In late April, Ken Wagner (see bio below), the president of UU Allies for Racial Equity, will visit UUCG to host two workshops on the Culture of White Supremacy. These events are free and open to the public. We invite you to join us for these important explorations.
Understanding the Culture of White Supremacy
April 28, 10:00am – 2:00pm
Facilitated by Ken Wagner, President of the UU Allies for Racial Equity
This workshop focuses on helping white people understand the racial component of their identity, and how to live with authenticity and integrity as a white person in a society grounded in white supremacy. It involves understanding the structural foundation of racism quite apart from the bigotry and discrimination that flows from individuals and how it exists almost independently of individual racist people. We will work through what the role of white people can or should be in racial justice movements, what our role in BLM might be, and what it means to be in solidarity with people of color and what it looks like to exhibit ally behavior. We’ll discuss situations and responses, i.e. things we commonly hear but are sometimes frustrated in responding to in an effective fashion.
Worship Service, Sunday, April 29
“Resisting White Supremacy: What’s In It for White People?”
Guest Speaker, Ken Wagner, UU Allies for Racial Equity
Service Leader, Rev. Jan Taddeo
How can I live with courage and integrity when the culture provides unearned benefits to me in my identities as white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied and middle class? How do I navigate the moral ambiguity if I live with some dominant identities and some targeted identities? Is it possible to find spiritual wholeness when those with those advantaged identities have perpetrated so much pain and suffering? How does one navigate the denial and guilt that attaches to those identities in order to stand in solidarity with those targeted for oppression?
Explore these questions as Ken Wagner shares part of his journey in grappling with these questions.
Followed by a workshop from 1:00 – 3:00 to explore these and other questions about the culture of white supremacy.
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Ken Wagner is former president of the Clara Barton District of the Unitarian Universalist Association and served for a while as the president of the District Presidents’ Association. He currently serves on the UUA’s Nominating Committee and was one of the founding members of the New England Region’s Antiracism/Anti-oppression/Multicultural Transformation team called GRACE. He has also served for the last nine years on the Executive Steering Committee of the Allies for Racial Equity and is currently the President of that organization.
Ken frequently conducts Sunday services on racism and white supremacy at congregations throughout New England and is a frequent speaker on this subject at church and community events. Since 2014, he has facilitated 8-week workshops focused on resistance to white supremacy at more than a dozen congregations and community groups across New England.