| | | |  Editor’s Note: This month, we call to mind the memory and words of the late Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson, a member of the UUA Central East Region team, who left us too soon last November. Rev. Dr. Johnson championed racial justice, radical multi-cultural hospitality, and conflict transformation and was a mentor to many. She is deeply missed and remains an inspiration to those of us whose lives she touched. We are sharing a reflection she wrote in 2018 on the February holidays.
February. Black History Month. I celebrate Black History every day of my life so I find it odd to devote one month in the year to celebrating Blackness.
I am keenly aware that many Unitarian Universalist congregations struggle with what to do all month. This month. With the escalation of obvious racial injustices, coupled with our Unitarian Universalist commitment to dismantling systems of white supremacy, it is important to honor and to commemorate the painful legacy of the Black experience in this country. And yet, it is important to keep the hope for a more just future alive, not only by praying but also by doing. Valentine’s Day is one of February’s special days. A day when Love is celebrated, commemorated, longed for, or…. Though it only lasts for 24 hours it permeates the entire month of February offering each of us another opportunity to share the love that we have within our hearts—even, or especially—when they are or have been broken. Valentines Day, like Black History Month, should be celebrated every day of the year. And there is Washington’s Birthday, commonly called Presidents Day that began as the celebration of President George Washington’s Birthday as a Federal Holiday in 1885. With time it came to celebrate all U.S. presidents. Then over the years, it has somehow become one of the biggest sale weekends in this country. I do wonder what is really being celebrated this Presidents Day, but that is another blog-post…. I encourage congregations to embrace the joy—and the challenge of finding meaningful ways to make holidays relevant to today. This might well be a good time to involve all ages in a shared project—finding new stories that bring our UU values to life; perhaps creating a timeline or a service project. Consciously taking a difficult decision to live our values. There are many resources available through uua.org. And, there’s still time to work on something special this February. And, remember that there are eleven other months ahead…. Rev. Hope Johnson | | | | | | | Write Here! Write Now! In February to Focus on Economic Justice  UUSJ is organizing its February Write Here! Write Now! Campaign and virtual visits to key Capitol Hill offices on increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. This will dovetail with last month’s Action Alert. Register Here for our Issue Briefing on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 3:00pm ET. For more information, info@UUSJ.org. If you are interested in joining meetings the week of Feb. 22 - 26, email anna@uusj.org. For more on this issue, see the Economic Justice section below. Earth Month Will Be Focus of Advocacy in Spring UUSJ is working with our partner UU Ministry for Earth on advocacy for March and April events celebrating Earth Day (April 22). This year’s theme is: “Spring for Change.” See the Environmental Action Team report below for preliminary details.
Other Actions to Apply Public Pressure and Register Your Principled Concern  Send a message to President Biden or Congress asking them to end the federal death penalty and halt all executions. This updates our Action Alert from early January.
Send a message to Congress asking them to prioritize redressing economic and social inequalities as the 117th Congress addresses the climate crisis. UU Legislative Ministry of Maryland Passes Anti-Racism Resolution The UU Legislative Ministry of Maryland at its annual meeting last month passed an aspirational Anti-Racism Resolution, which adopted many recommendations from the UUA Commission on Institutional Change’s, “Widening the Circle of Concern.” This builds on the work UULM-MD has been doing on dismantling racism and other oppressions. In the resolution, UULM-MD commits to approaching its work through the lens of anti-oppression, deepening its understanding of “the impact of policies on communities and individuals of color,” and encouraging “intentional anti-racism/anti-oppression sensibilities.” The full Resolution can be found HERE  UUSJ Will Soon Be Considering Widening the Circle of Concern
If you are interested in this topic and the social policy complex of interlocking racial injustices, please let us know. info@uusj.org. For more details on the UUA’s Widening the Circle of Concern see their webpage, HERE. | | | | | | | | Did You Complete Your UUSJ Membership Survey?  Did you catch a recent Tweet from the UU Service Committee Soliciting Feedback for our Survey? All UUSJ members and friends should have received our biennial survey via email last month. The survey findings will help UUSJ determine where to focus our efforts on the many pressing issues. You can find the survey HERE. Please complete it by Sunday, Feb. 28. This year UUSJ is expanding the survey beyond UUSJ members as part of an effort to hear from a broader range of those involved in social justice work, including UU partner groups such as UUs for a Just Economic Community and UU Ministry for Earth. The UUSJ Board of Trustees will evaluate results and report findings. Questions? Contact info@uusj.org.  | | | UUSJ Board Meeting via Zoom on March 20
UUSJ will conduct its quarterly Board of Trustees meeting via Zoom on March 20, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm ET. Board meetings are open to UUSJ members, who may request in advance an opportunity to briefly speak. For more information contact: info@UUSJ.org UUSJ Needs Volunteers to Plan 2021 Social Justice Awards Gala Every two years, UUSJ recognizes social justice heroes with our Social Justice Awards Gala, which in 2019 drew 120 UUs from across the region. This year’s event will be held in early fall with planning expected to begin this spring. Please consider volunteering to help with planning the event or organizing the awards component. For more information, contact info@uusj.org. | | | | Membership with UUSJ -- Here’s What We Do UUSJ works to disrupt the interlocking injustices of federal policy. We strive to make our government more responsive to all citizens and residents of this nation, propelling us toward beloved community with the following actions (see full version): - Strategically selecting issues moving in Congress and making it easy for UUs to express their views to lawmakers.
- Arranging meetings with congressional staff where UUs can make their voices heard.
- Providing Action Alerts for individual UUs to message their congressional representatives that voice a principled concern, apply public pressure, or advocate a solution to a particular injustice.
- Maintaining engagement on our priority issues of Immigration, Environmental Justice, and Democracy Action Teams. Interested in joining a team? Email info@uusj.org.
- Offering workshops and webinars to educate members on emerging issues and ways to advocate more effectively.
- Host periodic meetings for social justice ministers and congregational social justice committee chairs.
- Organizing or supporting public witness, especially at events of national importance to UUs.
UUSJ strives to engage with our moral owners (UUs, UU congregations, impacted communities, and the organizations that represent them) to focus our advocacy, increase the diversity of our Board of Trustees, and partner with UU and non-UU organizations to become more effective at moving our government to better laws and practices for social justice. | | | | Quick Quiz -- How Many UUs Are in Congress? Have Served as US President? Unitarian Universalists constitute just a small fraction of one percent of the US population, but three UUs are now serving in Congress: Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), and just elected in November, Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) Four US presidents are known to have been Unitarians: John Adams (2nd), John Quincy Adams (6th), Millard Fillmore (13th), and William Howard Taft (27th). You can find these and other faith-related statistics from the Pew Research Center’s series on Faith and Public Life. Pew Report 1 - Pew Report 2 | | | | | | | Unitarian Universalist News | |  30 Days of Love
Thirty Days of Love is an opportunity to lift up the ways Unitarian Universalists and many of our partner organizations are building and organizing by taking bold, courageous action for intersectional racial justice. Draft Statement of Conscience on Undoing White Supremacy Now Available The UU Association has just posted the draft of this year’s Statement of Conscience, “Undoing Intersectional White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action,” which is expected to be on the agenda at this year’s virtual General Assembly, June 23-27. Full details, including opportunities for congregations to offer comments and share their ideas, are available HERE. | | | | UUSJ Priority Issue Reports
To better reflect the work of our members and volunteers, our Priority Issue Teams have changed their names. They are now the Immigration Action Team, Environmental Action Team (including Climate Change), Democracy Action Team, and Economic Justice priority. These teams study issues and determine strategies as well as write and present issue briefings, monitor bills, work with Moral Owner partners, and participate in meetings (virtual and in-person when possible) with Capitol Hill leaders. | | | | | | | | | Action Alert: Fight for $15 Tell Congress It's Time to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15 an hour Nationwide. Join UUSJ in our solidarity with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on this issue. When the federal minimum wage was first established back in the 1930s, it was intended to be a living wage. The problem is that the gap between where it is today and what would be a living wage is enormous. This is because Congress has raised the federal minimum wage so infrequently and so inadequately over the years. For nearly a decade, workers and activists of faith and compassion have lifted up the dire need to raise the minimum wage. Now, a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr is expected to be introduced in Congress, and the Biden Administration included the new federal minimum wage requirement as part of its COVID-relief legislative package. Resources: | | | | A Moral and Economic Agenda - Big Push Coming This month, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will launch a major push of its 14 Policy Priorities to Heal the Nation: A Moral and Economic Agenda for the First 100 Days. Watch for details as UUSJ is an endorser and partner. UUSJ’s push for a $15/hour federal minimum wage, speaks to one of the priorities of the Poor People’s Campaign agenda. 
The agenda is linked to the PPC’s People’s Jubilee Platform for justice that centers the needs of poor and low-income Americans, and reflects the findings of the PPC’s Souls Of Poor Folk Audit: “Despite our nation’s abundance, there is not enough for all of us to survive and thrive.” This report [the Audit] makes a clear case that the richest nation in the world has sufficient resources to protect the environment and ensure dignified lives for all its people. The problem is a matter of priorities, as more and more of our wealth flows into the pockets of a small but powerful few and into our bloated Pentagon budget. (Page 6).” | | | | | | | | | Immigration Justice, New Administration, New Bills With President Biden proposing a bold immigration bill that includes pathways to citizenship, the Immigration Action Team is focusing on the House and Senate committees considering the legislation.  The Administration’s proposal includes – among other things – citizenship pathways for all 11 million immigrants here without full legal status. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) will sponsor the US Citizenship Act of 2021 in the Senate and Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) will do so in the House.
Many advocacy groups (including UUSC) and some Members of Congress want to move the legalization process for the 5 million of the 11 million immigrants considered “essential workers,” to a COVID relief bill considered more likely for early passage. Essential workers would include DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and TPS (Temporary Protected Status) holders. Read More Interested in learning more? Contact Convenor, Charlotte Jones-Carroll. Immigration Film Fest Volunteers Needed After last year’s successful smaller virtual Immigration Film Fest, the IFF is planning a hybrid version for this year’s event in October. Filmmakers will be invited to submit their work on immigrants and refugees beginning in February, via Film Freeway. IFF is looking for volunteers to screen and select films; join the executive committee that plans the film fest and related events, and promote the event. For more information, contact Mary Celeste Harris for more information. | | | | | | |  Democracy 2021 Priorities
The Democracy Action Team is working on advocacy plans for 2021. After meetings with Senate staffers last month, the Team agreed on its priorities for this year as well as the groups it hopes to partner with. (Find the team's complete report HERE.)
The Team’s priorities focus on: - Ensuring fair elections
- Enabling voters’ participation and making it easier to vote
- Providing equal electoral access
- Ensuring public officials work for the public interest; and
- Increasing the effectiveness of Congress
The Team is working on passing the For the People Act of 2021 H.R.1 and its companion bill S.1. This legislation would address the Team's first four priorities. If passed, it will promote fairer elections, more equal access for vulnerable populations, encourage wider voter participation, and protect voting rights. Read More Interested in learning more? Contact Convenor, Fred Van Deusen. | | | | | Environmental and Climate Justice | |  Spring for Change: The Path to Healing and Regeneration
March 20 - May 23, 2021
In partnership with UU Ministry for Earth and other UU groups, UUSJ will be participating in a variety of Earth Month programs as part of “Spring for Change.” Events are still being planned and will include (more being added): - Write Here! Write Now! letter-writing with a focus on youth and young adults
- Environmental sessions by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) caucus
- Intergenerational VIRTUAL Spring Seminar on Climate & Food Justice, hosted by the UU Office at the United Nations
Key dates are March 22 – World Water Day, April 18 or 25 – Earth Sunday, April 22 – Earth Day, and May 22 – World Biodiversity Day
Earthrise’ by Amanda Gorman, Inaugural Poet, Addresses the Environment  Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman made quite an impression last month with her Inauguration Day poem, The Hill We Climb. Interested in hearing more of her work? Check out her reading of the powerful environmental piece Earthrise as part of this stirring Climate Reality video from 2018.
Watch the video HERE
 Environmental & Climate 2021 Priorities
The UUSJ Environmental Action Team has adopted priorities for 2021 that call for bold action to address the full scope of the climate crisis. The priorities point to the need for Congress and the Executive Branch to take needed steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. At the same time, the Team’s priorities this year strongly focus on addressing persistent racial and economic disparities. Read More The Action Team will be monitoring progress and holding the Administration accountable. But the biggest challenge is likely convincing a badly-divided Congress to incorporate these priorities into lasting legislation. Interested in learning more? Contact Convenor, David Shilton. | | | | | | Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ)
7750 16th St NW, | Washington, District of Columbia 20012
202-600-9132 | info@uusj.org | | | | | | | |
