Reckoning and Repair
FPB’s Racial Justice Action Committee (RJAC) provides opportunities for education and activism around racial justice issues.
We seek to connect First Parish in Brookline with other racial justice efforts in the Brookline community and greater Boston area.
We continue to explore ways to support the congregation to live into our 2022 commitment to reckoning and repair.
COMMITMENT TO RECKONING AND REPAIR
We, the community of First Parish in Brookline, covenant to continue to learn about, acknowledge and work to repair the historic and ongoing moral and material harm to Black and Indigenous people and communities. This harm has resulted from centuries of subjugation and systemic institutional policies and practices that have led to significant racial gaps in wealth, health, criminal punishment, education and enfranchisement. During this journey, we commit to be guided by and be in relationship with the leadership of Black and Indigenous organizations and individuals.
Want to know how we decided to commit to Reckoning and Repair?
The resolution grew out of the work RJAC did between 2020 and 2022 to research and understand the history of First Parish in Brookline related to the enslavement of Indigenous and African peoples and the dispossession of Indigenous land.
- Initial Research Findings reported by Intern Minister Jud Wolfskill: June 2021 Powerpoint Slides
- Full Report of Research Findings presented as a webinar by RJAC members Michael Luke, Ann Gilmore and the late Kathryn Kirshner: February 2022 – YouTube Video and Powerpoint Slides
- Video of the Sunday Worship “Service of Lamentation and Healing”: April 2022
- Footprints, a neighborhood Walking Tour and Podcast of Indigenous History inspired by the history uncovered by RJAC members: summer 2022 (link to Footprints tab)
Recent efforts have included:
- Partnering with the New England Region of the UUA and others to learn ways to engage congregations more deeply in the challenging work of reckoning and repair
- Encouraging First Parish members, friends, and neighbors to participate in the Footprints Walking Tour and podcast to deepen their knowledge of Indigenous history
- Planning for the installation of a plaque to honor the enslaved people associated with First Parish
- Working with the FPB Worship Committee to explore how the congregation’s Land Acknowledgement practices can serve to build participants’ knowledge and commitment
- Engaging with BIPOC staff in Brookline schools to offer support for efforts to address racism and antisemitism
- Nurturing the development of new Brookline Interfaith Justice Coalition that RJAC helped found in order to enlarge its membership and impact
- Organizing FPB members’ attendance at the Company One production of Haunted, the first-ever full-length staged work by an Indigenous artist at the Boston Public Library
Interested? Get in Touch With us!