Read this week’s newsletter here: The Weekly Liberal May 28

Rev. Jen Crow writes:

Dear ones,

It has been a long day here in Minneapolis, and we know that this long day started a long time ago. The violence inflicted on George Floyd by the Minneapolis police on Monday night may have started this most recent uprising, but the violence that has been inflicted on Minneapolis’ Black community has been going on for generations. Monday night’s murder is simply, and sadly, racism’s most recent public expression in our city and our state.

Many of you have been asking, “What can we do?,” and “How can we help?” This afternoon I attended an interfaith gathering of clergy at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on 38th Street. I listened as Black community leaders and clergy told us exactly what they needed. Here’s some of what they said:

Change the narrative. Shift the story from “I can’t breathe.” to “We can’t breathe.” When one of us is hurting, all of us are hurting. The violence did not begin on Wednesday night. The violence began on Monday night, when police killed George Floyd. 

Now is the time to put down our divisions and be together shoulder to shoulder in the struggle for justice. Black and Brown and White. Christian and Jew and Muslim. There is an evil afoot that is so sinister that it will try to divide us. Do not let it. Do not let yourself be separated from each other in this struggle for justice.

We must articulate our goals with one voice. The shared goals are these:

1. Sweep it up – get to work cleaning up the communities most impacted by the protests and the uprising.
2. Secure it up – provide physical presence between protesters and the police so that people can stay safe
3. Serve it up – provide food and resources to the communities most impacted

Rev. Jesse Jackson joined the group, and urged us to continue to protest until the police officers are charged. He also warned that we are dealing with a double threat, the threat of violence from the police and the threat of illness and death from contracting COVID-19. He urged everyone to protest with discipline, wearing masks and observing social distancing, so that we would not find the Black community and the protestors sick and dying in two weeks time. 

These are just a few of the requests from just a few of the Black leaders in our city. We know that we will all need to show up in this struggle for justice in the ways that are right for us. We also know that this is a time of grief and trauma for us all. None of us can breathe right now. So I want to remind you to do just that. To take the time to feel what you are feeling. To let yourself breathe deeply, to let your breath and your tears and your rage catch in your throat. To let the feelings flow through you. And when and if you find yourself ready to rise into action, here are a few ways to connect to this struggle:

• Faith leaders and protesters will be gathering tonight beginning at 5pm at Lake and Minnehaha
• People will be gathering in small self-organized groups to clean up the community
• If you identify as white, you can join Rev. Meg Riley and Rev. Ashley Horan and other UU faith leaders for a one hour online Zoom gathering tonight at 7pm for white people seeking to dismantle racism within themselves and in society 
• Look for ways to share your resources with the communities most impacted
• Join together in worship on Sunday at 10am, when we will gather as a whole church community to mourn and rage and find solidarity with each other

We believe that every person is whole and holy and worthy, each of us wanted and loved. This is the world we have imagined for generations, and this is the world we are building today. My heart breaks with yours today. May our hearts break open and reveal a new world of justice, just waiting to be born.

With love,
Rev. Jen