Building Beloved Community

BBC: Building the Beloved Community

The BBC centers its work around supporting and practicing the 8th Principle, a proposed addition to the 7 Principles that Unitarian Universalists currently covenant to uphold.

The 8th Principle

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying towards spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

Our Vision

The BBC team transforms the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis into a welcoming community for all, valuing each person for who they are and inviting each to bring their gifts of spirituality, love, and healing. We especially recognize those who are part of one or more oppressed groups and welcome their wisdom and experiences in accomplishing our vision.

Our Mission

  1. Embracing the 8th Principle, we seek spiritual liberation and justice by dismantling racism and other oppressions in ourselves, our UU institutions, and the broader community to which we belong.
  2. We will challenge UUCA members to go deeply within themselves to examine past beliefs and perceptions so each can learn about and understand the many forms of oppression in our society. The BBC will provide the training and tools to spread transformation throughout the entire congregation: teaching our white congregants to be trustworthy allies by offering opportunities to rethink U.S. history, examine white supremacist culture, and engage in discussions about racism and intersectionality.
  3. We will ensure that equity prevails in UUCA organizations and act as a resource for our leaders.
  4. We are committed to building active and accountable relationships that center People of Color in all of our anti-racism work.

Educational Opportunities for All

The BBC 8th Principle Practice Series

This is an ongoing series of middle hour sessions that provide opportunities for members of our congregation to practice and live UUCA’s resolution in support of the 8th Principle. Our goal is for every member of UUCA to complete the series. We currently offer: 

  1. Color Blindness and the Good/Bad Binary,
  2. Historical Foundations of White Supremacy
  3.  Unconscious Bias and White Privilege
  4. Race and Ethnicity
  5.  What is Racism?
  6. Understanding the Cycle of Oppression
  7. Microaggressions
  8. Tools for being a White Ally

Partnerships

Members of the BBC partner with the following organizations by sponsoring their meeting spaces at UUCA and participating in their work against racism:

The BBC developed the Accountability Checklist to help us put our anti-racist aspirations into practice. Please select the link below to view the accountability checklist: BBC Accountability Checklist

During the summer of 2020 the UUCA congregation read Subtle Acts of Exclusion: How to understand, identify and stop Microaggressions by Tiffany Janna and Michael Baran. The BBC developed a model based on the authors’ work to use when handling SAEs in our church. We introduced the SAE model to our board of trustees and the congregation this autumn and now teach it as part of our 8th Principle Practice Series workshops. You can link to our SAE model here.