At its February 2019 meeting, the REA Board of Directors committed to forming a work group composed of REA members to provide an immediate way to focus sustained attention, transparency and accountability on issues of anti-oppression in the work of our Association. These issues include, but are not limited to, religion, race, ethnicity, culture, language, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. We intend for this work group to become the first step in an ongoing process of reviewing our governance structures, REA nomination and election procedures, program planning and implementation, and our practices of evaluation. The Board is committing both time and resources to this process. This work group works independently from the Board so that it has autonomy and structural authority to address and at points confront us with calls for action to correct unjust systems, texts, and practices. The Diversity and Inclusion Work Group has begun its work and will be active during the November 2019 annual meeting.
The REA membership includes many people with experience and skill in working with people and institutions around racial justice and other forms of inclusion and equity. It was only natural to draw from our own riches to create an accountability work group directly tasked with moving the Association to embody more clearly our commitments around diversity of all kinds. The initial group has five members that are currently developing a structure, process, and outcomes for their immediate work.
- Mark A. Hicks
Mark A. HicksProfessor of Religious EducationMeadville Lombard Theological SchoolChicago, IL, United States - Bert Roebben
Bert RoebbenProfessorUniversity of BonnBonn, NRW, Germany- REA Advisory Council
- Katherine M. Turpin
Katherine M. TurpinProfessor of Practical Theology and Religious EducationIliff School of TheologyDenver, Colorado, United States- REA Advisory Council
- Addie Lorraine Walker
Addie Lorraine WalkerProfessorOblate School of TheologySan Antonio, TX, United States - Arch Wong
Arch WongProfessorAmbrose Seminary of Ambrose UniversityCalgary, AB, Canada
The REA Diversity and Inclusion Work Group works to shape awareness of systemic racism and identify internal barriers to change. They will then create strategies to dismantle racism in REA on all levels, help develop a new cultural identity based on antiracist values, and redesign structures that share power in ways accountable to people of color and other oppressed groups.