A Call to NC: Defend Our Voting Rights July 13

Fifty years after Selma the fight for equal voting rights is still going on, and this summer a major battle is heating up in North Carolina. On July 13 the Federal Court in Winston-Salem, NC, will begin to hear the lawsuit that the North Carolina NAACP brought against Governor Pat McCrory (NC-NAACP v McCrory) to challenge the voter suppression law in North Carolina. This law is the first and worst since the US Supreme Court’s Shelby v. Holder decision, which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The outcome will impact voting rights across the nation, and UUA President Rev. Peter Morales has accepted the invitation of NC-NAACP President Rev. William Barber to come to Winston-Salem for a Mass Moral Monday March for Voting Rights and Justice at 5pm on July 13.

We hope to build on the Moral Monday movement that has helped mobilize a broad coalition in our state, and also to begin to make real the faithful pledge that Unitarian Universalists made at the 50th anniversary events in Selma this year. We stand on the shoulders of giants like Jimmie Lee Jackson, Unitarian Universalists James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, and countless justice warriors who have gone this way before us. We stand on the side of love, and on the side of justice. 

The schedule includes a welcome at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem on Sunday afternoon, July 12, and an ecumenical worship service at a local congregation at 6pm Sunday evening. Monday begins with a press conference at 8am, followed by teach-ins sponsored by the NAACP from 10-4. We’ll gather for the rally between 4 and 5, and the Mass Moral Monday March begins at 5pm. Please register here and to find details about transportation and housing.

Please plan to spend part of your summer making a difference in this important civil rights arena. Let us be emboldened by our faith. Let us dare to stand on the side of love.

Yours in faith,

The Rev. Lisa Romantum Schwartz, Minister Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

The Rev. Robin Tanner, Lead Minister Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church

The Rev. Deborah Cayer, Lead Minister Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

The Rev. John L Saxon, Lead Minister Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh

The Rev. Rod Debs, Minister Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greenville

The Rev. Susan Archer, retired in Greensboro

The Rev. Ann Marie Alderman, Minister Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro

The Rev. Dick Weston, retired in Chapel Hill Minister Emeritus, Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura, CA

The Rev. Patty Hanneman, Minister Unitarian Universalist Church of Hillsboro

The Rev. Thom Belote, Minister The Community Church of Chapel Hill, Unitarian Universalist

The Rev. Tom Rhodes, Retired Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh

The Rev. Cheryl M. Walker, Minister, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington

The Rev. Mark Ward, Lead Minister Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville

The Rev. Lisa Bovee-Kemper, Associate Minister Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville

The Rev. Michael J. S. Carter, Minister Unitarian Universalist Congregation of The Swannanoa Valley

The Rev. Holly Lux Sullivan, Hospice Chaplain

The Rev. Dr. Xolani Kacela, Assistant Minister Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

The Rev. Don Southworth, Executive Director Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association