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Solidarity, Not Charity

On the wall of my cubicle, I have the following quote posted:

"If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."
—Aboriginal Activists Group, Queensland, Australia, 1970s

Agathe Jean-Baptiste

To me, this is what UUSC's eye-to-eye partnership model is all about — solidarity. And I was struck by this in May during visits from two of our partners: Agathe Jean Baptiste, our representative in Haiti, and Imam Mohamed Magid, who has trained imams in Sudan on women's rights. It's exciting to learn how those partnerships — and the thread of solidarity that ties them together — play out in the real, on-the-ground work that UUSC engages in and supports.

In Haiti, it means that we are working with several groups that put a premium on listening to what marginalized survivors of the devastating earthquake need, whether it's body-based trauma treatment or support for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the countryside. As Jean Baptiste emphasized in her visit with us, "UUSC is working with local grassroots organizations that hear what people need and don't go with their own agenda."

Imam Mohamed Magid

And in Sudan, Imam Magid worked with 30 local imams in a groundbreaking training that covers the theological basis for women's rights. Using Islamic texts to empower women and support women's equality, the training taps into the religious community for solutions to violence against women. This strategy offers respect for local religious tradition and holds more weight in Sudan than working with, for example, government agencies. There, imams have prominent influence and intimate connection with the community — they're viewed as more neutral than politicians and government; they spend time in the Darfur IDP camps for births, deaths, marriages; and they have people's trust.

As Imam Magid puts it, "Humanity is one family. Protecting human rights is an obligation of every human being. Every woman that we save, every life that we protect, it is worth it."

We stand with the people of Haiti, with the people of Sudan, with all the people of our human family who are working to challenge oppression and to protect the rights of every individual. Who's with us?

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Comments

"Humanity is one family.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 06/26/2010 - 4:04am.
"Humanity is one family. Protecting human rights is an obligation of every human being. Every woman that we save, every life that we protect, it is worth it."I was struck with this lines indeed we all need to be a human right advocate, it is our moral obligation to our fellow people to be of help in the most difficult times of their life. Let's give them worth and justice because they deserve it. We should be generous to them all the time, giving without counting the cost, the more we touches others live the happier we became. It's fulfilling right, extend your helping especially during recession.
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Helping poor people in Haiti

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 6:47pm.
Helping poor people in Haiti is a good thing. Financially empowering religious leaders who buy into American Imperialism is another. Call it "empowering woman" or as traditional colonialists called it "spreading civilization" it is arrogant and disgusting. Leading through example is one thing, paying poor people who adopt your values is coercion. I'm a feminist and an advocate for the poor. Paying Muslims to train their people in American values is morally reprehensible. It is misusing the Koran or any other religious text when non-believers use their power and sense of moral superiority to pay for the hearts and minds of those deemed morally inferior or as uu's put it, needing to be "educated.". My final point, Our utter lack of minorities in our congregations and our sense of moral superiority are completely connected. Most persons of color like myself can see through the words of solidarity when the acts and dollars of self righteous outsiders seek to develop us savages. Remaining a UU is quite difficult when I see funds used in this way. Having a few tokens in the movement who don't speak up and make the white majority comfortable with their racism doesn't help. Creating a multi-cultural inclusive religion while funding African clerics to spread UUism under the guise of compatability with African traditions is mutually exclusive.
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Thank you for

Submitted by Jessica Atcheson on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 12:07pm.

Thank you for your comment and feedback. I think you bring up some important points. I also think that it's key to note that while UUSC's mission is informed by UU principles that include promoting the dignity and worth of every individual, we are a nonsectarian organization that seeks to advance human rights and social justice by working with partners throughout the world against oppression. I agree that it is unacceptably problematic when human-rights and aid organizations approach other cultures and other countries and try to "educate" them based only on their own cultural norms.

However, I don't believe that is happening with Imam Magid's work. For a little more background, let me share that Imam Magid — who is Sudanese, the son of a well-respected Islamic scholar, and one of the most respected imams in the United States — was invited to South Darfur by the head imam in Nyala and a group of imams there. As it always seeks to in its partnerships, UUSC has followed the lead of this group in the formation of the framework for discussion, follow-up, and how to involve more people in debate; proposals are originating from this group and not from UUSC. Imam Magid's trainings are opportunities for groups of imams — and imams only — to come together and candidly discuss the Qur'anic basis for the protection of women and how this relates to universal values of human rights and to their religious practices. The trainings are not seeking to spread Unitarian Universalism or push a Western agenda.

I think that you touch on important issues about race, culture, and UU congregations that are very worth addressing and exploring and are a larger conversation than this blog post can cover.

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