Throughout 2022, Collabyrinth partnered with Auburn Theological Seminary to offer a series of accountability circles to, first, state-level justice leaders, then Black men leaders from all walks of life, and finally clergy at historically white settler churches, who are leading their congregations in reparations work. All three circles used the Truth & Transformation Model to frame their bi-weekly digital gatherings for a duration of 6 months. Auburn has been a tremendous partner in field testing the UnLearn InEquity methodology. We also want to shout-out Beautiful Ventures for hosting two of the circles in their gorgeous digital home known as The Dark Tower, a virtual homagemore…

collabyrinth consultant melvin bray led the Finding Our Way Home annual gathering for religious workers of color for the Unitarian Universalist Association. to open the week’s work in downtown Albuquerque, NM, melvin took participants outside to participate in an invocation to honor the indigenous inhabitants of that land. In addition, melvin invited a subset of the participants to offer a dramatic reading of the famous clearing passage from toni morrison’s Beloved, “In this place we flesh….” afterward, participants broke into song. it was a moment of deep reverence and beauty that set the stage for critical healing and fortification work over the next few days.more…

Article as it appeared on Sojo.net, 8/22-2017 By Melvin Bray   In the wake of the Charlottesville, Va., white nationalist race riot, several writers have reached for the metaphor of addiction to help characterize the gravity of what America is facing and the grip it has on us. It’s easy enough to understand why one would choose this particular comparison, especially when you take time to explore how compulsive behaviors affect the individuals engaged in them, their families and friends, and even their brains. The outcomes over time are devastating. In fact the similarities are so uncanny that it’s hard to justify calling this comparisonmore…