5.19.26 Action Center Update

Side With Love

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.

The Update:
This past week was a demonstration of powerful organizing and solidarity. Thousands of people showed up for the All Roads Lead to the South actions in Alabama and across the country. A broad coalition came together to make it clear that we are not going back, and that we will continue building the multiracial democracy that has yet to be fully realized in this country.

The Civil Rights Act was not inevitable. It was won on these streets—in Selma, in Birmingham, and across Alabama’s Black Belt. It was won because ordinary people organized, took risks, built strategy, and acted together with courage and clarity. We are part of that lineage.

These mobilizations were not the only powerful actions happening in the South. On May 16, Louisiana voters overwhelmingly rejected a series of statewide constitutional amendments that would have exempted businesses from certain property taxes, dissolved education trust funds, and expanded the legislature’s power over civil service positions.

As UUA President Sofía Betancourt said in Selma, “We were made for these times. Let us continue to claim our power together in coalition and undertake every faithful action until full protections of the Voting Rights Act are restored…”

Take Action:

Watch/Listen:

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:
Members of Congress are planning to advance a $70 billion-dollar reconciliation bill focused on funding ICE and CBP—a bill that requires only a party-line vote and fails to pursue reforms to safeguard human dignity. We stopped additional funding for ICE/CBP before and we're going to try to do it again! As part of a national faith call-in day, we are going to call key targets in the House asking them to vote No, because we know it is our moral responsibility to make these calls, organize our neighborhoods, and show up for and with those under attack.

Take Action:

Resources:

  • Read:

    • If you’re wondering whether your local police or sheriff’s departments work with ICE, the answer is YES. It’s always yes. The question is not “are my local law enforcement agencies working with ICE?”—but “how much?”

  • Learn:

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:
Energy and water hungry data centers are quickly becoming a challenging reality for many of our communities. Utah recently approved a data center that will use more power than the entire state consumes (9GW). Spanning an area more than twice the size of Manhattan, the power-hungry data center will similarly guzzle significant amounts of water even as residents prepare for worsening drought conditions and wildfire risks. “At a time when the Great Salt Lake is already in crisis, approving a project that will consume water and energy at this scale is irresponsible and dangerous,” said Franque Bains, director of the Sierra Club’s Utah chapter. Proponents hailed all the jobs that would be created even though the massive data center could increase Utah’s carbon emissions by 50%. While the county commissioners in Utah ignored the thousands of objections lodged by Utah residents, communities across the country are fighting back and winning. According to Data Center Watch, $64 billion of data center projects have been blocked or delayed by a growing wave of local, bipartisan opposition. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll share resources about the ways data centers can harm our communities, consume huge amounts of energy and water, threaten sensitive ecosystems, pollute our air and water, and the many ways you can push back to keep your community safe.

Take Action:

  • Is your congregation engaged in a Data Center campaign? Let us know! Email ClimateJustice@UUA.org

  • Tell Congress to Pass the AI Data Center Moratorium Act

    Energy-hungry data centers and the use of unregulated AI are spiking electricity costs, guzzling water unsustainably, driving more fossil fuel pollution, and worsening the climate crisis.

    We need to hit the brakes on the explosive growth of massive data center projects, and Senator Sanders and Representative Ocasio-Cortez just announced a bill to do just that—the AI Data Center Moratorium Act.

Resources:

Together, we practice the world we long for. Together, we win.

5.12.26 Action Center Update