New Day Rising

On Saturday, January 26, I was in Fairfax, VA, at a regional UU conference called "New Day Rising." The conference focused on how congregations engage effectively in the work of anti-racism and dismantling white supremacy culture.
I made the trip to Virginia at the invitation of regional leaders, who asked me to participate in the afternoon program. As part of that, I was one of seven congregational leaders (or groups of leaders) to give seven-minute talks about something our congregations had struggled with or succeeded in. I got to brag about you.
My talk, entitled "Beyond the Banner," explained the process by which our congregation came to endorse the UUA General Assembly's 2015 statement on Black Lives Matter, how we chose to hang our banner, and what we have done since then.
I talked about the repeated thefts of our banner, and the response of the congregation to that vandalism. I talked about the willingness of Board leadership to respond to pushback from those in the community offended by our prophetic witness. And I talked about becoming community partners in the work of anti-racism.
So, what's next for us beyond the banner? I didn't go there in my talk, but there has to be a next chapter. Racism and white supremacy haven't been dismantled yet. How are you feeling called to address these issues in our society? The next chapter is yours to write.