​Since it became seated in spring of 2024, the Saint Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission has created its own bylaws; developed sub-committees, work plans, and budget; hosted community listening sessions; and set the course for its next big steps: a Harms Report and a legislative proposal. The Harms Report will underlie future recommendations for repair and redress. The contract for production is being awarded this fall, and delivery of the Harms Report to the Commission is requested by the end of 2026. 

The Slavery Disclosure and Redress Ordinance (SDRO) will likely be proposed to Saint Paul City Council this year. Slavery Disclosure acts require that companies who wish to apply for government contracts investigate their history, and that of predecessors and acquisitions, for any links to slavery and the slave trade before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. In addition to companies that directly benefitted from the labor of enslaved persons, businesses like financial institutions and insurance companies that engaged in holding or transferring enslaved persons as assets or providing loans for their purchase, would also be required to investigate their records. Companies must then file an affidavit about their findings. Depending on how the ordinance is written, consequences for records of links to slavery must be disclosed to the municipality, and continued pursuit of a city contract might require public disclosures and hearings, programmatic support and/or financial contributions. Insufficient investigations or false affidavits could result in legal action or being barred from future contracts. 

SDROs have been enacted in other municipalities — Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, and more, as well as at the state level in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Connecticut. 

Members of Unity’s Racial Justice Team, and more recently the Board’s Reparations Committee, have attended monthly meetings of the Commission as a show of support and as an opportunity to develop personal and institutional relationship with the Commission. Quietly observing their policy work is a far cry from the “hard work of antiracism” as stated in our new ends, but we are preparing to learn, together with the Commission, what will be requested of white allies who commit to standing with them as their recommendations become actionable. The SDRO proposal will be the first public act of the Commission aimed at establishing accountability for historic acts of oppression that enriched the bottom line of enterprises now doing business in Saint Paul. 

We don’t know what kind of blowback the proposal might generate. The Commission will be asking for signatures of support from individuals and organizations to accompany the ordinance proposal to City Council. Most of us are probably comfortable adding a signature to a list of supporters and asking our City Councilperson to back a measure. Are we as willing to take it to the next level and ask organizations in our networks, or our workplace, to add their names in support of the SDRO? 

Learn from representatives of the Commission and Unity’s Board and Racial Justice Team at Wellspring Wednesday on October 1.

Maura Williams: What’s the role of a ministry team in a faith community with a strongly voiced commitment to racial justice? How do we advance justice, wholeness, and equity, or dismantle dominant culture, as stated in our congregational Ends? Where should we start?

After reflecting on these questions, gathering input from stakeholders, and discerning an authentic path forward, the Racial and Restorative Justice Team has been reimagined as the new Racial Justice Ministry Team (RJMT). We are back with refreshed commitment to our work. 

Statement of Purpose:
Justice can be defined as love made public. We focus on how to dismantle white dominant culture by expanding our individual and congregational capacity to center relationship and love as foundational to our work in the world. We see this as the first step before the hard work needed to achieve racial justice. The RJMT brings the double helix to life, integrating spiritual and antiracism practices within and among, so we can step into courageous action in the beyond. 

Our initial efforts this spring follow two pathways.

1. Energized by a Racial Justice Team Circle conversation, Maura Williams, Clover Earl and Angela Wilcox continued talking about how we collectively could better understand the ways that abstractions like "racial inequity" and "dominant culture" inhabit our everyday experiences. As a result, we are excited to host two Urgency of Awareness Workshops on Saturday, April 19, and May 10, from 9:00 a.m. to noon with Jodi Pfarr, consultant, podcast host, and author of the book The Urgency of Awareness. 
   
   In a society that categorizes and labels people, those of us who benefit from privilege are often unaware of how our social system consistently favors some over others. This disparity seems to broaden daily. Jodi will challenge perceptions of our and others’ experience and offer tools to help us be more present and effective in our multicultural communities. Registration is required by April 6. Participants will receive a complimentary copy of the book; childcare will be provided. Follow-up circle conversations on April 29 and May 14 will explore how the workshop concepts impact our experience. 
2. We are committed to cultivating relationships with people in the wider community. Ray Wiedmeyer and I have attended most monthly meetings of the Saint Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission. Watch for more about this and other RJMT community work in the next months. 

Angela Wilcox: Jodi Pfarr facilitated a training about identity and awareness at my school several years ago, and the impact was immediate: her model helped us understand the way our identity changes the way we do our work, without the shame that can sometimes put people on the defensive. The simplicity of this model, along with her humor and gifted storytelling, makes her the most effective trainer on this topic I’ve worked with. I’m excited to experience how Jodi can help prepare us for our work beyond the walls of Unity, equipped with tools to help us better understand our own identity and approach commitment to our community with greater intention.

Clover Earl: Since resigning from the Board of Trustees last year, I have been in search of a place here at Unity Church to call home, and recently joined the RJMT. In my five years on the board, we had myriad conversations about dismantling white supremacy culture in support of our aspirational multicultural end. We used Tema Okun’s characteristics of White Supremacy Culture to challenge ourselves to take note of how we, as individuals, were showing up and behaving in our monthly board meetings. 

Turning the spotlight on or own behavior is both uncomfortable and courageous work. In the weeks since January 20, our world has turned inside out and upside down. Chaos rules the day. It seems urgent that we as a congregation continue the identity work begun with Team Dynamics and challenge ourselves to deepen our understanding of how to connect across difference. It is my experience that doing this work in community, with the support of those qualified to guide us, like Jodi Pfarr, is well worth the investment in time. We would be delighted to see you at the workshops this spring! 

Notes:

• Register for the Urgency of Awareness workshops
• Learn more about Jodi Pfarr
• Visit the White Supremacy Culture website
• Revisit the Team Dynamics workshops at Unity Church on the “Antiracist Multicultural” playlist on the Unity YouTube channel

These two questions—what do we do and how do we do it?—are central to the conversation surrounding reparations to Indigenous communities and nations for treaties broken and land stolen. Several years ago when members of Unity Church-Unitarian began a conversation with Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs (Mohican) of Healing Minnesota Stories about efforts to restore and maintain Indigenous language, culture, and land, the idea of “land back” remained elusive, something we would figure out years from now. However, today reparations can take on many forms well beyond the singular view of returning the land on which Unity sits to a Dakota community and leasing it from them.

The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and its Repair Network are spearheading efforts to pass a surtax on Minnesota real estate sales to support Indian programs run by Indian people. The proposal is called the Indian Recovery Act or IRA. Here is an overview of the plan to be introduced during Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session:

• Concept: A fund financed by a 0.05 percent surtax on all real estate transactions.
  Example: a $250,000 sale generates $125.
• Potential yield: $25-40 million accrued annually, based on sales of recent years.
• Beneficiaries: Any and all of Minnesota Indian communities.
• Potential uses: Renewal of language and culture; education; health services; purchase of land; community and heritage centers.
• Proposals: Any Minnesota Indian nation or organization may submit proposals to an oversight board.
• Administration: The Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF), a national, community-based organization serving American Indian nations and people, based in Minnesota.
• Process: Build support among Indian tribes, individuals, religious and other organizations via informational presentations and volunteer activities.

​This proposal is the culmination of work by Dakota and Ojibwe tribal councils and their allies. Originally intended to be introduced during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session, the parties involved determined the original bill needed some tweaking, and would fare better during a non-election year. The delay gives us extra time to help build support for the IRA. For additional information, contact the Repair Network’s Legislative Team at [email protected] or call 612-440-4526. They are looking for volunteers to speak at churches and other faith communities, write letters of support, testify before legislative committees (when the time comes), and other tasks that will move the IRA forward.

As Che-Espinoza, one of my pillars of spiritual foundation, writes: