On Jan. 15-21, demand corporations stay out of policing our communities and end their involvement in Cop City!

The Atlanta Police Foundation is trying to use millions of tax dollars and millions in corporate contributions to build one of the largest militarized police training facilities in the country in Atlanta. Corporations, which are not accountable to the public, are funding Cop City and the Atlanta Police Foundation.

Home Depot and UPS are among 21 corporations involved in sponsoring, financing, insuring, and building the facility. We are taking action to tell them to get out of policing in our communities. Please join with your community this week of Jan. 15 -21 to demand that these corporations end their involvement with Cop City.

Take action now: tell CEOs to stop funding Cop City and militarized policing!

The construction of Cop City would destroy much of the city's largest urban forest, warming nearby majority Black neighborhoods by as much as 10 degrees. Similar projects are being considered in other cities.  

Private sector corporations—which are not accountable to the public—are funding the Atlanta Police Foundation as well as other private police foundation projects.  

Send a message to their CEOs today! And urge them to stay out of policing our communities.

Please use this map to find an event near you! If you're in the area, we invite you to join the events below:

• Thursday, January 18 @ 12-1pm MT in Denver: Stop Cop City Denver Letter Delivery and Action

• Saturday, January 20 @ 11am-12:30pm PT in Emeryville: Protest Home Depot's Support of Cop City

• Monday, January 22 @ 10:30am-3:00pm ET in Atlanta: All Out for City Council Meeting

Welcome to the first week of 30 Days of Love! This year’s theme is “Imagining an Interdependent Future.” With each new year, we move into an intentional holy time of spiritual nourishment, contemplation, and embodiment. A new year can carry with it the weight and grief of the former while inviting us into possibility and prophecy of the new. We enter 2024 witnessing unconscionable suffering and injustice at a scale that calls us all to deeply reimagine a future where we all thrive. The only way through this moment is together, bound by a commitment to our shared humanity and interdependence. 30 Days of Love offers a place to steady and stretch as we faithfully journey toward wholeness and collective liberation. Together, let us imagine our interdependent future and order our work along this path. 

In the first week, we explore the theme of “safety” and how it shows up in our world and our decriminalization work. Click here to read the full reflection from Side With Love Field & Programs Director Nicole Pressley.

This week’s offerings: a Time For All Ages by Rev. Mylo Way; a Body Practice from Jess Hunt; a prayer by Rev. Cecilia Kingman; a blessing from Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen; and a Grounding Practice for Safety by Lora Powell-Haney.

P.S. Ready to take action? Sign our letter urging CEOs to stop funding Cop City and militarized policing and share it with three friends!

Recently a Young Adult Unitarian Universalist I know asked me “I know Love is at the center of our faith but how the hell am I supposed to love my oppressor?!” This is such a good question. As we embark on a new year with the knowledge a genocide is happening on one hand and constant consumer messaging on the other, how do we center Love?

To be clear, there are as many different kinds of love as there are grains of sand on a beach. Family love, friend love, partner love, pet love, etc. But when we talk about Love being at the center of our faith, the most relevant love is called Agape Love. Agape Love is known for its qualities of empathy and sacrifice. It wants the best for everyone and is intended for everyone. In the Christian faith, from which both Unitarianism and Universalism was born, it is the love God extends to us and the reciprocal love we extend to God. That love includes all things and all people. It is a covenant of unending care.

What Agape Love is not is absolution. It does not mean that we do not hold each other accountable for wrongs. It does not mean we do not name a genocide as a genocide. It does not even mean we have to like one another. We can go so far as to hate someone and still find Agape Love for them. This is because even in our hatred we still must see the humanity in the other person. Even if they have acted in inhumane ways, Agape Love, our UU Love, calls us to uphold their worth and dignity as we hold them accountable for the terrors they have committed. See the difference there, we can hold people accountable and uphold their humanity. We can Love them.

So after I got through that mini sermon, of course this UU had more to say! Here’s a replay of the rest of our conversation:

young adult: So I can tell them I love them even if I hate them…that seems hypocritical.

me: Why are you even talking to them if you hate them?!! If they’ve done something so terrible to you, why are you allowing them into your life?

young adult:  Well you just said I have to affirm their humanity, don’t I have to engage with them to do that?

me: Goddess no! Agape Love says that you affirm their humanity, it doesn’t say that you are solely responsible for that.

young adult: So I can hate them and love them, just from a distance?

me: Yes, set a boundary. Make sure that their access to you is exactly as much or as little or as none as you want. There is no need to take care of your oppressor or abuser. Agape love means that when they are held accountable for their actions, it is done by someone else and it done while keeping their humanity intact.

young adult: Well what about revenge, what if I want them to suffer?

me: Ah, that’s really getting to the crux of it all isn’t it? It’s not about not wanting to love them or not. It’s that we want them to feel what we felt, suffer the way we’ve suffered. And we know that if we’re called to Love them, we can’t allow them to suffer. Even if we have. Even if we have at their hands. That’s really what this conversation is about isn’t it?

young adult: Well, yeah.

me: Will their suffering heal you? Will it make the world a better place? Will it in any way change what happened in the past?

young adult: No but…is this like the time you told me that hate is like drinking poison hoping that the other person will die?

me: Do you think it’s like that?

young adult: Hmmm, maybe. I’m gonna have to think about it.

me: Absolutely, that’s part of our faith too! And if you can, please let me know what you come up with because that’s how I learn and grow as a Unitarian Universalist too.

So beloveds, there it is. Let me know what you think so we can learn and grow together.

What does it mean to center the value of love?

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Hank
CLF member, incarcerated in LA

Through my eyes, I see all humans with equal vision, regardless of diverse qualities, color, gender, and belief — this is what love looks like to me. Through my senses, I perceive all as one and the same, directed by cosmic order, consciousness, self, God or Guru, which are all synonymous — this is what love feels like to me.

Through my ears I hear and hold no judgment, condemnation, ridicule, or punishments for whatever is said — this is God, through me, in me at all times. Love is God, and God is love: not separate from me, and never forsaking me, for me are one and therefore I am.

---

Donald
CLF member, incarcerated in CO

Love is a simple yet complex emotion for us to truly describe. However, we seem to know it when we feel it. Problems arise when we grasp at, try to control or desire love. Problems also happen when we reject or do not reciprocate love.

Love is at its best when we just allow it to be, and in turn, when we just “be” in it. Love exists outside of us, sometimes with, sometimes without us. We are not necessary for love, but love is a necessity for us.

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What is Love?

Ryan
CLF Member, incarcerated in FL

L-O-V-E. Probably one of the most misunderstood words in the English language. Mostly due to the fact we only have one word for it. The Greeks however have multiple words to describe different types love. Here are four of them:

Eros, the easiest, is physical love. This is where we get words like erotic. It’s the love of how things look/feel/smell/taste or any other physical property. This might be an initial feeling towards someone we’re attracted to.

Philia is brotherly love. Think of philanthropy, coming together to raise money for a cause. This describes the love towards friends, co-workers and even humanity as a whole.

Storge is familial love. Not a common root word in the English language, but this is the love one typically feels towards parents, children, siblings or cousins.

The most powerful form of love is agape, or unconditional love that continues despite and perhaps even due to our flaws.

This is sometimes the hardest to achieve because as humans we put conditions on so much, usually unconsciously. This is what we as UUs strive for, especially in our acceptance of the LGBTQ+ and incarcerated members. This is the love to strive for.

What about your love?

Elaine
CLF member, incarcerated in AR

Desperate and alone, this trans heart has been,
forever seeking its needs in places bereft of such things.
Trying to make due with what’s at hand,
knowing its needs would never be met.

Dark and tainted this trans heart has been,
always ignored and forgotten in a world so cold.
Always being refused and abused,
rarely has it known the warmth and light of real love.

Hated and jaded this trans heart has been,
just for refusing to adhere to the world’s ignorance and lies.
Never rewarded for standing true to itself,
but always cast aside, unwanted by others.

Begging and pleading, this trans heart implores you,
those who have the capacity for love and caring.
Don’t let others rule who and how you should be,
let you heart judge; it knows the deepest truths.

Danny
CLF member, incarcerated in CA

Drops of water fall
Onto sidewalks and raincoats
Gloomy clouds stretch on
Shifting winds and sunshine say,
“This will not be forever.”

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Love Resists teamed up earlier this month to host the first webinar (in a series of three) to educate people about the “Cop City” project underway in Atlanta and equip them to stop this destructive plan (and similar schemes elsewhere in the U.S.).

We invite you to:

• watch the webinar recording

• use the Q and A and webinar notes as a resource

• take action to tell CEOs to stop funding Cop City and militarized policing! 

As one of our speakers said, we choose relentless optimism in the face of this struggle! Confronting the sponsoring companies about their harm to our community is the first step leading up a corporate divestment campaign AFSC will lanch in January 2024. Please stay in touch for opportunities to take further action to Stop Cop City!

Please attend our second webinar in this series, addressing abolition, on December 6th.

To stay connected with our speakers and their efforts to combat environmental justice and environmental racism:  

• Join Dr. Jacqueline Echols and the South River Watershed Alliance in contacting the regional and national EPA to remove priority language from the Dekalb consent decree, and support SRWA’s legal fund to help Stop the Swap of public park land to a private developer. Connect with them on Instagram @southriverforest @southriverga 

• Follow founding editor of the Atlanta Community Press Collective, Sam Barnes on Twitter/X and support ACPC’s work

• Follow Commissioner Ted Terry on Twitter/X for ways to support his appeal of Dekalb County’s land disturbance permit issued to the Atlanta Police Foundation

• Get involved with organizer Neil Sardana and Georgia Conservation Voters efforts to Stop Cop City and help combat the environmental racism of Georgia’s Public Service Commission

Last time we wrote you, Revs. Dave Dunn and Jeff Jones were in jail after stopping construction at Cop City in Atlanta with their bodies.

We are happy to share that all 5 who were arrested were released from jail with misdemeanor charges.   

Additionally, Rev. Christina Branum-Martin, Rev. Misha Sanders, and other UUs joined others to deliver over 116,000 petition signatures collected by the Cop City Vote Coalition in support of letting Atlantans decide if they want Cop City at all.

The City of Atlanta is trying a legal appeal to avoid verifying signatures, a decision that Senator Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams both criticized as deeply anti-democratic.

We're grateful to be part of a movement that won't cede ground to fascism, increased militarization of our public safety, and destruction of our green spaces.

As Unitarian Universalists, we hold deeply to the truth that there is no one singular right way to live and love. We see this flourishing in the work to Stop Cop City: some folks put their bodies in front of construction equipment while others tediously match thousands of referendum signatures one by one while others bring food and care for babies.

Our call to collective liberation includes all this and more – we root deeply in spiritual practice for strength and courage, we send cards and food and song as our prayers, we summon the courage to show up and out of our comfort zones again and again, and we also rest in the dark peace of night when we need it.  

 However you're able, we've a way for you to join this call:

• Sign up for rapid response text alerts to be notified of urgent actions

• Join our weekly huddle for updates on the landscape and evolving needs

• Explore our six-lesson small group discussion guide to explore the connection between our faith and the calls to defund policing and law enforcement

• Learn how you can support those who are arrested for resisting injustice

Yesterday morning, two Unitarian Universalist ministers, Rev. Dave Dunn and Rev. Jeff Jones, joined a non-violent direct action to protest the escalating anti-democratic actions of the Georgia Attorney General and the Atlanta City Council. Over the past year, these two tax-funded institutions have waged an ongoing campaign of disinformation, intimidation, and criminalization to repress the grassroots movement to Stop Cop City.

Revs. Dunn and Jones, along with three additional community leaders, were arrested yesterday after halting construction on the site. Side With Love and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee honor the courageous moral witness of these leaders and remain committed to showing up in solidarity with them and the movement to Stop Cop City. To support those who have been arrested, please click here to donate to the bail fund.

Join us to take action and support our local leaders by signing up for rapid response action alerts!

From City Hall to the Attorney General’s office, Republicans, Democrats, and corporate interests have colluded to intimidate activists, silence voters, and repress a movement of people who are simply asking to have a voice in the future of their community. Last month, the Atlanta City Council announced that they would use the “exact match” system to verify the more than 100,000 petition signatures from communities asking for a referendum vote on Cop City. Courts continually ruled that signature verification methods like “exact match” are subjective and discriminatory, with many Georgia voting rights organizations and elected officials condemning its proposed use in the 2018 Georgia election. In late 2018, a U.S. district judge ruled that the system is a “severe burden” for voters.

On Tuesday, 61 Stop Cop City environmental defenders and organizers were indicted in Georgia on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges, part of a federal law aimed at punishing criminal enterprises.

Among the list of charges, the indictment explicitly cites “mutual aid, collectivism, and social solidarity” as presumably dangerous ideas that were being promoted by the activists. Make no mistake, this is political repression.

The campaign to Stop Cop City is not about one single issue but about resisting the systems designed to make us all less free in the United States and around the globe.

Commit to joining the movement to Stop Cop City! Join our weekly Action Hour on Thursdays at 3 p.m. EDT.

Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed the criminalization of voting, protests, abortion, and trans and gender-expansive bodies. We’ve witnessed book bans and the rejection of facts and history in American public schools. Doctors, teachers, librarians, and poll workers are being threatened with violence and losing their jobs. As Unitarian Universalists, we not only condemn these actions, but we support people and communities through mutual aid. We build power for justice through collectivism and deepen our relationships and capacity for liberation through social solidarity. These practices are the expression of the core principles we uphold as covenantal faith. The care for our communities is central to a democracy that is truly for the people and by the people. It is what we do when we love one another, in public and in community.

In faith & solidarity,
Side With Love & UUSC: Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

This can be a bittersweet time of year for so many, but we are taking joy in what UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt reminds us is the time when we “come back to each other in our congregations and communities.”

Whether you are coming back to your community after a long time away or whether you have been there all summer, we are grateful for your shared ministry toward collective liberation and beloved community. 

This summer, Side With Love program and field staff created a wealth of events, resources, and opportunities to balance the need to rest and play with the necessity of honing our skills and staying informed and prepared to respond to the ongoing attacks on communities and people beloved of us.

Whether you need a space to grieve and pray, the opportunity to gather with others doing the work, or dedicated time to learn, we have something that will serve you.

Learn

Skill Up Series: Summoning Courage

Skill Ups are our monthly training series on various organizing skills to help strengthen our congregational and community justice teams. These trainings incorporate spiritual fun and hands-on exercizes to help deepen the lesson. Skill Ups occur every 3rd Sunday for 90 minutes, starting at 4 ET / 3 CT / 2 MT / 1 PT.

• Oct 15: Risk Discernment for Congregations

• Nov 19: Faith Out Loud

• Jan 21: Community Safety and Security

Check out the collection of past Skill Ups here.

Gather

Faithful Gathering

Join our Side with Love Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad for an hour of spiritual sustenance and grounding with others organizing on the side of love. 

Show up as you are, with whatever is in your heart, and have your camera on or off as you need.

Come drink in the music, meditation, play, and prayer.

We end with a Connection Cafe for those who wish to talk together.

This gathering happens monthly on the 4th Thursday of the month at 4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET.

Register Now

• September 28

• October 26

• November 23

• December 28

• January 25

• February 22

• March 28

• April 25

• May 23

Connect

Monthly Mixers

Following the success of our virtual and in-person mixers for General Assembly, we're thrilled to announce our virtual monthly Side With Love Mixer.

This mixer will be held the 2nd Monday of every month at 5pm PT / 8pm ET.

We know that these times ask a lot of us -- and we know we need one another to stay in the work with hope, joy, impact, and accountability. Join us if you are doing the work on the ground; if you are showing up for and with Side with Love; and/or if you are just learning about Side with Love. Come connect with one another, build community across issues, and have some facetime with our staff.

Register now!

• September 11

• October 9

• November 13

• December 11

• January 8

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We continue to be committed to our four intersectional justice priorities, work that is even more urgent as we daily see attacks against our climate, democracy, reproductive rights, and our trans and non-binary beloveds.

Create Climate Justice

Register for our Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meetings, view past trainings, download our Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care toolkit, subscribe to our dedicated email newsletters for climate justice and the Green Sanctuary 2030 program, and plan a screen of our powerful event, Abolitionist Visions on Climate Justice, with UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt. Learn more.

UPLIFT Action

Sign up for our dedicated email on reproductive and gender justice (including trans rights), download our Congregational Reproductive Justice Action Guide, learn about our monthly gatherings for Trans/Non Binary+ UUs, and view our past trainings including Responding to Far Right/White Christian Nationalist Threats; “Moral Obligations Transcending Legal Codes”: The Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion; and The Body Politic: Faithful UUs Showing Up for Trans Justice. Learn more.

Love Resists

Find spiritual practices for challenging moments, connect with Stop Cop City organizing, subscribe to our dedicated Love Resists newsletter, download our curriculum for the 2021-2022 Common Read Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment; and view our training on arrestee support, What do we do when our conscience goes to jail?: UUs showing up for UUs who show up. Learn more.

UU the Vote

UU the Vote is now a proactive, year-round program to advance voting rights and democracy. Subscribe to our dedicated newsletter for campaign updates, learn about how UUs are protecting democracy throughout the year, and stay up-to-date on events and trainings. Learn more.

For the past few weeks, Side With Love has been organizing UUs and other supporters in the Cop City Vote referendum campaign. This effort would allow Atlanta voters to decide if the City of Atlanta can lease 381 of forested land for a $90 million police training complex backed by corporate interests that will cost over $30 million in tax dollars.  

It feels good to be working on such a deeply meaningful campaign. Here in Southwest Atlanta, the Cop City Vote referendum campaign operates from the American Friends Service Committee office. The walls are covered with posters from past campaigns emblazoned with powerful messages that proclaim the dignity of workers, the right to housing, and the end to war. Also on this wall is a wood turtle with a painting of Tortuguita, the climate activist killed by police on January 18th of this year in the Weelaunee forest. Tortuguita was protesting the harm and environmental degradation caused by the planned development of this vast, militarized law enforcement training compound.  

In this room, each poster, each weathered clipboard, and boxes of t-shirts are quiet reminders of the life, love, and legacy that make this space powerful.

In this space, we are surrounded by a legacy of activism, community building, and radical hope that makes justice movements unstoppable. In this space, we seek to create collective care, mutual support, non-carceral solutions to conflict and harm, and cooperative economics. In this space, we answer the call of our ancestors and defend the future of our descendants.  

Neighbors drop by after work to sign the petition. Canvassers funnel in and out with clipboards and “LetAtlantaDecide" t-shirts to talk to voters in torrential downpours and intense summer heat. Artists, fathers, data managers, youth, trainers, grandmothers, community organizers, and faith leaders all huddle in different corners of the office, strategizing on how we will protect democracy. We talk about what $30 million dollars could do for this community and the communities surrounding the Weelaunee forests that do not include giving money to the private Atlanta Police Foundation.  

This community is an embodiment of resilience. They’ve been on the front lines of resisting gentrification, housing displacement through eminent domain, and police violence. It is the home of beautiful cultural events in Adair Park, local businesses, historic churches, and public art memorializing community members, proclaiming Black Lives Matter, and demanding to #StopCopCity. 

Supporting the campaign reminds me that politics are not only what you do at the voting booth or even who holds elected office. We exercise our political power when strangers share experiences of using public transit, or how they unionized their workplaces. It’s neighbors showing photos of their children talking about their hopes for their schools.  It’s walking in to be greeted with a warm and familiar welcome, and leaving hearing “Thank you, sis.” This campaign is a fight to defend the forests, to take back power and let voters decide, and to resist growing investment and militarization of the police. And the reason this city has erupted with activity to collect 70,000 signatures is simply a love that is rooted and cultivated in the legacy of struggles for justice won and lost on southern soil. 

Unitarian Universalists are showing up in beautiful and creative ways. We are knocking on doors and talking to folks at supermarkets and parks. Volunteers enjoy fresh fruit provided by High Street Congregation in Macon, while climate activists connect with our Northwest UU Congregation to print zines for a mobilization this weekend. Our Side With Love staff, Rev. Cathy Rion Starr and Racheal Myslivy are building systems to help Atlanta voters fix errors in their petition signatures and joined a team of 20 UUs as we canvassed at the Day of Action on August 5th. It is an immense honor to co-lead and collaborate in this work.   

We have 4 more days to get on the November ballot, but the relationships we've built and the commitment we have made will continue beyond this campaign. The love we have for one another is felt in our commitment to show up and preserve our collective well-being.        

I know there are many struggles our fellow UUs are fighting right now. This referendum campaign, like the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign and Ohioans’ rejection of Issue 1 is a struggle to return power to the people. It is not just about a single issue, but the expression of love and care for our communities. I ask that you take a moment to witness the transformational love that is moving through your communities, your work for justice, and your hearts. Thank you for your love and support of Side With Love.

In faith and solidarity,

Nicole Pressley

Field & Programs Director 

Resources 

• CopCityVote.org 

• Movement for Black Lives: Stop Cop City Conversation

• UU Cop City Vote Landing Page  

While I wish I had something pretty or pithy to observe about spring in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m mostly thinking about the amount of live programming blossoming right in front of us. Through partnership with congregations, individual UUs, and our UU State Action Networks, we’re all able to “take shifts for the revolution,” as Rev. Ashley Horan says. I see the evidence of that daily in the stories and updates from around the country of UUs and other people of faith and conscience who are fighting for our trans beloved and who are fiercely resisting legislative attacks on climate, decriminalization, and trans children and families. (If you haven’t yet, read the beautiful op-ed by Rev. Sara LaWall from Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, ID about why her faith demands she protect and affirm her trans child.)

This month, we have opportunities for faithful and faith-filled actions for justice and rejuvenation. Please share in your congregation and community. 

In faith and solidarity,

Audra Friend

Digital Communications, Data, and Technology Specialist

Side With Love 

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Wednesday, March 15, 2023 7 -  8:30 PM ET / 6 CT / 5 MT / 4 PT

Connecting with State Action Networks on Climate Advocacy

Online

UU State Action Networks do powerful justice work across the country. How can your congregation engage with your State Action Network on climate justice advocacy and actions? Join Deb Cruz and Rev. Lisa Sampson Garcia to learn more! --- Join the Green Sanctuary Team meetings for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 8PM ET. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion on pressing needs. Register here.

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Sunday, March 19, 2023 4 - 5:30pm ET / 3 CT / 2 MT / 1 PT 

Skill Up: Evaluation is an Act of Love

Online

In this skill-up, you will practice ways to bring debrief culture and loving feedback to your own context. We need to be able to speak directly and frankly to each other about what we want and need from each other, what we think could be done differently, as well as celebrating our successes. Every time we love one another enough to offer debrief and appreciation, we deepen our relationships and the power of our collective. We can create groups and communities grounded in relationship and trust. Thus, we can meet the justice work of the moment powerfully and nimbly. Register here.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2023 8 -  9:30 PM ET / 7 CT / 6 MT / 5 PT

The Body Politic: Faithful UUs Showing up for Trans Justice

Online

UUs have long been part leaders in powerful multifaith movements fighting for trans and queer rights and liberation. Join UPLIFT Action and Side With Love staff for this webinar, lifting up the faithful work UUs are engaging in right now in the context of the wave of hateful legislation and violence against trans and queer people. We'll hear stories from congregations and State Action Networks on the ground, and point toward ways you and your community can take meaningful action. Register here.

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Thursday, March 23, 2023 7:30 -  8:30 PM ET / 6:30 CT / 5:30 MT / 4:30 PT

Faithful Grounding

Online

Join our Side with Love Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad for an hour of spiritual sustenance and grounding with others organizing on the side of love. Come drink in the music, meditation, play, and prayer. We end with a Connection Cafe for those who wish to talk together. Show up as you are, whatever is in your heart, and with your camera on or off as you need. Register here.

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Friday, March 31st at 8pm ET / 7 CT / 6 MT / 5 PT

UUA Trans Day of Visibility Virtual Party for Trans/Nonbinary Families

Online

As legislators pass harmful laws in states all across the country and as people of faith and no-faith fight back, we want to remind transgender/nonbinary families that they are not alone. Register here.

As Unitarian Universalists we believe that every body is sacred. This will be a time of reflection, celebration, and renewal as we prepare for what is and whatever is coming our way.

*NOTE: This space is intentionally multi-generational. It is open to and welcoming of trans/nonbinary elders as well as children, youth, and young adults. Standard UUA online safety measures apply to ensure all people under 18 are able to attend. We're glad to have you here! 

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Saturday, April through Monday, April 3

Intergenerational Spring Seminar: Demilitarization & Abolition: Resist Policing and Empire

Online and in-person, Minneapolis, MN

This year's UU@UN Intergenerational Spring Seminar has the theme of “Demilitarization & Abolition: Resist Policing and Empire,” and takes place both in-person in Minneapolis and online April 1-3.

As an intergenerational event, Youth are especially encouraged to attend!

Militarized policing is a dire problem both in the U.S. and globally, and this year's Seminar aims to help us increase our understanding of abolition and equip ourselves with skills to take action. Our keynote will be given by Andrea Ritchie, co-author of No More Police, and other programming will offer a mix of workshops, worship, and debrief. 

Registration is tiered with a free, no-cost option for those who need it! Learn more and register here.

In this week’s reflection, Side With Love Field and Programs Director Nicole Pressley writes:

Cornell West famously reminds us that justice is what love looks like in public. As Unitarian Universalists, our work for justice is an expression of deep belief that all people are worthy of love and liberation. Today, that work often looks like resisting the criminalization of people’s identities, their bodies, and their communities. 

In recent years, this has looked like Unitarian Universalists supporting people seeking, aiding, and performing abortions in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and Kentucky when abortion has been criminalized. We’ve raised money to bail out Black mothers and Water Protectors. We’ve supported ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana in Oregon and Colorado, and paid off fines so returning citizens can vote in Florida. 

As a strategy, decriminalization sets us on course to heal, to be held accountable, and to be fully human with one another. Decriminalization cultivates the conditions for wider and deeper transformation. 

Decriminalization is a crucial response to the horrors of the prison industrial complex – the web of forces including the legal system, policing and law enforcement, and mass incarceration whose main goal is the oppression of many for the benefit of a few. Increasingly, our laws make it a crime to be fully human – to be homeless, to seek and provide healthcare, to ask for asylum or to migrate, to be Black or brown, to honor our children’s evolving genders, to teach the real history of this nation. In the US, the criminal-legal systems collude to diminish the power and autonomy of the body politic, whether by disenfranchising entire communities through mass incarceration and voter suppression, or literally wiping people out of existence through both death sentences  and extra-judicial killing. 

But decriminalization isn’t only about policy wins; it is about the victory of literally being with our people once again.

The theme of our third week of 30 Days of Love explores the intersection of Healing and Decriminalization. We have moving offerings that we hope will educate, inspire, and refuel you as you explore what it means to heal communities and families. We have a prayer from Rev. Jason Lydon, a blessing by Rev. Kierstin Homblette Allen, a body practice from Rev. Sky Williams-Tao, a grounding meditation from Side With Love Fun and Nourishment Squad Member Lora Powell-Haney, as well as a Time for All Ages story by Erica Shadowsong. Find all of these here.

For generations, UUs have been jailed for our conscience in resisting systems of oppression. As our tradition becomes more justice oriented, rates of UU arrests are on the rise. How does our conscience also call us to be there for those whose bodies are on the line?

Learn how UUs are building capacity to support and share the load in the face of mass arrest. Find out more about how to organize support for those who are arrested and jailed as a conscientious form of protest. Join our virtual training on February 7 at 4pm - 5:30pm PT / 7pm - 8:30pm ET. Presenters: Rev. Karen Van Fossan, Antoinette Scully, Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs, and friends.

Register Now

UUs have been engaged in social change efforts, including nonviolent civil disobedience, for many generations. Today, it seems that UUs who resist injustice are being arrested and detained at increasing rates. This is due, in part, to an enhanced partnership between corporations and the state in criminalizing dissent.

The sustainability of UU activism, as well as the sustainability of UU activists, well may depend upon the capacity of UU entities to provide a spectrum of support for those at the frontlines.

Learn more & download the toolkit

On July 18, Interfaith Immigration Coalition, Side With Love, & the UU Service Committee offered "Heal Not Harm: Restore Asylum Now" webinar and teach-in.

As shared by our speakers who offered their lived experiences, Title 42 is an inhumane and racist policy that violates the inherent worth and dignity of asylum seekers attempting to find safety within the borders of the United States. From blatant anti-blackness, to shackled dehumanization in front of their families, their stories remind us that what is happening is not theoretical but happening every day to real people. And their call to end the atrocities they and others have faced is one we cannot ignore.

As people of faith we must not only listen to and learn from the real people who are impacted by this deadly policy, we must follow their prophetic lead and take action to Restore Asylum NOW!

We know that the fight to end Title 42 & restore humane asylum policies has been a long and difficult one. And as people of faith, we have not only a moral obligation to challenge violently racist border policies, but also a resilient belief that another world is possible if we choose to make it so. Together we can take action, claim our collective power, and bend the moral arc of the universe to the justice & love we know is all of ours to manifest.

Recordings & Resources from the Heal Not Harm Webinar

"Heal Not Harm: Restore Asylum Now!" Webinar Recording

• "End Title 42: First Hand Accounts from Black Immigrants & Advocates on the Frontlines" (Facebook Livestream)

• "Holy Voices from the Border: Restore Asylum Now" (Facebook Livestream)

• "Title 42 Must End Now!" IIC Toolkit

• Send a message to President Biden & your members of Congress

• PCUSA & Disciples Action Hour (July 26 @ 9am PT/12pm ET)

• PCUSA August Recess Toolkit for Meetings with Members of Congress

• August Recess Refugee Advocacy Days with We Are All America

Take Action

Join the interfaith community that is taking action July 18-29 by demanding that our elected leaders end Title 42. You can help restore asylum by taking these three actions:

• Call your elected Members of Congress

Use this "click-to-call" tool to be automatically connected to your elected leaders with a personalizable script explaining why an end to Title 42 is essential.

• Send an email to your Congress & President Biden

Send a personalizable message to your Members of Congress & President Biden explaining how your faith demands an end to Title 42 & the restoration of asylum.

• Post on social media & tag your elected leaders

Use or personalize one of these tweets from the "Title 42 Must End NOW!" Toolkit to let your elected leaders know the only moral choice is to end Title 42.

Last month, we learned about the tragic loss of 53 lives in San Antonio. Migrants were trapped in the back of a truck: parents, children, siblings, human beings who were desperate for an opportunity to find and create a better life for themselves and their loved ones. As the Somali poet Warsan Shire reminds us in her poem “Home,”

“no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles traveled
means something more than journey.”

Leaders on both sides of the aisle continue to use fear, scarcity, and bigotry to shape critical asylum policies. As people of faith, we know another way is not only possible but essential. Not every tragedy caused by injustice makes national news, but each matter because their lives and their communities matter. We know that these deaths could have been prevented if our asylum policies were designed to heal, not harm, seekers of safety & community. We need to tell our leaders that each day that we continue with Title 42 is a moral failure.

Join Love Resists for the interfaith #HealNotHarm Days of Action to restore asylum next week!

Months after most COVID-19 public health restrictions in the US have been lifted, our government is still using the pandemic as justification for refusing, detaining, and expelling asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Under the CDC’s Title 42 program, almost all asylum-seeking families and individuals are being denied their human and legal right to seek safety. The CDC has already acted to revoke Title 42 because it is not contributing to public health, but a conservative judge has kept it in place through a legal battle. Now, anti-immigrant political leaders want to ensure Title 42 continues to control migration and restrict asylum at the border, and are pushing amendments on Title 42 through Congress.

Join Side with Love, UUSC, & the Interfaith Immigration Coalition for our #HealNotHarm Teach-In on Monday, July 18 at 4pm ET

Many migrants have died from being denied access to asylum at the border where ports of entry have remained closed more than two years ago. Like most efforts historically to control cross-border migration, Title 42 does not deter those seeking safety in the US, but pushes them into more dangerous circumstances while trying to get here. The reality is that the horrific tragedy of 53 lives lost while migrants were trapped in the back of a tractor trailer in San Antonio, TX, is only the most visible tip of the iceberg. Thousands of people stuck in dangerous border cities in Mexico have been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and forced into labor, while others have died from lack of medical care. Black asylum-seekers, especially Haitians, have been disproportionately impacted by Title 42. There is no way of tracking how many others have lost their lives after being forcibly expelled back to dangerous conditions in their countries of origin without screening for whether they feared for their lives if returned.

It is simply untrue that US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) does not have the capacity to process asylum-seekers in a safe and orderly manner at the border. We have seen how it is possible when the political will is there, such as when Ukranians were exempted from Title 42.

The courts are already preventing the end of Title 42, and now Members of Congress are trying to make this deadly policy permanent by attaching amendments to maintain Title 42 into as many bills as they can manage, including critical budget bills. So far, in the House, both the Labor and Health and Human Services and the Homeland Security budget drafts include an extension of Title 42 until 60 days after the pandemic is declared over. Additionally, a desperately needed COVID relief bill is being held up in part due to conflicts about including Title 42. We cannot meet the very real needs of our communities impacted by COVID by denying asylum-seekers their lives and safety!

Will you join me and other people of faith committed to restoring asylum at our #HealNotHarm Teach-in on July 18 at 4pm ET? Together we will learn about the many tactics we can take to bring an end to Title 42 and begin to move towards life-affirming asylum policies in the US. And we’ll prepare to participate in our own UU-sponsored National Call-in Day to demand an end to Title 42 on July 19!

As people of faith, we know that another world is possible, and together, it is ours to create. Bringing an end to Title 42 is one of the many necessary steps towards creating a world that no longer inflicts deadly harm, but offers liberatory healing and welcome to all.

In faith & justice,

Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Congregational Justice Organizer

May 2022

Where there is love there is life. –Mahatma Gandhi

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Love.

Just four letters.

Inspiration for artists and musicians, poets and dancers, an elusive, harkening, echoing, beckoning promise of what is and might be, no multi syllabic synonyms are needed to evoke Love’s deep complexities.  A foundational influence from the time we are born, if we are lucky to have it, binding us to its mysteries and intricacies, some might even think of Love as God.

Minstrels and sonnet writers praise its wonders. “All you need is love,” sang The Beatles. “Love is all you need.”

Some spend an entire lifetime unraveling the enigma — is love a social construct or something that is hardwired into our physiology? Does it belong in the spiritual realm? Whatever form or shape it takes, one can be certain that an examination of love is not likely to make an appearance on a standardized test. Many of us devote decades to exploring Love’s many facets through the prism of our own understanding and experience.

For me, love means commitment and consistency, devotion and dedication. Love is present in the joy that results when understanding and transformation occur. Love is at its best when it gives rise to that other four letter, equally powerful word that makes us or another say: “Free.” And when it does not, we can know that Love is being mis-used.

For me love takes the form of sexuality education; offered freely, offered with commitment and consistency, devotion and dedication. For me sexuality education is offered through Our Whole Lives (OWL), a comprehensive values based sexuality education program developed by two religious groups, the UUA and the UCC (and yet completely secular).

Sexuality education is much more than learning about sexual intercourse and all it’s inherent dangers; it is about body image, self esteem, friendships, intimacy, whom we chose to love, how we see ourselves, within or beyond gender binaries, how we consent to love and  loving; it is an exploration of what makes us who we are, the most fundamental of human questing.

I’ve been an OWL facilitator for almost two decades — and I have to ask, “Am I getting complacent?” What if I were asked to double down on love? What would that look like for me and how I offer sexuality education?

I know that I have work to do in widening the circle to include people beyond those who “find themselves in our group.” I am called to engage the large community, whether through schools, neighborhood programs, adult schools, justice systems, or families. I need to work more intentionally with communities of the global majority whose access to and engagement with sexuality education might be compromised.

What of you, Beloved? What if you were asked to double down on love? What would you do differently?

With blessings for each of your journeys of exploration and discovery, deepening, questing, and questioning,

— Tuli

What does love look/feel/sound like to you?

Jason
CLF Member, incarcerated in IL

That has always been a difficult question for me. As a kid, when I was being abused, I was told it was for my own good and because my dad loved me. My mother told me she loved me, then ran away to the other side of the country. As a teenager, my stepmother said that she loved me, then cut all contact with me for fear my father would find her after he got out of prison.

The only person who has told me that loved me and not abandoned or abused me is my aunt. Through all of the institutions and all of the trials and pain I have had to deal with, my aunt has supported me. Though she didn’t and doesn’t condone the behaviors that got me institutionalized, she has stood behind me. That, to me, is love.

I have never had a girlfriend and never had a date, so I don’t know what that kind of love is like. I have experienced the love of a pet. I had a dog as a child named Alfred. He made the nightmare of my childhood a little less dark. He could always make me smile and even make me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry.

Once I began to walk the pagan path and began to understand who and what I truly am, I have felt a serene love when communing with nature, and an unconditional love from my brethren in the pagan services here.

Now, as for loving myself: that has also been a difficult road. As a child, I was made to believe that I was nothing, that I was worth nothing, that I would never amount to anything. It has been very difficult for me to overcome that. It has taken years, a number of people helping me, and a lot of self-reflection and growth for me to get to where I can love myself and accept myself. As it  has been said over and over, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

So love to me is supporting someone when they need it most, even if you don’t like what they did. It is making someone feel better, making them smile or laugh when they are hurting. Love is accepting someone for who they are, without judgment or reservations. Love is casting away negative external and internal perceptions and truly figuring out who you are and accepting that person.

What is Love?

Ryan
CLF Member, incarcerated in FL

L-O-V-E. Probably one of the most misunderstood words in the English language. Mostly due to the fact we only have one word for it. The Greeks however have multiple words to describe different types of love. Here are four of them:

Eros, the easiest, is physical love. This is where we get words like erotic. It’s the love of how things look/feel/smell/taste or any other physical property. This might be an initial feeling towards someone we’re attracted to.

Philia is brotherly love. Think of philanthropy, coming together to raise money for a cause. This describes the love towards friends, co-workers and even humanity as a whole.

Storge is familial love. Not a common root word in the English language, but this is the love one typically feels towards parents, children, siblings or cousins.

The most powerful form of love is agape, or unconditional love that continues despite and perhaps even due to our flaws.

This is sometimes the hardest to achieve because as humans we put conditions on so much, usually unconsciously. This is what we as UUs strive for, especially in our acceptance of the LGBTQ+ and incarcerated members. This is the love to strive for.

What about your love?

 

Donald
CLF member, incarcerated in CO

Love is a simple yet complex emotion for us to truly describe. However, we seem to know it when we feel it. Problems arise when we grasp at, try to control or desire love. Problems also happen when we reject or do not reciprocate love.

Love is at its best when we just allow it to be, and in turn, when we just “be” in it. Love exists outside of us, sometimes with, sometimes without us. We are not necessary for love, but love is a necessity for us.

 

Robert
CLF Member, incarcerated in MA

To put into words that which transcends words is something the greatest poets all throughout time have tried to do (with varying success). Since I consider myself to be a bit of an amateur poet and writer, this is something that I have thought on many times.

An over-simplification is that love is just a basic chemical reaction, impulses that are instinctive. Perhaps you can say that of lust, but not love, for love is not a physical reaction, but a social construct, a characteristic of thinking beyond the self.

When I think on love, an old Greek story comes to mind. There was a creature that walked the Earth that was so powerful, it could overthrow the Gods themselves. It had four arms, four legs, and two heads. Zeus, being fearful of what these creatures could do, rendered them in half; to this day, these now split creatures look for their other half, so that they may once again be as one.

What this story is talking about is humans and the concept of soulmates. I always liked the idea that when you are with your soulmate, that the love you have, is the greatest power in all the world.

Another way of looking at it is a puzzle, composed of two pieces. On their own, you have a slight understanding of the image. Maybe two pieces that are not truly matching can be put together, but the story told is disjointed, and doesn’t make much sense. But when they match up, a story for the ages is told.

Nearly 20 years ago, I found that one, the missing piece, my missing half. With her, I felt at peace. The best way I can describe that feeling is with a smile. It’s a special smile, one that only came across my face when I looked at her. It drove her crazy, because one could consider it a “I have a secret” smile.

In a way, I did, and I’ll let you in on it. Now come close, for not everyone can handle this, so they shouldn’t hear it: my love for my wife is the power that makes the Gods themselves tremble. Forever & Always.

 

In the beginning
it was all darkness and fear
I saw no way out
no end to my anguish
a place that conveys death
yet, can offer life?
to become new
I entered into this cocoon,
a target of transformation,
the time out in darkness
becomes a metamorphosis
death and life working together
to bring about a transformation
from the ruins of the old
like a butterfly, to emerge
forever changed
a person I have never been,
but the world, this life
isn’t all rainbows and butterflies,
for you can’t change the mind
if you have not touched the heart

(an intermission of love’s omissions)

Chase Cole
CLF member, incarcerated in MA

this memory unfolds
spilling over my shoulder
with Hyacinth coolness
shades of hair
spiral downward
rose and sweet a meadow’s breath
—lingering—
tickles my tongue
tingling red wine kisses
little sips of you

pale fingers caress shadows
cinders spear lambent gazes
never wandering eyes
tease my vibe
you are the bee
who robs my hive
unfolding myself beside you
will this last?

you ask
shivering autumnal sun
folded legs tucked under mine
petals of fallen white
holding me
shaping your outline
a nimbus of startling height
passes above us
our love
falls before us

we are a tangle of consciousness
steep and wild
merging rivers crashing together
hidden in veils of light
small wild fruit grows upon your
banks
stop and speak
to me
your silk-blue eyes
purple crescent skies
plum blossoms inhale you
I steal your smiles
cup them inside my heart
trap them inside your warmth
hold me lovely tell me I’m yours

you will come dazzling beside me
risen from jelly shaking your soul
I calm your tremors
kissing you lightly on night’s wind
this world hints of you
your rise and fall
inhaling a life we built together
exhaling empires we destroyed
forever promises eternity
love demands it
—we rise mountains
smooth summits—
sail thermals
energy

In the Civil Rights era, there were churches that were centers for civil rights organizing.  And they were attacked -- bombed, set on fire.  We know best the story of the 16th Street Baptist church where four young girls died.  In his eulogy for them, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say, "They died between the sacred walls of the church of God, and they were discussing the eternal meaning of love."

In that same eulogy for the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also said:

"They have something to say to every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained-glass windows. They have something to say to every politician who has fed his constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. They have something to say to a federal government that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern Dixiecrats and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing northern Republicans. They have something to say to every Negro who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in a mighty struggle for justice. They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream."

They are words he would share again in his eulogy for the Unitarian Universalist minister James Reeb.

After the shooting in the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, a shooting motivated by hatred of the values we stand for, the UUA launched our social justice movement "Standing on the Side of Love." 

This shooting in Charleston, South Carolina at the Emanuel AME Church says something to us in our religious faith, too. This shooting doesn't call for us to launch a movement, but to join a movement.  This shooting calls for us to be partners, work in solidarity, join coalitions, build bridges. 

These deaths say to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for Love.

It's something I learned in seminary -- I went to one of our two UU theological schools, Meadville Lombard, and attended the other one, Starr King, for one semester.  When you're at a school full of people who want to dedicate their lives to serving our religion, your heart will be broken.  Something will go wrong or toxic or just plain hurtful, and it'll hurt all the more because it happened in a place of love and trust and faith.

It happens again and again in our churches and in our ministry, for congregants and ministers both.  A congregation will behave badly as a system, and congregation members will leave, hearts broken, from pain that the institution they loved could behave so badly.  Ministers will behave badly, too, and people will leave, hearts broken.  And people will stay, hearts broken.

For ministers, we will see colleagues we know and love behave badly.  We will see a friend leave the ministry, forced out by their own misconduct, and our hearts will break.  We will also see friends we love forced out of the ministry for reasons we can't understand, and our hearts will break. 

If you stay in this faith long enough, your heart will be broken.  Somebody you loved and trusted in this faith will do something you think is so hurtful and incomprehensible, so wrong-headed, that it will break your heart.  Or something will be decided that you just can't agree with, and it will break your heart.  And then, if you stay long enough, it will happen again and again. 

That person who has broken your heart still has inherent worth and dignity; they are still worthy of love.

That system that has broken your heart still has important work and worth to our movement.

This faith that you love still is a vehicle for greater love and justice in this world.

Carry on.  Love on.

It's time to finish up my series about my memories of that day in Ann Arbor.  With the abundance of clergy we had, the blessing was that those who had religious communities were often able to find their own clergy person and have them perform the ceremony, and many others were able to find someone who represented their own faith tradition, whether Christian or Jewish or Pagan.  I did see one African-American couple come down who were specifically looking for an African-American minister.  It sounded like they had seen him earlier and were trying to find him again.  I don't know if they did, or not.  I hadn't seen him, but the room was very crowded for most of the day. 

Those couples without connections to local clergy had their pick of the rest of us who were there available. I officiated at two services.  And just enjoyed the day and celebrated with other couples and witnessed and helped the rest of the time. 
The first wedding I performed that day was for Adam and Michael.  They have been together over a dozen years, and had had a wedding before, although it wasn't a legal ceremony.  They'll now have two spring anniversaries to celebrate.  Adam and Michael were glad to hear I was UU -- they said they were hoping for either a UU or Unity minister.  Here in this picture (by Annette Bowman), I'm blessing the wedding rings that they have been wearing for years.

At the end of the ceremony, I copied what the Rev. Gail Geisenhainer of the First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor had been doing during all the ceremonies she had been performing that day.  I held their hands aloft, and loudly proclaimed them married and introduced them to the room.  As each marriage was thus announced, all other activity in the room would pause and the room would all cheer and celebrate together, and then other ceremonies would resume.  This picture (by Jon or Kathy McLean), is taken just as we're bringing our hands down from that moment.  It captures Adam and Michael mere seconds after their marriage has become legally recognized. 

The second ceremony I officiated at is one I don't have pictures of except from The Detroit News, where they're shown in the slide show here (slides 8 and 9).  Shirley and Shirley were among the last couples to get married that day, and the room was emptying out.  You have to be a resident of the county to get a license there, and one Shirley lives in Detroit, but the other Shirley is an Ypsilanti native.  It was fun introducing Shirley Hayslett-Cunningham and Shirley Cunningham-Hayslett to the room, though I got a bit (understandably, I think) tongue-twisted with that one. The room cheered and laughed in a friendly, loving way.  

Before long, it was after 1pm, and couples were being turned away as the Washtenaw County Clerk's office closed.  Despite the fact that our governor is refusing to recognize these marriages and a stay on performing more is in effect, the law of Michigan right now still stands that our constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is overturned, and same-sex marriage is legal.  Refusing to recognize the marriages while the appeal is pending is to refuse to recognize couples that were, and are, legally married.  Thankfully, the Federal government is recognizing these marriages. 

It puts a damper on that day that these couples are on hold, certainly.  In cases like Michael and Adam and Shirley and Shirley, these couples literally don't even know what their own name is, since hyphenating your name is a perk of legal marriage, without any other steps necessary to have a legal name change.  It's just one of the thousands of legal problems that couples whose marriages aren't legally recognized have arrange separately.  It's the smallest example, and one that heterosexual couples just take for granted and don't even think about.  Some of the same-sex couples were startled to find, that day, that this was something they could easily and legally do in a legally-recognized wedding. 

Name changes are one thing --  although names are fundamental to our identity, and meaningful -- but the inheritance rights and the adoption rights are very significant and have a huge impact.  So many couples in my community live in situations where if one person dies, the other parent will not have any legal claim on the children they have raised and parented together.  The court case in Michigan began as an adoption case for this very reason. 

I find myself unsure about how to end this post.  This was a joyous, celebratory day, full of love and full of the joy of recognizing families in our state.  We knew that a stay would come to the decision, but I had hope that these marriages would be recognized in our state until and unless an appeal was successful.  I think it's a crime that they're not.  And so a day of joy is still a day of joy, but followed by anger and sorrow.  We are still are fighting for equality in Michigan. 

Over a decade ago, I decided I wasn't going to be an instrument of the state anymore if the state continued to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.  I talked to my congregation and the board of trustees about it and then, in October 2003, I took a public vow not to sign any more marriage licenses until the Commonwealth of Massachusetts allowed same-sex marriage.  I was one of about a dozen clergy who had done so, one of whom was the Rev. Fred Small, author of the beloved song "Everything Possible."  After hearing Fred Small talk about his decision and his reasoning, my mind was made up.  I cried when I heard him, because he had given name and voice to what I had been feeling, and had reached a solution that removed him from the wrong equation.  I knew I had to do likewise.


A year and a half later, in May of 2004, same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts.  I performed a few weddings that spring and happily signed licenses for all, and then, that summer I moved to Michigan.  A few months later, in November of 2004, we passed our constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage.  I didn't take the same vow in Michigan as I had in Massachusetts.  In Massachusetts, it felt like it was part of a building momentum towards changing things.  Here, it felt like it would be futile, so I went ahead and signed.  But with every license I signed, I felt like I was doing something wrong.  For ten years I've ministered in this state and signed licenses in this state, knowing that it felt wrong each time.

There are 1138 benefits at the federal level alone that go along with marriage.  There are benefits at the state level, as well.  My friend Shelly explained on Facebook this week that if her wife were to die, Shelly would have to pay taxes on the house that they both own.  Those taxes would be enough that she would likely lose her home.  Her wife would have to do likewise if Shelly were to die.  And her wife would have no legal claim over the son they've raised together.  Shelly's story is just one of thousands in our state.

Finally, after almost a decade since it became legal in Massachusetts and banned in the constitution here, we had a brief window last weekend where we were able to perform legally-recognized same-sex weddings in Michigan.  Those marriages are now on hold, with our governor saying he won't recognize these legally-performed weddings until the appeal process is finished.

Having signed the marriage licenses on Saturday for two same-sex couples -- Michael and Adam, and Shirley and Shirley -- I don't think I can go back to signing just licenses for opposite-sex couples. 
I realized this just as I was typing this.  I wasn't planning on writing this today.  But if these marriages are on hold, so am I.  Until all the marriages that I perform are recognized by the State of Michigan, the State of Michigan is no longer part of my role as minister.  I will officiate at weddings, but until I can sign licenses again for same-sex couples in Michigan, I'm not signing any licenses in Michigan and will only sign licenses in states which recognize same-sex marriage, from this point forward. 

I owe that to Michael and Adam, and to Shirley and Shirley.  I can do no less.  Their weddings are no less real and their marriages no less valid than any other I have ever performed.

Before I write about the the marriages, and what a joy that was -- I want to write about the helping things that people did, because they made a huge difference.

At the Washtenaw County Clerk's office, there were about twenty clergy and judges present ready to marry people, and they came from all sorts of different faiths.  There were a few of us Unitarian Universalists (the Rev. Gail Geisenhainer, the Rev. Tom Schade, and myself, and the Rev. Mark Evens was there at the beginning).  I saw several UCC ministers.  There was a rabbi.  There were three Pagan officiants of various stripes.  There was a Native American officiant.  There was an Episcopal priest.  I'm sure other Protestant denominations were present.  And then there were a handful or more of Universal Life Church members.

Now, I've always had a sort of a "thing" about ULC ministers.  It's always seemed a bit unfair or wrong that without any training and any credentialing process, people can hang out a shingle and do what I do, into which I put 5 years of training into and tens of thousands of dollars (which I'm still paying off).  And perhaps a bit of my sore attitude is due to my own ULC ordination.  When I was doing my CPE (hospital chaplaincy) during seminary, some of the other CPE students ordained me through the ULC as a joke -- making fun of UUism, basically.  They went online, put in my name, and voila, I was an ordained ULC minister.  I keep the certificate, which they printed off and framed, by my desk even today.   

Well, I was about to get "schooled" in the commitment and dedication -- and love -- of ULC ministers.  And now I'm proud to be one.

I was sitting next to a ULC minister named Ted Van Roekel, mentioned here. Ted had come not knowing if any other clergy would be there, and he had come with enough papers that he could have performed all the marriages if he needed to.  At the table perpendicular to mine were three more ULC ministers.  One, Naomi, had just become ordained for this particular purpose, or so I heard through a friend of a friend.  She is Jewish, and had asked her rabbi, the one who was present, if this was a way that would be appropriate for her to help out.  He had agreed, and so she came.  Between her and myself was another ULC minister.  She had a full day's schedule and had to come and go, but she contacted Thomas Dowds, who came with a case of water for us.  The room was hot, and after a while those performing the most weddings were getting parched, so the water was a real blessing.  Even more special, however, Thomas brought two large sheet cakes for wedding cakes so that all the couples could have some wedding cake. 

Back to Ted: Ted didn't know who might come, so he created a plan.  He put out a request for friends to come and help -- to work as runners, to serve as witness.  And he asked particularly for two friends of his, Annette Bowman and Matt Klinske, to come and take photographs.  Annette served as wedding photographer for 32 weddings that day, and took down each couple's emails on a sheet of paper so that she could e-mail them later.  She took over 600 photographs and processed them for over four hours on Sunday, and still wasn't done.  By Tuesday evening, she had sent me pictures of the ceremony I performed that she photographed, which was near the end of the period.

There were so many clergy present that those of us who didn't have a church in the area were not in high demand.  I performed two ceremonies.  Ted performed two ceremonies.  When he did the first one, he was nervous and even shaking from excitement and joy.  I understood -- I had felt the same way minutes before when I performed my first ceremony of the day, even though I performed legal marriages in Massachusetts a decade ago.  I helped by filling out his paperwork as he did the ceremony, just as some of the other ULC ministers had done while I performed a ceremony. 

It was these special touches -- the photographers, the cakes, and the buckets of flowers that somebody else brought -- that built a community around these people.  Ann Arbor Unitarian Universalists were part of building that community, too.  They came to celebrate and form religious community, folks like Kathy and Jon McLean, wearing their Standing on the Side of Love t-shirts and standing as the congregation for wedding after wedding that Gail performed.  Beloved Community was created in Ann Arbor on Saturday.  And I am still in awe and tears about the caring and dedication of all these people, who came and helped and celebrated because they were standing on the side of love.

I arrived at the Washtenaw County Clerk's office about 9:05, and licenses were to begin being issued at 9:00 a.m., so I was a tad late.  The crowd was packed into the building, and a few people were milling outside, but the line wasn't yet out the doors.  I walked in and heard a gentleman with a clipboard telling a couple where they should go and what they should do.  I approached him and said, "I'm clergy.  Where do I go?"  He said, "There's a room downstairs.  The stairs are over there.  And thank you for being here!"  I headed down stairs and asked someone downstairs where I was to go.  They told me the clergy were all in the back corner of the room ahead.  I wove my way through the crowd, and saw the Rev. Mark Evens, who is very tall, and knew I was in the right area.  I tossed my coat on a table that had a bunch of coats, and greeted Mark (who had to depart early) and the Rev. Gail Geisenhainer and the Rev. Tom Schade.  I didn't yet really realize what was going on, but the first wedding of the day at that site was being performed by Judge Judy Levy, and she was giving it all due honor, taking her time to craft a really beautiful ceremony, that I was too breathless and excited to really pay attention to, to my fault.  Later in the day, she came over beside me to get her papers in order, and I learned that the ceremony she used was one she adapted from her own wedding ceremony.  She's a brand new judge, having only been finally confirmed ten days before.  In fact, I had met her a few weeks ago, when she was not yet "Judge Judy" when I went to hear the court case with the Hanover-Horton High School GSA, and Judge Friedman introduced us to her as she happened by.  My biggest regret of the day is that I didn't listen more intently and reverently, because I was anxious to get started. I was in too much of a social justice mode and not yet really in a worshipful spiritual mode.  And while we were doing the work of justice that day, it was really not about that.  It was about weddings, about love, and about these incredible couples and their relationships and lives and families.  It took me a little while to really let that sink in and understand it at a deep level.  I get the social justice stuff quickly and intuitively.  Gail helped me to see, by witnessing her and listening to her, that this was sacred space. 

After the ceremony was done, and a lot of cheering happened and photographs were taken by all the press and onlookers, someone made an announcement explaining the basic process.  You got a number, when your number was called you could go up and apply for your license.  When you got your license, you should come back down here, and clergy would be at the tables along the walls ready to perform ceremonies.  There were about twenty clergy in the room scrambling to find places at the table as the room emptied out a bit.  After a while, one of the Ann Arbor members came along with their Standing on the Side of Love banner, wondering where we might put it.  We decided to lay it out on the table like a table cloth, and the other ministers sharing the table with us didn't seem to mind.  Tom Schade laid his stole out in front of me to create a little sacred space.  He had offered to lend it to me, and it's his only stole, but he and I had both donned our collars for the occasion instead.  I turned on the chalice app on my tablet. A lot of members of the Ann Arbor church were there to witness and celebrate and form the Beloved Community for the members and friends Gail would be marrying that day.  Two of them, Kathy and John McLean, had been members of the Marquette, Michigan congregation back when I was a student minister up there.  Their daughter is in seminary preparing for the UU ministry, and Kathy has been making her stoles.  She had just finished a rainbow stole for her daughter, and had brought it along for the day so that it could soak up the energy of the day.  Although I was content without a stole, and could've worn Tom's, I offered to wear Kathy's daughter's it so that it would be even more a part of the day, and Kathy happily lent it to me. Honestly, it was the most beautiful rainbow stole I've seen, and I was really proud to wear it for her.  Kathy and John and the other Ann Arbor UUs were amazing that day -- witnessing and celebrating and helping.  They were the congregation, made visible and present for each and every wedding. 

As we settled into place, it wasn't long before couples with licenses started entering the room. 

Photo by Annette Bowman

This past Friday, after 5 p.m., when the county clerks had just closed, Judge Bernard Friedman, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, ruled that our constitutional ban against same-sex marriage, voted into the constitution in 2004, was unconstitutional.  In his findings, he said:

In attempting to define this case as a challenge to “the will of the people,” Tr. 2/25/14 p. 40, state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people. No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples. It is the Court’s fervent hope that these children will grow up “to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.” Windsor , 133 S. Ct. at 2694. Today’s decision is a step in that direction, and affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.

 We knew that the state attorney general, Bill Schuette, had immediately filed an appeal and an emergency stay of the decision, but that it, too, happened after the close of offices Friday.  So it looked like if couples were to get married, it would happen only licenses could get issued over the weekend.  On Facebook, I began to see UU colleagues in Michigan immediately asking if any clerk was going to be open over the weekend.  We heard a statement from Barb Byrum, the Ingham County Clerk, that she would open first thing on Monday morning and start issuing licenses, but we knew that the emergency stay could go through so quickly that we wouldn't have our window if we had to wait until Monday. I called Equality Michigan to find out if they knew anything more from any county clerks, and only got answering machines, unsurprisingly.  Then I called Randy Block, Director of the Michigan UU Social Justice Network.  He hadn't learned anything about any clerks opening yet, either, but said he would call and e-mail me if he did and I said I would post it by e-mail to the clergy groups and to Facebook. 

Around 9:30 p.m., I had just seen that the Washtenaw County Clerk was going to open on Saturday morning via a post from Gail Geisenhainer, who was busy talking to her members and community contacts and perhaps the clerk himself.  Randy Block called to say that he had learned Washtenaw County Clerk (in Ann Arbor) was going to be open and also the Muskegon County Clerk, and amazingly the Muskegon County Clerk would be issuing licenses from the Harbor UU Church there in Muskegon!  He sent me an e-mail about Muskegon and I forwarded it to our chapter Yahoo group, along with the request that if anybody were to hear about any other county that they notify the group.  Some folks wanted to stay in their own counties and put pressure on their clerks to open, but I knew my own County Clerk would not be opening, based on our experience with her in October, so, faced with a choice of protesting here or helping there, I prepared to travel to Washtenaw.  Oakland and Ingham County seemed the most likely to open, so I and others kept an open ear.  We knew Barb Byrum in Ingham had said Monday, but also knew that she wanted to issue licenses.  And the Oakland County Clerk, Lisa Brown, had been active and public about the desire to issue licenses, and had testified for the defense in the case.  Those were the counties to watch.  The UU ministers in Southeast Michigan had done some good work earlier in the year getting to know who our county clerks were and identifying which of them would issue licenses with the most haste.  We had created a Google doc to share this information. 

On a personal note, my daughter had a performance on Saturday and my whole family was heading here to Jackson to see it.  And my car had been totaled a week ago, and we had just gotten the news that the insurance company considered it totaled slightly before Friedman's decision, but they wouldn't be issuing us a rental car until Monday.  So I had a busy schedule to juggle and one car for our household.  I posted to Facebook asking if any other local progressive clergy would also be interested in heading to Washtenaw, but got no positive response.  But I determined that if we left here at 8 and got me to the courthouse at 9, my husband and daughter could get back just in time for her to show up for her performance.  I didn't know for sure how I would get home and when I get home, but we agreed to play that more by ear.  I knew my daughter would understand why I wanted to be in Ann Arbor.  I had been saying all year as this case progressed that if I could get anywhere and perform ceremonies and sign licenses when it became legal, that I would do so.  I knew all the couples I had married before in non-legal ceremonies were in counties where they wouldn't be able to get licenses, so I was free to go wherever I could.

Around 1:15 a.m. I saw a post from Equality Michigan on Facebook that Lisa Brown in Oakland would be opening for business, and I shared the post and e-mailed our HUUMA Yahoo and Southeast MichigaN UU Ministers Yahoo group.  In the early hours of the morning I realized my copies of the ceremony I had prepared and my stoles were all at church, and I wouldn't have time to get them in the morning, as there was no way my husband was going to agree to get up the extra 40 minutes early.  I hunted down my clergy collar that I hadn't worn since maybe the Phoenix GA -- I hate the thing, as it's too tight.  I printed off new copies, with my printer that had decided in the name of equality that it would cooperate that day.  And then I went to sleep to get the five hours that would carry me through the next day.

The next morning I awoke and got ready, and checked Facebook.  Across Michigan, we were preparing for the day.  Jeff Liebman stayed in Midland, prepared to act if his clerk would open, and talked to the press and contacted couples he knew were waiting there.  Colleen Squires and Fred Wooden prepared for a protest to happen in Grand Rapids on Sunday.  I saw that Barb Byrum must have decided to open for business, because Kathryn Bert had posted that she was headed there.  She brought her team of Nic Cable and Julica Herman with  her.  Kimi Riegel awoke to see my post about Oakland County and headed there.  Tom Schade and Gail Geisenhainer had already said the previous day that they would be there in Ann Arbor.  Mark Evens came briefly, as well.  And in Muskegon, Bill Freeman headed to church. 

The UU clergy of Michigan were ready and prepared for this day to come, and it had come at last.

I met with a local high school's GSA a week or two ago, and was talking about what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality.  I believe that even Biblical literalists are choosing what parts of the Bible they take literally and currently and what parts they choose to understand either as metaphor or as written for a certain historical context.  Even the fundamentalists don't follow all of the purity laws.  And they're choosing to place emphasis on the passages that judge over the passages that preach love and forgiveness.  Given that you have to pick and choose, the question really is why some people choose to pick hate.  I said, "I choose to pick love."

The hard part about choosing love is the same as the hard part of believing in the inherent worth and dignity of all people and the hard part of believing in universal salvation.  The hard part of choosing love is applying it to someone you see as having chosen a path of hatred and pain.  

Today we've heard that Fred Phelps died last night.  Fred Phelps was a person who made it his mission to choose hate.  He carried signs proclaiming hate, he picketed funerals proclaiming hate, he built a church to spread his hate.  There are people wanting, understandably, to celebrate his death and to picket his funeral.  It's hard not to have sympathy for that perspective.  Fred Phelps spread a lot of hate and pain during his life, and the cessation of that message being spread by him feels like it must be a good. 

The struggle in the face of the death of Fred Phelps is to remember his inherent worth and dignity, to believe in his salvation, and to choose love in the face of his hate even now.

Here's my prayer:

Spirit of Life,
May Fred Phelps, child of the universe, be at peace.
May his family be at peace and come to know love.
May the world heal from the hate that was sown.
May we all choose love in increasing measure. 
Blessed be.  Amen.

Wow -- last night’s Pop Up for Democracy Rally was an amazing event! 

As of this morning, UUs have reached 29 of our 50 US Senators, telling them to pass the Freedom to Vote Act -- that’s 58% of the Senate!

Our efforts are working and we need to keep the pressure on.  In fact, today, the New York Times reported that President Biden is "open to ending the filibuster." 

So, before we do anything else, let’s make sure EVERY Senator hears from us by November 1st - share this link — bit.ly/CallSenate1021 — and ask everyone you know to take two-minutes to call their Senators!  

We’re grateful you took the time to join us last night and that you made a call -- thank you!

The rest of this includes all the materials from last night’s Pop Up for Democracy Rally, including all the mentioned links, campaigns, events, and other asks. There are so many ways to engage in the vital and crucial work of protecting our democracy and electoral rights, so find the one that works for you!

Amplify the central message of last night’s event: Save the Freedom to Vote Act and end the filibuster:

• Video of the event

• PDF of the slide presentation

• Full video of presentation from Elizabeth Hira, Brennan Center for Justice on why the Freedom to Vote legislation is transformational beyond voting rights (16.5 minutes, we showed 10 mins. last night)

Multiply the impact by inviting more people to join you!

• Take 2 minutes to call your senator: Save the Freedom the Vote Act: bit.ly/CallSenate1021

• Download the Side With Love Action Center guide to get started organizing your congregation! sidewithlove.org/actioncenterguide 

Ground your work by engaging locally in your community and in partnership:

• Save the Date: Nov Week of Action: The broad coalition that the UUA is part of, Declaration for American Democracy, will soon be unveiling Freedom to Vote - Time to Act Week of Action during the November Congressional Recess that begins on November 11th. There will soon be a website, toolkit to host an action, and a map of actions available soon. Can you pledge to host a November Distributed Action?     

• How to prepare: Join the October 25 Community of Praxis Meeting to prepare your own November Action!  

• Phonebank UUs to have them take action: Join the October 28 Phonebank to invite UUs to action!  

Here are the other crucial links from last night:

• Send a Letter to Your Senator Urging Filibuster Reform  

• Send a personalized message to your Senator urging them to support the Freedom to Vote Act & John Lewis Voting Rights Act here.  

• Constituents needed for meetings with Republican Senators from AK, AL, LA, ME OH, PA.   

• Are you in West Virginia? 

  • Join the Mass Moral Revival and Rally, October 24th at 4pm, featuring Rev. Dr. William Barber and the Poor People's Campaign along with other West Virginia faith leaders, poor and low-wealth West Virginians, and other coalition partners to call on Sen. Manchin to do better.

• In the DC area? Join other UUs who will be at the following Freedom to Vote Relay events! 

  • Freedom to Vote Friday Shindig at Ben’s Chili Bowl  

  • Freedom to Vote Saturday Rally in DC  

• From Arizona? Learn about more upcoming actions to pressure Sen. Sinema and build our power at UUJAZ (UU Justice Arizona) Issues & Action Day tomorrow, Saturday, October 23rd.

• Are you connected with your UU State Action Network? Many of them are working on redistricting and fair maps to counter gerrymandering and other voter suppression efforts.  Check out the Coalition of UU State Action Networks (CUUSAN) to see if there’s one for your state: https://cuusan.org/   

• From the Fix or Nix the Filibuster Campaign, a Filibuster Reform Toolkit.  

Being with you in this work is so meaningful and we’re grateful to be doing it together. 

In faith and solidarity,

Audra Friend

Side With Love Digital Communications, Technology, and Data Specialist

on behalf of the entire Side With Love team

I’ve just returned home from the People vs. Fossil Fuels Week of Action in Washington, D.C., deeply inspired by the bold direct actions taken by Indigenous leaders, multifaith clergy and lay leaders (including 40 UUs), youth, and hundreds of people who are putting everything on the line for climate justice. We engaged in civil disobedience and witness at the White House, at the Army Corps of Engineers, at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior, and Congress.  Now, we need to keep up the pressure and build our power as Congress works to pass the Build Back Better legislation and the US sends representatives to the UN COP26 Conference on Climate Change next month. 

This coming Sunday and Monday, Oct. 17-18, Unitarian Universalists are joining the global Faiths 4 Climate Justice mobilization hosted by GreenFaith and co-sponsored by the UUA, UU Ministry for Earth and many other faith partners.

Take Action With US

1. See if there is a local event you can participate in: check out the action map
   

2. Join Side With Love’s virtual, national action rally “UUs 4 Climate Justice” on October 18th at 7pm ET / 6 CT / 5 MT / 4pm PT
   Join this online #Faiths4ClimateJustice offering for any UUs with no local or online action accessible to them. UUs around the country will gather to celebrate today's actions around the world, witness, and take action ourselves. Featuring Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise of GreenFaith, Rev. Ranwa Hammamy of Side with Love, and more. RSVP for this national climate action!

   
   

3. Amplify the voices of Indigenous peoples in the struggle for sovereignty and climate justice. Between now and November 30th, host a community viewing and discussion of The Condor & The Eagle, a powerful and award-winning documentary that offers a glimpse into a developing spiritual renaissance as the film's protagonists learn from each other’s long legacy of resistance to colonialism and its extractive economy. Click here for details.

It’s incredibly important to put pressure on President Biden right now, as we approach the COP 26 UN climate talks. Together, we can Side With Love and Create Climate Justice by showing up for this movement moment in solidarity with frontline leaders who have spent the past week risking arrest in Washington, D.C. to call on President Biden to reject false solutions and commit to a rapid and just transition away from an extractive economy. Will you Side with Love for climate justice?

In faith and solidarity, 

Aly Tharp,

UU Ministry for Earth Co-Director of Programs

and

Partnerships and  the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211111042510/https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5449513ee4b025f84fddfa72/1634331242641-YIYSSU6OCBRCTDVQ9AVW/bit.lyUUs4ClimateJustice-square-graphic.png?format=1500w

Paulo Freire wrote that “to do without hope, in the struggle to improve the world, is a frivolous illusion.”

How do we build hope? When we share our stories, move together for justice, and side with love we build hope! We know this and yet as co-chairs of the Commission on Social Witness, Alison and I have learned that hope is in short supply.

Folx are overwhelmed, and it’s no wonder! The sheer scale of challenges we face in our personal lives coping with the pandemic, and in our hurting world, is unprecedented.

Attacks on the transgender and gender nonconforming community, erosion of our basic right to vote, environmental crises leveling poor and POCI communities, and a global pandemic devastating folx who are already laboring in harsh conditions and lacking basic healthcare. We are all in need of some potent hope!

That is why Alison and I have created two hope-filled evenings - UU Social Witness Convenings on Oct. 6 & 13 - to gather together and side with love. We have invited 20+ speakers who are doing amazing work with inspiring organizations (including TRUUsT, BLUU, DRUUMM, ARE, UUJEC, UUSJ, State Action Networks in AZ and NC, the UUA Administration and Side with Love Organizing Strategy Team staff, and more) to come together, share stories of justice, and fill our hearts and minds with tangible ways to get our hope going! 

We are enthusiastically inviting you to join us for two gatherings to make connections, get inspired, and start building more justice and more hope in our world. Let’s gather, inspire, and launch social witness action! The two events will focus on four critical social justice statements. We affirmed and adopted these statements at General Assembly 2021, now let’s act on them!

• “Undoing Systemic White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action"

• “Defend and Advocate with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Communities”

• “Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy” 

• “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage.” 

Check out the complete list of fabulous speakers and details.

Sign up for one or both events:

• Wednesday, Oct 6, 7-9 pm ET/4-6 pm PT 

  • “Defend and Advocate with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Communities”

  • “Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy” 

• Wednesday, Oct 13, 7-9 pm ET/4-6 pm PT

  • “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage.”

  • “Undoing Systemic White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action"

All UUs are invited--no prior experience or knowledge is necessary! The meeting will take place via Zoom. Zoom accessibility features are outlined here at this link. 

Alison and I cannot wait to gather with other UUs, bear witness to what each of our guests is doing, and share ways everyone can get involved in making justice a reality, no matter what our resources or bandwidth might be. We UUs are called to bring forth the beloved community as much as we can in this life. Let’s keep hope and justice going!

Blessings of Hope and Resilience,

Pippin Whitaker & Alison Aguilar Lopez Gutierrez McLeod

Co-Chairs, UUA Commission on Social Witness

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211111041444/https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5449513ee4b025f84fddfa72/1632416473417-LU63ZE3W5BIXPDRC6SYT/CSW%20Social%20Witness%20convening.png?format=1500w

Paulo Freire wrote that “to do without hope, in the struggle to improve the world, is a frivolous illusion.”

How do we build hope? When we share our stories, move together for justice, and side with love we build hope! We know this and yet as co-chairs of the Commission on Social Witness, Alison and I have learned that hope is in short supply.

Folx are overwhelmed, and it’s no wonder! The sheer scale of challenges we face in our personal lives coping with the pandemic, and in our hurting world, is unprecedented.

Attacks on the transgender and gender nonconforming community, erosion of our basic right to vote, environmental crises leveling poor and POCI communities, and a global pandemic devastating folx who are already laboring in harsh conditions and lacking basic healthcare. We are all in need of some potent hope!

That is why Alison and I have created two hope-filled evenings - UU Social Witness Convenings on Oct. 6 & 13 - to gather together and side with love. We have invited 20+ speakers who are doing amazing work with inspiring organizations (including TRUUsT, BLUU, DRUUMM, ARE, UUJEC, UUSJ, State Action Networks in AZ and NC, the UUA Administration and Side with Love Organizing Strategy Team staff, and more) to come together, share stories of justice, and fill our hearts and minds with tangible ways to get our hope going! 

We are enthusiastically inviting you to join us for two gatherings to make connections, get inspired, and start building more justice and more hope in our world. Let’s gather, inspire, and launch social witness action! The two events will focus on four critical social justice statements. We affirmed and adopted these statements at General Assembly 2021, now let’s act on them!

• “Undoing Systemic White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action"

• “Defend and Advocate with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Communities”

• “Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy” 

• “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage.” 

Check out the complete list of fabulous speakers and details.

Sign up for one or both events:

• Wednesday, Oct 6, 7-9 pm ET/4-6 pm PT 

  • “Defend and Advocate with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Communities”

  • “Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy” 

• Wednesday, Oct 13, 7-9 pm ET/4-6 pm PT

  • “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage.”

  • “Undoing Systemic White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action"

All UUs are invited--no prior experience or knowledge is necessary! The meeting will take place via Zoom. Zoom accessibility features are outlined here at this link. 

Alison and I cannot wait to gather with other UUs, bear witness to what each of our guests is doing, and share ways everyone can get involved in making justice a reality, no matter what our resources or bandwidth might be. We UUs are called to bring forth the beloved community as much as we can in this life. Let’s keep hope and justice going!

Blessings of Hope and Resilience,

Pippin Whitaker & Alison Aguilar Lopez Gutierrez McLeod

Co-Chairs, UUA Commission on Social Witness

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211111041444/https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5449513ee4b025f84fddfa72/1632416473417-LU63ZE3W5BIXPDRC6SYT/CSW%20Social%20Witness%20convening.png?format=1500w

After incredible organizing and mobilization of voters for the 2020 election cycle, we caught a glimpse of what real democracy looks like. We not only witnessed the power of the people, we collectively claimed it. Next week the Freedom to Vote Act will be coming up for a vote in the Senate, to help us keep power in the people’s hands. 

All around the country, there have been attempts - some successful - to restrict the freedom to vote for millions of Americans. These efforts to restrict voting rights strategically harm communities of color, young voters, disabled voters, and new citizens. The freedom to vote has never been fully realized in this country, and despite that we have organized for significant changes and wins. But we cannot stop there. Take action to support the Freedom to Vote Act today!

The Freedom to Vote Act is a bold and necessary move towards real democracy. It includes provisions that would expand equitable access to voter registration across the country, such as requiring automatic voter registration systems through state DMVs, access to online voter registration, and same-day voter registration at all polling locations by 2024. 

Voting itself would become more accessible, with the requirement of at least 15 consecutive days of early in-person voting, no-excuse mail voting for all voters in federal elections, accessible drop boxes, an easy way to cure deficient ballots, and the inclusion of all provisional ballots for eligible races in a county

And the Freedom to Vote Act includes protections that prevent future efforts to restrict voters’ rights. It bans partisan gerrymandering and redistricting, reduces the influence of corporations or wealthy donors through increased disclosure requirements, and protects election officials from intimidation or undue influence by partisan poll watchers.  

Friends, the Freedom to Vote Act is a reflection of our commitment to justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, particularly as it relates to governance and our responsibility to care for one another. And because of its promotion of real democracy, there are efforts in the Senate to block or defeat it. We cannot let the collective power of the people be denied. That’s why the timing for reaching out to our Senators now is so key. UUs are continuing to come together with organizers around the country to take strategic action to protect the freedom to vote, and we need you to:

Join a Meeting with Your Senator

UUs for Social Justice (UUSJ) in DC will be holding direct federal advocacy meetings with Senate staff on Voting Rights (both Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act) from the following states: Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Texas, and Wisconsin. We need your help & will train and orient you! If you want to participate please fill out this form. If you are from Alabama, Alaska, or Arizona please email anna@uusj.org.

Phonebank to Voters in Arizona & West Virginia

Join Common Cause for one (or more!) of its daily phonebanks to voters in Arizona and West Virginia to advocate for the Freedom to Vote Act and an end to the filibuster that is preventing the passage of liberatory legislation. 

Get Ready, Stay Ready!

We’re here to bend the arc for as long as it takes, and that means staying connected and supported. Stay tuned for an upcoming Pop-Up virtual event following the Senate’s vote on the Freedom to Vote Act next week, so we can sustain our spirits in the movement and plan our next actions!

We know that the moral arc of the universe is long, and that it bends towards justice. But it needs our hands, hearts, and faith to do so. You can take strategic action to promote and protect voting rights today, by showing your support for the Freedom to Vote Act as part of the long-haul movement towards real democracy. 

In faith and justice,

Rev. Ranwa Hammamy

Congregational Justice Organizer, Side With Love

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On September 14, we hosted “From #NoDAPL to #StopLine3: Water Protectors, Movement Building and Solidarity,” featuring a conversation with Michael “Rattler” Markus and the Rev. Karen Van Fossan.

We heard compelling testimony from both of our guests about the powerful organizing of the Water Protectors, the through-lines of movement organizing across time and space, the role of multinational corporations in violating treaty rights, and the impacts of our government’s ongoing criminalization of protest, free speech, and actions of conscience. We are so grateful for their wisdom and leadership.

Building on the energy and inspiration of last night’s storytelling, Side With Love invites you to use last night’s conversation as an on-ramp into the cycle of learning, growth, and action as part of our wide network of faithful organizers and activists.

LEARN

• Watch the full video recording of last night’s call

• Download the slide presentation

• Download the chat transcript, including conversation and links regarding the ongoing UU young adult-led push for divestment of the Common Endowment Fund

• Read PEN America’s full report, on anti-protest bills (2020)

GROW

• Read the 2018 AIW “We Are All Related: Solidarity NOW With Indigenous Water Protectors”

• Last night’s YouTube playlist of Indigenous-created music, originally curated by UU Ministry for Earth:

• Watch the Side With Love video honoring Water Protector political prisoners at the presentation of the Courageous Love Award at General Assembly 2020

ACT

LETTER WRITING ADVOCATING FOR PARDONS

At the request of Michael “Rattler” Markus and the other #NoDAPL political prisoners, those of us on the call last night committed to a practice of writing letters to President Biden, urging him to pardon the five #NoDAPL political prisoners. Here is your step by step guide for honoring this request for solidarity:

Type or neatly hand write your own letter using dark ink on 8 ½ x 11” white paper. Letters should be addressed to:

President Joseph R. Biden

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Washington, D.C. 20500

Include the following points in your letter:

1) YOUR CONNECTION TO THE ISSUE: What motivates you to write about this issue? Situate yourself with context, such as:

I’m a person of faith who believes we are called to protect the earth as a sacred gift…

I’m a climate activist who has been personally involved in the pipeline struggles…

I’m an American citizen who is deeply concerned about the anti-democratic trend toward criminalizing the exercise of free speech through protest...

2) A REQUEST FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN TO ISSUE PARDONS TO:

Red Fawn Fallis/Janis

Michael “Little Feather” Giron

Michael “Rattler” Markus

Dion Ortiz

James White

3) WHY THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO:

• Our Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech and assembly, and criminalizing protest is a threat to democracy. Water Protectors should have never been arrested, charged with federal crimes, or incarcerated.

• Our Constitution is supposed to honor treaties with sovereign Indigenous nations, and the Dakota Access Pipeline--like Line 3, Keystone XL, and all pipelines--is a violation of treaty law that Indigenous people have every right to resist.

• Our climate is in crisis, and the Water Protector movement is morally just. President Biden has committed to combating climate change, and should honor the Water Protectors’ leadership by pardoning these five political prisoners who were wrongly convicted for their witness.

4) Now organize your congregation or community!

• Reach out to 10 of your friends, share these resources with them, and invite them to join you on zoom or in person (where safe) for a letter-writing party.

• Recruit your congregation’s climate justice, racial justice, or social justice team to sponsor a letter writing party after services on Sunday, or at another time.

DONATE TO SUPPORT #NoDAPL POLITICAL PRISONERS

As we heard last night, the #NoDAPL political prisoners continue to experience the financial impacts of their trials and incarceration. Part of our ongoing commitment to solidarity is “leveraging our spiritual, financial, human, and infrastructural resources in support of Water Protectors, especially those who face ongoing charges and prison sentences, and their loved ones.” In that spirit, we ask you to make a donation to the UU Ministry for Earth’s #NoDAPL Political Prisoner Support fund, which will direct all contributions directly to the Water Protectors.

We’re so grateful to be in the struggle with all of you at the intersection of our shared work for climate justice, democracy, and decriminalization.

In faith and solidarity,

The Rev. Ashley Horan

Organizing Strategy Director

Side With Love - UUA

On Sunday, September 12th, hundreds of UU gathered for the launch of the new Side With Love Action Center: a place where we can ground, grow, and act together. As we move into this recovery, we cannot go back to normal. The Side With Love Action Center is a place to harness the power of our faith to contend with the systems of oppression that create multiple, intersecting crises. Our justice campaigns (Creating Climate Justice, UU the Vote, LGBTQ ministries and Love Resists) are joining together to skill up our commun ity, take action to advance our values, and build grassroots power to confront injustice on the national and local levels. 

At the launch, our speakers  Cherri Foylin (L’eau Est La Vie (Water is Life) Camp), Aquene Freechild (Public Citizen), and Rev. Tamara Lebak (Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma), joined us to talk about how interlocking systems of oppression are impacting our communities and invited us into the work of building beloved community. 

We know our battles and our lives are bound together. Let’s mobilize our folx across our justice campaigns to show up at this critical moment. With so much at stake, now is the time to build moral courage and stronger organizing capacity to win for our communities. 

In case you missed it!  

• Event Recording

• Action Center Launch Slides 

• Launch Guide

• For the People Act Slides 

How to get started!

1. Watch the Action Center launch video individually or with our congregation

2. Download and review the Launch Guide

3. Join us for the following Action Center events:

   1. Join us for the the first Action Center action and political education event: From #NoDAPL to #StopLine3: Water Protectors, Movement Building, and Solidarity Tuesday, September 14, 2021 8:00 PM -  9:30 PM ET

   2. Come to the Volunteer Squad Activation Huddle: Sunday, September 26, 2021 4:00 PM -  5:30 PM ET

   3. Join the Community of Praxis Gathering: Monday, October 25, 2021 7:00 PM -  8:30 PM ET

   4. Join the next Skill Up: Sunday, October 17, 2021 4:00 PM -  5:30 PM ET

4. Organize your congregation to host an Action Center event

5. Tell your story and report your work with the Story & Report Form  

Actions and Political Education for your Teams!

UU the Vote: Democracy & Voting Rights

Political Education 

• UUSJ Democracy Issue Briefing -September 15

Actions 

• Join a Finish the Job for the People National Day of Action -September 17 

• Host a Finish the Job action event

• Save the Date
  October Relay/Rally Pledge to Act -Indicate you came through UUA!

Create Climate Justice

Political Education 

• From #NoDAPL to #StopLine3: Water Protectors, Movement Building, and Solidarity Tuesday, September 14, 2021 8:00 PM -  9:30 PM ET

Actions

• Stop the Money Pipeline to divest from Fossil Fuels 
  Support folx impacted by Hurricane Ida

• Members of the Congressional ‘Squad’ – including Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Cori Bush – have joined together to call on President Biden to stop the Line 3 tar sands pipeline. This action has elevated our call to stop Line 3. Now we need to continue this momentum and build more pressure on President Biden to act. Here are two ways you can help right now:

1. Call the White House: Demand that Biden’s Administration revoke the Line 3 permit immediately. Click here for a sample script and the number to call.

• Write to President Joe Biden: Click here to fill in your contact information and write a message in your words about why you want President Biden to take action to stop the Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Love Resists: criminalization, deportation, and detention

Actions 

• At our Action Center launch we asked you to send emails to the Oklahoma Parole Board to recommend clemency for Julius Jones. See this petition for clemency for Julius Jones to the Oklahoma Parole Board.

BREAKING NEWS! On Monday the Oklahoma Board of Pardons voted to make a recommendation to Governor Stitt to commute the death sentence of Julius Jones. A huge Justice for Julius interfaith and community rally was held after our Action Launch (Sunday, Sept. 12th) at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.

Very soon there will be next steps and action to urge Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to listen to the recommendation of the Oklahoma Parole Board. Please check www.justiceforjulius.com/events which will be updated soon for how to take action on the Governor.

Oklahoma is ground zero for the restorative justice movement, see https://www.restorativejusticeok.org/ for resources, training, and ways to connect. 

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In the midst of devastating climate change, the appalling stripping away of voting and reproductive rights, the criminalization of migration, and the state sanctioned violence of policing - it can feel as though we are powerless to stop the tides of oppression. But nothing could be further from the truth. 

This Sunday is our Side With Love Action Center Launch, where we will come together as communities and as a faith and claim our collective power. We will learn from leaders of critical campaigns, and begin to mobilize within our own congregations and communities to make life-saving, liberation-cultivating change.

We are excited to have Aquene Freechild (Co-Director of Public Citizen’s “Democracy is for People” campaign), Rev. Tamara Lebak (Founder of the Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma), and Cherri Foytlin (Founder of the L’Eau Est La Vie Camp in Louisiana) sharing their wisdom and calls to communal action that will have an impact. And we will build our interdependent web of liberation within and between our congregations as we mobilize in intentional, relational, and sustainable ways.  

We know you wouldn’t be here with us if you did not believe another world is possible, and that we have the power to make it come to life. As we organize and activate our campaigns for Climate Justice, Decriminalization, LGBTQ+ & Gender Justice, and Democracy & Voting Rights, we need you to bring your faith in that liberated world, and your commitment to moving us towards it. 

Sunday’s Action Center Launch is a turning point, not just for Unitarian Universalists, but for our world. Today we face those tides of oppression together, knowing that we are rooted in something stronger, more powerful, and more true than their violence. Today, tomorrow, and every day after, we will build interconnected teams, take impactful action, and change the world with our collective love. 

In faith, justice, and power,

Rev. Ranwa Hammamy

Congregational Justice Organizer

PS - There’s still time to invite others in your congregation to join your team and sign up for today’s launch! Send them the event sign up page so they can be a part of our movement!

A note from Nicole Pressley, Field and Programs Director:

Whether you’re talking about organizing or Unitarian Universalism, you don’t get very far without mentioning the centrality of relationship, community, and learning. As a living faith, we commit to transforming ourselves and our world as we build beloved community. 

This is why I am excited to announce that Rev. Ranwa Hammamy will be joining the UUA’s Organizing Strategy Team as the new Congregational Justice Organizer. The OST is the base for all of the UUA’s outward-facing justice ministries, including UU the Vote, Side With Love, Love Resists, Create Climate Justice, and more. Rev. Ranwa’s skill, commitment to racial justice-rooted organizing, and invitational leadership are markers of their powerful justice ministry that have supported organizations like UU Justice Ministry of California and Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Ministries.  

As we build Side With Love’s organizing capacity and infrastructure, we’re looking forward to Rev. Ranwa sharing their powerful leadership to support congregational and local teams. By building new and stronger relationships with our Unitarian Universalist communities, we can create deeply connected networks of leaders to grow our impact, learn from one another, and reflect on collective work.  

I am so grateful that Rev. Ranwa has chosen to join our team and look forward to how they will support our congregations and leaders in transformational justice work. Come welcome Rev. Ranwa Hammamy in their new position at our Side With Love Action Center launch on Sunday, September 12, 2pm EST/1pm CST/ 12pm MST/11am PST.

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I am humbled and excited to join the Organizing Strategy Team as a Congregational Justice Organizer! 

I became a Unitarian Universalist in 2010, joining the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia and its choir. Every Sunday, when I sat in the choir pews, a flag swayed gently above my head, embroidered with an image of one of Unitarianism’s most prophetic ancestors – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. 

Over the years, I’ve come to learn so much about and from Harper’s bold and courageous faith, and how it motivated her perseverant work for abolition, universal suffrage, economic justice, gender equality, and more. As a Unitarian Universalist & Muslim, I hold a deep appreciation of how her lived faith wove together her African Methodist Episcopal roots and her Unitarian wings. 

I know that what I believe and how I act are inextricably connected. Whether it is teaching anti-racism in a Sunday school classroom in New York, interrupting inhumane immigration proceedings in San Diego, or protesting the desecration of sacred lands by Enbridge in Minnesota, my actions are out of a joyful obligation to my beliefs. 

As the Congregational Justice Organizer with the Organizing Strategy Team, I am excited to learn about, celebrate, connect, and support the ways YOU have found to live out your faith. Serving as the Executive Director of the UU Justice Ministry of California showed me how vibrant and varied our congregational justice ministries can be, and that is in just one state! I am eager to get to know you, your teams, your communities, your work, your dreams, your struggles, and your strengths, and help build those bridges that motivate bold and courageous action. And I am ESPECIALLY excited to meet you at the launch of the Side with Love Action Center on Sunday, September 12 at 2pm EST!

RSVP now

Our world is at a turning point, and we have the power and responsibility to choose its direction. As Harper once wrote, “Are there not wrongs to be righted?” We can choose to continue the cycles of racism, capitalism, and imperialism by restoring the white supremacist status-quo that pretends to look like “change” when it knows we are tired or scared. Or, we can be bold and courageous like our ancestor Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and take new action in faith-rooted and collective ways. 

Through our collective faith-rooted work, Unitarian Universalist congregations can be epicenters of imagination and generativity. We have already witnessed this power. In the past 18 months our communities have met unfathomable challenges, grief, violence, and destruction with adaptability, resilience, steadfastness, love, and creativity. Our congregations have been physical and virtual spaces where we have sustained each other, remembered that we are always part of something larger than ourselves, and effectively embraced our shared power. And with the Side with Love Action Center, our congregations will grow even stronger as integral spaces for our interconnected work for liberation. By coming together on Sunday, September 12 for the Action Center Launch with others in your congregation – committee members, established justice teams, or anyone you think might be interested in organizing together within your community – you will be part of the next phase of our prophetic work as a faith. 

We face challenging times ahead, just as we and our ancestors have endured before. As individuals and congregations, we affirm and live by a set of principles that are not reserved for our most comfortable or privileged moments, but that speak the deepest truth in the most difficult and uncertain times of our lives. We all have parts to play in building that interconnected web of liberation, gifts that you and your congregation can bring, truths that your community and partners can share, and a faith that achieves its fullest potential and power when we come together to connect, create, act, and Side with Love. We need you – we all need each other – to build with us our new Side with Love Action Center so together we can build a bold, courageous, and liberated world.

Rev. Ranwa Hammamy

Congregational Justice Organizer

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Each year, thousands of Unitarian Universalists gather together for our annual General Assembly (GA), where we learn about cutting edge thinking and practices in our faith, do the business of the Association, and join our hearts and our spirits together in worship, song, and action. This year’s GA was the second in which we assembled not in an overly-air conditioned convention center, but in online chat spaces and Zoom rooms and livestreams. And even though so many of us are yearning for the in-the-flesh experience of being together, this was a truly remarkable, soul-expanding week that underscored for all of us that the heart of Unitarian Universalist faith is love, and that the expression of that faith is our shared work for justice. 

Some highlights from the week:

• Our Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team was thrilled to see so many of you in our on-demand and live workshops (and we look forward to sharing some highlights and content from them in the coming weeks with those of you who did not attend GA, too!). We were especially excited to share our learnings coming out of the just-published UU the Vote report, and to publicly debut Side With Love’s new Action Center!

• We were also incredibly touched by your generosity in donating to the Side With Love special collection on Saturday, which raised nearly $33,000. Thank you so much for making the work possible. (If you would still like to make a gift, text SWL to 91999 or click here.)

• On Saturday, we partnered with African American Roundtable in phonebanking in support of a moral budget for Milwaukee, with less funding for racist policing and more resources for real social supports and structures of safety and stability for the people. More than 30 of you joined us in calling, and together we made more than 550 calls, and had more than 50 deep canvassing conversations with Milwaukee residents--many of which led to commitments of deeper engagement and support from the people we reached. Join us on July 8th for the next chance to join us and the African American Roundtable in support of the #LiberateMKE campaign!

• Building a democracy where everyone has a voice and where those historically excluded from systems of governance find justice, is a fight that continues beyond election seasons. Our co-Ware lecturers at General Assembly, Stacey Abrams and Desmond Meade, gave rousing commentary on what it means to build just and democratic futures for us all. It included passing legislation like the For the People Act and John Lewis Act to expand access to voting rights, remove money from politics, end harmful gerrymandering, and restore critical elements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also includes resisting the criminalization of protests and people with marginalized identities that move us closer to justice and liberation. And it includes partnering with those most impacted to dismantle systems of oppression and collectively reimagine communities and the systems that help us thrive. 

• Finally, we were inspired by the ways Unitarian Universalists engage in the democratic process together to articulate our shared values and call for embodied work for justice. This year, we were heartened to see the decisive votes that our delegates cast in favor of this year’s Statement of Conscience (“Undoing Systemic White Supremacy”), and the resounding affirmation of three Actions of Immediate Witness declaring our support for systemic solutions to address the devastation caused by COVID-19; our call to defend and advocate with transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Communities; and the urgency of defending democracy and combating voter suppression. 

It is always a gift to be together in worship, action, and embodying in the democratic process. We are grateful for all of you who engaged in GA activities with us, and with our siblings in faith. Stay tuned for many more opportunities coming soon to join us in the work as we continue to Circle ‘Round for Freedom, Justice, and Courage.

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Ashley Horan, UUA Organizing Strategy Director

On behalf of the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team

Unitarian Universalists are often called “the Love People” by our communities who see us out working for justice. From hosting free weddings for LGBTQIA+ people before marriage equality was the law of the land, to taking to the streets as part of the global Climate Strikes, to opening our sanctuaries to protesters fleeing state violence, to organizing with coalition partners to shut down immigration detention facilities, “the Love People” have been showing up for years to embody our values, take courageous action, and build together as a part of broader movements for justice and liberation.  

Sometimes, Unitarian Universalists have shown up holding our congregational banners.  Other times, it’s been at the call of joint UU campaigns like Love Resists or Create Climate Justice.  And sometimes, we’ve rallied together through efforts like UU the Vote, or in our yellow shirts as a part of Side With Love. 

For some UUs, however, it has been confusing to try to understand the relationship between these many different justice campaigns and programs. Too often, the existence of these many “brands” has made the work seem disjointed, or even that issues are in competition with one another for resources and attention. And as a result, we have not always been as aligned, coordinated, or powerful as we could be. 

One thing is clear: the world needs Unitarian Universalists to show up for justice with spiritual grounding, generosity, humility, courage, and concrete skills. At various moments, we may be asked to bring these resources to particular struggles--pushing for electoral justice and voting rights, combating criminalization, working for LGBTQIA+ liberation, resisting climate catastrophe--but fundamentally, these are all facets of our shared work for collective liberation. 

Since its inception, the Side With Love campaign in particular has articulated one of Unitarian Universalism’s most cherished values: that it is a spiritual practice to choose love over fear. The beauty and the power of Side With Love has always been that invitation to be brave, to show up when we’re called, to occupy space with loving resistance rather than fearful retreat. We are most powerful when we understand that all the issues we care most deeply about are fundamentally interlinked, and that each of us has a role to play in building a world in which all people can be free and thrive. When we bring our best selves to our justice work, whichever specific issue or campaign it might be, we are choosing to Side With Love. 

And so, going forward, we are proud to announce that all of the UUA’s justice work will be housed under the Side With Love banner, through which we will continue to offer UUs regular opportunities for political education, spiritual sustenance, skills-based trainings, and mobilizations for action. We will be explicitly building on the infrastructure, organizing experience, relationships, and momentum we developed in 2020 through UU the Vote. In that vein, we will also invite UUs into specific work on issue-based campaigns from time to time: Side With Love will be encouraging people to #UUtheVote in 2022; to #CreateClimateJustice in partnership with the UU Ministry for Earth; and to declare that #LoveResists criminalization, along with our beloved partners at the UU Service Committee. These campaigns will be aligned and coordinated, and part of the overarching organizing strategy of Side With Love. 

To better reflect this intentional integration into Side With Love, we have also re-structured our Organizing Strategy Team--the UUA staff group that holds responsibility for the outward-facing justice ministries and campaigns of the Association. Working together, this team will be focusing on creating an impactful, engaging, nourishing multi-issue hub where UUs come to ground our spirits, grow our skills, and act together for justice. Following this message, you can see brief profiles of each of the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team members, along with contact information and details about the portfolios of work they lead. 

In short: we will still be supporting our partners, congregations, and people of faith and conscience who are concerned about climate justice, decriminalization, democracy, and LGBTQ+ and gender justice as well as other issues that require a faith-filled response. We’re simply being more intentional in our declaration that all our prophetic justice work requires us to Side With Love.

To hear more reflections about how Unitarian Universalists are being called to Side With Love in the coming time, and ways to get involved, join our team at UUA General Assembly for our live workshop, “Harvesting Lessons, Planting Seeds: Reflections on Organizing, 2016-2021” on Thursday, June 24, 5:00-6:30pm ET/2:00-3:30pm PT. Check out all our General Assembly offerings here.  

We are so grateful for the ways Unitarian Universalists continue to Side With Love in so many ways, and in so many places. The work that lies ahead of us is immense, but we know that we carry on the legacy of generations before us who have brought us to this point. We are excited for our next phase together, and we can’t wait to build with you. We are so glad to be in the struggle together. 

In faith and solidarity,

The Rev. Ashley Horan, UUA Organizing Strategy Director 

On behalf of Side With Love’s Organizing Strategy Team

Meet your Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team

The Rev. Ashley Horan (she/her) is the UUA’s Organizing Strategy Director, and leads the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team. In this role, Ashley shapes the big-picture vision and goals for the UUA’s outward-facing justice work, advises senior UUA leadership on justice-related issues, and supervises the staff team that designs and implements the work of Side With Love and all its related programs and campaigns.  

Nicole Pressley (she/her), formerly the National Organizer for UU the Vote, now serves as Field & Programs Director, and as a member of the Side With Love leadership team. In this role, Nicole supervises the team of field organizers, and creates opportunities for UUs to engage in leadership development, skill building, and collective action.

Everette Thompson (he/him), formerly the Campaign Manager for Side With Love, now serves as Political Education & Spiritual Sustenance Strategist, and as a member of the Side With Love leadership team. In this role, Everette designs opportunities for UUs to deepen their political grounding and analysis of critical justice issues and movements, and offers ways for people to nurture and sustain their spirits as they engage in long-haul work for justice. 

Audra Friend (she/her) serves the Side With Love team as Data, Communications, and Technology Specialist. In this role, Audra creates the technical infrastructure that makes our digital organizing possible, and supports the creation of compelling narratives that link our values to our actions for justice. 

Susan Leslie (she/her) currently serves as our Coalitions & Partnerships Organizer, after 29 years on UUA staff in a wide variety of justice-related roles. As a part of the field organizing team, Susan focuses on supporting strong, accountable connections between UU congregations, frontline movement partners, and faith-based coalitions. Beginning July 1, Susan will be working 60% time in her last year on staff before retiring in July 2022. 

The Rev. Michael Crumpler (he/him), Multicultural & LGBTQIA+ Programs Director, is based in the UUA’s Ministries and Faith Development staff group, and contributes 40% of his time to the Side With Love team. Michael holds Side With Love’s LGBTQIA+ and gender justice organizing, oversees the UUA’s Welcoming Congregations program, and publishes the Uplift newsletter and blog. 

Aly Tharp (she/her or they/them) is the UU Ministry For Earth (UUMFE) Director of Programs and Partnerships, and serves as an ad hoc member of the Side With Love team. In this role, she serves as a liaison between the UUA and the ecosystem of UU climate justice organizing, and oversees Create Climate Justice, a joint project of the UUA and UUMFE. Aly collaborates and advises on climate- and earth-justice related organizing and strategy. 

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We’re consolidating our various email newsletters to reflect our new focus. To subscribe to our newsletters or update your subscription info, please visit https://sidewithlove.org/subscribe.

We hope this message reaches you surrounded by love and knowing that you are not alone. Thank you so much for joining Side With Love and Love Resists “In These Times.” We wanted to provide you with ways that you can continue to be in motion right now. If you missed this webinar, you can check out the video: Side With Love & Love Resists In These Times We are also offering Closed Captioned Text and Audio versions as well. “In These Times” was a moment to assess what is at stake and how we can move together. We offer these highlights from various folx on the call and the following ways you can be in motion during our social distancing.

Dr. Charlene Sinclair, Senior Advisor to BlackPAC offered these reflections.

“In the midst of the pandemic, we're consenting to a higher level of authoritarian surveillance and criminalization than ever before. How do we need to think about this moment? And not be happy because there's some decarceration happening in some jails, when they're lining up tanks in Akron to make sure that people don't disobey the curfew? What are we doing when we have "progressive people" saying, "of course they need to arrest people and give them tickets." We are saying that there's no need for prisons in the same way. We have to be careful as a movement that our anxiety and fear doesn't actually move us down a pathway of consent to an authoritarian rule. ”

We encourage you to support the work of BlackPAC.

Brother Luis Suarez, Detention Watch Network stated:

"Nothing [about us] without us" comes to us from a disability justice movement. It captures the essence of how we must engage to maintain a constant line of communication with the people inside ICE jails and those who have survived the system. It helps to ensure that our work isn't having unintended negative consequences for people detained and responding to their needs. . .We're demanding freedom for all. No one will get released unless we demand everyone to be released. This isn't a time for exceptions. It's a matter of life or death. How the government has treated this crisis, we can't treat anyone as expendable. The least we can do is push for everyone to be released. We have heard about social distancing practices. This is impossible for people in detention centers. The definition of mass confinement poses a serious threat to public health. This, coupled with ICE's long standing history of medical neglect, abuse, etc. is a recipe for disaster. Lives are already at risk in detention.”

Take part in Detentions Watch Network Free Them All On-going Actions.

Rev. Suzanne Fast, EqUUal Access:

“Resist the systematic devaluation of disabled people during the pandemic, not only for these protocols about who gets health care.This is a time where our allies are crucial to people's survival. ... We seriously need you to be part of unmasking ableism on a regular, ongoing basis. Every time someone says, "it's not serious. It's not like real oppression" or "That's just a metaphor/they don't mean anything by that." When that happens, it reinforces that these lives don't carry the same value. When that goes unchallenged in the good times, that's how these crisis situations become more dangerous for us.”

Support and take action with the #NoBodyIsDisposable Campaign.

The UUA continues to fight in the right relationship with our movement and internally to our people. We uplift the words of Rev. Ashley Horan, UUA Organizing and Strategy Team Director:

“As we think about being UU organizers right now in our communities and congregations, one thing to think deeply about is getting crystal clear about our mission, who we are and what we do. That's usually to connect people, make them know that they're beloved to one another, to help people find belonging and meaning in the midst of a world that doesn't always make sense, and to build networks in our broader communities, to be part of creating that interdependent web of existence. To keep that well and whole.”

Join Rev. Michael Crumpler, UUA LGBTQ & Multicultural Ministries and UU the Vote for LGBTQ+ Equity and continue to build toward a just democracy.

Upcoming opportunities to Side With Love for these upcoming on-line offerings to be together: :

Side With Love joins Unitarian Universalists Ministry for Earth to present a live streaming of The Condor & The Eagle on Earth Day, April 22, 2020. This is a great way to close out Earth Day 2020, Register today!

Choose Love,

Everette R. H. Thompson

P. S. We are on the Side of the Poor People Campaign and We Must Do M.O.R.E. Tour!

I am

Never one to let the perfect get in the way of the good, I’m more than willing to let the “good enough“ get in the way of the awful. @AlleghenyUU @UUA #VoteLove #SideofLove #DefeatHatepic.twitter.com/elvaPtMcZH

Think you have what it takes? Win for yourself or win for our congregation! More at: http://Uua.org/greeleysermon  #gender #genderequality #competition #standingonthesideoflove #uu #unitarian #univsalist #sideoflove #freechurch #sermon #uusp #intersectionalpic.twitter.com/gMNjxBA9Um

Why do we take an offering? https://www.uuworld.org/print/articles/why-take-offering … #SocialJustice #uustpete #sunday #uure #uu #wheredoesthemoneygo #uu2020 #unitarian #universalist #sideoflove #uua #uusc #stpete #dtsp #homelessness #Immigration #fridaynightpicnic

하... 제가 올린거 범균데 그냥 사랑이 많은 아이엿군요 이런애들이 더나빠요

Serving up a side of with your drink at the White Horse, courtesy of the talented kaymama321 #sideoflove #serveupsomelove #seeyouatthewhitehorse #lattelovers #caffeinatethendominate… https://www.instagram.com/p/B5GMBznD06I/?igshid=1rkjlizagwi7y …

All our lives we are in need & others are in need of us. Please know that I am here if you need someone to pray for you, to hold you in thoughts, or if you need someone listen to you. Comment below or my DM is always open. #Faith #Love #UUFaith #SideOfLove #PrayerRequestpic.twitter.com/xtXDgSGfXt

We see the SIGNS! #ClimateChange is real! #ClimateStrikes @instayayauua @sfrederickgray @ccny_uu @sideoflove @UUMFE @UUSCpic.twitter.com/Ve6AeB0fC1

Holy Wonder may we find our courage each day for today and for the long haul, to hold accountable governments, businesses, and each other to bring healing to our world. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Gratitude for this life fill us to consider how we pay that gratitude forward, thankful and ready to offer future generations a more hopeful and well world. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Beloved as we seek rest and sanctuary, may we also be emboldened to unite and create sanctuary and rest for all those displaced by climate change. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Holy Wonder help us fall in love with our world all over again, refusing to abandon this planet or one another to the sufferings of unchecked climate change. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Wisdom dance us to meaningful actions and meaningful targets for reducing carbon emissions and nurturing the well-being of our world. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Compassion draw our attention to the suffering already happening due to climate change and to knowing even more is ahead even when we take action and worse if we do not #climatestrike #SideofLove

Wisdom may we imagine a world transformed for the better by our care, not worse by our cars, better by our actions, not worse by our denials of the truth of climate change. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Joy for the rivers, the lakes, the oceans, the marshes, for all the watery places that support so much life, gird us to protect and restore these places to well-being #climatestrike #SideofLove

Mercy give us strength to be counted, to show up and speak out for the acidifying, warming oceans and for all those who live near and in them, and rely on their well-being. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Gratitude unite us, thankful for the good gifts of this planet and our chance of life, and direct us from thankfulness to better care for this world. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Mercy teach us to remember the damage done by climate change intensified storm systems, droughts, fires, and floods. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Compassion draw us together to act for equity and justice, for the displaced and those threatened with loss of home by climate change #climatestrike #SideofLove

Beloved, open our hearts and our voices to be with and speak for our world hurting with climate change. #climatestrike #SideofLove

Gratitude, Love, and Climate Strike 2019 http://ow.ly/TZz050wf2Gr  #climatestrike #SideofLove

On this July 4th, may we all be on the #sideoflove. Thank you @WillieNelson! Side with Love UUA Pacific Southwest District - UUA https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2498744340146328&id=151115114909274 …

#UUAGA style! Matchy matchy twins with #SideWithLove and #LoveResists sideoflove #Sparkleaders #YA@GA @ Spokane, Washington https://www.instagram.com/p/By9Qdr5lAB5/?igshid=wtl2a1m85nv …

As a welcoming faith community, we always stay on the #SideOfLove and we support a full ban of so-called “conversion therapy” as it is nothing but harmful to those it claims to help. #BanConversionTherapy #WelcomingCongregation https://twitter.com/HRC/status/1133792363657203713 …

As a welcoming faith community, we always stay on the #SideOfLove and we support a full ban of so-called “conversion therapy” as it is nothing but harmful to those it claims to help. #BanConversionTherapy #WelcomingCongregation https://twitter.com/hrc/status/1133792363657203713 …

Its time for a change. Churches must stand up for equality, they must not stay silent when it comes to oppression and they must not run from the challenge out of fear. #FaithWithAction #LiberalReligion #Faith #NoMoreSilence #SideOfLove #UUFaith. #ProgressiveFaith https://twitter.com/johnpavlovitz/status/1130991722828324865 …

This is my church: I am lucky to attend a church that values diversity of all kinds you in the Nashville, TN and are looking for a liberal and welcoming congregation this might be the church for you. #welcomingcongregation #SideOfLove #UUfaith https://twitter.com/FUUN/status/1130952162673139712 …

#NationalDayOfPrayer: Today, I pray for peace for unity and for love. I pray for a world where violative acts do not take place, where we are all treated with respect and are shown, love. #SideOfLove #UUfaith #Unitarian #Universalistpic.twitter.com/03aM9H7UFw

디엠드리게 팔로 부탁드려요~

뉴하트거울/1/무광핑크/오늘

"Compassionate people ask for what they need. They say no when they need to, and when they say yes, they mean it. They’re compassionate because their boundaries keep them out of resentment." ―Brené Brown #WednesdayMotivation #UUTwitter #SideOfLove #UUFaith.pic.twitter.com/VtCLyAA0Kz

Hi

During my recent trip to Atlanta, I made sure to pay a visit to the Martin Luther King National Park And Memorial site as well as to stop by The Ebenezer Baptist Church. #MLK #EndWhiteSupremacy #EndRacism #SideOfLove #FaithInActionpic.twitter.com/cFVef1ORNs – At Dr Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site

With love in her heart for herself, her worth, her dignity, and her path, blessed by her ancestors, and with hope for all those yet to come, a young girl knocked on a door.

I’m with a group of clergy from all over the country, gathered in southern Arizona. We are here to ground and grow our prophetic ministries through a 18 month professional development program of the UU Ministers Association along with Side with Love.

At this moment, we’re at a congregation here in the borderlands witnessing to the stories of three of their leaders. Sarah is telling us about first time she heard a knock on her door from someone seeking her support. Outside was a 13 year old girl, alone, with bloody feet, with love in her heart. Sarah was new to southern Arizona and did not know what to do. She gave the girl water and called border patrol. Sarah told us the feeling of holding someone’s future in her hands. Of being able to shape fate.

She promised herself she would find another way for the next time. She made it her goal to meet the people she would need to know, to learn what she needed to learn so that next time there was a knock in her door she could make a very different set of choices. Choices toward freedom. Toward love. Now when there is a knock at the door of her home or the congregation she is part of, she knows what to do. She knows who can provide medical care and how to gather the clean socks and her husband’s spare pants and how to quickly ready the room near her house that folks can stay there as they need to. She is clear about the risks she takes and the ones she does not. She says she is a working person and there are some risks that are not her role right now. But she knows who does take those risks and how to call them. She told us she knows she has close friends who don’t agree with her, who would be shocked by what she does.

How well did you love?

That’s the question that Sarah believes she’ll be asked when she meets her creator, when her time with this world falls away.

It’s grown dark since our group left Nogales, Arizona and the stars are bright in the sky, competing for attention with the surveillance lights of the wall. Sarah tells us she does not have the answers but knows that if she is going to err, she wants to err on the side of love.

We sing and pray and sing some more. One of our facilitators Rev. Rhetta Morgan has written a song for this evening of witness and storytelling. She leads us in singing “I see you and the healing work you do as the doorway to all hearts. May we be the reflection that you see. Pure love. Rebellious love. Fierce love. Humble love. Pure Love.”

This is the love that those who knock on Sarah’s door bring. Love for family, for self, for dignity. Love for children and elders and land. Love that persists past the violence of the state. Love that is steadfast, honoring of the preciousness of life in the face of great harm. Love that shapes our own fate. Many of us there that night hold the stories of ourselves or our ancestors who knocked on stranger’s doors hoping that the door might be answered by someone with love in their heart.

This Valentine’s Day may we who are fighting for survival connect to the love of our ancestors and ourselves.

May we who answer the knock on the door be love.

May we learn what we need to learn.

May we build the relationships we need to build.

May we witness to each other and the healing work we do.

If we err, may we err on the side of love.

#MondayMotivaton: What we need now more than anything else is to not only imagine a world full of love but to work every day to make it so. #SideOfLove #FaithWithLove #BeTheChageYouWishToSee.pic.twitter.com/KVwdK4Jb24

10 things you can do right now to help immigrants and refugees in Minnesota and beyond | MinnPost #UU #SideOfLove https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans/2019/02/10-things-you-can-do-right-now-to-help-immigrants-and-refugees-in-minnesota-and-beyond/ …

It is that time of the year when we strengthen our resolve to adhere to our new year commitments and turn inwardly to focus on our contribution to the struggle for justice. Many of us will gather in congregations or at functions and listen to the poignant words from the slain Black Southern Baptist Preacher Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. III who led a movement that has been distilled to the tagline of achieving        “. . .a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls” with little homage to the bravery of the numerous nameless people who bent the arc toward justice by risking their reputations, sacrificing comfortability and determining that justice was worth their lives. 

History has fed us a story that our movements are led and sustained by a charismatic male figure, but when we scratch the surface, we understand that movements are made by people and power is conceded by the strategic action of the collective. 

Ke Atlas/Unsplash

As Side with Love embraces our 10th year of harnessing love’s power to stop oppression, we want to pause to say thank you to each of you who have been on this journey with us. We are on the side of the rabble rousers and truth-tellers that history sometimes ignore. We are a part of the legacy of sheroes and heroes, that may never get the spotlight but is the backbone of our liberation. We are inspired by the deeds and creativity of our kindred who movement identity and we speak their names: Ella Baker, Dorothy Height, Dorothy Cotton, Bayard Rustin, Pauli Murray, Clyde Warrior, Yuri Kochiyama, Gloria Anzaldúa, Cesar Chavez and many more. 

On our 10th year of resistance, Side with Love will be reflecting and learning about our impact and discern what this current political, social and economic moment is requiring of us. We will be sharing content from our previous years of 30 Days of Love instead of launching new content. There are many ways we will invite you to #sidewithlove throughout this year as we continue to construct a World where we each can live with dignity. 

好阿

This is by far one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken and I am really looking forward to diving right it. #PrisonLiterature #SocialJustice #SideOfLove #FaithInAction #MTSUpic.twitter.com/kUvmXJEiLE

看著潤濕的洞口，一收一放的，躍躍欲試新的填滿物，看著就不能自己

As we head into the end of 2018 -- for some of us, holiday and feasting and loved ones; and for others of us, work and loneliness and doubt; and for many of us, some of both -- we are sending love for the justice work we do every day and who we each are.

We’ll be sending out a look back and forward to celebrate and reflect and vision in early 2019. For now, we want to share some of the books and songs that have been getting us through - new things that blew our hearts and minds wide open and old ones that still shake us up in the best way.

What We’ve Been Reading (in no particular order):

• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

• The Leavers by Lisa Ko

• Joyful Militancy by Carla Bergman and Nick Montgomery

• Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

• American Marriage by Tayari Jones

• Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward

• The Line Becomes the River by Francisco Cantú

• Unapologetic A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers

• When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors

• They Best They Could Do by Thi Bui

• The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Electric Arches by Eve Ewing

• The Book of Curses by the Asian American Literary Review

• No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality by Jordan Flaherty

• Parables of the Talents by Octavia Butler

• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live by Brene Brown

• Black Theology and Black Power by Rev. Dr. James Cone

• Emergent Strategy Adrienne Maree Brown

What We’ve Been Listening To: Spotify Playlist

We offer each of you love and hope in your moments of grief and fear and on the journey yet to come. Our call to Side with Love is a holistic call to side with each other yesterday, today and the days to come as we become the Love we seek in this World!

We got this, with love,

Everette Thompson and Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen

P.S. Are you coming to Creating Change? We’d love connect with you there - let us know at love@uua.org!

What to write about for my blog? Please take a second to vote and RT. #Unitarian #universlist #faith #blog #sideoflove #inspiration #Motivation

This is what my faith in action looks like! #MigrantCaravan #LoveKnowNoBorders #immigrationjustice #UUA #SideofLove #LoveResists https://twitter.com/time/status/1072469256430850050 …

#TuesdayThoughts: Better is a poor man who walks with his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. #integrity #sideoflove #qoutes.pic.twitter.com/5jO7sYn5XI

Side With Love Campaign Senior Strategist Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen penned this piece over the weekend.

Instructions for when your government betrays you (again):

Remember that governments betray.

And many have gone before us who know how this goes.

Listen to them.

Remember that we can’t heal white supremacy or white Christian nationalism today or tomorrow.

But we can touch some healing, some justice, every day, every moment.

Raise money for a bond or a bail. Go with someone to court. Tell the truth about your family and how they migrated or were forced to or did not.

Remember that we answer to the laws of love and justice.

We work for our ancestors and our children’s children. There is no higher accountability.

Remember that everyone who found their power and freed themselves or their kindred also faced powerlessness, despair, overwhelm, teargas (or their century's version of it).

Remember that everyone who has ever defected from fascism or resigned from state violence or put their body on the line for family or opened their home has doubted, wrestled, given up, tried again and found a way to love through it.

Here are five ways to act

Join a call tonight at 8:00 PM EST to hear from folks on the border and to discern how to live our values now.

In this time, more than ever, we need visionary, humble, spirit-led teammates and leaders in the work. 

We are so so glad to welcome Everette R. H. Thompson as Campaign Manager for Side with Love.

Everette and Elijah

Everette brings over 15 years of experience in community organizing, organizational development and movement building. He is a Southerner by birth and choice and has dedicated his career to strengthening organizational infrastructure in the South. He currently serves as a consultant specializing in intersectional movement strategy, faith organizing and grassroots leadership development. Everette has a wide array of experiences serving different types and forms of organizations. Most notably, Everette was the National Justice and Equity Coordinator for 350.org, an international climate change

organization, where he was charged with supporting the staff to integrate intentional justice and equity frameworks within the fabric of all operations and National Field Director for the Rights Working Group a national coalition of over 300 community-based groups and policy organizations dedicated to ending racial and bias profiling across the country.

His life’s work started during his time abolishing the death penalty in the South as the Regional Director of Amnesty International USA’s Southern Regional Office, based in Atlanta, GA and covered a region comprised of eleven states in the Southeastern U.S also known as the “death belt.” As Regional Director, Everette provided the overall strategic vision to meet AIUSA’s campaign goals in the South, traveled extensively throughout the South building strategic partnerships and coalitions and served as the lead spokesperson for AIUSA South. He is a Co-Trainer  with Black Organizers for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD) and lead organizer with the Interfaith Organizing Initiative a project of Center for Race, Religion and Economic Democracy His greatest joy is his sun/son Elijah whom he is most pleased! 

Everette Thompson (far left) with members of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and Ohio Unitarian Universalists

Everette will begin with us on December 3rd so you’ll start to hear from him then! We’re so grateful for his depth of organizing experience, humor and endurance, and commitment to spirit. He was most recently in Ohio with many of our Unitarian Universalist folks leading powerful interfaith organizing in support of Issue 1 against mass incarceration and for addiction treatment. Welcome Everette and may all of our colleagues in the work, whoever they may be, also be blessed with the clarity, courage, and commitment for the work now and ahead. 

With gratitude and onward,
Elizabeth and Everette

P.S. Did you miss the post-election spiritual nourishment gathering? Tune in here to hear words of wisdom from Unitarian Universalists on the ground living their values and our President and blessings for the way forward. 

Hungry? Dinner’s On Us from 5:30-6:30 every Wednesday evening. Pulled pork, chips, pickle and dessert. No sermon, no donations. Just food and a little fellowship. #freefood #sideoflove #joinuspic.twitter.com/f6yOVBp89g

#WednesdayWisdom: Oh Spirit of Life, may we accept the kindness of others and be reminded that even in times of despair, there really is much good in the world. #KindnessMatters #SideOfLove #UUFaith #BeKindToOneAnotherpic.twitter.com/mnCYxmDlwG

May we remember we are a people of resilience, that we have weathered storms, we have searched for that which unites us all and have worked for the common good. Tonight lets join @sfrederickgray, @UUA ministers & organizers for a post-election conversation. #SideOfLove #UUFaith https://twitter.com/UUA/status/1059988849609314304 …

From the novel The Veins of the Ocean by Patricia Engel:

“But the thing about loyalty,” he says, “is that it always has a cost. I’m here with you in your home eating this nice fish we bought together, but I can’t look at it without thinking of the money we spent on it, knowing that this is money that would have fed my family for one week. I can’t eat a meal without thinking of the food I’ve taken out of my children’s mouths. I can’t spend a dollar without calculating the pesos it would have put in my mother’s hands...I can’t start a new life when my life is still back there. I didn’t want to leave. Everybody thinkings everybody wants to leave - but who would want to leave their home, their family, everything they love? We leave because we have to….This is what family does. What love does. It chains us together.”

We talk about fighting for one another as family. About how for some of us transgender identity or the migrant caravan are "issues" or "news." For others of us it is the violent erasure or racist war on our family.

After the violent shootings in Pittsburgh and Kentucky, Maurice Mitchell and Dania Rajendra wrote “Solidarity is the idea that we don’t have to be the same to want the best for one another, that we can keep each other safe, we can share what we have, that we can find our way to consensus about how best to be in community together, better known as “democracy.” And that we will fight for it and for one another.”

Last Monday, a few of us in Boston interrupted hate with love. Rev. Darrell Hamilton, Rev. Natalie Malter, Rev. Will Green and transgender activist Mateo Cox entered a room of White Christian Nationalists where Jeff Sessions was speaking on religious liberty. Mateo unfurled a trans flag that read, “Not Erased.” Rev. Darrell and Rev. Will prayed Matthew 25 “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,” and Rev. Natalie documented it all. Rev. Will called on Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General under whose leadership the Department of Justice has attacked immigrants, transgender folks, Black activists, voting rights and more, to repent, to care for those in need, to remember that “when you do not care for others, you are wounding the body of Christ.” 

What we do to each other, we do to spirit, god and the divine. 

What we do to each other, we do to ourselves. 

When we refuse to protect each other, we refuse universalism, we refuse love, we refuse our own dignity.

White supremacy and white Christian nationalism have said that there is a crisis at our border. 

We have no crisis at our border. Actually, families are migrating as so many families always have. Actually, people are being denied their legal right to seek asylum and safety. Actually, people are being taught to fear, to wound their kindred and, in the end, themselves.

We have no crisis at our border. 

But we do have a crisis of our borders. 

The crisis is believing there is a border between who is human and worthy of dignity and who is not. 

The crisis is believing that we who are trans, we who are immigrants, we who are Black, we who are indigenous, we who are disabled, we who are survivors, we who are Muslim, we who are Jewish are on the wrong side of that border. 

The crisis is that many of us are letting this border between who is beloved, and who is not, rule us in the form of laws, culture, practices and policies.

The crisis is that some don't understand that what we fail to do for others, we fail to do for ourselves and our divine. 

The crisis is whether we think we can survive if our sibling does not.

Hold your loved ones close. Celebrate all those who are fighting like hell for liberation and solidarity. Sing, cook, feast, rest, vote, organize, and build. As Charlene Carruthers writes, "Know that transforming society will take organized people and organized resources to sustain any given policy victory that is won before or after election day. Know that if the candidate we support wins, they will only be as strong as the organizational forces who are resourced, ready and committed to consistently showing up after election day. And finally, know that if we are not ready to win, then we must do all that we can to get ready."

We are in a crisis and we know the way out. Day by day, year by year, love will free us all. 

From the novel The Veins of the Ocean by Patricia Engel:

“But the thing about loyalty,” he says, “is that it always has a cost. I’m here with you in your home eating this nice fish we bought together, but I can’t look at it without thinking of the money we spent on it, knowing that this is money that would have fed my family for one week. I can’t eat a meal without thinking of the food I’ve taken out of my children’s mouths. I can’t spend a dollar without calculating the pesos it would have put in my mother’s hands...I can’t start a new life when my life is still back there. I didn’t want to leave. Everybody thinkings everybody wants to leave - but who would want to leave their home, their family, everything they love? We leave because we have to….This is what family does. What love does. It chains us together.”

We talk about fighting for one another as family. About how for some of us transgender identity or the migrant caravan are "issues" or "news." For others of us it is the violent erasure or racist war on our family.

After the violent shootings in Pittsburgh and Kentucky, Maurice Mitchell and Dania Rajendra wrote “Solidarity is the idea that we don’t have to be the same to want the best for one another, that we can keep each other safe, we can share what we have, that we can find our way to consensus about how best to be in community together, better known as “democracy.” And that we will fight for it and for one another.”

Last Monday, a few of us in Boston interrupted hate with love. Rev. Darrell Hamilton, Rev. Natalie Malter, Rev. Will Green and transgender activist Mateo Cox entered a room of White Christian Nationalists where Jeff Sessions was speaking on religious liberty. Mateo unfurled a trans flag that read, “Not Erased.” Rev. Darrell and Rev. Will prayed Matthew 25 “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,” and Rev. Natalie documented it all. Rev. Will called on Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General under whose leadership the Department of Justice has attacked immigrants, transgender folks, Black activists, voting rights and more, to repent, to care for those in need, to remember that “when you do not care for others, you are wounding the body of Christ.” 

What we do to each other, we do to spirit, god and the divine. 

What we do to each other, we do to ourselves. 

When we refuse to protect each other, we refuse universalism, we refuse love, we refuse our own dignity.

White supremacy and white Christian nationalism have said that there is a crisis at our border. 

We have no crisis at our border. Actually, families are migrating as so many families always have. Actually, people are being denied their legal right to seek asylum and safety. Actually, people are being taught to fear, to wound their kindred and, in the end, themselves.

We have no crisis at our border. 

But we do have a crisis of our borders. 

The crisis is believing there is a border between who is human and worthy of dignity and who is not. 

The crisis is believing that we who are trans, we who are immigrants, we who are Black, we who are indigenous, we who are disabled, we who are survivors, we who are Muslim, we who are Jewish are on the wrong side of that border. 

The crisis is that many of us are letting this border between who is beloved, and who is not, rule us in the form of laws, culture, practices and policies.

The crisis is that some don't understand that what we fail to do for others, we fail to do for ourselves and our divine. 

The crisis is whether we think we can survive if our sibling does not.

Hold your loved ones close. Celebrate all those who are fighting like hell for liberation and solidarity. Sing, cook, feast, rest, vote, organize, and build. As Charlene Carruthers writes, "Know that transforming society will take organized people and organized resources to sustain any given policy victory that is won before or after election day. Know that if the candidate we support wins, they will only be as strong as the organizational forces who are resourced, ready and committed to consistently showing up after election day. And finally, know that if we are not ready to win, then we must do all that we can to get ready."

We are in a crisis and we know the way out. Day by day, year by year, love will free us all. 

P.S.

Join us. For this midterm election, the UUA supported local organizing for key ballot questions in states such as Florida, Ohio, and Massachusetts.

Join UUA president, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, and other UU ministers and organizers, for a post-election conversation to discuss how our faith showed up for the midterms, what we learned from our work, and how we were nurtured by sacred organizing.

Come together for a sacred space to unwind and unpack this election cycle.

Counting down the hours till #VotingDay. If you’re in Mass #vote #yeson3 to protect #trans safety @UUA #uualgbtq #TransRightsAreHumanRights #WontBeErased #SideOfLove #sidewithlovepic.twitter.com/EpY1syAWMk

#SundayMorning, “Those of us who have in our history the commonality of suffering from hate, we know that those who won the day are those who chose love in the midst of hate.” - @RevDrBarber. #ChoseLove #SideOfLove #Unitarian #Universalist #GoVote #FlipTheHouse #FlipYourBallotpic.twitter.com/Sc2D02VGQ5

#Inspiration: Always remember and never forget that you are beautiful just they way you are. #SideOfLove #LoveIsLove #Lgbt #JustBeYou #BeKindToAllKinds #BeKindToAnother #Free2Luv #Free2BeMepic.twitter.com/yPnIh9UEPu

#SaturdayMorning: I am spending my Saturday at a #race and #sexuality summit to learn more about #resistance, #faith and #art as way to affect positive change in our world. #UU #SideOfLove pic.twitter.com/3gbc3mvJ1u

How are you ’living’ UU? #UUlife #UUA #UnitarianUniversalism #sideoflove

UU Minister Paul Beedle to the right wearing yellow? #UUA #sideoflove stole. https://twitter.com/HannaSKrueger/status/1048640036462362624 …

#TuesdayThoughts: Social change doesn't come-from words or even discourse. It can only-come from action and in relationships. -@UUWorld @UUA #SideOfLove #SocialJustice #SocailAction #Faith #Unitarian #Universalistpic.twitter.com/alRVpM9t2i