“We Can Get There from Here: Answering the Call to Make Reparation,”

Jodie Geddes and Lenore Bajare-Dukes

What would it feel like to live in a connected and truthful world, a world that has made reparations for and begun to heal from the lasting effects of slavery and other violence against African-Americans which now permeate every aspect of our lives? The scale of the transformation needed can make reparations seem daunting, out of our hands…someone else’s work to do. But groups and communities across the country have already been living into changes that lay a path toward this future. Youth and elders sit in circle, sharing and seeking healing liberation. Faith communities uncover truths and work toward the spiritual and moral shifts that will be necessary if monetary reparations are to have a transformative effect. Reparations are the work of all of us to do. Our guest worship leader will share with us her

experiences and insights from being at the center of much of this work. Come, let us learn and vision together.

Jodie Geddes speaks nationally on the subject of truth-telling processes, reparations, and restorative justice, and is co-author of The Little Book of Racial Healing, which UUCL will be discussing this summer. A restorative justice healer and trainer, she also serves as President of Coming to the Table, a national organization bringing people together to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism rooted in the history of slavery. As a Jamaican native having grown up in Brooklyn, Jodie uses her story to catalyze systems transformation.

Worship Associate Lenore Bajare-Dukes is Director of Lifespan Faith Development of the UU Church of Lancaster. Jodie and Lenore both earned an M.A in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at EMU, and have twice co-taught a course on “Truth-Telling, Racial Healing, & Restorative Justice” at EMU.

Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/96623739683?pwd=UWFMQzF5OFR2V05idUJVSVNwYzBVdz09