January Programming from Side With Love
As the Side With Love staff returns to work after a brief break, we’re looking forward to celebrating 30 Days of Love in a few weeks. Beginning Monday, January 15, we’ll have a variety of offerings we hope will inspire you and help sustain your commitment to liberation and justice this year.
In addition to our special offerings for 30 Days, we have a variety of events this month for congregational staff and lay leaders, listed below. Please share with your congregation!
And finally, if you haven’t heard, we’re delighted to announce our first Democracy Strategist, Nora Rasman, who will oversee our 2024 UU the Vote campaign. We’re so excited about the impact UUs will have on democracy and electoral justice this year. If you aren’t already subscribed to our UU the Vote newsletters, you can do so here.
January Programming from Side With Love
January 8: Monthly Mixer
Connect with other congregational justice leaders and Side With Love staff at our monthly mixer! Come connect with one another, build community across issues, and be bolstered by the joy and commitment from UUs around the country.
January 21: Skill Up: Community Safety & Security
Unitarian Universalists are called to grapple with the question of what is safety? Black liberation organizers say “We Keep Us Safe" as a way to proclaim that true safety comes from relationship, community and structures of care and mutuality outside of state structures of violence and control. How do we build our political and theological commitment to keeping each other safe in the face of state and interpersonal violence? In this skill up, Nora Rasman and India Harris will define safety and security grounded in abolitionist practice, discuss our spiritual mandate towards building sanctuary and concretely outline what we can honestly offer to ourselves and each other.
January 25: Webinar Series: Clean Energy as a Human Right - Reimagining with Energy Democracy
We invite you to explore the power of Energy Democracy and the ways our congregations can reimagine energy for our communities. Energy Democracy helps frontline communities build power and liberation by reimagining how we organize our lives toward new systems that support the health and wellbeing of our communities and ecosystems.
January 11: Stop Cop City webinar series: The Dangers of Private Police Foundations
Across the country, for-profit corporations are funding private police foundations. With this dark money, these police foundations pour millions of dollars into militarized policing that harms Black and Brown communities. Join this webinar to learn about the history of police foundations and the threat they pose to democracy.
January 22: Digital Security For Congregations 101 Training - Session 1
Increasingly, our congregations are finding themselves the targets of online harassment, phishing, doxxing, and other forms of digital hate – often as a result of the ways we are embodying UU values in the world. Unfortunately, many of our UU communities do not have the skills and the infrastructure to protect themselves from malicious digital targeting that is constantly evolving.
Equality Labs' Digital Security For All Workshop is a dive into the world of digital security, and what that means for you and your organization. We will develop some common ground and shed light on types of attacks and security concerns that affect our communities, engaging with you at a strategic level as you plan for your organization.
January 30: UPLIFT Trans/Nonbinary+ Monthly Gathering
This is a cozy, drop-in community space for trans, nonbinary, and other not-entirely-or-at-all-cis UUs and friends of UUism where we connect with each other with games and breakout groups, share ideas and stories on all kinds of topics, listen to music and poetry (often by trans/nonbinary+ creators), and much more! This space is intentionally multi-generational. It is open to and welcoming of trans/nonbinary elders as well as children, youth, and young adults. Standard UUA online safety measures apply to ensure all people under 18 are able to attend.
January 12: UPLIFT Trans/Nonbinary+ Pastoral Small Group
This is a space to share the hard stuff and to hold the hard stuff that others are navigating in their lives. During our time together, our lead chaplain/facilitators will share opening and closing words, and in between, there is time for everyone to share what's on their hearts, and receive what others are sharing about their own lives. It's a supportive, judgment-free place to connect with other trans/nonbinary+ people.
January 25: Faithful Grounding
Join our Side with Love Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad for an hour of spiritual sustenance and grounding with others organizing on the side of love. Come drink in the music, meditation, play, and prayer. We end with a Connection Cafe for those who wish to talk together. Show up as you are, whatever is in your heart, and with your camera on or off as you need.