up at BUF with ears thankful to hear them.

​You didn’t know me from Eve when I showed up and greatly appreciated this special minute of this service.  You can’t tell from looking at me that I am part of a multicultural family, and that your minute immediately helped me feel more welcome and willing to be involved here.

​I am delighted to know that the full name of the group responsible for this minute is the Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team. It tells me that this is a congregation where ministry is not left only to the professionals, but that everyone is involved in mutual ministry.  One area that most easily involves everyone in mutual ministry is in welcoming those who come through the door—or these days onto the zoom screen. 

​UU religious professional CC Beal captured what a lot of us feel when it comes to practicing the ministry of welcoming, especially as we work on living up to our first principle to respect the worth and dignity of every person, and the covenant to create beloved community.

Beal said – assume who you want to welcome is here already.  If you’re acting like they are, they’re more likely to feel welcome because you are ready for them. 

​With your antiracism minute I felt like you were committed to having a family like mine feel welcome before we ever showed up. Yet, as a retired UU minister, I am aware that congregational dynamics and emphases change over time.  To my very affirming -- Yes, this minute is needed -- I also add: 

​We need to consider if other kinds of BUF ministries need a minute.

​Yes, it is okay to designate a specific Sunday or two a month to the antiracism minute and to hear voices from other ministries going on in this vibrant, caring congregation.

​As the months unfold and I feel less of a newbie, I’m excited to see what happens as together, we widen the circle and deepen our commitment to beloved community – affirming one another on the journey and welcoming those yet to come.

​Thank you.

(If this doesn’t sound exactly like what you heard Sunday morning, that’s because it isn’t.  Most of it is, but I’m taking personal editorial privilege to leave out antiracism training information that can be found elsewhere and to recognize my awareness of ongoing discussion around the minute.)

AntiRacism Minute 10/17/21 - Cat McIntyre

 Good morning, I’m Cat McIntyre, a member of BUF Black Lives Matter. Yesterday, we had a Black Lives Matter retreat to assess where we have come and envision where we are going. I’m going to share with you our conclusions, which are a message of love and hope to all of BUF. 

When we began giving anti-racism minutes, then known as e-racism minutes, we were sharing what we were learning about the reality of our racist society, essentially a process of consciousness raising. At this point, we recognize that consciousness at BUF has risen, significantly. The congregation passed the Beloved Community Covenant overwhelmingly, a large number of members attended Widening the Circle, and they are now engaged in several action groups. We are not just anti-racism, but anti-oppression, aiming to embrace each member of our Beloved Community and welcome new members.

Our BUF covenant states that love is the spirit of our fellowship, that we embrace diversity and are joined by a quest for truth. Widening the Circle provided a blueprint of how we have change to ultimately become a fully inclusive, antiracism multicultural organization in a transformed society. We have the blueprint, but a blueprint is not a finished product. We have work to do, together, to acheive Beloved Community. We are encouraged that society appears be moving in the same direction, despite pushback from those who do not want to change. We hold strongly to our hope that democracy will survive and evolve, and that Unitarian Universalism will be both a leader and a sanctuary in that evolution.

We believe that BUF will change, and in the coming months we each will share our personal spiritual experience of how we have changed. We encourage other members, not just Black Lives Matter members, to describe in future anti-racism moments, how their spirits are transforming. We are sure that these spiritual messages will encourage and sustain our fellowship. We will do this, together, because love and the quest for truth unite us.

Anti Racism Minute 10/10/21 - Mike Betz

 Anti-racist minute

 

My daddy had an expression ‘common sense is not common’.

 

We live in a racist society. On a recent bike ride through the Lummi reservation one of the members wondered why the Lummi were not more successful. The assumption is that the Lummi have the same opportunities as locals in Bellingham.

 

A friend who is a medical doctor suggested that reading books will make you anti-racist. I am beginning to think that is another example of white privilege. 

 

I learned in catholic school to not inform on myself as it will be used against me. I will violate that this morning.

 

One of the most embarrassing and disappointing moments in my life, I was watching a film about the effect of the aids epidemic in Africa. On screen were these very large black women. My response was immediate and visceral, recalling the cartoons of my childhood in which Africans were portrayed as sub human. When these grandmothers began to speak about raising their grandchildren because their children had died of aids, my disappointment with myself was immediate. My conscious became aware of my unconscious.

 

I did share this event with another individual, and it confirmed the lesson of not informing on myself.

 

So what are the lessons? Am I a racist?

 

Do we judge behavior that is conscious or subconscious or both?

 

How many facts if any are required before we label someone as a racist.

 

What is it about our society that we can judge someone as good or bad over one event?

 

Thank you.

Business Meeting Minutes

 BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team

Minutes – October 4, 2021 Business/Planning Meeting

 

Present:  Mike Betz, Lauralee Carbone, Rose Edington, Naomi, Gary, Amoret Heise, Tom Kirchner and Cat McIntyre

 

Anti-Racism Minutes:  

         Oct. 10      Mike Betz, Informs on himself

         Oct. 17      Cat McIntyre, Gerrymandering/Census – Invite to do anti-racism minutes

         Oct. 24      Rose Edington, United Nations Day

         Oct. 31      Lauralee Carbone, The Sum of Us

 

The speaker should remember to alert the person running the service on or before the Wednesday before the service that they will give the anti-racism minute at the service. Also, send the script of their minute after the service to Lauralee Carbone and Deb Cruz to publish in Midweek Update and on blog.

         

Program Meeting.  October 11, Final episode of “Amend” – Promise, concerning immigration. Mike Betz will be discussion leader.  For November, we will listen together to a RadioLab podcast, “The Vanishing of Harry Pace,” on Zoom.  

 

Anti-Racism Training Update. Tom Kirchner showed flyer that will be distributed to all three congregations for two trainings in early 2022. Deb Cruz is looking at another grant ($3000) to add to the funds to pay two trainers. If BUF gets the grant, participation might be free. Whether trainings will be in person or on zoom is yet to be determined.

 

BLM MAT Retreat.  Annual retreat for the Black Lives Matter Ministry Action team on October 16, 12-4 pm, in the library. Our major tasks are: 1) establish our baseline for the Beloved Community audit, using the rubric and continuum; and 2) review the charter renewal (see attachments). We will also have some fun and some cupcakes. Lauralee: Brainstorm on anti-racism minutes (pro/con); Cat: micro-aggression role play ala Beloved Conversations (look at You-Tube, too); Staple Singers If You’re Ready, Come/Go with Me. Cat will send out email invitations to 46 people on BLM address list on October 5. Cat and David will invite personally: Jan Krouskop, Judy Kasper, Clare Lending and Murray Bennett.

 

Next Program Meetings on Zoom: October 11 and November 8

Next Business Planning Meeting on zoom:  Nov 1, 6 pm

Annual Retreat: October 16 12-4 pm at BUF

 

Respectfully submitted

Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator

BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team

 

Attachments:     1) Anti-Racism rubric 

                            2) Anti-Racism continuum

                            3) BLM MAT charter    

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.