December 2021

I Can’t Be the Change Alone

It was a couple decades ago, and I was starting my master's in social work. I was standing in the hallway outside my professor's office and I read this quote, "be the change you want to see in the world." How cool, I thought. This person has read the works of Mahatma Gandhi! This quote is a wise reminder that if I long for justice and equity, I need to be who I want others to be.... But I never felt I could "become the change" I longed for. I soon learned this famous phrase was a misquote taken out of context. Gandhi was instead speaking of the activist's agency amidst collective struggles for justice. He wasn't giving an individualistic pep talk. The phrase "be the change" evokes visions of saints and superheroes, and too often leads us as individuals to the conclusion we are inadequate for social justice transformation. Indeed, with the onslaught of crises and apparent backsliding in social justice amidst a global pandemic, feeling inadequate has turned into utter exhaustion for many of us in the struggle for justice. But, what if we are inadequate as individuals? What if the misquote of Gandhi is part and parcel of a flawed worldview that burns us out and creates obstacles to our visions of justice?

     Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker
Listen to my keynote talk at the UUSJ Social Justice Leaders Roundtable to find out why you shouldn't try to be the change on your own, and how to find joy and resilience in the struggle for justice.

PRO Act Expert Opinion Briefing

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7pm ET/ 6pm CT/ 5 pm/MT/ 4 pm PT
Register Here

Join us to learn more about the PRO Act (Action Alert) and how it protects the right to organize in the workplace and connects to workplace safety and healthcare policies. Guest speakers from the AFL-CIO, Public Citizen, and Network LOBBY.

UUSJ is partnering with UUs for a Just Economic Community (UUJEC), as part of our support for their Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) The COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage, adopted in June 2021 during UUA General Assembly. As part of the AIWs call to support laborers, unions, and labor law reform, it supports passage of  the PRO Act. The AIW asks UUs to "recognize the need to build just and equitable infrastructures for medical care and public health, in labor and community organizing, and in congregation-based programs for social and personal wellness.”

End of Year Donations

Our faith tradition has a long history of embodying our Principles in our actions. In this season of giving, please remember UUSJ in your end-of-year contributions. Your donation will help to support the important work of promoting UU values. Please consider making a donation today, to help us grow our light even brighter in the coming year.

Every dollar in our 501(c)(3) budget of $100,000 is stretched to its limit. Your gift matters to keep this advocacy, witness, and engagement vigorous and vital.

Steve Eckstrand & Terry Grogan, Immigration Action Team Conveners (seckstrand@verizon.net)

Listening, Learning, and Discussing Immigration with Senate Staffers

The Immigration Action Team (IAT) continues meeting with offices of key members of Congress to advocate for immigration rights. This month, the team is working on arranging meetings with Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Rob Portman (R-OH). 

In November, the IAT  pushed for pathways for citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders, farm workers, and other essential workers and their families.  

The Build Back Better Act passed by the House includes sizable funding for processing applications for immigration status, reducing the huge backlog of cases. The Act also provides temporary protections and work permits for millions of individuals in  these target groups, as well as improving green card processing and saving thousands of much-needed visa slots due to expire. Unfortunately, IAT’s priority -- pathways to citizenship -- was not included in the Act.  The team continues urging the Senate to include it  and support the other key provisions

Fred Van Deusen, Democracy Action Team Convener (fredvandeu@gmail.com)

Voting Rights and Senate Staffers

The Defending Our Democracy Action Team last month stepped up its advocacy for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by focusing on moderate Republican senators. 

The team met with staff from senators  in Alabama, Alaska, Maine, Louisiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. All the senators agreed that voting is a fundamental right. The main argument DAT heard was about “federal overreach” --  the new regulations are too restrictive and states should have more flexibility in their implementation.

The Freedom to Vote Act will make it easier for all citizens to vote; end gerrymandering so that electoral districts are fairly drawn; and reduce the impact of big money in politics. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will restore the full protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act against discriminatory voting laws.  Both measures have been stymied in the Senate.

Climate Crisis Act Now:  UUSJ Trustee Rev. Peggy Clarke 
Tuesday, December 7th | 7pm ET | Zoom RSVP 

Join UUs and others for a discussion about the Climate Crisis, the urgency for action, and how we can begin to make important changes. Panelists include: UUSJ Trustee Rev. Peggy Clarke, Senior Minister, Community Church of New York; David Sayer, Beyond Plastics; and, Aly Tharp, Program Director, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (UUMFE).

Beyond Infrastructure and Build Back Better: Prospects for 2022

What’s next for environmental activists once the fog clears on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (factsheet) and Build Back Better Act (framework)? The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure measure that passed includes $550 billion in new spending, encompassing more than “classic” investments in hard infrastructure for the environment.  It also calls for bike lanes, wildfire mitigation and dam removal. President Joe Biden and Congressional allies are also working on the larger BBB, which is projected to combat climate change in multiple ways.  Taken together, they appear to be a two-prong effort to stoke productivity and remake the economy.

Whatever green policies and projects get cut from these bills, appropriations will be the major focus in 2022 until the Midterm election season winds up and when, historically, Congress winds down and substantive legislative work grinds to a halt. 

Will You Help Stand for Economic Justice, For Fusion Politics?Monday, December 13 | 12pm ET
Washington DC near the US Capitol (exact location TBA)
UU RSVP

Both the UUA and UUSJ have endorsed this urgent upcoming action with The Poor People's Campaign: National Call For Moral Revival. UUSJ has been an endorser since 2018. 

Can we help showcase fusion organizing by bringing all the issues in the BBB and voting rights bills together for a powerful protest and action? Can UUs bring November’s 18 Non-Violent Direct Actors on Democracy, and October’s 40 on the Environment? 

With the pandemics of systemic racism, poverty, voter suppression and COVID-19 still decimating…