ILLUMAN STATEMENT ON RACISM

Illuman is an organization incorporated in the United States of America with a global influence. Our purpose is to support men in their spiritual journey.

We stand in solidarity with those who are outraged by the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others. We stand in solidarity with those who protest these injustices and work for racial equity. We are grateful for those who have acted for justice. We are grateful for the number of leaders and organizations who have spoken forcefully against injustice and racism. We grieve with our neighbors who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and have suffered from racism, white supremacy, and classism. In our gratitude and grief, we make the following acknowledgement and commitment:(1)

We acknowledge that we live in a nation
created by the enslavement and genocide of peoples,
the taking and destruction of their lands,
and the justification of these acts
by White Supremacy, the Christian Doctrine of Discovery,
the Divine Right of Kings, and Manifest Destiny.

We acknowledge that many of us
continue to benefit from this history,
while others of us continue to suffer from its injustices as evidenced
by many cases of documented police brutality that go unpunished.
Some of us experience both the benefits and the suffering.

Through grace and humility, those of us who have benefited
from white privilege invite healing
as we ask forgiveness for the actions of our ancestors
and for our present-day failures.

With their help we commit ourselves
to transform rather than transmit the trauma.

To All Illuman Brothers, we reclaim the collective transformative power that comes from men standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with each other and with those who suffer. Our primary concern is inner work that makes a difference in the world and we recognize that work must include opposition to all forms of racial injustice. We are fed by the wisdom traditions of forgiveness and radical inclusivity. For us, the two are inseparable. We acknowledge that repentance, reparation, and restoration are necessary in the Illuman community and commit ourselves to the work of affirming a masculine path to healing the personal and historical trauma that keeps men separated and alienated from each other. That healing requires us to educate ourselves about white power and privilege and its impact on Illuman and our communities.

To our Illuman Brothers of Color, we acknowledge that we are overwhelmingly a community of white, middle-class men. We commit as a community of men to do our work. We commit to creating space for you to find the support and safety you need. From the clarity gained through our acknowledgement and grief, we commit to work with you to address and to remedy the source of your pain. We commit to listen to and learn from the experience of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and to support the leadership from those communities. We commit to opposing racist attitudes and actions we find in ourselves and in our communities.

To our Nation and the World, we say the powers of racism and white supremacy have been present from the very foundation of our nation and continue to cause suffering and alienation. They thrive in an atmosphere which denies that our wealth and our privilege derive in large part from the genocide and enslavement of peoples. We Illuman brothers commit ourselves and our community to the work of witnessing, acknowledging, and healing the trauma caused by these injustices.

(1) – Adapted from the Canticle Farm liturgy, https://canticlefarmoakland.org.