Racial Justice Action from your UUFH Allies for Racial Equity (ARE) Team
Check out their website and see if any of their activities interest you. www.uuare.org
SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAM MEETING – ANNUAL RETREAT/planning session
Our ANNUAL RETREAT/PLANNING SESSION has been scheduled for SATURDAY, JULY 22 from 1:30 – 4:00pm in the UUFH Sanctuary.
The Social Justice team is a self-selecting group open to all UUFH Members and Friends. We welcome all active participants. Whether your social justice interests are one or many, you can contribute to our SJT efforts. Please contact Charlotte Corrigan if you plan to attend this meeting.
The Social Justice Team has submitted 3 reports for the Annual Meeting document package:
- Social Justice Team — ANNUAL REPORT 2022-23
- Exploring Diversity through Literature – Annual Report June 2023
- Final evaluation of our Congregational Project, Allies for Racial Equity June 2023
In addition, our new Congregational Project, Green Sanctuary: Climate Justice, was submitted and will be presented at the meeting for Fellowship approval.
ARE (Allies for Racial Equity) NEWS & ACTION ITEMS
The Fellowship voted to adopt the ARE Congregational Project at our June 2022 Annual Meeting.
ALL MEMBERS of the Fellowship are welcome and encouraged to find their individual role(s) as ACTIVE participants in these project activities.
ARE Congregational Project proposal link: 22-23 UUFH Congr. Project Allies for Racial Equity.
RICHMOND PLEDGE
Although our congregational project addressing Racism will be officially completed on June 30, we will continue as individuals and as a congregation to work toward Racial Equity by recognizing and combating Racism in all its forms as promised by our adoption of the 8th Principle.
“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”
In that spirit, your Social Justice Team invited you to sign the “Richmond Pledge to End Racism” at our April 23 service. This Pledge was introduced to some of us as part of an intense “Living the Pledge” workshop. It is derived from a pledge developed in Birmingham, Alabama, to recognize the worth of every individual by making a personal, daily commitment to remove prejudice from our own lives and to treat all people with dignity and respect.
If this language seem familiar, it’s because it so closely reflects our UU 1st Principle: the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
I BELIEVE that every person has worth as an individual.
I BELIEVE that every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of race or color.
I BELIEVE that every thought and every act of racial prejudice is harmful; if it is my thought or act, then it is harmful to me as well as to others.
Therefore, from this day forward:
I WILL strive daily to eliminate racial prejudice from my thoughts and actions.
I WILL discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity.
I WILL treat all people with dignity and respect;
I WILL commit to working with others to transform this community into a place that treats people of all races, ethnicities, and cultures with justice, equity, and compassion, and
I WILL strive daily to honor this pledge, knowing that the world will be a better place because of my effort.
As part of our evaluation of our Congregational Project, Allies for Racial Equity, your Social Justice Team asks you to please print and check which of the actions you have done in the link below.
ARE-RPledge checklist of actions
Return your completed survey to Judy Bonner or Charlotte Corrigan
Want more NEWS?
Contact Charlotte Corrigan to join the UUFH jUUstice WORKERS NEWS email list.
OR use this link for this week’s news compilation: JW NEWS
Justice is what love looks like in public
HIGHLIGHTS in this issue:
- UU JUSTICE NC – news, Friday Action Hour, action alerts
- PRIDE MONTH – message from UUA President Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray
- LWV announcements: FILM premier, Immigration, school funding
- MountainTrue message / action alert on utility rate hike plans
- And more…
Want more JUSTICE NEWS? Contact Charlotte Corrigan to join the email list for UUFH JUSTICE WORKER NEWS (Subscribers receive the NEWS on Wednesdays)