31 January
On
In arouse SOLIDARITY, cultivate TRANSFORMATION, make PROGRESS

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…

16 March
On
In arouse SOLIDARITY

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…

22 August
On
In cultivate TRANSFORMATION

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…

18 January
On
In cultivate TRANSFORMATION
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collabyrinth’s rationale for the specific focus of it’s work could not be better articulated than it is in this excerpt from a speech by one of the best and brightest America has ever produced, Fred Hampton. Fred Hampton was cut down in his prime at the age of 21 by systemic racism. had his voice been amplified, many real tangible examples of beloved community would be proliferating realities in America by now. “A lot of people will tell you, ‘Well, the people don’t have any theory, they need some theory. They need some theory even if they don’t have any practice.’ And the Black Panthermore…

24 July
On
In cultivate TRANSFORMATION
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Steve Howe, Ernst & Young’s Americas and Firm Managing Partner, recently published a synopsis of the work E&Y has been doing internally around diversity and inclusion and recommending externally to their clients. E&Y’s efforts are a window into what Carolyn Buck Luce has referred to as market and social justice forces aligning. Justice organizations would be remiss not to seize the moment. People seeking a more just society cannot accomplish the systemic changes we desire without being able to influence the channeling of the resources that run the world.more…

20 July
On
In arouse SOLIDARITY, cultivate TRANSFORMATION, make PROGRESS
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It is at the end of this video that Collabyrinth’s work begins. Otherwise, the self-awareness “breakthrough” that occurs exists only to further serve persons of privilege–as if everything everybody goes through in the video is for the benefit of the white guy.more…

17 June
On
In arouse SOLIDARITY, cultivate TRANSFORMATION
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Many carry with them what might be described as a “broken truth” regarding other’s social identities that inhibit them from celebrating others’ full humanity. Broken truths can be difficult to name. Often a poignant story can help get at the heart of the matter, as it did at MountainTop 2015. This is a video excerpt of a retelling of Douglas Wood’s Old Turtle and the Broken Truth.more…

13 June
On
In arouse SOLIDARITY
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Melvin Bray had the distinct privilege of co-facilitating MountainTop 2015, 8-10 June, in Atlanta, GA. MountainTop is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, intersectional summit of leaders of moral courage from around the US, convened by Auburn Theological Seminary and designed to advance a multifaith movement for justice. The 2015 theme was RACIAL EQUITY. This DesignShop was facilitated in conjunction with Rob Evans from Imaginal Labs and Melinda Weekes-Laidlow from Weekes in Advance.more…

27 April
On
In cultivate TRANSFORMATION
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It’s All of Us: The Practice of Inequality The people must know before they can act. —Ida B. Wells Race like sexuality, is a place where power masks itself as nature. —Anthony Farley “To identify the practice of racial inequality, we must also have a framework for understanding what race is…. Anthony Farley offers a revision of the implied spectrum theory of sexuality to be applied to race, one that understands its structure as contingent upon situs and power. Race, like sexual orientation, is produced by social arrangements and political decision making. And these arrange ments, along with self-identification, are generative of the persistence ofmore…