| | | | A Message From The UUA President : Holding One Another In Compassion and Prayer “I am thinking of you and holding you in my heart. As we continue to learn more about what is happening in Kenosha, Wisconsin, it is all so infuriating, heartbreaking, and traumatizing. The violence inflicted on Black lives and Black communities needs our attention and response across this country.” (Read the full message here.) | | | | | | The lies our textbooks told my generation of Virginians about slavery. State leaders went to great lengths to instill their gauzy version of the Lost Cause in young minds. Commentary -- by Bennett Minton Editor’s note: Published in the Washington Post on July 31, Bennett Minton’s perspective offers an opportunity for reflection on how white centeredness shapes our views. It generated nearly 2000 responses. “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” by James Loewen published in 1995, with an update in 2018, carries a similar theme. A series of textbooks written for the fourth, seventh, and 11th grades taught a generation of Virginians our state’s history. Chapter 29 of the seventh-grade edition, titled “How the Negroes Lived Under Slavery,” included these sentences: “A feeling of strong affection existed between masters and slaves in a majority of Virginia homes.” The masters “knew the best way to control their slaves was to win their confidence and affection.” Enslaved people “went visiting at night and sometimes owned guns and other weapons.” “It cannot be denied that some slaves were treated badly, but most were treated with kindness.” Color illustrations featured masters and slaves all dressed smartly, shaking hands amiably. Read full article | | | | | Bennett Minton was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington from 2001 to 2018, when he moved from his domicile of nearly six decades to Portland, Oregon. As he was at UUCA, he remains involved in politics as an organizer and lobbyist, paid by no one. He writes on politics and history on his blog, TransformationalCitizenship.com, from which this article was adapted. | | | | | | | | | Take Action on Immigration This Month UUSJ is focusing on immigration this month by urging Congress to strengthen oversight of the Department of Homeland Security agencies that deal with immigration laws and providing COVID relief for immigrant families. See the full story, along with Action Item links that make it easier to reach your members of Congress, in the Immigration Section below. The September Write Here! Write Now! letter-writing campaign will focus on the Senate to urge action on Homeland Security. Link HERE for the WHWN handout. Letters are due by Sept. 17. Join the issue briefing on Thursday, Sept. 3, 3-4pmET via Zoom. Sign up HERE. For details: info@UUSJ.org. | | | | “It’s been going on far too long without enough white citizens objecting” say UUs advocating for Justice in Policing Act July’s Write Here! Write Now! letter-writing campaign urged UU partner congregations to reach out to their senators to take action on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (S.3912). Developed by the Congressional Black Caucus, the bill (H.R.7120) passed in the House and still awaits Senate consideration. Many UUs wrote letters, often with powerful first-person accounts of people of color harmed from discrimination and brutality at the hands of police in their areas. While UU letters have already been submitted to writers’ members of Congress, anyone can use UUSJ’s background materials to continue the pressure. (Link to July's WHWH page.) And in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Bradford Community Church Unitarian Universalist posted these words and images “to the community of Kenosha and beyond.” And local organizers have created BLAK -- Black Lives Activists of Kenosha https://www.facebook.com/groups/uusresistingnewjimcrow/ | | | | UUSJ Continues “Virtual Advocacy Corps” meetings and “Action Alerts” Although Advocacy Corps visits to Capitol Hill have been suspended, there are other ways UUs can urge their federal elected representatives to take action on UUSJ priority issues, in addition to Write Here! Write Now! Letters. - Virtual Advocacy Corps meetings with constituents and staff of members of Congress have worked well. Accotink UU Church (VA) has conducted two virtual meetings with staff of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), July 30 on Securing our Vote and Aug. 16 on American Innovation and Manufacturing Act 2019, both of which were subjects of previous Write Here! Write Now! Accotink’s UUSJ board member John Peterson said “the Zoom meeting went exactly the same as an in-person meeting. Great education for the participants on how an in-person meeting works.” He added that setting up the Zoom meeting was different. UUSJ is preparing a “tip sheet” for organizing and scheduling virtual meetings.
- UUSJ’s Action Alerts get a message directly to elected representatives. The June Write Here! Write Now! letter-writing campaign to “Secure Our Vote” was followed up by an Action Alert, which allowed you to send a message directly to your elected officials using background and messaging from the letter-writing campaign. You can also add a personal story to strengthen your argument. (Tell your senators that we deserve a free, fair, safe, and secure election — and time is running out. Act now to help ‘Secure Our Vote and support the U.S. Postal Service. (Link Here).
- In another UUSJ Action Alert, we advocated for a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act “1033 program” urging senators to vote for amendments to demilitarize the police by limiting the transfer of military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies. The amendment was voted down, 51-49, on July 21.
| | | | | | | | Storytelling for Advocacy Workshop October 10, 1-4 pmET - via ZOOM Want to “be the change?” We know that UUs love to advocate for social justice and many go beyond the talk and “walk the walk.” Yet in advocacy work, “stories often move hearts and then hearts move minds.” Join us on Oct. 10 for a Zoom workshop on personal storytelling and effective advocacy focusing on how your story can create change! Let us help you figure out what to say, how to say it, and how to share it. This free workshop -- led by Natalie Miller-Moore -- is supported by a grant from the UU Funding Program. Participants in UUSJ’s first storytelling workshop in July gave it high marks, with more than 70 percent recommending others take it. A month after the workshop, nearly half of participants had contacted their representative, 36 percent had written a letter to their legislature, and 27 percent had volunteered for the upcoming election. | | |  | | | For more information about this workshop email Advocacy@uusj.org or register HERE. Pass this Flyer along to fellow advocates you think might be interested. | | | | New support for Advocacy Program Anna Hooker has joined UUSJ on contract as an advocacy program assistant. Her work background is primarily in writing and higher education. She is passionate about climate justice and educational equity, which she is studying in her graduate program at the University of Southern California. She resides in Newport Beach. The position is supported by UUSJ’s grant from the UU Funding Program which runs through the end of December. Contact: Anna@UUSJ.org. | | | | Save the Date: Dec. 12 for UUSJ 20th Anniversary Did you know that UUSJ is 20 years old in 2020? To help celebrate and to envision the path ahead UUSJ will be holding a special event via Zoom, featuring Congressman Jerry Connolly (D-VA-11), along with award-winning musician and performer Lea Morris, on Dec. 12. Please save the date and expect further details as soon as they become available. Contact: info@UUSJ.org. | | Introducing Board Member  Dr. John Peterson is a retired computer scientist and a long time member of Bread for the World (Bread), a large and influential organization devoted to ending hunger via advocacy. He has served as an activator for the northern VA Bread phone tree, calling legislators to improve food security, and visiting legislators for face to face meetings. He is also passionate about human rights worldwide. John has been a member of UUSJ and the Accotink UU church for three years and involved with the UUSJ Advocacy Corps for two years. | | Lavona Grow taking sabattical Lavona Grow, who as advocacy program volunteer leader has been directing UUSJ's Write Here! Write Now! campaign and the Advocacy Corps for the past 3 1/2 years, is going on sabbatical September 5 through the November elections. She will be exploring her passion for advocacy on the climate crisis and working on the elections during that time. And she plans to take some needed time off for relaxation, pursuing genealogy and gardening. If you need to reach Lavona or if you have questions about the advocacy program contact advocacy@uusj.org. | | Pouring UU Strength Into Areas of Need For Voter Mobilization  Heading toward the November election the Reeb/UUSJ Voter Mobilization project has already racked up some impressive results: - Making 114,000 calls to voters in Texas during UU the Vote
- Writing 20,000+ postcards to Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida voters
- Having conversations with voters about racial justice
- Activating voting rights/electoral organizations, UUSJ-affiliated congregations, and more - all working on projects to help combat voter suppression!
- Establishing partnerships to do this work, with non-profit (501c3) projects like ours.
Looking ahead, we have a goal of sending 25,000 postcards into North Carolina to encourage purged voters to re-register before the November election deadline. We have groups of postcard writers at many of our congregations. We are working with the UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina in its phone bank partnership with Reclaim Our Vote and the North Carolina NAACP. We are joining our longtime ally CASA to text voters in Pennsylvania to support the work of community organizers, and other in-state projects. For more details and to sign-up see the Defending Our Democracy section below. | | | | | | | Unitarian Universalist News | |  | Two UUs Among “Faith Leaders to Watch in 2020” The Rev. Ashley Horan and Nicole Pressley are being honored for their work on the UUA’s UU the Vote by the Center for American Progress. The Rev. Ashley Horan is the organizing strategy director of the UU Association, and Nicole Pressley is the national organizer for UU The Vote. They work to engage UU individuals, congregations, and institutions in bringing their values to the public square in the 2020 elections, through deep partnerships with local and national front line organizations. They both identify as queer people of faith and have a track record of local community organizing. Previously, the Rev. Horan was the executive director of the Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance, and Pressley was an organizer and communications strategist working with the UU Congregation of Atlanta. You can read their personal statements in the story with the complete list of faith leaders. | | Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Webinars - Taking A Collective Breath: Deepening our alignment to the movement for Black Lives ZOOM Registration Required  In collaboration with UUSC, Side With Love (SWL) is offering an exciting new webinar series to deepen our collective activism and participation in the Movement for Black Lives. SWL invites your participation in Taking A Collective Breath: Deepening our alignment with the Movement for Black Lives, a five-session series built around the elements of the BREATHE Act. Come learn and build with local and national partners who are shaping conditions to make liberation possible. Upcoming webinars: - September 8: Education Allocating New Money to Build Healthy, Sustainable & Equitable Communities for All People
- September 22: Environmental Justice and Public Health Allocating New Money to Build Healthy, Sustainable & Equitable Communities for All People Environmental Justice
- October 13: Holding Officials Accountable & Enhancing Self-Determination of Black Communities
Note: If your congregation is working on the Breathe Act -- which would shift community safety away from policing, prisons, and militarization toward investing in cities and neighborhoods -- contact us (info@uusj.org). The measure grew out of the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives. | | | | | | | | |  | Urge House and Senate To Strengthen Oversight of Immigration Agencies and Expand Immigrants Covered in next COVID Relief Bill UUSJ calls on both chambers to strictly control the Department of Homeland Security immigration-related agencies. These agencies have aggressively enforced anti-immigrant policies, placed the lives of asylum-seekers at risk, and spent billions on an ineffective border wall. DHS must be barred from moving funds from other agencies to immigrant enforcement activities. The only leverage Congress has at this point is through appropriations bills to run DHS. We urge our House and Senate members to strengthen oversight on both funding and policy for DHS immigration enforcement agencies for the fiscal year 2021, which begins Oct.1. DHS includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and provides services for immigrants’ legal residence and citizenship, though the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). We are also urging our senators to expand aid to immigrants in the next COVID relief bill – the HEROES Act. Past COVID relief bills excluded immigrants without Social Security numbers and their families, even if they are working in frontline jobs and paying taxes. The House-passed version of the HEROES Act includes these provisions. Our Action Alerts make it easy for you to let your representative and senators hear your voice. They include links to electronic messages and talking Points. House Action Alert on the DHS Appropriations Bill. Senate Action Alert on the DHS Appropriations Bill and passing the HEROES Act, which includes health and economic aid for immigrant families that were excluded from earlier COVID relief bills. | | | | | | | Environmental and Climate Justice | | UUSJ's Revamped Environmental and Climate Justice Task Group UUSJ volunteers interested in environmental and climate justice issues are looking at how UUSJ might engage more deeply on these topics. They are also thinking about the impact beyond Nov 3. The environmental and climate justice issues being considered are resilient climate justice, green jobs, decarbonizing energy, and ensuring clean air and water. If you’re interested in learning more about the group, contact advocacy@uusj.org. The team will be working on the October Write Here! Write Now!, so stay tuned if you want to advocate for a sustainable planet. | | | | Erin Brockovich: Superman's Not Coming  Tuesday, Sept. 8, 12:30pmET
Sponsored by Climate One
Free Registration Required
Erin Brockovich vaulted into national recognition in 2000, after the eponymous movie starring Julia Roberts made her a water activism icon. Famous for her focus on water contamination, Brockovich sees a larger threat facing water’s very existence. It is climate change, and its impact on dwindling freshwater supplies, longer droughts, and hotter weather. "Superman isn’t coming to protect our water or environment," writes Brockovich in her latest book Environmental Justice for All Act — Improving Lives of Marginalized Communities (Facebook Live Online Tour)
Tuesday, Sept. 8 from New Mexico 1:00-2:30pmET
Tuesday, Sept. 15 from Los Angeles 1:00-2:30pmET
Sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijlav (D-AZ) House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rep. Raul Grijalva is leading forums on Facebook Live to promote the "Environmental Justice for All Act,” which he and Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-VA.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced. See fact sheet. Event details and links will be made available on Rep. Grijalva’s website HERE. Webinar: Solutionary Rail--electrifying rail service so we're ready for pollution-free transportation Thursday, Sept. 10, 8:00pmET
Sponsor: UUs for a Just Economic Community
Zoom Meeting The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed deep flaws in our society and economy. Solutionary Rail offers a path toward a clean transportation and energy infrastructure by tackling some of the most difficult decarbonization challenges. It also offers a vision for an infrastructure that supports localization of manufacturing, food security, and rural resilience by creating a more equitable, efficient, and accessible transport infrastructure in service of the public good. Climate Ambition with Gina McCarthy, Annie Leonard, and Tamara Toles O'Laughlin Tuesday, Sept. 22, 7:00pmET
Sponsored by Climate One
Free Registration Required How are the leaders of some of the nations’ biggest environmental organizations responding to a year of race and health crises? Environmental groups like National Resources Defense Council (McCarthy), 350.org (Toles), and Greenpeace (Lenoard) helped move climate onto the presidential agenda last year, pushing Joe Biden and other Democrats to propose bold action. Now, organizers and advocates are backing recovery plans that bolster clean energy jobs, help strengthen communities, and dismantle systems that exploit people and the planet. How enthusiastic are they about Joe Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan?  Thursday, Sept. 24, 10am-1pmET
Sponsor: Lutheran Advocacy
Register Here
Interfaith partners gathered in New York City almost one year ago for the “Climate Emergency: Faith-based Organizations Raising Ambition- Leaving No One Behind.”. The COVID-19 pandemic glaringly reveals not only systemic racism but also the fragilities of our social and economic systems – which are exacerbated by climate change. The webinar will honor Congressman John Lewis’s legacy by including international diverse voices; sharing experiences by those disproportionately impacted by climate change; and highlighting the compounding effects of racial inequity and injustice.  Friday, Nov. 6, 2020
6:00 - 8:30pmET
Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (VA), UUSJ, and UU Ministry for Earth are co-sponsoring a showing of the award-winning documentary “The Condor and the Eagle.” Come together virtually as people of faith and conscience to watch this documentary, hear from the filmmakers and protagonists, and unite the faith community in the movement for Indigenous rights and climate justice. Contact: Larry Underwood. | | | | | | | | | Save the Date -- Sept. 14 - PPC Digital Mass Rally The Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) cracked open the hearts and minds of millions by showcasing the stories of the poor and low-income right alongside their allies, at its June virtual mass rally, A National Call For Moral Revival. It asked people to join their state PPC networks in mobilizing poor and low-income people. Furthering that work into the election season, PPC is leading a mass voter organizing project in poor communities across the country, extending its We Must Do MORE (Mobilizing, Organizing, Registering, and Educating) campaign. They will be kicking it off with a mass digital rally and call to action on September 14. This includes base-building, voter registration and protection, town halls and forums, and nationally coordinated days of action. It zeros in on 16 states with significant races, dovetailing with the Reeb/UUSJ and UU the Vote efforts. The PPC just launched a groundbreaking new report showing that poor and low-income people are key to political transformation in this country and could also become a new and decisive electorate. | |  | | | | | | The Importance of Voter Mobilization As both of the major parties’ presidential candidates have said, this is the election of our lifetime. And the contrast between these two candidates could not be clearer. For all of us who support our UU Principles, care about our country, and care about our democracy, our task for the next two months is also quite clear. We need to vote; encourage others to vote; and help others navigate the somewhat confusing voting process that varies by state. Check out the UUSJ website for a shortlist of activities that includes sending postcards to help disenfranchised voters, engaging and assisting voters in Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and other states for phone and text banking, and sending friendly notes and posting on social media to encourage and help others to register and vote. Thank you for engaging in this work. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our country’s future depends on all of us, and many, many others, doing this successfully. Contact: info@UUSJ.org  UUSJ’s Joint Project with Reeb is Mobilizing Voters A Big Goal - Postcards to North Carolina
Ongoing We are starting a new exciting phase of our postcard campaign with Reclaim Our Vote to reach disenfranchised voters. We’re gearing up to write 25,000(!!) postcards to voters in North Carolina who have been purged from the voter rolls. We’ll be encouraging them to re-register before the deadline for the November election. We have active postcard groups writing at UU Church of Rockville, the Washington Ethical Society, the Reeb Project/All Souls Unitarian, Cedar Lane, UU Congregation of Columbia, Paint Branch UUC, Cedarhurst, FU Baltimore, UUC Fairfax, Mount Vernon UC, Accotink UUC, Reston, Sterling, River Road UUC, and Arlington. If you’re a member of one of these churches and want to help, reach out to your congregation's postcard captain and ask for a packet! Being Present - Phone Banking to North Carolina
Thursday, Sept. 3, 6-8pmET
Thursday, Sept. 10, 6-8pmET Every Thursday from now until the election, the UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina will be hosting a phone bank in partnership with Reclaim Our Vote and the North Carolina NAACP. The next phone banks are September 3rd,10th, 17th … and so on. They are recruiting volunteers from across the country in support of the state's voter engagement efforts. We have a long, happy, productive partnership with the UU Justice Ministry of NC and look forward to continuing to lend support to their hard work. Sign up to phone bank here.
Prior to attending the phone bank, review this google doc of brief instructions. Consistent Allyship - CASA Volunteer Text Bank in Pennsylvania
Saturday, Sept. 12, 10am-1pmET We’ve worked with CASA in years past and are joining them this time to text voters in Pennsylvania with CASA. They are helping voters in underserved and underrepresented parts of Pennsylvania to register to vote. They report great results reaching voters by text. Many of our volunteers have been very enthusiastic about text banking since it can be a nice option for people nervous about phone calls. We’re excited about the many opportunities to text with CASA over the next two months. Sign up to text bank here. | | Other Social Justice Issues | | 2020 Census Deadline--Sept.30 Millions of households have not yet responded to the 2020 Census, jeopardizing the once-a-decade goal of tallying every person living in the country. Undermining the accuracy of the data and worsening undercounts of people of color, immigrants, and other historically undercounted groups. What can you do? Check-in with your county Census2020 office about how to encourage households to respond by Sept. 30, or to volunteer. Remind your social media contacts that you responded and ask them to if they haven’t already. And if you are working on getting out the vote for the November 3 election, remember that many people who have traditionally been undercounted in the Census also have had low voter turnout rates for reasons related to voter suppression, transportation challenges, and other issues. Use the Census Bureau’s online tools to see how your state, county, city, congressional district and even census tract are responding. By August 27, 65 percent of the households in the nation had self-responded, but with wide variation. For example in Virginia, which ranks 8th best at 70 percent, in Lee County (coal country) only 40 percent had responded, and in Accomack County (Eastern Shore) just 36 percent. In North Carolina, ranked 37th with 61 percent response overall, just 54 percent of households in both the 3rd and 11th Congressional districts have self-reported. | | | | | | | | Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ)
7750 16th St NW, | Washington, District of Columbia 20012
202-600-9132 | info@uusj.org | | | | | | | |
