Wilmington, N.C.—Recent happenings at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington over the weekend of March 10-12 offered signs of hope and learning. The Wilmington group hosted the annual Anti-Racism Conference for the Thomas Jefferson UUF District, bringing Unitarians from across North and South Carolina to a three-day series of events focusing on race, racism and social justice.

Keynote speaker Taquiena Boston, from Washington, D.C., seemed to illuminate the wider theme of the conference on Saturday morning. Is UUF anti-racism an aggressive hostile stance toward something or some group? Boston described the ministry of UUF leaders whose teaching is a way of life, a perpetual calling upon persons of every race to live according to an inclusive vision of humanity—beyond prejudice, offering more than mere sentiment in the face of injustice, and for a religious order inherently shaped by progressive concepts oriented toward the improvement and perfection of human institutions.

Such an illuminating proposition held considerable promise. Participants in the conference had more to choose from than they could take in, and did not seem to notice if anything was missing.

Friday night’s opener featured an African Dance troop with pounding conga drums and a well-choreographed arrangement of dances with an all-female cast of dancers. This wasn’t the Bolshoi, and the pounding wild rhythms conjured the heart of Africa within even the most cerebrally enhanced Euros, accompanied by cheerful African  story telling. When these drums talk people listen—but the performance was all joy.

Next stop was a new wave oddity, an event not seen in Wilmington at least since the 1960s—a coffee house dedicated to the theme of anti-racism. A series of musicians, including Sherita Young, one of the conference organizers, made music come to life with guitars, guitars, electric piano and the human voice. Fifties Rock ‘n Roll gave way to the enchanting vocals of Young, who brought to life the anguish of Katrina victims. The plight of the oppressed was no cliché; and this gave way to two breath taking recitations from African American poet Dasan Ahanu, whose Jazz styled free verse seemed with gentle intonation to blow the cover off the contemporary illusion that somehow everything could still be merely okay.

Group workshop sessions seemed to confirm what had been evident the night before. White people with open minds and willing hearts want very much to hear from African Americans—to listen to their sayings, understand their perspectives, hear even their cries of joy or anguish. Conference sessions drew participation from UNCW’s Dr. Stephen McNamee who spoke memorably on the subject of the economics of racism, WAAV Talk Radio host Harvard Jennings, whose reminiscence of youthful days of activism in the 1960s made plausible the very notion of interracial dialogue, and other notables, including Ella Hill of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, and Rob Gerlach of Wilmington’s Partners for Economic Inclusion. And there was more. From an African American Heritage Tour by bus across downtown Wilmington, narrating the highlights of the city’s black history, to The Wahl Project, an exquisite performance of eclectic Jazz on Saturday night.

This was a district conference designed to strengthen and develop anti-racist understanding among Unitarians, and surely it succeeded. For Wilmington it seemed a kind of milestone. Intelligent people of two races, white and black, from a long history of prejudice, violence and injustice, could nevertheless assemble in this constructive medley of culture and communication.

Words of the conference brochure announced, the soul of anti-racism “is the feelings, thoughts, images, sounds and experiences that motivate and inspire us to take a stand, to break down the barriers, to open up to others, and to end injustice in our communities and around the country.”

It happened in Wilmington at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

 

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington is located at 4313 Lake Ave., and can be reached by phone at 910 392-6434. For additional information go to www.uufwilmington.org.

 

Unitarian Universalists Reveal

The Soul of Anti-Racism

Host District Conference in Wilmington

Carolina Civic Voice

                              Spring 2006  Vol.  6, No 1