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Justice for George: Community Resources and Message from Unity's Beloved Community Staff Team

5/29/2020

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Where to donate money and resources (locally organized ground support):
  • Minnesota Freedom Fund
  • Minnesota Youth Collective
  • Reclaim the Block
  • Black Visions Collective
  • NAACP Legal Defense Fund
  • Black Lives Matter and BLM - What you can do
  • Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
  • Unicorn Riot (providing on the ground reporting)
  • Northstar Health Collective (medics): donate through Paypal at northstarhealth@gmail.com
  • MIGIZI
  • Rebuild Lake Street
  • ​Support El Colegio High School
  • United Renters for Justice

Current needs and information about direct action/protests:
  • Unitarian Universalists of the Twin Cities (Facebook Page): Updated with information about actions and ways to be involved.
  • Take Action Minnesota is a statewide, independent, multiracial people’s organization working to advance democracy and equity through organizing, political action, and campaigns.
  • Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association (Facebook Page): Posting updates and information about clean-up help and support for the neighborhood around the 3rd Precinct.
  • Summit University Planning Council (Facebook Page): Posting updates and information about clean-up help and support for the Unity's Summit-U neighborhood.
  • Hamline Midway Coalition (Facebook Page): Posting updates and information about clean-up help and support for the Hamline/Midway neighborhood.
  • Union Park District Council (Facebook Page): Posting updates and information about clean-up help and support for the Union Park neighborhood.
  • Minnesota Youth Collective (active medical and supply needs, updated several times/day). Be sure to click on the tabs across the bottom as there are many different ways to donate/respond. Twitter: @seanlimMN (MN Youth Collective)

​Anti-Racism Learning Resources:
  • Beloved Community News, resources from Unity Church
  • Anti-Racism Resources
  • Bearing Witness: The Death of George Floyd
  • The Seeing White Podcast (14 episodes)
  • The Conscious Kid
  • Resources for Talking about Race, Racism and Racialized Violence with Kids
​CLICK HERE for Lift Every Voice and Sing, today's music message from Ahmed Anzaldúa.
ahmed playing piano
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Steps Taken on a Journey of Life Long Learning

5/28/2020

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Ray Wiedmeyer
Ray Wiedmeyer, On Behalf of the Beloved Community Communications Team

The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI, https://idiinventory.com), developed by Mitchell R. Hammer, professor of international peace and conflict resolution at American University, assesses intercultural competence as the capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. To help us grow our ability to be an anti-racist, multicultural spiritual community, a number of key ministry groups at Unity Church are being invited to take the IDI. As part of a series of articles about the IDI, Ray Wiedmeyer, a member of the Beloved Community Communications Team, shares what he learned from the IDI and how he determined to increase his cultural competency. If you are interested in taking the IDI, please email Drew Danielson at drew@unityunitarian.org.

Back in the early 1970s, I spent a semester abroad in Malaysia as a college student. Classes consisted of Malay language study, Eastern Religions, a hands-on Asian Textile course, Psychology of Adjustment and included a month of travel in Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan. That semester of college was one of the most exciting of my whole college education. I was suddenly immersed in a world that was totally different from my world back in America. Everything from food, to housing, to government, to religion was totally “not” the culture I had grown up in or was used to. My return home months later was filled with culture shock. I suddenly saw things in my environment that I had never really seen before.

In 2016 I took the IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory) for the first time at Unity Church as part of the Mid-America Mosaic Makers Conference. Prior to taking it, I would have told you that I thought I was a pretty culturally well-rounded person. After all, not only had I traveled world-wide in the years since college, but I also had friends and acquaintances from a variety of cultures. It was a surprise then when the IDI rated my intercultural skills as firmly in the center of the Intercultural Development Continuum, also known as Minimization.

It left me in a bit of a quandary. What was I missing? The competency they spoke of was something I wished I had. I saw it as a necessity if we really want a world where everyone is treated as an equal and true justice is achieved. Our Unitarian principles are just words if I’m not working on a becoming a better me; a person moving in the world in such a way as to not ignore or negate others.

After taking the IDI the first time, I set up a one-on-one conversation with a qualified administrator. We went over those first results and she suggested some activities I might work on. One of those activities, I remember, was keeping an intercultural journal. This was a place where I “might reflect on cultural differences and commonalities I observe in my daily interactions with people from other cultural groups.” I remember doing this for several months and feeling more and more aware of those interactions as they came up.

I also continued to volunteer at Mano a Mano, where work activities here in the U.S. and my occasional trips down to Bolivia gave me frequent real-life practice interacting with that culture. I began to look for, and engage more fully in, the cross-cultural friendships I already had. I took part in events sponsored by Unity Church where I was immersed in the discussion of white privilege.

I began to read more about American racial history and I traveled to Africa to learn more about slavery. I found myself becoming more and more conscious of the white culture I was constantly swimming in and how it kept me from seeing and acknowledging that there were other ways of seeing the world. And last but not least, I worked on staying present when my cultural view of the world was being questioned or challenged.

Recently, I took the IDI again. I believe it was the third time and I was glad to see that I had made some measurable progress. I believe it was what I had been working on the past four to five years that had moved me on the continuum, hopefully making me more competent in my interactions with other cultures. 
​
Yes, I’ve made progress but I’ve also become aware of how much I still need to learn, so I am not about to end this life-long journey anytime soon.

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    Beloved Community Staff Team

    The Beloved Community Staff Team (BCST) strengthens and coordinates Unity’s antiracism and multicultural work, and provides opportunities for congregants and the church to grow into greater intercultural competency. We help the congregation ground itself in the understanding of antiracism and multiculturalism as a core part of faith formation. We support Unity’s efforts to expand our collective capacity to imagine and build the Beloved Community. Here, we share the stories of this journey — the struggles, the questions, and the collaborations — both at Unity and in the wider world.
     
    The current members of the Beloved Community Staff Team include Rev. Kathleen Rolenz, Rev. KP Hong, Barbara Hubbard, Drew Danielson, Laura Park, Rev. Karen Gustafson, Angela Wilcox, Pauline Eichten, and Erika Sanders. 
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  • Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Building Tour
    • Directions and Parking
    • Pathway to Membership
    • Our Beliefs
    • Visiting Sunday Services
    • Welcome
  • Worship
    • Memorial Services
    • Music Ministry
    • Sunday Services
    • Sunday Offering
    • Worship Associates
  • Grow
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Art Lives at Unity Church
    • Artist in Residence
    • Cairns
    • Gender + Faith Retreat
    • Library-Bookstall
    • Religious Education for Children and Youth
    • Spiritual Practice
    • Theological Themes
    • Wellspring Wednesday
    • Youth Musical
  • Act
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    • Next Right Action
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