Celebrating More Than 50 Years of Service
Conversations on Race
2-hour Conversations
(4:00 to 6:00 pm Central)
October 5, November 2, December 7
We live in tumultuous times. One of the great challenges confronting us as a nation is around the issue systemic racism, racial equality and justice. As we all know, that journey is more of a marathon than a sprint. It is our collective responsibility to listen, amplify the voices of people at the forefront of the struggle, educate ourselves and act boldly and courageously.
LeaderWise is inviting you to join us at our second series of Conversations on Race. We will gather around the topics of Changing Self, Changing Community, and Changing Systems.
Each event will feature a guest speaker, time for reflection and conversations, and Q&A. Please save the dates and invite friends and colleagues to join you.
The events are free and open to the public. Register here.
Conversations on Race: Changing Self
Conversations on Race: Changing Community
Conversations on Race: Changing Community
Jim Bear Jacobs
October 5
4:00 to 6:00 pm Central
The events are free and open to the public. Register here.
Jim Bear Jacobs was born in St. Paul, he is a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation, an American Indian tribe located in central Wisconsin. He has degrees in Pastoral Studies and Christian Theology and has served various churches as youth minister, adult Christian educator, and director of Men’s Ministries. Presently he is parish associate at Church of All Nations Presbyterian Church. He is a cultural facilitator in the Twin Cities and works to raise the public’s awareness of American Indian causes and injustices. He is the Director of Community Engagement and Racial Justice for the Minnesota Council of Churches. Additionally he is the creator and director of “Healing Minnesota Stories,” a program of the Minnesota Council of Churches dedicated to ensuring that the Native American voice is heard in areas where it has long been ignored.
Conversations on Race: Changing Community
Conversations on Race: Changing Community
Conversations on Race: Changing Community
Kelly Chatman
November 2
4:00 to 6:00 pm Central
The events are free and open to the public. Register here.
Learn more about Pastor Kelly Chatman through this short video profile.
This Star Tribune article describes some of the community work Pr. Kelly's former congregation, Redeemer Lutheran in North Minneapolis, has been involved in.
Conversations on Race: Changing Systems
Conversations on Race: Changing Community
Conversations on Race: Changing Systems
Alicia Forde
December 7
4:00 to 6:00 pm Central
The events are free and open to the public. Register here.
The Reverend Alicia Roxanne Forde serves with the Unitarian Universalist Association as the Director of the International Office. Alicia is passionate about engaging individuals and communities in discerning what they most care about and working alongside others as they seek to enact Love and Justice in this world. She has developed a profound appreciation for self-care, grounded leadership/organizational development, and the crucial importance of meaningful connections in establishing sustainable lives.
Alicia was born and spent her formative years in Trinidad and Tobago. She identifies as an African descent queer, cis-gender female with deep roots in Tobago. She considers herself bi-cultural and is grateful that her formative years – and ongoing education – enabled her to cultivate a transnational feminist perspective. Alicia is a certified Spiritual Director and has a strong interest in health and wellness. When she's not hiking, you can find her reading, working-out, or podcast-walking. She is a graduate of The Iliff School of Theology (MDiv ’03) and currently lives with her partner, and their nephew, in Longmont, Colorado.
June 9, 2020
Dear LeaderWise Friends,
Our hearts grieve over the tragedies of the last couple weeks, as we’ve witnessed racial injustice, police brutality, violence, and murder. These events once again lay bare the ugliness of systemic racism in our nation. Like many of you, our staff has begun to take a hard look at ourselves, and we’ve not always liked what we’ve found. For those of us who are white, racism has polluted our perspective through white privilege. Even if we know better on one level, on an unconscious level there’s still a part of us that believes the following lies - “Race doesn’t matter,” “In America, everyone’s treated equally,” “If you play by the rules, all people have a shot at the American dream.” Well, these just aren’t true. Our naive hope, “Can’t we just all get along?” just doesn’t sound right anymore. People who are Black, including those on our staff, have had to feign patience and understanding with the rest of us way too long.
Like most of the nation, it’s taken us too long to wake up to the full impact of systemic racism. It’s no secret, for instance, that most white people view racism as an issue of individual morality and actions while most people of color know it’s deeply systemic. As Dr. Okokon Udo, a LeaderWise colleague, astutely observes, “It’s a Race Pandemic” — and it extends way, way beyond COVID-19.
Rev. Karen Hutt, a vice president at United Theological Seminary and LeaderWise board member, recently delivered a moving online sermon about her experience with race, and we share it below. Toward the end of the sermon, she talks about shifting from “political hope” based in naive optimism to a “spiritual, human-oriented hope” based in “acting and organizing.” As she notes, if we embrace the second hope, we’ll find it to be a “spiritual, human, life-centered, life-giving hope.”
Rev. Hutt’s words compel us to act. At LeaderWise, we recognize that the journey towards transformation will be long — and, at times, arduous. Regardless, we must act now. To begin this journey, our staff encourages you to join us in one or more of the opportunities outlined below.
We recognize that this only a beginning point for LeaderWise, as well as for most of us, in our efforts to help dismantle white supremacy. Although we’ve taken a few steps for our own work as a staff — such as inservice workshops on cultural competence and internalized narratives about race — we know we’ve a long way to go. At LeaderWise, there will be more conversations — and more actions to take — as we examine our biases, learn new ways of being, and take steps toward individual and collective transformation. We humbly invite you to journey with us.
Sincerely,
Mark Sundby
Executive Director
