Welcome to the Action Center Weekly Update. Each week, we will provide a brief analysis of critical issues in this political moment, share immediate actions you can take, and provide helpful resources to deepen knowledge and practice of our collective work to side with love.
Nothing is inevitable. All justice movements are powered by ordinary people who come together to defeat oppression and build a loving world. You are not alone. We have power. Together we can practice and win a just and loving world where all of us thrive.
Remember we build strong movements when we take action together. Organize teams and networks that can take these actions together. For support on practical organizing skills and support check out our Organizing School and Skill Up resources.
Democracy
We are witnessing the consolidation of power in the hands of the few instead of the many. Democracy is a process and practice grounded in our values of interdependence that affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all. We are the majority, but we must organize our communities to build the power to defeat authoritarianism and build a truly multiracial democracy.
The Update:
This week, the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center has spotlighted the deepening erosion of democratic norms and the cruelty of an administration bent on repression. Mayor Baraka—alongside Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez—was attempting a lawful oversight visit when he was arrested for trespassing, despite complying with orders to leave. The facility, operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group under a $1 billion federal contract, has faced multiple allegations of permit violations and a lack of transparency. This incident underscores a dangerous trend: the criminalization of dissent and the suppression of elected leaders working to defend their communities.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering a dangerous reconciliation bill that would slash funding for Medicaid, expand a nationwide school voucher program, and deliver even more tax breaks to the wealthy. These cuts would devastate working families and immigrant communities. Under the guise of “religious freedom,” this bill is a massive wealth transfer that would further entrench inequality. The Unitarian Universalist Association has joined a public letter from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State to condemn this legislation and the values it promotes.
We are called to defend democracy not just with our votes—but with our voices, our bodies, and our faith. Let’s show up.
Take Action:
Contact your Representatives to oppose cuts to Medicare, school vouchers, and tax credits for immigrant families. https://uusj.salsalabs.org/feb-2025_ej_budget-resolution-reconciliation_1/index.html
Watch The Gathering: Hear Rev. Robin Tanner (Beacon UU) and Charlene Walker (Executive Director of Faith in New Jersey) share their firsthand account of what happened at Delaney Hall and why faith communities must act.
Gender & LGBTQ Justice
Every body is sacred. Side With Love unapologetically affirms that trans people are divine, that abortion is a blessing, and that no one is disposable. Attacks on identity is a part of a divide and conquer tactic that relies on the belief that one group's safety comes at the expense of another group's safety. Solidarity is the moral and strategic mandate of our time, and we must rise to challenge these attacks and build communities of care and safety for all.
The Update:
Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and reduce Medicaid access threaten the healthcare of millions, especially as states like Texas push extreme anti-abortion measures that ignore legal oversight. In response, organizations like the Planned Parenthood Action Fund are vowing to fight back. Meanwhile, transgender individuals face increasing legislative hostility, prompting many to seek safer environments domestically or abroad. Resources like the Trans Relocation Guide, Lambda Legal’s TGNC Rights Checklist, and supportive services such as Project TRANS in San Diego offer vital support. Media like the TransLash Podcast further amplify trans voices amid rising political and social challenges.
Act:
Protect Planned Parenthood: House Republicans want to “defund” Planned Parenthood and drastically cut access to Medicaid — a program that more than 70 million Americans rely on for health care.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund won’t back down. Millions of people rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for care, and we will fight for every single one of them.
Read:
Texas lawmakers propose abortion pill bill that can’t be challenged in state courts: In 2021, when Texas passed an abortion ban enforced through private lawsuits, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan sarcastically derided the architects of the law as “some geniuses” who’d found the “chink in the armor” to sidestep Roe v. Wade.
Four years later, those same folks are back with a new play to restrict the flow of abortion-inducing drugs into the state and a fresh set of never-before-seen legal tools that experts say would undermine the balance of power in the state.
Learn:
Trans Relocation Guide: Finding Trans Asylum and Safe Havens: In light of growing hostility and anti-trans legislation across the U.S., many transgender people are seeking safe havens —whether by relocating to more trans-friendly areas within the U.S. or by moving abroad. This guide offers resources to help you understand and navigate the relocation process.
Important Note: The guidelines around federal and state documents for trans people are constantly changing. To stay informed and ensure you’re accessing the most up-to-date information, visit Lambda Legal’s TGNC Rights Checklist for guidance on IDs, passports, and legal protections. Additionally, check Lambda Legal’s social media channels for real-time updates on policy changes that may impact you.
Join:
TRANSGENDER AND NONBINARY SERVICES in San Diego: All of The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s programs are inclusive and supportive of transgender and nonbinary people. In addition to our overall LGBTQ+ resources, we offer services designed specifically for the transgender and nonbinary community through Project TRANS, our Transgender and Nonbinary Services Program. Project TRANS stands for Transgender Referrals, Assistance, Networking and Services.”
Watch/Listen:
TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones: With anti-trans violence and political backlash at all-time highs, award-winning journalist Imara Jones hosts this podcast where trans people and allies talk back about what matters most, and discuss how to create a fairer world for all.
Decriminalization & Immigration
Criminalization and dehumanization are a political and spiritual project. We must dismantle the false idea that safety for some must come at the expense of safety for others. As people of faith, we cannot affirm the worth and dignity of all while privileging the well-being of a chosen few. We proclaim a future where care and safety are abundant because our relationships are cultivated through mutuality, not domination.
Migrant detention and deportation. The school to prison network and mass incarceration. Unceasing police violence toward Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities. Bills making protest and resistance movements illegal. Laws criminalizing poverty, gender identity and expression, sex work, abortion, accessing and providing health care. All of these forms of criminalization are used by the state to disrupt, disempower, and dehumanize our communities.
The Update:
This week, Rumeysa Ozturk was released from ICE custody, but Newark NJ Mayor Baraka was arrested by ICE and Congressmembers were assaulted – and Faith in New Jersey (anchored by UUs) organized action on Monday to successfully stop traffic in and out of the detention cetner. Meanwhile, 61 concert goers and activists in Atlanta still face RICO charges 2 years later. In an effort to criminalize the Stop Cop City movement, the state indicted 61 people with RICO charges; meanwhile 41 people have been charged with Domestic Terrorism.
Act:
Sign the Pledge to Stop Avelo Airlines’ Deportation flights
Call Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr at 404-656-8733 and tell him to drop the charges against the Stop Cop City 61, who have a court date this Wednesday May 14th. Nearly 2 years ago, In an effort to criminalize the Stop Cop City movement, the state indicted 61 people with RICO charges; meanwhile 41 people have been charged with Domestic Terrorism.
Learn:
Digital Security Basics in plain language
Watch/Listen:
Side with Love’s The Gathering about strategy and two campaigns to resist ICE.
Climate Justice
A just and loving world is a flourishing world. If we are to realize a world with no fossil fuels, where clean energy is a human right, and all beings thrive, we need new systems, norms, approaches, and ways of being to bring that world into existence.
The Update:
The latest talking point of Trump’s energy department has been to accept that climate change is real but not as important as other issues such as “pressing threats of malnutrition, access to clean water, air pollution, endemic diseases and human rights, among others,” according to what Energy Secretary and former oil industry executive Chris Wright wrote last year. This is another strategy employed by Trump’s administration to do the opposite of what reducing the effects of climate change requires. Wright builds upon thinking from other rich, affluent white men from “the west”: Bjørn Lomborg, a political scientist from Denmark; Roy Spencer, a research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville; Alex Epstein, author of “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” and “Fossil Future;” and John Constable, an adviser to the United Kingdom-based Global Warming Policy Foundation. What these men have in common is that they insist that the solution to climate change is to burn more fossil fuels. Meanwhile, they ignore within their arguments how two-thirds of global heating is directly caused by the richest 10%, which overwhelmingly resides in “the west.” This is another tactic by the Trump administration to ignore and do nothing about the climate emergency all living beings currently face.
Act:
Identify whether your congress representative voted against California’s gas-car ban.
Contact your congressional representative to state why climate change and climate justice need to be taken seriously.
Read: