Nov
16
DRUUMM Survey Deadline Dec 15
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One Response to “DRUUMM Survey Deadline Dec 15”
DRUUMM stands for Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries. It is an affiliate organization of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) that serves UUs of color.
In particular, People of Color participating in or providing leadership for the Journey Toward Wholeness need to affirm and strengthen the racially diverse community within Unitarian Universalism. Today DRUUMM includes not only religious professionals, but adults of all ages, youth and children.
The organization’s goal is to connect with new members and build a strong grassroots.
DRUUMM’s mission statement (edited for brevity) declares,
As People of Color mobilized in an anti-racist collective, we unite to:
Work for self-determination, justice and equal opportunity,
Empower our various ministries,
Celebrate our diverse heritages,
Overcome racism through resistance,
Transform and enrich Unitarian Universalism through our multicultural experiences.
Crossroads Organizational Background
Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing & Training was founded as an effort to develop new directions in understanding and combating the root causes of institutional racism in the United States. Crossroads recognizes that resistance to racism also requires resistance to all other forms of social inequality and oppression.
While Crossroads provides structured workshops and training events, we also consult with our partner institutions to provide technical support. Our staff of organizer/trainers come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. This allows Crossroads to work with a range of institutions and to provide a broad range of services, particularly in the area of organizational development based on anti-racist/anti-oppressive principles. Another strength is our skill working with racially and culturally diverse groups around the conflict that is inherent with multicultural diversity.
In addition to working with our partner institutions on their structure, missions and visions, policies and practices, we at Crossroads have had to scrutinize and transform ourselves. We have made many significant and important adjustments over the 20 years of our existence and are constantly evaluating and testing who we are and how we are to insure we are accountable to People of Color. This can be seen in work over the past several years with the People of Color Caucus and White Caucus of Crossroads. Racial identity caucusing makes a tremendous impact on the work of anti-racism organizing as it addresses the vital area of internalized racism, which we have found is an integral part of addressing institutional racism.
Consultation Purpose & Scope of Work
DRUUMM is approximately 10 years old. It came into being some time after the UUA passed the Journey Toward Wholeness Anti-Racism resolution as a way for People of Color to organize themselves in an anti-racist collective to provide one another with support for being in a predominately White faith institution. Currently, the organizational structure of DRUUMM no longer serves the membership or mission of DRUUMM. Some DRUUMM members and leaders question the efficacy of the original mission and purpose of the organization and want to engage in a renewal process which may include re-visioning and re-missioning the organization. In addition, leadership places high value on using the re-visioning/re-missioning process as way to broadly engage the membership and to invest them in the existence and work of the organization.
Crossroads staff will work with the DRUUMM Steering Committee, and other membership as deemed appropriate by the Steering Committee, to assess the organization’s values, which will lead to more clearly defining its mission, culminating in concrete recommendations on the types of relational and institutional structures that would best embody and activate those values. In addition, Crossroads will assist DRUUMM’s leadership and members in better understanding the organization’s grounding in Unitarian Universalism, its commitment to anti-racist and anti-oppressive principles, and how both of these impact DRUUMM’s values and structures.
As this work unfolds, it is anticipated that developmental needs will be identified, including but not limited to the need to:
Engage in deepening existing core values and principles;
Begin values-centered organizational restructuring;
Create institutional mechanisms that foster leadership development;
Achieve institutional sustainability, financial and otherwise;
Name and address potentially unhealthy systemic issues, such as the systemic disposition of high suspicion towards its own leadership;
Build and strengthen the bonds of community,
Deepen coalition building with UU partners, including the UUA, and others outside the Association.
Written Questionnaire/Survey
This written questionnaire/data collection tool was developed to elicit participation and engagement from members who either cannot/do not attend any face-to-face meetings with the consultant or data gatherers, or are unavailable for telephone consultation(s). This written tool may also prove helpful for DRUUMM members who merely prefer to respond in writing.
Should you be receiving this questionnaire, you have been identified by DRUUMM leadership as a valued stakeholder, and your reflections are greatly appreciated both by the DRUUMM Steering Committee and Crossroads.
Please share honestly your thoughts and answers to each of the following questions. We ask that you be as honest and thorough as possible in the space allotted. If necessary, please feel free to utilize the back of each page to complete your answers. In advance, thank you for your time and energy in completing this task.