Havurah Shalom

Those of us who were part of the six-week class last winter on Privilege & Equity would love you to join us as we meet the evenings of August 3 (Thursday night) and September 13 (Wednesday night) to form small groups around the options and next steps for beginning our work. These were the options that came from our classes and our meetings so far, but other options that ‘speak’ to folks are certainly welcome:

--developing a draft equity/transparency statement to take to the Steering Committee for review and approval as policy and a priority focus

--focusing on internal organizational work at Havurah around equity, inclusion and transparency. This group could potentially develop guidelines for Havurah committees and activities, serve as a “safe space” for Havurah members to bring issues of concern, and/or delve further into issues of concern to group members.

--exploring options for taking this work to families with children. The group would engage other parents in developing the options, which could include workshops or trainings, like SURJ (Stand Up for Racial Justice) is doing now with families, either at Havurah or with another group doing this work in the community

--developing affinity groups. An “affinity group” is a group that consists of folks with similar demographic characteristics such as race, sexual orientation, gender, age or other characteristics who work together to raise issues of concern and work toward common goals of greater community awareness and needed change.

--participating in educational or awareness activities. These might be one-offs, such as a Fair Housing tour, or extended programs, such as a reading/discussion group or a skill building training or class.

Please join us. Mark Your Calendars: The September 13 meeting will be a continuation of the August 3 meeting.

Please let us know of your interest, if you are able to come, or if you want to be involved in this work but can't come to either meeting, by contacting sarosenthall@msn.com.