Racial Justice

Greetings NCNC Folk. I’d like to share both an update on the Black Wealth Builders resolution of 2023, as well as an invitation and a [loving] challenge. As you may recall, at our Annual Gathering in June, 2023, NCNC representatives from our churches voted affirmatively (with only one “no” vote) to support the Black Wealth Builders program, to encourage all Conference churches to consider learning about and engaging in the program, and to assign to the Conference Justice and Witness Team the role of implementing the Black Wealth Builders resolution. Following the Annual Gathering we held an orientation for a…

Racial Justice Training Most racial justice trainings focus primarily on increasing awareness, building understanding, and directing action for structural change. While education and action essential, information alone rarely transforms the embodied patterns through which racial harm continues to live in us, between us, and within our institutions. Racism is not only a social, historical, and structural reality—it is also an embodied and relational one. It lives in our nervous systems, our habits of protection, our reflexes, our fears, and the ways we move toward or away from one another across difference. These patterns live in us differently depending on our…

By Pastor Tomoko Murao-Fuse On February 25, a Day of Remembrance Interfaith Vigil was held outside the ICE Field Office in San Francisco. Organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI), the gathering was supported by many faith communities—including Sycamore Congregational Church—as well as Japanese American and Japanese community organizations. Faith leaders, community organizers, and members of many traditions came together in prayer, remembrance, and solidarity. The Day of Remembrance marks the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, signed on February 19, 1942, which led to the forced removal and incarceration of more than 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry (⅔…

By MeLinda LaViene On this day a childhood memory came to mind when I heard about the loss of Rev. Jesse Jackson. My grandmother was a caterer and house maid for Mayor Diane Feinstein. I can remember being on the campaign trail with my grandmother in San Francisco’s Nob Hill district; popping up an ironing board as our table setup and getting unregistered voters registered to vote. As Mayor Diane Feinstein exited her vehicle and began to speak with people another long black vehicle pulled up and out exited Rev. Jesse Jackson. He approached our ironing board table set up…

By Roy Mosley Have you heard that there is an organization within the UCC that supports and unites Persons of the African Diaspora in the United Church of Christ? Yes, there sure is. Whether you are a member of a predominantly African American UCC congregation or a Person of the African Diaspora worshipping at a UCC church, you are already a part of this wonderful organization called United Black Christians. United Black Christians (UBC) is an officially recognized organization (with voice AND vote) of the United Church of Christ. It represents lay and clergy persons who faithfully minister in the…

By Rev. Rhina Ramos, ACM Reverend Jorge Bautista is a prophet of our times. If the basic biblical definition of prophecy is transmitting a message from God, then Rev. Bautista’s testament of what justice looks like in the streets is exactly that: What God wants us to know about living out our faith. Many of us watched in horror the moment when Rev. Bautista was hit directly on his face by a blast of pepper spray fired by an ICE agent at close range. Rev. Bautista did nothing to provoke this abusive exercise of force. It is not the first…

By Rev. Kathryn Schreiber Pastor of Berkeley Chinese Community UCC The chorus of Lee Greenwood’s patriotic song, “God Bless the USA,” begins with: “I’m proud to be an American…” And this year, that sentiment lands differently, doesn’t it? We are proud of our nation and the inspiring stories of our ancestors, but we are also very troubled by decisions and actions made by those we’ve vested with authority; they have failed to represent our values and dreams for our children and their families. I’ve been remembering a Dorothy C Wong Senior Center field trip to Monterey Bay a few years…

Has your congregation made a commitment to racial justice? Maybe you are not sure where to begin. How about repairing wealth inequity? The Black Wealth Builders Resolution passed at the 2023 NCNC Annual Gathering. The resolution is based on a project launched by Arlington Community Church, United Church of Christ, in 2021, which provides zero-interest loans to first-time Black homebuyers for down payment assistance. Why choose to become a Black Wealth Builders Congregation? According to those working around issues of wealth disparity, “... for most Americans, a home is their major source of wealth. A home appreciates over time and…

At the 2023 NCNC UCC Annual Gathering, the collected body passed the Black Wealth Builders Resolution. The resolution is based on a project launched by Arlington Community Church, United Church of Christ, in 2021, which provides zero-interest loans to first-time Black homebuyers for down payment assistance. The resolution “...encourages the local churches within the conference to live out a faith-based belief in racial justice and to take intentional steps to put those beliefs into action by becoming a Black Wealth Builders congregation.” Similar to the Open and Affirming Congregation Designation, the Black Wealth Builders designation is one where the individual…