The vision of DRUUMM CALIFORNIA is to uplift, amplify and center BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Unitarian Universalists, through cultivating a network of regional retreats within the three main regions of the state: the Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California. We dismantle white supremacy culture by centering the stories, lived experiences, and spiritual traditions of BIPOC UUs.
DRUUMM California Retreat
On November 16, from 12:00 – 4:00 PM PST, we invite DRUUMM members and BIPOC friends to come together at Mt Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek to join the conversation centering our collective contributions to Unitarian Universalism.
We will continue to expand awareness about DRUUMM and coordinate ways to share resources and ideas for the creation of local groups. Lunch will be served, and we will have networking, caucusing, and worship, with Rev. Leslie Takahashi and music provided by Evelie Delfino Såles Posch, plus additional support with DRUUMM spiritual leaders – Rev. Kevin Mann, Rev. Sangye Hawke and Ronnie Boyd, Starr King student for the ministry.
You are welcome to bring an open heart and your wisdom to share. Your DRUUMM planning group looks forward to seeing you!
Register @ bit.ly/dcafall24
The vision of DRUUMM CALIFORNIA is to uplift, amplify and center BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Unitarian Universalists, through cultivating a network of regional retreats within the three main regions of the state: the Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California. We dismantle white supremacy culture by centering the stories, lived experiences, and spiritual traditions of BIPOC UUS.
Last Spring in April 2023 with the support of Rev. Joseph Santos Lyons, DRUUMM Community Minister, over 40 BIPOC UUS, representing over 15 congregations gathered for the 1st Bay Area DRUUMM Gathering. Since then we’ve met quarterly rotating among our local congregations. The organizing vision is expanding into other regions of California as a way to focus ministry to and with BIPOC UUS. First UU Oakland is the center of February 10, 2024 hosted by UU Berkeley this growing movement!
Our most recent Spring Retreat was called “Echoes of Belonging: Home, Connection, and Spiritual Sustenance,” A Bay Area DRUUMM gathering for BIPOC Unitarian Universalists. Our mission is to provide a gathering space for Bay Area BIPOC Unitarian Universalists and BIPOC friends that centers our community, with elements that focus on connection: with self, with each other, our church communities, and beyond.
“Come, come, whoever you are Come with your wild imaginings of a better world. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving We will make a place for you. We will build a home together. Ours is no caravan of despair We travel together; Come, yet again come.”
-Rev. Leslie Takahashi
Rev Kevin Alan Mann
DRUUMM California Community Minister
[email protected]
REV KEV (he/him/siyá) was ordained by the First Unitarian Church of Oakland on October 1st, 2023, the first day of both Filipino American and LGBTQ History Months.
He serves as an End-of-Life Chaplain at Sequoia Hospice, as a Faculty Advisor at Starr King School for the Ministry, and as a Consultant for Partnership with UU Church of the Philippines.
Rev Kev founded the California chapter of DRUUMM (Diverse Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries), the statewide regional UU BIPOC network hosting rotating quarterly retreats. His ministry is rooted in a vision of Collective Liberation where none of us are free until all of us are free.