Growing out of the UUA General Assembly in June, 2020 two task forces formed at First Parish: Reparations Action and Reparations History. Despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic, libraries being closed for example, these two groups pressed on to look more honestly at our history and the actions we could take in light of that. 

The two Reparations Committees, which have now merged, have focused on FPBUU’s, Brewster’s. and the Cape’s history with enslaved people and the Wampanoag people. We have researched some of that history, a very brief summary of which is presented on these pages; have developed a Land Acknowledgement Statement which is read at various church events; and are developing various practices and events which are intended to forge closer and beneficial relationships with our Wampanoag neighbors.  

We defined reparations, which reads in part: 

Reparations are an ongoing commitment to be a part of a justice-making process that involves specific forms of repair for those who have been intentionally  harmed by policies and practices of one group of people that have targeted other specific groups.

To take responsibility for past and present harm, the reparations process must include: 

• acting to stop the systems and practices that cause harm;
• changing the laws, institutions, and systems to ensure that the harm will not repeat;
• acknowledging and apologizing for the harm including symbolic actions to educate and raise consciousness within the community ; 
• compensating those who were harmed, including their descendants, family, and communities; and 
• restoring individuals to the position they were in before the harm. 

Reparations is a process of reconciliation and making amends for wrongs. Reparations are not a single act like an apology or making a one-time payment, instead reparations are many actions that aim to dismantle oppressive systems.  So, only making an apology is not a reparation but making an apology and acting to stop the systems and practices that cause harm, and compensating those that were harmed would constitute reparations. Reparations are greater than the sum of their parts. Reparations are essential to the second principle of our faith –  justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. 

Enslaved people at First Parish Brewster UU Church

This webpage is updated as we learn more about our history:

The written record connects at least 19 enslaved people to First Parish Brewster Unitarian Universalist Church. These people attended services and some were baptized at First Parish. Their stolen lives and labor contributed to the generational wealth that helped build First Parish Brewster, the economy on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the United States. Many of these enslaved people were Black or mixed race of Black and Indigenous descent.

The information regarding the enslaved people that appears in the written record varies. In some cases, an enslaved person’s name appears with a description of their actions, but many enslaved people are listed only once. Frequently they appear in the written record only with a first name and their monetary value to their White enslavers. Many enslaved people are recorded without a name at all. This gap in the historic record reflects the White supremacist attitudes that did not value recording the rich lives of enslaved people beyond their monetary value. Any detailed descriptions of the lives of enslaved people were written by their enslavers and are not likely to reflect the experience of the enslaved. The Western archival tradition has prioritized the preservation of history from the perspective of White, rich, and powerful men. It is highly likely that other enslaved people are connected to First Parish Brewster but were unmentioned within the written history.

First Parish Brewster acknowledges each of the known 19 enslaved individuals recorded within the church’s history and remembers those who are unmentioned in written history:

In Memory of the Enslaved People at First Parish Brewster

These people lived and endured under the institution of chattel slavery. Their stolen lives and labor contributed to the wealth that created First Parish Brewster and the founding of the United States of America.

We invite you to read the names of enslaved individuals connected to First Parish Brewster in the 1700s and honor their lives and humanity, and continue to pursue justice and equity for all people.

The names of enslaved people that appear in recorded history may not have been chosen by the individuals and their families, but assigned to them by White enslavers. At this time, these given names are what we have available to identify and acknowledge these people’s existences.

References (Note: INCOMPLETE)
Last name, First name Middle initial. Title of Work. Format. City: Publishing Company, copyright
date. Source, Collection. Medium, http://…(accessed date).
Bangs, Benjamin. Journals, Volume 1 1742-1749
Bangs, Benjamin. Journals, Volume 2 1759-1761
Bangs, Benjamin. Journals, Volume 3 1761-1763
Bangs, Benjamin. Journals, Volume 4 1763-1765
Bangs, Benjamin. Extracts from diary. Harwich, MA: Harwich Historical Society.
Bill of Sale for Sarah between Thomas Clark, Esq and Patience Clark and Benjamin Bangs.
Brewster, MA: Brewster Historical Society
First Parish Brewster. 1911. Records of the Brewster Congregational Church, Brewster,
Massachusetts, 1700-1792. Boston, MA: Merrymount Press. Available at:
https://archive.org/details/recordsofbrewste1700cong/mode/2up
Freeman, John. “Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685-1789.” Records of Barnstable
Massachusetts. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. (Online
database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008).
Pruitt, Bettye. 1771 Massachusetts Tax Inventory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. Available at:
https://legacy.sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hsb41/masstax/masstax.cgi
Paine, Josiah. 1937. A History of Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts 1620-1800. Rutland, VT:
The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc. Available at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89067486688&view=1up&seq=9&q1=negro
Roscoe, Lee. 2021. “Captain Benjamin Bangs, an Enslaver in Brewster.” Atlantic Black Box. Available at:
https://atlanticblackbox.com/2021/06/25/captain-benjamin-bangs-an-enslaver-in-brewster/
Roscoe, Lee. 2016. “A Glimpse of the 18 th Century on Cape Cod Through Fragments of the Diaries of
Benjamin Bangs.” The Journal of Cape Cod Genealogical Society