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What is the "Let Freedom Ring" Project? |
The Journey toward Racial Reconciliation undertaken by the
First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati.
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Why is it called
"Let Freedom Ring"? |
The name harks back to the Liberty Bell with its
inscription:
“Proclaim liberty
throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof”
( Leviticus 25:10 )
reaffirming the sentence at the core of the
Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
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Why is this important for
Cincinnati? |
The devastating and persisting consequences of chattel slavery have thwarted
efforts to attain complete fulfillment of this promise for all Americans.
The Journey Toward Racial Reconciliation is our congregational commitment to helping achieve it--for
all people, here in Cincinnati, in our lifetime. |
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Why is this important for
Cincinnati and First Church? |
We believe the attitudes and actions of our
ministry and laity in matters of race relations are crucially
important to understanding who we are today as individuals and what we are
as a congregation.
First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati was founded in 1830.
There have been recurring deep disagreements about matters of race in the congregation ever
since our founding. |
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We have dedicated ourselves to
recovering our 173 years of institutional memory as the critical first step
in achieving racial reconciliation.
What follows is our ongoing Journey Toward Racial Reconciliation
from memory to hope. An essential
component of our hope is that other religious congregations and, ultimately,
the city itself will be inspired to embark on this same journey. |
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“Memory without hope is
unbearable,
and hope without memory is impossible.”
“Memory without hope is
unbearable,
and hope without memory is impossible.”
- Charles W. Joiner, South Carolina Historian
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This project has been generously supported with grants
from the Unitarian Universalist Funding Program.
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