Welcome to the Action Center Weekly Update. Each week, we’ll share:
A brief analysis of critical issues in this political moment
Immediate actions you can take
Resources to deepen knowledge and strengthen our collective work to side with love
Nothing is inevitable. Justice movements are built by ordinary people who come together to defeat oppression and nurture a loving world. You are not alone. We have power. Together, we can create a just and thriving future.
Movements are strongest when we act together. Organize with your teams and networks, and take these actions in community. For practical tools, see our Organizing School and Skill Up resources.
Democracy
Core Principle: Democracy is not a destination but a practice rooted in interdependence and the worth and dignity of all. While authoritarianism consolidates power, we are the majority—and we must organize to build a truly multiracial democracy.
Update:
Faith teaches us that Beloved Community is not built from perfect agreement. It is built through radical welcome, through the practice of making room for one another, through the daily discipline of living our values, and, yes, sometimes through loving and accountable critique.
There are many valid critiques of the No Kings demonstrations. But what feels important to name is what they have made possible, and the sacred responsibility that possibility now places on all of us.
No Kings has opened space: a public witness where people can ask the fundamental questions of where we are going and what kind of future we are called to build together. It has created room for movements to find one another, for grief and resistance to be expressed side by side, and for a broad rejection of authoritarianism to be spoken aloud in the streets.
As people of faith, we know this well. We know the power of an open door and a yearning heart. We know the power of welcome, community, and an abundant love that heals and moves people to build new worlds together.
Like our own spiritual journeys, we know that one way is not the only way. The No Kings demonstration alone will not topple an authoritarian regime. Neither will one election, one boycott, one mutual aid network, or one lawsuit. This time calls for what faith teaches us: many paths converging toward a shared moral horizon, many hands doing the sacred work of freedom, many communities bound together in courage, discipline, and hope.
This is the sacred task before us: to welcome those who are arriving, to invite people into the next faithful action, and to build the networks, skills, and trust that allow us to move together. But we must also be discerning and clear that we do not seek to replicate the same ideas and practices that brought us here.
Democracy cannot be built on silencing those fighting for a free Palestine, or on silencing survivors for the sake of the cause. We will not build democracy by ignoring the racial divisions within our movements. Nor will democracy be built on promises of care and relief deferred until after a campaign victory or election. Instead, like all good ministry, it must be rooted in accompaniment and in tending to people's spiritual and material lives now.
It will require all of us. Let us set ourselves on a path to move with deeper coordination, wider welcome, stronger solidarity, shared skills, shared accountability, and shared dreams, so that together we may help birth a radical democracy that the world has not yet known.
Welcome to what’s next:
Join UU the Vote: Ignite Solidarity, Reimagine Democracy
1. Download the UU the Vote launch guide
2. Join the first phonebank training
3. Build our movement. Make a donation.
Join the American Friends Service Committee for Beyond the March: Info Session, April 2, 6:30-8:00 pm ET
Read:
No Kings Protests are Firing Up a Movement
Open Letter to Everyone They’re Trying to Shame Into Showing Up For No Kings
Bodily Autonomy
Core Principle: Every body is sacred. We affirm that trans people are divine, abortion is a blessing, and no one is disposable. Attacks on identity are designed to divide us—solidarity is our moral and strategic mandate.
The Update:
On March 23rd, 2026, Alabama Midwives and birth centers officially petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court to review a devastating appellate court ruling. The lower court’s decision would allow the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH)to enforce “hospital-style” licensing on freestanding birth centers, a “de facto ban”. These onerous regulations, such as requiring a physician to be physically present and a 30-minute proximity to a hospital with OB-GYN services, threaten to shut down safe, evidence-based care in a state already suffering from a severe maternal mortality crisis and growing maternity deserts.
Take Action:
Show Up for Oral Arguments: If the Supreme Court grants a hearing, we need a “sea of Teal” in Montgomery. Organize a carpool with your congregation and community to stand in solidarity with the plaintiffs, including Oasis Family Birthing Center and the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Resources:
Watch/Listen:”It shouldn’t be this hard to give birth safely” (WBRC News Interview) - Hear directly from Alabama Families about why these centers are a lifeline in rural and Black communities.
Decriminalization & Immigration
Core Principle: Criminalization and dehumanization deny the dignity of our communities. Safety cannot come at the expense of others. As people of faith, we proclaim a future of care, abundance, and mutuality—not domination.
The Update:
While bombs continue to destroy lives and land in Iran, Lebanon, and more, ICE continues to kidnap neighbors here at home. Meanwhile, this week the Supreme Court hears arguments about whether the President’s executive order ending birthright citizenship violates the 14th amendment, and Congress attempted to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. Amidst this flood of news, we continue showing up with our values supporting peace, dignity, and safety for all. We do this on the streets, through quiet acts of care, with policy advocacy, and with noncompliance. Whichever you choose, do it in relationship with others as we, together, build a world where “we keep us safe.”
Take Action:
NCAA March Madness 'Don't Fly With ICE': Watch and share this short clip by SEIU, and then take action:
Check if your college is flying ICE airlines, and tell them to stop
More actions for everyone at dumpIce.com
Submit a Public Comment to Save Asylum-Seekers’ Ability to Work
The Trump administration is trying to make it impossible for asylum-seekers to live and work in the United States. We invite you to join the national Work Permit Comment Campaign by organizing unique, public comments o stop this cruel and unjust rule from going into effect. Use our Comment Guide, Coffee & Comment Toolkit to use in your congregation, graphics, and weekly action hours to take action today.
Resources:
Read:
SEIU writes about ICE at airports amidst a partial government shutdown: “Project 2025 explicitly states: ‘Until it is privatized, TSA should be treated as a national security provider, and its workforce should be de-unionized immediately.’ Stripping union rights first breaks the biggest organized obstacle to closing the agency, and cancels the 2024 collective bargaining agreement, removing legal and financial penalties for the government if it later transfers all screening to private contractors.”
Learn:
Check yourself before you Wreck Yourself: A quick guide for tense times
Wrecking is when urgency, activation, and entitlement turn disagreement into harm that spreads beyond the immediate conflict. We are shaped by centuries of colonization, white supremacist education, disempowerment, stigma, deprivation, entitlement, and violence. But when we refuse to examine how those forces live in us, we can echo the same harms that brought us to this work.
Why do you do this work? Are you here for support, autonomy, accountability, liberation, justice? How about relief, coping, validation, control, release? Nothing is wrong with needing any of these. But without balance, they lead to very different approaches.
Check yourself If you are not grounded, you may try to meet your needs through control, escalation, or withdrawal. And you may wreck the very thing you are trying to build.
Join:
4th amendment Workplace Training Thursday April 2nd, 7ET/4PT. Learn how to become a 4th Amendment Congregation and to recruit 4th Amendment Workplaces; that is, a business that proactively trains staff to uphold employees' constitutional rights against unreasonable government search and seizures, especially regarding immigration enforcement,
UU Solidarity Session, Friday April 3, 2pm ET, 11am PT
Solidarity Sessions are an opportunity for folks working for immigrant justice to connect with one another, take action, and learn about the most recent changes in immigration laws and policies. First Thursdays will include top-level updates and time for connection and shared learning. Third Thursdays will be deeper dives into the administrative updates and the impact the changes they will have on folks seeking immigration relief.
Watch/Listen:
One person’s Freedom of Immigration Act request led to the release of footage of 5 year old Liam Ramos on a commercial Delta Airlines flight. Children in ICE custody are routinely flown on commercial flights like this one. Watch Rachel Maddow’s coverage.
Climate Justice
Core Principle: A just and loving world is also a flourishing one. A fossil-free future is possible, where clean energy is a human right and all beings thrive. To get there, we must create new systems, norms, and practices.
The Update:
"We're a country full of sitting ducks” but together we can form a network of community care. A recent article by NPR highlights the ways that the Trump administration’s cuts to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds. Trump has withheld billions of dollars for disaster preparedness and prevention that local governments rely on. These cuts hurt everyone, but small, rural communities that rely on those funds to pay for infrastructure projects that protect residents against extreme weather face steeper challenges. The quote above comes from Andrew Rumbach, who studies disaster policy who added that rural communities are vulnerable to hazards like floods and wildfires, and the climate is changing and making these events more common and more costly." For rural communities who lack the tax base to repair levees and other infrastructure projects, the lack of FEMA funds means they’re more at risk than ever.
Twenty states won a lawsuit against FEMA which requires them to restart the largest federal grant program for disaster preparedness. Communities impacted by disasters for the past two years will be competing for one year’s worth of money according to public filings released last week by FEMA. This is one of the many ways the Trump Administration is harming our communities by undermining disaster preparedness efforts.
As UUs, our values of Justice, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, Interdependence, and Generosity all call us to work together to secure our communities. Through our faith, we can create networks of community care that can respond whenever one of our congregations is harmed by climate disasters. The Green Sanctuary 2030 Actions database helps us learn from each other and connect to others doing similar work. We can locate other congregations in our area to have conversations around disaster preparedness and response. We can work together to make our communities safe, no matter what comes our way. The Side With Love team is here to help! The first Creating Hubs of Climate Resilience Peer Learning Circle is exploring ways our congregations can serve as sanctuaries and centers of support during climate‑ and weather- related emergencies. Gathering perspectives and experiences from across the country will help transform knowledge that might otherwise remain siloed within individual congregations into shared strategies, tools, and materials that can be adapted and used movement‑wide for years to come. We’ll be leaning into curiosity as we explore the opportunities for community care in climate resilience.
When you think about congregations becoming hubs of climate resilience, what questions do you have? Email us at ClimateJustice@UUA.org to share your thoughts! Join us to learn more and engage together about hubs of climate resilience at our April Side with Love Gathering 4/13 and Green Sanctuary Community Meeting 4/15.
Take Action: (2–3 partner actions)
Check out the Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care Resources, especially the Disaster Preparedness and Response for UUs toolkit. Pick one of the activities to do with a small group in your congregation. Start thinking about what it would mean for your congregation to become a Hub of Climate Resilience
Review the resources below with folks in your congregation. Start making a plan. RSVP for the April meetings focused on creating hubs of climate resilience. Assessing Climate Impacts & Mobilizing.pdf Assessing Climate Impacts & Mobilizing
Graphic version of the same content:
Graphic Worksheets: Assessing Climate Impacts & Mobilizing.pdf
Read:
Trump administration cuts turned rural towns into sitting ducks for disasters
Join:
Creating Hubs of Resilience Series
April Gathering: Creating Hubs of Resilience
Monday, April 13, 2026 8:00 PM - 9:15 PM ET, 7pm CT, 6pm MT, 5pm PT, 4pm AT, 2pm HT.
Join us for The Gathering, a monthly virtual event from Side With Love designed to offer:
Spiritual Grounding – Strengthen your heart and spirit for the work ahead.
Political Analysis – Understand the threats to democracy and justice. Collective Action –
Organize with others to block anti-democratic forces and build a just and loving world.
This Month's Focus:
In the midst of extreme weather and climate disruption, our congregations and communities can be powerful hubs of care, connection, and critical infrastructure. Rachel Myslivy, Side With Love’s Climate Justice Strategist, will break down what we mean by “hubs of resilience” that are adaptive to and grounded in their context. We’ll hear stories of how folks are creating spaces that are not only prepared to provide critical support in times of crisis, but also generate deeper partnerships and expanded possibilities in their communities. This month, activist Canedy Knowles will ground us in movement and possibility. Side With Love's monthly event to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others! Join us live or watch the recording later.
See you at The Gathering to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others!
If you are on staff or a board member of a congregation, we encourage you to ALSO attend Now What: The Gathering for Congregational Leaders
Rolling out a Mobile Resiliency Hub in Atlanta, Georgia
April 15, 2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM ET - online
As congregations consider how to turn our buildings into hubs of climate resilience, the UU Congregation of Atlanta is taking the idea on the road with a Mobile Resiliency Trailer. Powered by solar panels with battery backup, the trailer will include a refrigerator, a water filtration system, induction burners for cooking, a washer and dryer, portable shower, and a mini-power station. The Mobile Resiliency Trailer is designed to meet emergency response needs, wherever that may be . . . but that’s not all! When not in use, the Trailer will also serve as a microgrid to supplement the congregation’s electricity and lower their carbon footprint. UUCA’s David Stewart will share their planning process and budget spreadsheet which you can use to replicate the idea in your local context. Don’t miss this conversation to take your resiliency planning to the next level.
Mobilizing for Climate Justice - GS2030 Office Hours
April 1, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM CT - online
Did you know that the completely revitalized Green Sanctuary 2030: Mobilizing for Climate Justice has just one requirement for annual Recognition? Monthly Office Hours are here to anyone with questions on how Green Sanctuary 2030 can support UUs to transform our congregations through climate justice. Review the short Orientation Video then come to the office hours to get all your questions answered.
Together, we practice the world we long for. Together, we win.