Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta

As a multi-racial Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Atlanta, Georgia, we condemn the acts of racism and white supremacy around the country this week, and before. We join the families and communities of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, GA, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and George Floyd in Minneapolis in anguish, outrage, exhaustion, and grief.

We cry out as one in the Wilderness, longing for relief from the other epidemic: racism that has been built into the foundations of our nation. We see how the institution of white supremacy is connected and upheld by individual acts of murderous violence by white people, by white women weaponizing their race against innocent black men, by police department cover-ups, by governments that allow armed white militias to storm state capitols while tear-gassing peaceful protesters on the streets.

We see clearly the connections of how COVID-19 has ravaged black communities more than any other, communities of people whose work may be called essential but who are paid meagerly, while white communities are statistically more protected from poverty, death, and sickness. We must stay focused on the goals of equity and justice during this pandemic.

For every life that falls another thousand will rise.

For every breath that is snatched away, we will use our breath to grieve and to speak out for the lives and livelihood of black people.

The forces of evil think this is how movements die.

But if they think killing one of us unjustly is going to make us bow down, they are mistaken, because rarely in the course of history has that ever been the outcome of such grave, clear injustice.

Instead, an innocent life lost so publicly and tragically has caused people to discover new reservoirs in the soul.

We, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta commit to do the work of interrogating and condemning white supremacy within our institutions, our communities, and our hearts. We believe none of us are truly free until all of us are free. We work, pray and fight for the liberation of all, and the vitality of each. We proclaim yesterday, today and tomorrow: black lives matter.

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Change your world! The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) is an open, welcoming community that changes lives. Whatever your spiritual journey, you are welcome.

Bryce Thomason
[email protected]
(404) 702-2015