Let Atlanta Breathe - Your Invitation to Spiritually Grounded Activism

Pictured: Rev. Tyler Coles & Rev. Misha Sanders collecting referendum petitions last weekend, holding clipboards with images that say "Let Atlanta decide." Nora Rasman and Rev. Jonathan Rogers rounded out the UU contingent. Will you join them?

One of the nation’s most culturally consequential referendums is underway in Atlanta.

Locals, professional UU organizers, other spiritually grounded activists—including your fellow volunteer UUs—and others from around the world are actively leaning into the work, going door-to-door and busy community sites to collect the signatures needed to bring this issue to a vote.

The City of Atlanta will contribute nearly $70 million to the deletion of at least 13,070,000 square feet of the Weelaunee Forest—developing it into a training ground that militarizes and equips police forces with the skills of insufficient care that (ironically) threaten the safety of the officers and (unironically) threaten the security of the community—if we don't collect enough signatures.

You can contribute to this referendum from wherever you reside, when—and how—you feel called. This is what UUs do.

Join us for the Week of Action July 27th - August 5th

#LetAtlantaBreathe: A UU’s contribution to the #StopCopCity & #DefendTheForest movement.

The UU principle of interdependence may sequentially follow those of justice, peace, and dignity, but respecting, “the interdependent web of all existence” may be the bedrock of those other principles. Can you think of it as the unsurfaced molten rock, the magma of the other principles? Interdependence generates heat, heat generates energy, energy that is transferred to our work in human and environmental rights. What energy will you transfer on?

You have breathed the oxygen made by the trees of the Weelaunee Forest and you’ve felt the rain drops made by its water, too, regardless of where you live.

Such is the interdependence of things.

If the forest is disassembled and replaced by a “city” that trains police but is unable to house the many unhoused, if it is forced to relive being kidnapped from Native stewards and plundered for gain, then its energy is being mis-transferred and misused.

This is a moment of justice. As much as it feels like a fight, it is a moment for you to contribute to peace.

The idea of this development sprung from the protests following George Floyd’s murder. The corporate sponsors and police want to protect their interests, property and capital. We must protect and defend our collective interests: clean air, responsible stewardship of the land, safety and care for our neighbors, and a democratic and accountable government. For all of our collective interests, this project is an immediate threat.

We must #LetAtlantaBreathe.

Responding to the call to contribute, no matter where you are.

#StopCopCity & #DefendTheForest is historic, and you belong in its fold. This is what UUs do.

This referendum will be a first in the city’s 186-year history. Referendums are relatively common in other parts of the United States—particularly the west—but Georgia and the majority of southern states don’t have citizen-led processes like these because most states with enslaved people did not want to create the opportunity for people to directly decide on policies.

  • Read the 2023 Action of Immediate Witness Stop Cop City

    As Unitarian Universalists, we recognize the momentum of collective action to demand social change, and we call upon the UUA and its member congregations to stop Cop City;

    As Unitarian Universalists, we will take action through self-organized phone zaps, mass email campaigns, personal and institutional divestment from banks funding Cop City construction, and other solidarity actions against investors, funders, and other corporate partners across the U.S. and Canada;

    As Unitarian Universalists, we will support those engaged in direct action to stop Cop City with spiritual and material resources, by writing letters to incarcerated activists and calling for their immediate release from jail, demanding that all charges against them be dropped, and providing spiritual care for protestors and survivors of police violence; and

    As Unitarian Universalists, we will continue to deepen our theological grounding in issues of environmental justice and policing.

  • Donate Now

  • Sign up form to get involved

To join, sign up for one of our Week of Action educational activities and learn about phone banking and canvassing. If you’re in Atlanta on Saturday, August 5, come collect signatures with us. Who else will you invite?

With the deepest gratitude and in solidarity,

Nicole Pressley
Field & Programs Director for Side With Love

Decriminalization, Democracy & Voter RightsSide With LoveLove Resists