Because We Believe

The Charter for Racial Justice Workshop

by Jane Baker

River Valley District President

 

One Assembly Workshop brought together members of the North Central Jurisdiction to advance conversation on racial justice education. With about 60 participants in total, delegates from each conference sat together.

The workshop, “Because We Believe—the Charter for Racial Justice,” started with introductions during which each attendee shared the name of someone who had influenced their thoughts on racial justice. Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, Theressa Hoover, and Kamala Harris were among the well-known influencers. I named River Valley District officer Liz Weninger.

Liz worked and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960’s. When I heard her speak at our district’s Spring Gathering (see photo above), I learned how much experience and knowledge she has about racial justice.

After workshop introductions, participants were encouraged to discuss their respective conference’s member education efforts regarding the Charter for Racial Justice.

Using provided discussion prompts, each table captured their observations on poster paper. These were then presented to the group by conference representatives.

The questions we were given to discuss included:

• Are you starting from scratch? What work has your conference done already? What changes have you implemented?
• Do you have a Charter committee? If so, is it functioning well?
• Have you held events related to the Charter commitments of 1.5+ hours? If so, do you feel those events helped your Conference grow, progress, transform? How often do those events happen?
• Is your leadership inclusive and reflective of your membership? And is your membership inclusive and reflective of your community? Is CON seeking diverse candidates for leadership?
• Are you honoring all cultures/languages represented in your gatherings? If so, how?
• How many people do you notice talking about racial justice? Is racial justice perceived to be the work of a “few of us” or “all of us”?
• What would you celebrate about your current work? Where are the roadblocks/barriers you’re experiencing?

The delegates from the Minnesota Conference discussed three of the discussion questions and summarized their observations:

 

Energized by this exercise, conference teams will be able to continue the discussions and generate ideas about how to further their quest for implementing the Charter.

As United Women in Faith in Minnesota, we must continue to seek racial justice in all of our activities and in the world.

This work remains at the core of our identity as United Women in Faith. Why?