Topic: Beloved Community and Multiculturalism Wednesday, February 24, 10:30 am.

Racial Justice Conversation Link.
The 8PAT/Racial Justice Team discussions offer a safe place to learn together. You are welcome to forward this invitation to any individuals you think would be interested.

The resources for this conversation will only take 30-40 minutes to get through all of the videos and reading.

Proposed 8th Principle
“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.”

What does it mean to be multicultural?
“The multicultural person is someone who is intellectually and emotionally committed to the fundamental unity of all human beings while at the same time [recognizes], legitimizes, accepts, and appreciates the fundamental differences that lie between people from different cultures.” — Peter Adler

Ted Talk:  Chris Jackson, newly named editor-in-chief of Random House’s One World imprint  (20 mins)  One of the most powerful things that can happen to you when you read literature is to see yourself in the stories of others. But what happens when the stories we read share only one culture or worldview? Editor Chris Jackson shares five reasons why we need multicultural literature.

Multiculturalism from a UU perspective: Reading (2 mins)
Intercultural competency: “Developing intercultural competence is a self-reflective, intentional process focused on understanding patterns of difference and commonality between yourself (and your cultural group) and other culture group’s perceptions, values and practices. It is the intentional reflection on the cultural patterns of commonality and difference that will contribute to your intercultural competence development.” –Dr. Milton Bennett

Beloved Community: Origin of the phrase Beloved Community (reading, 5 mins)  Scroll a short way down the page to the header Beloved Community

UU Perspective on the Beloved Community
Beloved Community happens when people of diverse racial, ethnic, educational, class, gender, sexual orientation backgrounds/identities come together in an interdependent relationship of love, mutual respect, and care that seeks to realize justice within the community and in the broader world. It is the vision of people all over the world sharing the earth’s riches; eliminating poverty, hunger, and homelessness; eradicating racism, discrimination, and all forms of oppression; and solving disputes through peaceful reconciliation and nonviolent conflict resolution.

De-Centering Whiteness (Reading: 6mins)
Discussion Questions

1. What observations, aha’s or challenges came up for you related to the reading on decentering whiteness?
2. What images and/or feelings come up for you when you read the description of the Beloved Community?
3. In the TedTalk, What Multiculturalism Can Do For Everyone, he presents a perspective on multicultural storytelling.  How could these concepts translate to our antiracist work and a deeper understanding of the proposed 8th principle?