Statement Regarding UUA Grant

from the Black Lives of UU Organizing Collective

The Black Lives of UU organizing collective seeks to connect, support, and build community among Black folks in our denomination. With the often difficult experiences of the Black UUs that came before us in our minds and hearts, we thoughtfully considered ways the UUA could partner with us to help better support our UU Black community in these revolutionary times. We invited the UUA to partner with us both financially and institutionally, and our invitation was received with warmth and openness.

We celebrate our UUA Board’s confidence in our efforts to organize, enrich and support Black Unitarian Universalists at this pivotal moment in our association, in the Movement for Black Lives, and in our country. This is an affirmation of our work over the last ten months, including the creation of the 7 Principles of Black Lives, our monthly appearances on the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s VUU, and faith-wide statements and calls to action.

Specifically, we requested grant funding to assist Black Unitarian Universalists who wished to attend this year’s General Assembly in Columbus, OH, and to lay the foundation over the next year for a national convening of Black Unitarian Universalists. On May 13, UUA President Rev. Peter Morales notified us that the UUA Board approved a grant of $60,000 to support Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism. It is with gratitude that we acknowledge this growing partnership with the UUA leadership.

While the UUA Board has committed these funds to Black Lives of UU, the grant itself will be funded directly from the Special Collection that will be taken at General Assembly 2016 in Columbus, OH. We ask that attendees give generously to exceed the $60,000 grant.

While we were aware of the need for support for Black UUs to attend GA, the response was overwhelming and swift. Over 65 Black UUs contacted us for assistance with registration, transportation and housing costs from 22 states. Two-thirds of respondents have never been to GA before and half would be unable to attend GA without our support.

It is an exciting time to be Unitarian Universalist, and with this bold action the UUA Board underscores its intention to have its stated priorities align with how the Association’s resources are allocated. While this is a good step forward, continued and consistent engagement is equally important from both the UUA and our entire faith community.

This support also sends a powerful signal to Black Unitarian Universalists that General Assembly is a place where we fully and unapologetically belong. This, in turn, creates more space for all Unitarian Universalists of goodwill to find their way home inside our liberal religious movement. For full details of BLUU programming at GA please visit blacklivesuu.com.

We look forward to continuing partnership with the UUA Board and other bodies in our faith as Unitarian Universalists work toward making justice real in our world. We are excited about expanding both the role of Black people within Unitarian Universalism and the reach of our UU faith in the Movement for Black Lives.

We invite all justice-minded UUA General Assembly 2016 attendees to participate in our Black Lives of UU workshop track and the Closing Celebration. We encourage everyone to access resources before and after GA via our website, BlackLivesUU.com.