Greetings, UUSJ Beloveds

I’ve been reading a lot about how democracies fail. As the former President fights four separate indictments accusing him of everything from obstruction to being head of a criminal enterprise, and as millions of Americans not only support him but genuinely want him back in the White House (of all places), I feel compelled to learn as much as I can about how these things play out in other countries and through our own history. Alarmingly, the path we’re on is well-worn. We know what happens next, but it doesn’t have to. There are many things we can do to change course. 

One of those things is to become an active part of civil society, holding up our non-governmental institutions. These groups are necessary for the functioning of healthy democracies. When people join organizations, they increase their democratic competence, keep institutions accountable, build a culture of engagement, build social trust and social capital, create norms of reciprocity, cut across diversities, and value solidarity and cooperation, all of which leads to good governance, economic prosperity, and political stability. 

It is not coincidental during this political crisis that so many of our voluntary associations - like churches - are losing members, sometimes at lightning speed. Without them, without an actively engaged civil society, we have social fragmentation, alienation, hierarchical social relations, social distrust, corruption, opportunism, cynicism, poverty, and bad governance. People feel powerless, exploited, and unhappy. We set ourselves up for corrupt leaders to dismantle our democratic systems when we disengage.

Timothy Snyder, the acclaimed historian, and author of books like On Tyranny, tells us that one of the primary things the average person can do to keep a democracy strong is commit to an institution. I’ve committed to two. Feeling particularly attached to our American democratic system and our Unitarian Universalism, I have committed myself to the Community Church of New York as their Senior Minister and to UUSJ as the new Board Chair. Through this next year at UUSJ, it is my intention to do my part to be an active, engaged member of civil society. 

I hope you’ll join me. 

Rev. Peggy Clarke

UUSJ Board Chair
Senior Minister, Community Church of New York

Join UUSJ in NYC for the March To End Fossil Fuels

Sunday, September 17, 2023

With wildfire smoke choking the air we breathe, hurricanes and floods threatening our homes, and toxic pollution making us sick, it has never been more urgent to end our dependence on the leading cause of these crises – fossil fuels. 

In the largest climate march since the pandemic's start, thousands will march in New York City this September to demand President Biden take bold action to End Fossil Fuels.

• RSVP using this form, specifically for UUs, to join the march and get involved.
• Monitor announcements via Facebook from UUSJ Board Chair Rev. Peggy Clarke, Senior Minister, Community Church of New York, or email her for updates.
• For general event details, review endfossilfuels.us
• Bus and Carpool options can be found on the Travel & Logistics page.

Video by UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt

Did you catch President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt’s video? She mentions the March on September 17th and the fossil fuels elected leaders pledge we have been mobilizing for during the summer with SWL and UUMFE in advance of Climate Week in NYC.

It is never too late to contact your elected officials and build relationships for ongoing engagement on local climate action, energy, pollution, and climate disaster preparedness plans. All these issues connect to our continued use of fossil fuels and the climate emergency. See more details here from Side With Love.

Annual Report Fiscal Year 2022-2023

As we celebrate what we accomplished last fiscal year, we relish the work before us now, and we ask you to join us in the work of the new program year. We express deep gratitude for your engagement and support.

We hope the details in this FY22-23 Annual Report confirm our advances toward our strategic goals. Thank you for being part of this work.

RSVP to pledge to attend, and for updates, details may change due to permitting

Members of Congress are invited to speak alongside youth and environmental justice advocates. Representatives Tlaib and Espaillat have said they’re coming, and others are expected to confirm soon. Advocates and activists are asked to attend and support.

This rally will help build on the momentum for the UN’s Climate Ambition Summit and Acceleration Agenda to lift demands for Biden to do his part to stop fossil fuel expansion (stop approving fossil fuel projects, phase down oil & gas production on federal lands, and waters, limit LNG exports, declare a climate emergency and reinstate the crude oil export ban).

Witness Alert
National Day of Action: Demand Justice! 
#NoDetention #NoDeportation
Detention Watch Network
UUSJ proudly co-sponsors the DC event

Friday, September 15, 2023
10:00 a.m. ET
White House: Lafayette Sq., Pennsylvania Ave NW &, 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20001
RSVP to pledge to attend, and for updates, details may change due to permitting

In 2021, President Biden told anti-detention organizers in Georgia, "Give me 5 days” to shut down private detention centers. The Biden administration has failed to live up to its promises of a more just and humane immigration system, and systemic abuses at the hands of ICE and CBP persists under Biden. During the last 20 years, lawmakers have funneled 1.4 trillion dollars to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that could have been used to care for our communities. Immigrants and their communities, neighbors, and friends are saying enough is enough; those funds can be used better.

Join UUSJ as our Immigration Action Team anchors the DC event! Will you help us show UU solidarity?

September 26, 27, and 28, 2023
All Souls Church, 1500 Harvard St NW, Washington, DC 20009
See Detailed Schedule & Info Here
Ticket Purchase - Day Passes are available. Scholarships are available. No questions asked

Days 1 and 2 will provide learning and advocacy training. Day 3 will include advocacy on Capitol Hill with our Senators.

If you eat food, you care about the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill explicitly addresses food quality, soil, water waste and contamination, food deserts, equity, and conservation. Family farmers struggle to survive, while corporate farms get subsidies for animal feed and commodities. Soil has been degraded for decades with poisonous pesticides. The Farm Bill also includes SNAP (food stamps).

Tell our Senators to Support Strong Climate Provisions in the Farm Bill

The 2023 Farm Bill proposal could reshape our food system and help people and the planet. We have a critical opportunity to win a farm bill that is faithful and better, with solid climate provisions. We must advocate and pressure Congress for that to happen.

• Review our issue Handout
• Send an Online Letter
• Distribute our Action Poster so others can do the same

We want a proposal that encourages climate-smart production of healthful food. We need regenerative agricultural practices that sequester carbon, improve the health of our soil, and protect our waterways from pollution. We urge a farm bill that adequately funds vital nutrition programs and promotes fairness to all farmers and farm workers.

Alert: Letters submitted by Sunday, September 24, end of day, may be used in meetings on Thursday, September 28, as part of the UU advocacy conference mentioned above.

Finding Freedom:
White Women Taking on Our Own White Supremacy
Wednesday, September 6 through Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Location: via Zoom
Tiered fee schedule, “No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds”
More Details

The Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation is thrilled to bring a new program to our UU community—the five-part series explicitly designed for white and white-socialized women or genderqueer folks.

The purpose of Finding Freedom is to deepen our individual and collective understanding of how we, as white women and gender-expansive people, are complicit with white supremacy and how we can make changes that help us live more deeply and consistently into our racial justice commitment.

Brookings Event
How younger voters will affect the future of American politics
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. ET

Brookings Online Event RSVP

By the 2028 presidential election, people under 45 will constitute the majority of American voters. Studying these cohorts of younger voters is critical to understanding what lies ahead. Experts in Brookings’ Center for Public Management have been analyzing the voting patterns, behaviors, and demographics of younger voters, demonstrating how the youngest generations are unlike those who came before.

On September 12, join the Center for Effective Public Management for a virtual event to discuss how Americans under 45 will impact future elections and transform our democracy.

Save The Date - Webinar
A Fascist Campaign in Full View
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
8:00 p.m. ET - 7:00 p.m. CT - 6:00 p.m. MT - 5:00 p.m. PT
RSVP

Ever since J.R. McNeill asked, "How fascist is Donald Trump?” in a Washington Post Op-Ed (Oct 21, 2016), scholars and the media have been debating what to call Mr. Trump’s political campaign. With the former President’s stated plan to consolidate executive power if re-elected, the GOP’s ongoing attack on transgender people, and Trump followers’ willingness to use violence to return him to power, is there now any doubt about what we are seeing?

In this presentation, Dale Anderson, UUSJ Trustee, a Floridian, will explore these issues, relate them to what is happening in Florida, and ask why UUs, democracy advocates, and the media continue to avoid using the “F-word.” Driven by his concern for the health of our democracy since 2017, Dale has been presenting “How Fascism Works: The Global Rise of Authoritarianism” and “The Authoritarian Playbook” to various organizations.

Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American

David Pepper, author of Laboratories of Autocracy and several other books, has just published a very important follow-on book titled Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American. Various team members are reading and discussing the book.

Pepper lays out an effective strategy for countering the anti-democracy movement in this book and explains why our current approach to saving democracy will not work. He explains what we need to do collectively and individually to win this battle and provides a great list of activities that we can all do to participate in this effort. The book is easy to read, easy to follow, and right on target. It's the playbook that everyone who cares about democracy should be using.

End Operation Lone Star - take the action
The initiative by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, known as Operation Lone Star (OLS), has been impacting asylum seekers at the Texas-Mexico Border. OLS has imposed cruel, inhumane, and deadly treatment in the execution of its official mandate “to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas.” This action asks the Biden administration to do more to prevent migrant arrests, mistreatment, and family separation under OLS.
Use the poster for tabling after services.

Pass the Reintroduced Afghan Adjustment Act - take the action
For over twenty years, Afghan human rights, civil society, and government leaders staked their lives, futures, and families on the international community’s efforts to build a rights-based democracy in their country. When that effort collapsed, they faced deadly retribution from one of the world’s most repressive and brutal regimes. In response to this catastrophe, assisting our Afghan allies is vital. This action asks members of Congress to co-sponsor the recently reintroduced Afghan Adjustment Act.
Use the poster for tabling after services.

Provide lasting protection for the Dreamers!
Dreamers have lived with uncertainty for 11 years! Tell Congress it is time to step up and pass legislation to provide lasting protection for the Dreamers! We call on all to support the Dreamers in their communities and contact their members of Congress to advocate for their protection. And to collaborate with local partners to combat anti-immigrant narratives and work with grassroots organizations/ campaigns centering on those most directly affected by anti-immigration policies and other failures of the U.S. immigration system. This action asks members of Congress to pass the Dream Act of 2023. 
Use the poster for tabling after services.

Protect community members from unsafe pipes!

Tell federal regulators to pause construction while these safety review standards are met. On August 11, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the agency tasked with monitoring the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), issued a safety order for the project. MVP has 30 days to reply to PHMSA’s findings, but residents are growing more concerned as developers rush to put the pipe in the ground ahead of their deadline to respond. 

This action is requested by our People Versus Fossil Fueles allies, Appalachian Voices and Protect our Water Heritage (POWHR).

We Imagine, We Create! An Environmental Festival

Saturday, September 23, 2023
1:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
Fourth Universalist Society 160 Central Park West, New York
Schedule & RSVP

Vespers service via Zoom

As Climate Week wraps up, join Unitarian Universalists to celebrate and lament what’s still left to be done and imagine what is possible to create. This is an all-ages event. Childcare for ages three and under is offered from 2-6pm ET

1-4 p.m. ET: Storytelling, arts and crafts, live music, information booths, play, meditation & earth-centered practices 

4-5 p.m. ET: Jazz vespers worship service; come in person or view it online. 

Event by with 4th Universalist Society with UUMFE. 

We Still Need The Environmental Justice for All Act
Congress should pass the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act of 2023 (H.R.1705, S.919). We still want Congress to act on "the moral principle that all people have the right to pure air, clean water, and an environment that enriches life."  We still agree that "Federal policy can and should seek to achieve environmental justice, health equity, and climate justice for all underserved communities," let's urge them to do so. Use the poster for tabling after services. Use the poster for tabling after services.

Still a Dream: 60 Years After the March on Washington

Sixty years after the famed March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech, African Americans are on a path where it will take 500 more years to reach economic equality. Sixty years without substantially narrowing the Black-white wealth divide is a policy failure. But just as federal policy helped create the racial wealth gap, it can also help close it. [Institute for Policy Studies, Full version of the report]

See Album

Fighting Hunger in the Farm Bill

Thursday, September 7, 2023
3:00 p.m. ET
Online, via Zoom
RSVP

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Bread for the World, and Islamic Relief USA invite Unitarian Universalists to join a briefing on the Farm Bill and huger policies. They will discuss the faith community's shared priorities for the next Farm Bill, and how Congress must use this key opportunity to advance policies to support the millions of Americans facing hunger. UUs are invited to spread the word on this event and join to learn more.

Safeguard SNAP in the Farm Bill

Take Action Alert. We must urge the U.S. Congress to prioritize people and protect critical anti-poverty programs like SNAP (formerly known as food stamps). The Farm Bill is one of the most critical pieces of legislation that Congress regularly reauthorizes, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a vital part of the Farm Bill. Through the SNAP program, Congress can combat hunger by strengthening essential programs, removing barriers to access for struggling individuals and families, and increasing access to affordable, nutritious foods to support good nutrition and health. Poster