Dear First Unitarian Church of Honolulu:

We are excited to share “A Collaborative Journey: From Promise to Impact,” a joint report from the Unitarian Universalist Association and BLUU. This is an exciting report for us as it reflects on BLUU’s beginnings and the Black Unitarian Universalist histories that led to BLUU’s inception.

Since 2015, we’ve worked diligently to fulfill our mission of expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism; providing support, information, and resources for Black Unitarian Universalists; and pursuing justice-making and liberation for Black people through our faith. Your unwavering support and commitment have helped us to achieve significant accomplishments, which you will find detailed in our report.

We invite you to review the report and celebrate the progress we’ve made together.

Inside the report, you’ll find:

• A letter of gratitude to our Black UU ancestors who laid the foundations for our work.
• Stories and testimonials from Black UUs whose lives have been inspired by our work.
• A list of congregations and individuals who helped us launch our work.

As we share our story with you, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for your support. Your belief in our mission, your time, and your generosity make all our work possible.

But our journey does not end here. As we imagine the future, we’re excited about what lies ahead. Since the creation of this report, we’ve been working diligently on a restructure process to make BLUU even more sustainable and accessible for years to come. You’ll learn more about our restructure later this year.

We remain dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black UUs, advocating for social justice, and creating transformative change. We’re glad to have you by our side in this journey.

Your thoughts and feedback are incredibly important to us. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, comments, or ideas related to the content of this report or about our work more generally.

Together, we are building a Unitarian Universalist faith that is directly responsive to the needs and hopes of Black UUs.

In gratitude,

Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson, Jessa Rose, Lena K. Gardner, Marchaé Grair, Rev. Mykal Slack, and Natasha Walker

Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Staff and Board