JOURNEYING TOWARD SPIRITUAL WHOLENESS

The 8th Principle affirms and promotes journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.

Inclusion, when done right, can be incredibly productive and can open doors for diverse folk. In the music industry, Folk Alliance International brought in an Indigenous Music Summit, a satellite conference led by and for Indigenous people in the folk music community. Jonathan Azu started the Diversity in Music Employment database, a talent database of BIPOC and female music professionals looking for jobs in the industry. What can I do? I attended the Riverbend end-of-season work party last night and noticed very few POC in our workforce; I plan to reach out to people in the local music scene to have them promote working at Riverbend/Taft Theatre/Brady Center to friends/family members/colleagues. What can you do to support musicians of color? Patronize Caffe Vivace and Schwartz’s Point, right in our ‘hood, to see an amazing showcase of local black talent! We could also consider asking MUSE to perform at a service promoting 8th Principle and the plate collection would go to the organization.

Let’s pick a date to start patronizing black-owned restaurants; I propose 12/10 and every 2nd Sunday in 2024. If you reply to express interest, I’ll find a venue to accommodate the number of people who RSVP for December. One of my favorite ethnic restaurants is about a 15 minute drive from church; check out Teranga! What are yours? 

A great resource you can use daily is: www.The VoiceOfBlackCincinnati.com

And for those of you with Netflix, the documentary Rustin is going to be released tomorrow.