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Beyond Belief Network’s February community service theme is Social Justice and Race. We believe that social justice is important every month of the year, so use this guide for February and beyond. You can find information and activities that can help you reduce racial inequality in the criminal justice system, wealth and income, education, and voting rights. While you spend February learning about African American history, don’t neglect the future.

Every month Beyond Belief Network puts together resource guides relevant to that month. While these guides are primarily meant for Beyond Belief Network teams, individuals can use the information and ideas on their own. If you use one of our guides, please tell us about it at bbn@foundationbeyondbelief.org.

By Sarah Henry

As the Pathfinders are transitioning into the next phase of their journey, Ghana, Wendy shares a reflection on their time in Uganda. She takes a look at race relation in Uganda — not just at the common conception of whites against blacks, but at the tension between Indians and Ugandan Africans.  Her post is a great reminder of the dangers of stereotyping an entire group of people with one sweeping generalization:

This man told us point blank that Indians are selfish. They keep to themselves and try to take all of Uganda’s money for themselves. He tried to make a compliment to us by comparing us to Indians.  Whites are interested in sitting down with Africans. Whites want to meet with Africans and make friends with them. When we asked what would happen if Indians came into this “bar” looking to sit down with us what would happen. The man rejected the idea outright.  He said, “Would never happen.” But, we prodded, just pretending that it did happen, hypothetically, what would happen?  This man would not play the game. “An Indian would not come,” he said. Maybe the Indian would not come, but it sounds to me like the Indian is not welcome. 

As Conor, Wendy, Ben, and Michelle move on to their next nation, sure to bring new lessons, new challenges, and amazing stories, experience Uganda through Wendy’s camera lens.

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By Kelley Freeman

The Humanists of Houston are at it again! They participated in another awesome event for the Houston Area Women’s Shelter, like they did back in December. It’s always great to have a few organizations that you regularly support—people see your group consistently supporting them and they take notice.

On March 2, the Humanists of Houston participated in the Race Against Violence 5k fun run. They had about 15 people from their group participating in the race, and the point was to raise money for the women’s shelter. At $1,500, the Humanists of Houston were lucky number 13 in team fundraising rankings as of the day of the race. If you’re interested, you can help the Humanists of Houston by donating to their team page here, which will be live until March 31. What’s really amazing is that their goal was $500 and they managed to triple it by race day!

The Houston Area Women’s Center helps individuals affected by domestic and sexual violence in their efforts to move their lives forward. They provide shelter, counseling, and advocacy to support people in building lives free from the effects of violence. They seek social change to end domestic and sexual violence through community awareness and education. Services are confidential and available to everyone. Clearly, this is a vital resource to Houston and its surrounding area.

Great job, Humanists of Houston! We look forward to seeing what events y’all do in the future.