In January, over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, 24 members of our UUCA congregation joined 20 or so others from congregations across Ohio and beyond, to attend Jubilee III Anti-Racism Training—A Community Experience: Building Capacity to Dismantle Systemic Racism.
Jubilee Training was developed by Paula Cole Jones and was presented by her and colleagues Dr. Leon Spencer and Lutricia Callair. Jubilee has evolved over the last dozen or so years as UU’s work to embrace Beloved Community and to live into our 8th Principle. In 2020, UUCA adopted the 8th Principle.
We 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.
A portion of the training was dedicated to the history of racism, white supremacy and slavery in the United States. Many who attended were familiar with much of this history from school, other educational opportunities, or previous training.
If you were open and willing to see this history through a different lens, one that called on our UU principles and values; a lens that made clear our responsibility, especially as white people, in dismantling these systems of oppression, you walked away with a more personal investment in the true inherent worth and dignity of all.
What the training did not do, was lay out a plan for what was next or how exactly we would do this work. Taking those steps, figuring that out, that is where the real work begins.
The next Jubilee will be in April of 2024. We encourage all to attend, especially if you are interested in church leadership at some point. We will share registration information when it becomes available. There is a fee for the workshop; however, the 8th Principle Team offers scholarships to remove any financial barriers.
Here are some comments from recent attendees of Jubilee III:
Attending Jubilee was one of the highlights of my many years as a Unitarian Universalist and I strongly urge everyone in our congregation to have this experience. It will make you a better UU and a better person. Knowing about systemic racism on an intellectual level is one thing, but grappling with it on a gut, personal level in a challenging but supportive environment is far more transformative.
“If you are here to help us, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’. If you are here because your liberation is tied to ours, ‘Welcome. Let’s get started.’ Jubilee is helping me understand how the suppression of BIPOC and Indigenous people affects and hurts me and all of us. This work has opened my eyes and my heart to the definition of true community. I want to work for Liberation and Freedom for all of us.
While many of us have been endeavoring to bridge the racial gap for decades, Jubilee has facilitated all of us to get yet more serious—yet more committed—yet more focused—yet more understanding.
It turned out to be a truly transformational experience. I learned how slanting the narrative taught in schools has been happening on a much wider scale and much longer than many realized. It was an emotional experience to realize just how pervasive and intentional whitewashing the messaging has been since the arrival of our “founders” in 1619.
Talking and learning with others helps me to recommit to my own journey, and to ask what action I can take next. It challenged me to think about what more I can do personally and professionally to keep the conversations going, and to acknowledge the barriers and bias in my own communities. As a UU, I believe we have a responsibility to be out in front as models for moving forward. And we have a long way to go.
It exceeded my expectations despite being on Zoom! The format of lecture, small group discussion and meeting together on Sunday allowed me to do this in person with other UU’s. The facilitator’s approach seemed to encourage curiosity, so I found myself reflecting on my life experiences.