Editor's Note: Actions in Minneapolis have evolved rapidly over the past few days. Please read through to the postscript for the latest news regarding the 4th Precinct.

Having just returned from a weekend on the ground with Black Lives Matter-Minneapolis, I reaffirm my own expanded understanding of the term “Congregational Life”. In the two weeks since 24-year-old Jamar Clark was shot down by the police in the north part of the city, members of the surrounding community and activists of Black Lives Matter organized to shut down at least the front side of the Fourth Police Precinct and maintain an occupation. Like the kinds of congregations where Unitarian Universalists gather from week to week, this one deals with its share of opportunities and challenges along the way.
 
As I walked toward the barricade in front of the police precinct last Friday evening, I choked a bit from all the smoke in the air. The temperature had dropped, so several fire pits burned in that block of the four-lane street. Small bunches of people gathered around them, a criss-cross mix of college students, activists, neighbors, bystanders and clergy. Some people were looking to make donations, and others were asking for money. On Nov. 23, a small group of white supremacists began shooting at the gathered protesters, wounding five. The following night shots were also fired though fortunately no one was hit. 

I am well aware of the notion of, “Breathing While Black.” It’s code language that I have internalized. It’s code language that I have taught my daughter. It’s code language that I will teach my granddaughter. It means that the very color of our skin can get us in deep trouble. It can get us killed.

The other day I heard a new expression, “Walking While Trans.” That gave me pause. I know that my Black siblings are in danger of police brutality when walking while black. In addition to worrying about police brutality, our trans siblings are in danger of physical violence when they walk while trans. 

Within the context of extreme civil unrest in Burundi,  recently the Unitarian Church of Burundi (the Assemble Unitarien Chretian de Burundi) was attacked and ransacked,  withbullets fired into walls and doors and money stolen.  Members of the church were questioned by government officials who visited on a Sunday.  Two days ago the minister of the church, the Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana,  was arrested from the church at gunpoint, taken into police custody and interrogated severely, regarding the activities of his church. He was threatened with physical harm and death.  At the moment he remains in custody, with other members of the church also being questioned.   The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists, along with our member groups and partners around the world, is calling upon the Burundian government to cease these activities immediately, which we interpret as persecution for reasons of faith.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” is the most common question asked of parents-to-be. The answer to the question makes us think we can imagine the child’s life and the experiences the parents will have raising them. We are taught that knowing this will determine what presents to buy, what color to paint the nursery, and what yarn to choose for the baby blanket. In places like the United States since colonization, people have had two gender categories in which to place the people they met: boy or girl, male or female, woman or man. Every day, many of us define people according to a whole host of binaries: If we are male or female; If we are white or a Person of Color; If we are able-bodied or disabled; If we are cisgender or transgender and on and on.

Over the last two weeks, five Black churches in St. Louis County, Missouri have been attacked in incidents of arson. Luckily no one has been physically hurt but these terrifying and violent instances of backlash affirm the urgent need to show up and take action for racial justice today. UU Ministers have written the following letter to the members and friends of the impacted congregations. Click here to add your name and your own message of solidarity. If you would prefer to send your message via US Postal Service, you can send it to Rev. Julie Taylor PO Box 440091, St. Louis, MO 63144 who will deliver your note. The Standing on the Side of Love Campaign is in touch with UU ministers in the St. Louis area and will keep you updated with additional ways to support.