Rising Together: UU Youth and Emerging Adults of Colour
Saturday, June 4, 2022 – 1:00 pm PT |2:00 pm MT |3:00 pm CT |4:00 pm ET |5:00 pm AT (90 minutes)
For Youth (14-19) and emerging adults (18-24) of colour
Cost: Free
Registration is ongoing. If you have registered for one iteration of this program, you do not need to register again. However, your RSVP for each event to risingtogether@cuc.ca would be appreciated!
Join us for Rising Together – a welcoming space especially for Black, Indigenous and other people of colour (BIPOC) Unitarian Universalist youth and emerging young adults (ages 14-24). Led by Camellia Jahanshahi, a youth advisor of colour at the Unitarian Church of Montreal, this group gathers monthly for themed worship, discussions, and workshop-style activities. Join us for a chance to meet other BIPOC Unitarian Universalists across Canada and nurture our community with the aim of affirming each other and ensuring we have a confident voice in the broader UU community.
About the Facilitator:
My name is Camellia Jahanshahi (she/her) and I’m a queer, Iranian-American woman, a multidisciplinary artist, cook, witch and religious professional. I hold a B.A. and M.A. both from Concordia University in the field of Religions and Cultures where my work centered around navigating contemporary identity politics from a faith perspective. Specifically, I look at how people of marginalized communities use faith and religion to fight against systematic oppression. I also have a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace from Cornell University and have been actively working with families and young adults for the past 7 years leading both worship and workshops alike within various Unitarian Universalist spaces, academic conferences, and nonprofit community settings. I am so excited about this space we are creating together! As a lifelong UU, I know how isolating it can be as a person of color and how frustrating that can be as you are navigating your identity in your teen and early adult years. I believe through active community building we can fight against those feelings and create a network of support that nourishes and uplifts us all so we can continue Rising Together.
Contact: 
For more information about the program, contact Camellia Jahanshahi (she/her) (risingtogether@cuc.ca )
For registration troubleshooting, contact Casey Stainsby (she/her) (casey@cuc.ca)
Registration – Deadline: the Sunday before the event at midnight PT
This event is for people of colour (ie. non-white folks) only. To learn more about the importance of intentional spaces for people of colour, see Local BIPOC UU Groups Surge by the Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons (p.4-5 of the DRUUMM Beat), and Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People by Kelsey Blackwell. More suggested resources for white folks who would like to support this and similar initiatives will be coming soon.
Two CUC-approved youth advisors of colour will co-host this event. Youth do not need to have an advisor from their home congregation attend. If you are a youth advisor of colour who would like to know more about being involved, please contact youth@cuc.ca.
Note: Youth under 18 no longer need to provide an Informed Consent Form, as these permissions are now included within the registration form.
This registration form also includes a new Photo/Video Consent section, according to our updated Photo/Video Safety Policy for Minors. Parents and guardians are now asked to either approve or refuse consent for photos and videos to be taken and shared of any youth in their care (under 18) at this event. Those 18 and over will be asked to indicate their preference regarding having photos and videos taken of themselves. If you have any questions about this new policy, please contact casey@cuc.ca.
Participants 18 and over will need to sign a Code of Ethics as part of the registration process.
Don’t forget to click the final “Submit” button at the end of the form, and watch for the confirmation email. If you don’t get a confirmation, your form may not have been properly submitted.
This program is free. If you would like to make a donation to the Dawning Future Subsidy Fund, which increases access to CUC events for youth and young adults, you can do that using this form.
All are welcome to join the newsletter mailing list to stay up to date with Rising Together. The newsletter is sent out once every two months to participants, their friends and family members, youth advisors, religious educators, ministers and others, regardless of racial/ethnic identity. Just reach out to Camellia at risingtogether@cuc.ca to be added.