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GRACE Team


Growing Racial And Cultural Equity

Background     GRACE Team Members     Projects & Activities     Documents and Resources

Background

In August of 2006 the Board of Prairie Star District begain the work of claiming an anti-racist identity for our District. The Board recognized that changing institutions requires understanding structural levels and function and understanding the stages through which organizations move to become anti-racist.
The PSD Board began by engaging in a day long workshop on Equipping Institutions to Dismantle Racism facilitated by MCARI (Minnesota Collaborative Anti-Racism Initiative) on Friday August 25, 2006.

In 2007 the Board created what was orginally named the Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression/Multiculturalism (ARAOMC) Transformation Team.

The Team was asked

  • to research anti-racism work being done by other districts in the UUA
  • to identify the assistance and support available from various offices at the UUA as well as from other sources in our region
  • to create a plan for developing a systemic analysis of racism within the district
  • to develop a plan to educate the district member churches to become conscious of the ways in which the district documents, structures, and practices maintain privilege and access primarily for white people

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GRACE Team Members

  • Andrew Hanft, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames, Ames, IA
  • Kelley Hughes, MN Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Bloomington, MN
  • Clara Jacob, All Souls Church, Unitarian Universalist, Sioux Falls, SD
  • Cheryll Wallace, First Unitarian Church of Omaha, Omaha, NE (chair)
  • Nathan Woodruff, Unitarian Church of Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

For contact information, email the info [at] psduua [dot] org (PSD office) or see The PSD Directory. A password is needed to access The PSD Directory.

Our first meeting was in November 2007 in Ames, IA. While we had communicated by email, it was our first face to face meeting, and we spent time getting to know one another. We also spent time reviewing the Board’s expectations of the Team. We discussed the importance of having an understanding of how anti-racism work and multiculturalism intersect. To that end, we planned to have a facilitated training at our March 2008 meeting.
We also agreed that the name of the Team, Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression/Multiculturalism (ARAOMC) Transformation Team, was more cumbersome than we would prefer. After several rounds of email discussions and voting we decided on a new name and the Board agreed:

GRACE - Growing Racial And Cultural Equity

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Projects & Activities

Congregational Survey on Anti-Oppression Work
In January 2008 the Grace Team distributed a brief survey to each congregation or fellowship in the Prairie Starr District. The purpose of the survey was to compile an overview of the anti-oppression work being done in the District and to learn how the GRACE team could be of assistance. See the results of the Congregational Survey on Anti-Oppression Work.
Annual Conference 2008
The Grace Team sponsored a workshop entitled Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive, Multicultural Unitarian Universalism for All at the 2008 District Conference. Facilitated by GROUNDWORK (the Anti-Racism training and organizing program of Unitarian Universalist youth and young adults), the workshop was repeated during each session. The workshops were well attended and provided participants with the opportunity to learn, to listen, and to share their stories.
Annual Board Retreat 2008
Grace Team members attended the Board Retreat in August 2008. In preparation for the retreat, Board Members had agreed to read Grace team member Patricia Jimenez’s writing in the book SoulWork. At the retreat, Patricia lead the Board, the Program Council, and other Grace team members in facilitated discussion aimed at exploring how we see ourselves and one another in the context of race and culture.
2009 Pre-Conference GRACE Gathering #1
Grace Team will host the first Grace Gathering on Friday, April 4,2009 in Duluth, MN. Learn more about the GRACE Workshop.

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