The Racial Justice Team supports First Parish’s efforts in focusing on justice concerns with reflection and awareness, education, and action for both BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and White Allies. We 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 oppression in ourselves and our institutions. All persons are invited to create a widening space for justice, as a central tenet of our shared UU faith, to grow in our individual and collective lives.

A beginning list of resources is provided below and has been shared by individuals within our community.

Website, Books, Programs.

Website

• 21 Day Challenge, https://debbyirving.com/21-day-challenge/
• 8CantWait https://8cantwait.org/
• Allies for Racial Equity  https://www.uuare.org/
• Association of Black Citizens of Lexington https://www.abclex.org/
• Black Lives Matter Boston https://blacklivesmatterboston.org/
• Black Lives UU  https://www.blacklivesuu.com/
• Campaign Zero https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
• Color of Change https://colorofchange.org/
• DRUUM (Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries) https://www.uua.org/offices/organizations/druumm
• Mashpee Tribal News https://mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov/the-news
• Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, Inc.  http://www.mcnaa.org/
• Movement for Black Lives https://m4bl.org/
• Native American Mascots bill- MA http://maindigenousagenda.org/amend-the-mascots-bill/?fbclid=IwAR2H7C1KE7uqAjHU2c1hdvlDPdzeNpwHSrWowyqqlvcIpkXVSTAOBVjWpBU
• Native American resources (antiracism and more)  https://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2020/06/anti-racism-including-indigenous-first.html?fbclid=IwAR2uYcUbD2oLMgdZfK12k5KGM1fsxRiQ32mh77kWGnS6juaYd1f6vu8CA7Q
• Poor Peoples’ Campaign https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/   and MA  state campaign https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/committee/massachusetts/
• Racism 101  https://surjpoliticaledsite.weebly.com/racism-101.html
• Reconsider Columbus day.org video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il5hwpdJMcg&feature=youtu.be
• Showing Up for Racial Justice’s Anti-Racism Education  https://www.surjboston.org/antiracism-education
• Talking about Race-Becoming an Antiracist https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/being-antiracist
• The Water Protector Legal Collectivehttps://waterprotectorlegal.org/water-protector-prisoners/
• The White Ally Toolkit https://www.whiteallytoolkit.com/  and Equipping Antiracism Allies
• UU Mass Action https://www.uumassaction.org/  
• UU The Eighth Principle of Unitarian Universalism https://www.8thprincipleuu.org/background
• UU The Vote https://www.uuthevote.org/get-involved
• UUA Doctrine of Discovery and what local UUs are doing https://www.uua.org/racial-justice/
• UUA Indigenous Peoples Day   https://www.uua.org/racial-justice/dod/indigenous-day
• UUA Love Resists Campaign (UUA/UUSC) https://www.uua.org/loveresists
• UUA Racial Justice resources (a lot) https://www.uua.org/racial-justice
• UUA Side with Love https://www.uua.org/action/love  
• UUSC (UU Service Committee) initiatives https://www.uusc.org/initiatives/ 
• UUUM (UU Urban Ministry)  http://www.uuum.org/   
• UUUM Racial Justice Resources http://www.uuum.org/?page_id=6446 
• Wampanoag Sovereignty News Article https://kingston.wickedlocal.com/news/20200609/judge-rules-in-favor-of-mashpee-tribe  

Books

Many of these books are available through the Cary Memorial Library.

• Many important sources at In Spirit, our UUA bookstore-  Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism site: https://www.uuabookstore.org/Anti-Oppression-Anti-Racism-C1356.aspx
• Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press, 2020.
• Banaji, Mahzarin R., and Anthony G. Greenwald. Blindspot: Hidden biases of good people. Bantam, 2016.
• Barber, Rev. Wm. J. The third reconstruction: How a moral movement Is overcoming the politics of division and fear. Beacon Press, 2016.
• Bayoumi, Moustafa. How does it feel to be a problem?: Being young and Arab in America. Penguin, 2009.
• DiAngelo, Robin. White fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press, 2018. (Parish read Spring 2019)
• Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne.  An indigenous peoples’ history of the United States. Beacon Press, 2015.
• Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An indigenous peoples’ history of the United States for young people. Beacon Press, 2019.  (Parish read Spring 2020, High School AP level book)
• Gilio-Whitaker, Dina.  As long as grass grows: The indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock, Beacon Press,2020.
• Hong, Cathy Park. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning. One World, 2020.
• Jones, Nancy Palmer and Lin, Karin.   Mistakes and miracles: Congregations on the road to multiculturalism, Skinner House, 2019.
• Kendi, Ibram. Antiracist baby. Penquin, 2020.
• Kendi, Ibram.  How to be an antiracist. Random House, 2019.
• Kendi, Ibram Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America. Nation Books, 2016.
• Kimmer, Robin Wall. Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.
• Oluo, Ijeoma. So you want to talk about race. Seal Press, 2019.
• Ortiz, Paul. An African American and Latinx History of the United States. Vol. 4. Beacon Press, 2018.
• Saad, Layla F. Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor. Sourcebooks, Inc., 2020.
• Saini, Angela. Superior: the return of race science. Beacon Press, 2019.
• Singh, Annalese. The racial healing handbook: Practical activities to help you challenge privilege, confront systemic racism, and engage in collective healing. New Harbinger, 2019.
• Sue, Derald Wing. Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race. Wiley, 2016.
• Takaki, Ronald. A different mirror: A history of multicultural America (Revised edition). eBookIt. com, 2012. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ronald-takaki/a-different-mirror/9780316022361/  (classic)
• UUA, Widening the circle of concern: Report of the Commission on Institutional Change. 2020.
• Villanueva, Edgar. Decolonizing wealth: Indigenous wisdom to heal divides and restore balance. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018.

Programs

• Dismantling Racism- Lexington. This consists of approximately six classes with a small group of Lexington people to learn about racism and how to become an ally and/or activist. Contact Katie O’Hare Gibson or Debbie Armstrong for more information or to sign up for the next series of classes.

Please reach out to our team at any time.  

July 2020, compiled by Julie Tobin and JoAnn Mulready-Shick