By Reverend Rebecca Bryan 

When I began studying to be a Unitarian Universalist minister nearly ten years ago, I was oblivious to issues of race. I certainly would have told you that I was not prejudiced; in fact I dated the one black boy in my high school and took my children to schools that had children with black and brown skin and every other color, including vanilla, or white, of course.  

It was our faith, Unitarian Universalism, that called me to change. It challenged me to change my awareness of and concern about issues of race. My change started with becoming aware of all I didn’t know, including how I could  participate in and perpetuate systems of oppression simply by living as a white person who benefits from these systems.  

With this awareness came my resistance. I didn’t want to learn more or began to address what seemed overwhelming and scary. I began engaging in this work reluctantly, honestly because I had to if I were to become ordained. At a certain point, however, the work got to me. I began to be transformed. That transformation continues to this day, and I still have a long way to go.  

Many things have contributed to my learning and awakening, none as significant as my relationship with Reverend Karlene. We first met in the fall of 2016 when congregants in Brookline, where I previously served as interim minister, brought her to lead a workshop. The presidential election had just happened, and people wanted to know, after the Women’s March, what they could do.  

I attended Rev. Karlene’s first workshop, and I was mesmerized. She was articulate, compassionate, open hearted, generous of spirit, spiritual, incredibly smart and, above all, willing to work with white people as we struggled to understand issues of racism and what we could do about it. I knew that this was a gift, a once–in–a–lifetime opportunity that I could embrace either whole heartedly or not at all. There was no middle ground with Rev. Karlene. 

I chose to embrace the work, and I have never looked back. A lot happened over the two years we worked together including bringing representatives of Antifa, the anti-fascist protest movement, to speak at a session open to the community. This was after the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.  

The event at our church happened at the request of a congregant who was committed to racial justice work and wanted to understand Antifa better and to hear their answers to questions about their philosophy and tactics. Because of our relationship with Rev. Karlene and her relationship as a lead organizer of Black Lives Matter in Boston and with members of Antifa, we were able to host the conversation. Over one hundred people of all ages and ideologies gathered for the event. The discussion was civilized, educational, and calm. Above all, it was transformative. 

Members of Antifa were no longer “people on the news”; they were people who had stories, experiences, and perspectives. Only after the event did we learn that this was the first time members of Antifa had ever been asked to set foot inside of a church, much less speak to a crowd of people in a church.  

I think our Emeritus Minister Reverend Bert Steeves would have liked this. In 1961, he stood up as the minister of this church against George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi party, who was slated to come and protest a speech being given in this church by Gordon Hall, a well-known expert on anti-Semitism. 

Rev. Steeves did not back down. He held the event despite some people thinking it should be canceled due to the risk of violence. With the church surrounded by SWAT teams, Rev. Steeves was escorted by police through a crowd of 1,000 who had come to the event and to protest. 

In the end, Mr. Rockwell did not come as he was arrested in a nearby town for using a fake name to register at a hotel. 

The pastor responded modestly after the event when given accolades saying, “It wasn’t a one-man show. My church was behind me all the way,”1 

Yes, Bert, that’s true. It isn’t a one–person show; it is all about the church as a collective. We find ourselves in similar times today, times that are uncertain, full of hatred and unrest.  

As we move forward in our mission and vision work, may we do so with the boldness of our ancestors and with humility sufficient to acknowledge where we have been less brave and complicit with maintaining the status quo that does not treat all people with justice. May we learn and grow in our partnership with those who have been oppressed. May we change and do what can be done to create justice for all and a society where all are free.  

I hope that you will join Karlene after church today as she leads us in a discussion titled Race: An Illusion. Many people ask, “What can we do about race? Look at all the white people in this church, in this city.” This is your chance to learn what we can do and, most of all, why it matters. Join us from 12:30 – 2:00 and be a part of creating the world that we dream of and that we can humbly take our part in helping to create.  

This is just the beginning. Karlene will be with us four times this year, each visit building on the last. We have visions of music and art coming to share with the community, possibly a trip to Washington D.C. and the African American History Museum, definitely learning and talking about our own history here, including what we are proud of and what we have to make amends for.  

Let us go forth, together, becoming the people we claim to be and the people we want to be.  

Amen and blessed be.