Our Silences Protect None of Us: A Testimony from Rev. Dr. Susan Newman Moore
The Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Organizing Collective (BLUU OC) supports, without equivocation, the Rev. Susan Newman Moore as she navigates the mistreatment she has unjustly received via the leadership of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, D.C. We feel anger, disgust, and hurt at the way she has been treated, and wish to provide space for her to tell her story about what’s happened.
Black Lives of UU’s 7th Principle reminds us of the importance of honoring the wisdom of our elders, and our 3rd Principle asks us to “be honest with one another by embracing direct, loving communication, and acknowledgment of all that we are and all that we hope to be.”
Rev. Susan, as we know her, has been a loving and supportive elder to the BLUU OC, lending us spiritual care, navigation through conflict, and humor-filled space to move through what is often so hard about being Black and Unitarian Universalist. She has done this in addition to serving the All Souls community with grace and care. Countless UUs, both folks of color and white, have told us about the positive impacts of her ministry on their lives. Information and clarity on the nature of complaints about her ministry have been vague. Lack of information is a telltale symptom of white supremacy culture.
With this video, we want to provide space for Rev. Susan to tell her story, rather than have staff at community meetings speak for her without her presence or consent. We believe that the community at All Souls, and all of us who have been nourished by her ministry, deserve answers and clarity. Additionally, Black clergy and religious professionals too often encounter hostility either from our UU congregations or, in some cases, the denomination’s larger procedures, structures and processes.
We are reminded here of words from bell hooks on page 49 of her book all about love: new visions:
“When [humans] punish each other for truth telling we reinforce the notion that lies are better. To be loving we willingly hear each other’s truth and, most important, we affirm the value of truth telling. Lies may make people feel better, but they do not help them to know love.”
We ask you now to listen to and grapple with Rev. Susan’s words, with her truth, and with the truth that, too often, our faith’s structures and churches, through secrecy and process, uphold white supremacy even as so many claim to be fighting it. We ask you to suspend your qualifications that testimony only come in certain formats, in certain ways, in certain channels. We ask you to listen with your whole heart and spirit and just listen. We know this may be uncomfortable, but we are asking you to pay attention to what has happened to one of our beloved Black women elder ministers. We urge you to resist the urge to critique form or content and yield to compassion and radical empathy in receiving this testimony. And know that there are many untold stories of similar hurt and harm simmering in our faith.
In faith and with clarity,
The Black Lives of UU Organizing Collective
