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:
[In Washington, the reconciliation process for the federal budget is moving quickly—and the stakes are sky-high. Right now, extremist lawmakers are trying to push through cuts that would, slash Medicaid and other vital healthcare programs, advance national school voucher schemes that gut public education, and push more tax breaks for the wealthy, while deepening inequality. This is not just a policy fight—it’s a moral crisis. A budget is a statement of values, and this one tells us clearly: some in power are willing to sacrifice the many to enrich the few.
On Monday, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers during the lawful oversight visit to the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark on May 9. This arrest is another example of this administration's abuse of power and erosion od democratic norms.
Finally, Trump is holding $45 million dollar military parade on his birthday, June 14. Side With Love has joined the No Kings day of action on Friday, June 14, with protests, vigils, and public witness across the country.
Take action:
Join one of over 700 No Kings events on June 14.
Tell Congress to have moral courage and stop the cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security. (UUSJ Action)
Watch
Previewing the End of the 2024–25 Supreme Court Term: Major Cases and the Shadow Docket
Read & Share
Review the Ground, Resilient and Responsible Toolkit to support your communities in safety practices at protests, messaging during a crisis and more.
Review the No Kings partner toolkit.
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:
This week we highlight The Audre Lorde Project, a New York-based community organizing center for LGBTQ+ people of color, and promotethe poetry of Rev. Julian Jamaica Soto, which explores the intersections of disability and transgender identity. We also raise concern over a recent federal court ruling that undermines workplace protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, contradicting established Supreme Court precedent. Additionally, we share valuable trans resources via GLAAD, support trans relocation efforts, and recommend Trans in America, a documentary series showcasing the real-life impact of discrimination on transgender families.
Act:
Get involved in The Audre Lorde Project - “The Audre Lorde Project is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color center for community organizing, focusing on the New York City area. Through mobilization, education and capacity-building, we work for community wellness and progressive social and economic justice. Committed to struggling across differences, we seek to responsibly reflect, represent and serve our various communities.”
Read:
Check out this poem by Rev. Julian Jamaica Soto, it’s about traveling while being disabled and transgender, while you are on their page, subscribe to their poetry Substack to support their ministry! You can also listen to Rev. Soto’s poetry live at last week’s Side with Love Gathering.
Far Right Federal Judge Rules Gay And Trans People Can Be Discriminated Against In Workplaces - “On Thursday, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk—a far-right federal judge in the Northern District of Texas with a record of aligning with the GOP’s most extreme legal positions—issued a ruling declaring that Title VII no longer protects LGBTQ+ people from workplace discrimination. The decision directly contradicts the Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is, by definition, sex discrimination.”
Learn:
A page for trans resources (via GLAAD), and tips for allies at the bottom of the page, so be sure to scroll down!
Join:
Help support one of the trans relocation organizations to create a better more accepting world!
Watch/Listen:
Trans in America: A Documentary Series “Three short verité documentaries about transgender civil rights in the United States reveal the daily impact of discrimination on three families as they battle with bathroom bills, vulnerability in employment and housing, and the aftermath of incarceration.”
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.
Act:
Sign the Pledge to Stop Avelo Airlines’ Deportation flights
Fast against starvation in Gaza starting this week.
"Silence in the face of this manmade starvation is complicity,” wrote Oxfam last week. Under the ongoing Israeli military blockade, people in northern Gaza are being forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day — less than a single can of beans. CFP is joining with Veterans for Peace, FOSNA, and others in a 40 day Fast for Gaza, demanding a resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza and that the U.S. stop arming Israel. Join or support the fast.
Read:
Should We Continue Organizing On Social Media? By Scot Nakagawa, “Social media is not safe, but it is still useful—if we treat it as a battlefield, not a sanctuary.”
After the Nottaway Plantation and “luxury resort” burned down last week, we encourage you to read about The Whitney Institute, a former plantation that takes teaching about the legacy of slavery seriously.
Watch/Listen:
We Live in Fearful Times. Our Safety Comes Through Preparing Together. – Movement Memos podcast hosted by Kelly Hayes with guest is Che Johnson-Long).
Key takeaways:
- Everyone should be in a group right now, and groups should be connecting with each other.
- Risk assessments and safety planning are critical, and some places to start
- We are going to be in a time of rapid response for a while, so slowing down wherever we can is important
About Nakba day last week
In 1948, armed militias that became the Israeli military forced 75% of Palestinians from their homes to establish the state of Israel. This—known as the Nakba or “catastrophe”—was not a one-time event. Today, Israel continues to violently drive Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank from their homes using the same tactics: bombardment, destruction, and land theft.
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:
As solar and wind energy are hitting record highs, fossil fuels are at record lows in the US energy mix. In March 2025, fossil fuels accounted for less than 50% (49.2%) breaking the previous months record low of 51%. In the late 2010s/early 2020s we experienced a precipitous decline in the cost of solar which is now yielding rapid increases across the clean energy sector. The US is the word’s leading producer of oil and gas. We ship out more oil than Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ecuador, Venezuela, or any other petro state. Even though we have enough fossil fuels to be the largest producer, President Trump took office has declared a national energy emergency. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order to open up the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. He’s fast-tracking fossil fuel pipelines like Line 5 which threatens the world’s largest fresh water source, Lake Superior. Is the US experiencing an energy emergency? “There is a bit of a hypocrisy in declaring a domestic energy emergency while we flood international markets with fossil fuels,” says NRDC senior attorney Gillian Giannetti. Nonetheless, this administration will continue to advance the energy emergency narrative to expand oil and gas drilling and push pipelines that threaten our water supplies while running roughshod all over the endangered species act in the process.
Act:
Support the fight to stop Line 5 by asking Michigan Gov. Whitmer and EGLE to deny the permit Canadian fossil fuel giant, Enbridge, needs to build the Line 5 tunnel across the Straits of Mackinac
Submit a comment on the Trump administration’s effort to change the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act:
Read:
Fossil Fuels fall below 50% of electricity for the first month on record:
No, We’re Not in an Emergency Energy Crisis
Learn:
Shut down Line 5: Protect our Global Freshwater Resources
Join:
Our last Green Sanctuary 2030 Community meeting before we break for the summer!
Working with the new Green Sanctuary materials
May 21, 2025 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM CT
Learn how one of our Green Sanctuary teams is working through the new Green Sanctuary materials! Released in February 2024, the new materials are designed to be more manageable, accessible, and impactful for our congregations. Join us ton May 21 to learn how the materials are being used by your fellow UUs! --- Come together for shared learning and mutual supports with other UUs transforming our congregations through climate justice. Green Sanctuary community meetings take place on the third Wednesday of the month at 4PT - 5MT - 6CT - 7ET for 90 minutes.
Watch/Listen:
Bad River – a documentary chronicling the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band and its ongoing fight for sovereignty, a story which unfolds in a groundbreaking way through a series of shocking revelations, devastating losses, and a powerful legacy of defiance and resilience, which includes a David vs. Goliath battle to save Lake Superior, the largest freshwater resource in America.