| Program: | Journey Toward Wholeness, Boston, MA | | Contact(s): | The Reverend Melvin Hoover, Director for Faith in Action, Unitarian Universalist Association: (617) 742-2100 | | Purpose: | To build an anti-racist, multicultural, religious association which works to eradicate racism and all forms of oppression in institutions and in communities | | Background The Journey Toward Wholeness Initiative was adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly in June 1997. By a nearly unanimous vote, the 3,000 General Assembly delegates agreed to carry forward the vision and strategy suggested by the UUA Racial and Cultural Diversity Task Force. Program Operations
The Task Force report, entitled Journey Toward Wholeness 3/4 The Next Step: From Racial and Cultural Diversity to Anti-Oppression and Anti-Racist Multiculturalism, is the culmination of five years of work and research analyzing how institutional racism functions in the Unitarian Universalist movement. The report outlines specific ways to dismantle institutional racism through an intentional anti-racism transformation process. With the adaptation of the Task Force report, the UUA encouraged over 1,000 congregations, 24 districts, dozens of affiliate organizations and over 200,000 members to participate in anti-racism and anti-oppression programming, as well as to develop anti-racism transformation teams. The initiative assists Unitarian Universalist congregations and organizations to correctly identify their levels of diversity and anti-racism efforts through the use of a continuum that places organizations in one of six stages ranging from mono-cultural exclusive to anti-racist multicultural. The Journey Toward Wholeness Initiative provides congregations and organizations with resources, curricula, programming, training and consultations to move from stage to stage. The UUA has authorized staff and leadership to develop this programming, allocate resources and provide funding to promote the initiative. Outcomes and Significant Accomplishments Almost 400 Unitarian Universalist leaders and staff, and hundreds of congregations, have participated in anti-racism transformation trainings as a result of the initiative. The Board of Trustees, the UUA Executive Staff Council and several affiliate organizations, including the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, mandated anti-racism in their mission statement. Many UUA congregations are also participating in citywide and interfaith organizations committed to racial justice. |
