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Building covenantal relationships among Unitarian Universalist women that equip us all to be better co-conspirators and allies in the movement for collective liberation.

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monthly reads

Our Monthly Reads meet-up allows an entry point into our priority issues and supports individuals looking to build on their understanding to be better allies and co-conspirators. Join us in experiencing some of the latest award-winning books, life-changing articles, and dazzling other media as we use these tools for justice.

The UUWF Monthly Read meets via Zoom on the first Sunday of the month, unless it's a holiday, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Pacific / 5:30 p.m. Mountain / 6:30 p.m. Central / 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

During our Monthly Read gatherings, we will:

  • Create a Safe Space for Meaningful Dialogue: We offer a safe and inclusive environment for members to discuss complex issues openly. Previous themes include gender equality, empowerment, body positivity, intersectionality, and community building. We honor a space that fosters respectful conversations, allowing participants to challenge their perspectives and broaden their understandings, all while connecting to our UU values.
  • Amplify Marginalized Voices: We provide an opportunity to amplify the voices of marginalized communities, women of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those from different socio-economic backgrounds. By intentionally selecting authors from these communities, our texts help to center their narratives and lived experiences. This approach encourages empathy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of the diverse challenges faced by these communities. It also serves as a powerful tool for raising awareness and dismantling stereotypes.
  • Provide Education and Self-Reflection: We engage in social justice literature to expose us to new ideas, perspectives, and historical contexts. Through reading and reflection, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of systemic issues, uncovering the root causes of social injustice. These discussions extend beyond the pages of the books into our online community, Mighty Networks, and empower individuals to advocate for change in their communities.
  • Cultivate Empowerment and Activism: We provide access to resources and community initiatives that support activism and advocacy. This joint effort strengthens the potential impact of the book club by connecting individuals to opportunities for community service, volunteering, and engagement in local and national social justice movements. It creates a sense of collective power and fosters a network of changemakers working towards a common goal.

The titles curated by the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation encompass an array of perspectives, genres, and authors, ensuring a diverse and inclusive literary journey. Together, we can create a more just and equitable world.

Monthly Reads are open to women, femmes, and gender-expansive folks. No registration is needed, just join us at this Zoom link: https://bit.ly/UUWFbookclub. Questions? Contact us at uuwf@uuwf.org.

August 6th

Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies.

The Body Is Not an Apology
offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world--for us all.


September 3rd

For our September Monthly Read, we will explore the following short articles. Both are available free of charge.


October 1st

Heather McGhee's specialty is the American economy--and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis of 2008 to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a root problem: racism in our politics and policymaking. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out?

McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm--the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country--from parks and pools to functioning schools--have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world's advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.

But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: the benefits we gain when people come together across race to accomplish what we simply can't do on our own. The Sum of Us is not only a brilliant analysis of how we arrived here but also a heartfelt message, delivered with startling empathy, from a black woman to a multiracial America. It leaves us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than a zero-sum game. 



November 5th

For our November Monthly Read, we will explore 2-3 short articles on a topic. All will be available with no paywall. More details to come soon.

December

We will take a hiatus during December. Please join us next on January 7th.

Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

CONTACT US

Tel: 414-750-4404
uuwf@uuwf.org

3322 N. 92nd Street ~ Milwaukee ~ WI 53222

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