Mar 9

Mar 9 After Selma@50: Keep Marching!

My heart and spirit were in Selma this weekend, where more than 500 UUs, including many of our faith’s leaders, joined together with the families of Jimmie Lee Jackson, Rev. James Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo. While I couldn’t be there in person, the vivid images and stories coming out of Selma from our fellow UUs, Love People and justice partners made it feel as though I were. You can listen to the recordings from visionary leaders like the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a veteran of the civil rights movement with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Opal Tometi, one of the founders of #BlackLivesMatter and Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Rev. Dr. William Barber II, leader of the North Carolina NAACP and Forward Together movement, along with many others, on the Living Legacy Project (LLP) website. While there, you can watch the the Reeb, Liuzzo, and Jackson families being given Courageous Love Awards, recognizing the sacrifices of their family members.

Mar 9

Mar 9 Drumroll please… announcing our new website!

Side With Love

Over the past few months, we have been busy at work creating a brand new website for Standing on the Side of Love. We are excited to let you know that the soft launch of our new site is… today!

Our major goal in redesigning our website is to better provide you with updated resources you can easily access, feel inspired by and bring to your congregations and communities. Last fall, we asked for feedback from the Standing on the Side of Love community on what you want to see next in the campaign and your thoughtful suggestions have guided our work, especially as we have redesigned the website to be more helpful to you!

Many of our colleagues and friends have spent the past few days in Selma Marching in the Arc of Justice as part of the 50th anniversary of the voting rights campaign. We are launching our site with powerful images fresh from Selma, so click here to check it out!

Mar 3

Mar 3 Be With Selma-In Whatever Way You Can

Side With Love

Fifty years ago, as Unitarian Universalist ministers in our thirties, we each answered Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to come to Selma to join the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery that had been viciously repressed by local and state law enforcement officers. As many of you know, the Rev. James Reeb and both of us were attacked by white supremacists after we had marched across the bridge; Jim Reeb died from his injuries. His family will be in Selma on March 7th to be with us and to honor him. They are deeply proud of his legacy.

Our lives were transformed forever and we have remained eager defenders of civil rights. As we gather in Selma for the 50th Anniversary events it is enormously gratifying to us to see that a new movement for racial justice is rising. As we remember Selma, we know that Black Lives Matter and that we need to nurture, support and grow a new generation of freedom fighters. We hope that you will join us in this mission.

Feb 25

Feb 25 Why Climate Justice is a LOVE issue!

Side With Love

This time last year (and the two years before it!) we were in the midst of a campaign near and dear to many of our hearts called Thirty Days of Love. It was a transformative project; bringing together Unitarian Universalists, the Love People and our justice and faith partners to learn, reflect and take action together on a wide range of justice issues. We got tons of feedback from folks all over the country on this campaign, and one big request we heard over and over again: what if UUs and others got together for a month of education and action, but focused on a single justice issue? What if together we put all of our hearts and collective energies towards one important goal?

This is why I am excited to participate in Climate Justice Month, an amazing collaborative effort being spearheaded by an incredible array of UU organizations.

Feb 21

Feb 21 Honor Selma Sunday anywhere you live!

Side With Love

I don’t know about you, but I have been so moved by the legacy of Selma. Watching the power of this singular moment in American history unfold through the film Selma (even the trailer will give you chills), I was moved by the story of Jimmie Lee Jackson and proud to see UU’s Rev. James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo find their place in the struggle, even when they all paid the ultimate price. I’m halfway through Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison Reed’s new Skinner House book Selma Awakening. I was inspired by the bold message shared by five of my colleagues who are Women of Color, noting how the Sankofa message of “reach back and get it” applies to today. And I find myself wondering – if it were 50 years ago, would I have answered the call to justice?

Feb 19

Feb 19 Black Lives Matter: Voices from Skid Row

Side With Love

I recently moved to Los Angeles, where I live and work close to Skid Row, one of the largest concentrations of homeless, or un-housed, people in the U.S. Black men make up the largest population in Skid Row (though the number of women and children are growing). AS I've been spending some time in Skid Row, I wonder: in this area that where daily living challenges are so apparent, how does #BlackLivesMatter fit in? I've been asking some of the people I've been meeting, how can I stand on the side of love with you? One of the most important things I have heard is the imperative for people who live on Skid Row to feel heard, in their own voices. Suzette Shaw identifies as a poet, a feminist, and a resident of Skid Row, who is becoming increasingly involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. Below she shares poetry and a call to action with us.

Feb 11

Feb 11 Our Sankofa Moment

Side With Love

Today, our nation again stands on the precipice of a significant movement for racial equity that calls to Unitarian Universalists to respond as people of faith anchored in the affirmation of the inherent worth and dignity of every person.We – five women of color who serve our Unitarian Universalist faith through the UUA – write this letter to express our hopes for the participation of Unitarian Universalists with regard to a Sankofa moment presented to us by the 50th anniversary commemoration of Selma.

For the Unitarian Universalists coming to Selma, we hope that you understand your presence as a call to solidarity with the Selma community. For Unitarian Universalists who are unable to be in Selma, our hope is that you will use Selma Sunday (March 8, 2015) as an opportunity to observe this anniversary with worship, reflection, and witness.

Jan 1

Jan 1 365 Days of Love: Resources you can use all year long!

Side With Love

Thanks for checking out these resources from past Thirty Days of Love that you can use all year round! This year, we are excited to support thirty days of action on climate justice from World Water Day (March 22) to Earth Day (April 22).

Many of our UU partners are collaborating on this exciting new venture, so check out Commit2Respond to learn more about how you can get involved. Resources will be available in early 2015, so be sure to check back with Commit2Respond then to learn more!

We have also curated resources from our many partners who collaborated with us over the past three years to create Thirty Days of Love that ran approximately from MLK Day to SSL Day. See below for fantastic worship service ideas, religious exploration, themes to use for congregations, and so so much more. While this year will be different, we are excited by what is to come, and we hope you join us on this next part of our shared journey!

Dec 14

Dec 14 Together on the Side of Love

Side With Love

2014 has been an incredible year for Standing on the Side of Love. All across the country, the Love People have worked hard to build the Beloved Community. From January, when we kicked off Thirty Days of Love with a renewed commitment to voting rights, through the spring with lots of actions on immigration reform, to celebrating our fifth anniversary at the UUA General Assembly, it’s been a busy year for love! In July dozens of UU clergy got arrested for immigration reform in front of the White House, then September saw the largest ever People’s Climate March, with hundreds of UUs. Together, we held vigils from Boston to LA following the killing of Michael Brown and the grand jury decision in November, and we are ending the year filled with both frustration and hope. This web-based magazine is a look back at 2014 as an opportunity to honor and celebrate all of the hard work of Love People all over the country.

Dec 11

Dec 11 Yes to Life

Side With Love

Etched in my memory on a daily basis these days are the Black men who have been killed over the last several months by people whose task it was to protect and serve them. As a black, queer trans-identified male, who is also aware of the violence too often inflicted upon queer and Trans bodies by people in authority, I carry a fear for my own life that is real. If there is any good news in this, it is that I don’t have to shoulder this reality or my fears alone. I have family and friends who love me and understand the broader issues involved, and I can speak plainly about these things at church.

When the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting was announced, community members of First Parish Cambridge rallied. Along with organizing a group to travel together to a protest of that decision the next evening, plans were set in motion to hold a community conversation after worship that Sunday to talk about how folks were feeling and what we could do. Our Senior Minister, Rev. Fred Small, even changed his sermon to address the harsh realities of racism and white supremacy, and the harm that systems of oppression do to all of us.