What OWL (Our Whole Lives) is doing:
While anti-bias has been an intentional part of Our Whole Lives from its inception, we are aware that there are many places where we can do better. To that end, we wanted to let you know what has already been done and what is in progress.
There are an increased the number of trainers of color that are approved to train at all levels.
All revisions and new editions of Our Whole Lives and Sexuality and Our Faith material go through critical reading for racial and ability justice, in addition to gender justice.
We have increased our hiring of authors and contributors of color.
The upcoming second edition of Our Whole Lives and Sexuality and Our Faith for Grades 10-12 were written by women of color.
The K-1 second edition has significantly increased and broadened language regarding gender, race, and disability; in addition, it includes stories and resources with a broader representation of race, ability, and family configuration.
We are re-envisioning the facilitator training process to help facilitators experience how anti-bias and anti-racist work intersects with sexuality education. The new training design will better equip trainers and facilitators to have anti-bias and anti-racist discussions.
We continue to work in alignment with the anti-racism efforts of the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association:
UCC National Officers' statement: https://www.ucc.org/news_commentary_ucc_officers_lynching_justice_in_america_05282020?fbclid=IwAR15tNgZ9jvCgYNEKewonUHVkEoWN5CWzUb67XVqvTzZu9A86_lvRVr7d-E
UCC Board statement:
https://www.ucc.org/news_commentary_ucc_board_we_condemn_racist_actions_06012020
UUA President's Message:
https://www.uua.org/pressroom/press-releases/message-uua-president-dont-turn-away-challenge-and-truth-uprisings
UUA Message: https://www.uua.org/pressroom/press-releases/stop-calling-police-start-eradicating-anti-blackness
We continue to engage in our own personal and professional anti-racist work and encourage all OWL facilitators and trainers to do so as well.
If you have specific questions regarding any of these steps or others, please contact Amy or Melanie directly at mailto:JohnsonA@ucc.org or mailto:Mjdavis@uua.org.
We are committed to acting in solidarity with our siblings who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and we continue to find ways to do more. We encourage those of you who are white to continue on your anti-bias and anti-racist journey.
Resources:
There are so many resources about anti-racism! Here are some that we believe you might find helpful. Not all have been vetted by us—some have been recommended by other groups which intersect with Our Whole Lives.
Online course options:
Sacred Conversations To End Racism (UCC program):
https://www.ucc.org/sacred_conversations_to_end_racism
Books, articles, webinars, websites and more, curated by United Church Educators with these criteria (not all resources match all criteria):
Authored/created by a respected authority on the topic, preferably African American
Accessible for all or specific ages
Includes a focus on what white people can do
New (March 2020ff)
https://www.auce-ucc.org/anti-racism-for-households
Websites with information specifically about teaching children:
https://www.teachingforchange.org
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2018/teaching-learning-race-and-racism