Jul 28

Jul 28 Making Dreams Come True

As I traveled from my home in Richmond, Virginia to Portland, Oregon, I entered Kentucky with a feeling of trepidation. For the next 1300 miles, I would be driving in and out of states where my wife and I would no longer be considered married. Before I left home, Wendy made sure I had our paperwork with me – medical and legal powers of attorney, advanced directive, even my will – because that’s what we had to do to protect our rights in places where our marriage wasn’t recognized.

Within days of our arrival in Portland, on June 28th, the Supreme Court announced its decision that same-sex couples had the constitutional right to marry. Wendy and I were so overwhelmed by emotion that there was nothing we could do but hug each other and cry. But we couldn’t cry for long. We were at General Assembly, and in just ninety minutes, UUs would be gathering for the morning’s general session. There was a celebration to plan.

Jul 22

Jul 22 Defending the Rights of Asylum Seekers

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At the base of the Statue of Liberty, a national symbol of democracy and freedom, these words by poet Emma Lazarus appear: “Give me your tired, your poor, [y]our huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Most U.S. residents are descendants of immigrants. The privilege of being a U.S. resident comes with a moral duty to assist people fleeing persecution and seeking safe haven at our borders. Acting on this moral responsibility, UUSC is working with the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal Services and Education (RAICES) to support families seeking asylum as they navigate the inhumane immigration system.

Defending the rights of refugees goes beyond acting on a gut feeling that it’s the right thing to do. Protections for asylum seekers are actually codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the U.N. 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Protocol, and U.S. domestic legislation in the form of the Refugee Act of 1980.

Jul 17

Jul 17 Forward Together! Voting Rights Webinar July 22nd 8pm ET

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Thousands of people from across North Carolina and the country came to Winston-Salem on Monday, July 13th, to march for the full restoration of voting rights in the state that is home to what has been described as the worst voter suppression law in the country. Hundreds of those people were Unitarian Universalists from NC, eighteen other states, and Washington, DC.

Our UU planning team for the Mass Moral Voting Rights March extends our deepest thanks to all of you who showed up to support the movement in North Carolina! We feel enormous gratitude to those who took the time and took on the expense of travelling here. The UUs in Winston-Salem and across North Carolina who have been sustaining and building this movement felt so supported by your presence. In our debrief phone call yesterday, the lead organizer from the NAACP NC, Roz Pelles, called in to tell us that Rev. William Barber wanted us to know how much they appreciate the partnership with Unitarian Universalists and that they see that we have helped build the movement to be broad, inclusive and deeply moral. Roz also expressed appreciation for the UUs who have shown up at the Mass Moral Marches in Raleigh, committed civil disobedience at the state legislature, and are spreading the moral movement across the U.S.

Whether you were able to be in Winston-Salem or not, please join us for a "North Carolina Is Our Selma: Debrief of July 13 Rally and Next Steps" Voting Rights Webinar, next Wednesday, July 22nd at 8 p.m. ET.

Jul 10

Jul 10 Is your state on the list?

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“… as a Unitarian Universalist minister, I joyfully celebrate a victory for love. And I pray that this joy may open our hearts to the continued fight for dignity for all Missourians and all people.”

Last week, I wrote a column for my local newspaper, The Missourian, about my delight at the Supreme Court’s ruling which allows for federal recognition of same sex marriage and about how that joy has galvanized me toward all the work that still remains.

People of faith have been supporting same sex marriages for decades, including members of my denomination, Unitarian Universalism. The impact of this positive ruling will be life changing for many same sex couples. Especially in a conservative state like Missouri, having their marriage affirmed and receiving the legal and financial benefits equal marriage provides has been a deeply emotional as well as practical victory for couples in my congregation and in my community. We have been waiting and working a long time for this. Some had begun to despair that this day would ever come to our state. And so this particular victory for love is a sweet one.

Jul 8

Jul 8 This is WORR: A Week of Righteous Resistance

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Last November, I lay down with just under a hundred other people on an interstate highway in Minneapolis. Along with thousands in cities across the country, we stopped the cars, we carried signs and we chanted and sang, saying Black Lives Matter in every way that we could. My brother called me from Texas, and said, “Hey, did you shut down I-35 today?” I responded, “Well, yes, me and a few others.” He said, “It made news down here. That’s dope. My freedom fighter sister.” That was just over six months ago, it was the start of what has been a nonstop whirlwind of actions, public witness, and personal challenge for me. It has been hard and I haven’t been alone. I have been fighting for freedom, for the freedom to be human in my Blackness, and the liberation of the most marginalized amongst us.

Black Lives Matter is both an organic, creative, and vibrant ever-evolving movement and it’s a bold strategy that is actually quite simple: center the worth and dignity of all Black people, all Black lives. Every. Single. One. It’s a strategy that centers everyday Black people as leaders, not just the respectable, educated ones.

Next week, July 12 - 18 is WORR, The Week of Righteous Resistance. Will you fight with us? Will you fight against oppression of your human brothers and sisters? Will you fight for human dignity?

Jul 7

Jul 7 Call for UU presence in St. Louis for the 1 year anniversary of Michael Brown's murder

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The extrajudicial killing of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 sparked a cry from Ferguson, Missouri that has not relented. Protests have continued daily across the greater St. Louis metro region ever since August 10.

As we approach the 1 year anniversary of Mike Brown's death, Unitarian Universalist leadership in St. Louis joins the local Action Council, Don’t Shoot Coalition and Movement community in a call for people of faith and conscience to join us here for the weekend of August 7-10, 2015. We are calling for UUs to Show Up for Ferguson.

The weekend will kick off Friday evening with a UU rally at one of the local congregations. This rally will include orientation for the weekend's events and all who plan to participate must attend. Saturday we will join the “I Am Mike Brown” march, dressed in white t-shirts, khakis and baseball caps. The local organizers are calling for all who attend to dress as Mike Brown was dressed when he was killed, we will humbly comply. Sunday will be a day for worship and additional opportunities to support the local Movement community (yellow Standing on the Side of Love shirts would be appropriate for these events). Monday is direct action day. There will be specific requests about how we show up for this from our community partners, so please be sure to stay tuned for these instructions.

Jul 6

Jul 6 Living Room Conversations

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Even as many of us are still celebrating the decision affirming marriage equality by the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS), let us be mindful of how we will treat the emerging new minority: social or religious conservatives.

Don’t get me wrong - I could not be for marriage equality more. I am a gay woman, UU, and have been passionately involved in the marriage equality movement for 11 years as a volunteer and then professional working on several state marriage campaigns from New York City and my home in North Carolina. This year, I’m traveling to several countries to collect the personal stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies and our struggles to get equal access to marriage. Last week, I wrapped a month of interviews in Ireland after their historic yes vote in the marriage referendum. So why am I thinking about how we treat social and religious conservatives?

Jul 1

Jul 1 Mass Moral Voting Rights March July 13: This is Our Selma

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On Monday, July 13th, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a federal judge will start the trial of our historical lawsuit, NC NAACP v. McCrory. We will put on our evidence to prove that the voter suppression tactics that were rammed through the North Carolina legislature in 2013 are race-based, have a disparate impact on voters of color, and were intentionally passed by Gov. Pat McCrory, then-Speaker Thom Tillis, and Senate leader Phil Berger to suppress the votes of Black, Latino, and poor voters.

We invite you to come to Winston-Salem, to attend this historic trial, and to be a part of a historic march on the first day of the trial. UUA President Rev. Peter Morales will be leading the march and speaking with us at the rally. Unitarian Universalist clergy from North Carolina have issued a call for you to join us. We will be honored by your presence. This is the most important lawsuit against voter disenfranchisement in the nation. Slate, The Nation,Think Progress, and Mother Jones called North Carolina's law the "worst in the country". Because it has a wide-reaching impact not only across our state but across the nation, North Carolina is this generation's Selma.

Jun 20

Jun 20 A Call From Charleston: Love Will Prevail

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Brothers and sisters,

I write on behalf of the Charleston congregation to thank you for the many messages of concern and support we have received, and to provide a brief perspective on the soul and state of our beloved city.

Of course, we’re reeling and will be for some time, yet poignant examples of healing and unity abound in our midst. Last night, members of our church gathered with thousands of our neighbors to grieve, pray, and sing together in a downtown arena. An interfaith core of clergy revisited ancient, holy words as source of comfort and perspective, and also as clarion call toward renewed equity, justice, and moral solidarity. Our civic leaders, particularly our popular, forty-year mayor, Joseph P. Riley, Jr., called for a revival of community cooperation and reminded us that once united, we will recover and move forward. He also addressed our national fixation with handguns and said it is surely time for more reasoned conversation and swift reform

Jun 18

Jun 18 The Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples

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The Original Nations of Great Turtle Island (typically called “the Americas”) have contributed much to the world, but are seldom publicly recognized by major educational institutions as having done so. Nor are they often recognized as models of ecological sustainability. Yet reverence and passion for thousands of years the earth and its web of life was the primary focus and way of life of all Original Nations and Peoples in North, Central, and South America, and this was a direct result of their values and worldviews.

Western thinkers tend to take the position that solutions to the ecological crisis will only be found by Western science in the future. With few exceptions they do not view the past as being instructive and certainly do not consider the traditional cultures of Original Peoples as holding meaningful answers for the world community. For Western European peoples, the knowledge systems of Original Nations and Peoples have been viewed as mere superstitious nonsense.