Social Justice Outreach News

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All members & friends are welcome to join the efforts of the Social Justice Outreach Team 

Social Justice and ARE Teams are temporarily meeting in joint session.  The sessions are scheduled at 1 pm on the first Wednesday of each month. We are currently holding concurrent in person and virtual meetings. Watch for further details…

All are welcome to attend; these meetings are your chance to provide input and contribute to our UUFH justice efforts.  Contact Charlotte Corrigan for more information – i.e., agenda, prior minutes, Zoom link – if you would like to participate.

Any ARE updates and news should be sent to Charlotte Corrigan for inclusion in emails, eBlasts and Justice Worker News.

The monthly RACIAL JUSTICE FORUM series will resume in the fall.

UU Forward Together — The UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina

Subscribe to UUJMNC to receive the monthly newsletter and action alerts at   www.uuforwardtogether.org

Announcement from Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, Executive Director, UU Justice NC:

We have a NEW NAME!  While our full legal name is “The Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of North Carolina”, for the past four years, we have commonly referred to ourselves as UU Forward Together.  This name has reflected our being a part of a larger movement in North Carolina and while we remain in partnership with organizations who are known for this slogan (NC NAACP, Poor People’s Campaign and others), we recognize the need to establish a distinct identity for ourselves.  

And so, we are now UU Justice NC – reflecting our core identities: We are Unitarian Universalists, working for Justice, in North Carolina.

Join UU Justice NC’s New Facebook Group!

This week, our newly renamed state justice ministry – UU Justice NC launched their new Facebook Group! The goal is to create a virtual community space where NC UUs can connect, celebrate our wins, share news about justice issues and promote opportunities to learn and take action. If you haven’t already, click here to join the growing community! 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION

UUJMNC:  OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION

from Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, Executive Director Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of NC

FRIDAY ACTION HOUR

Join UU Forward Together every Friday at 11:00am for Friday Action Hour. Gather in community to recap the week and take action on issues impacting our state and country.

Redistricting Letters to the Editor.  This week (8/13), in partnership with All on the Line we’ll be writing Letters to the Editor to advocate for fair voting maps.  Join us via this Zoom link.

Does the Friday session not work for you?  You can still act; the link below will give you the talking points, addressee contacts and actions for this week’s Action Hour session.

Action(s) of the Week –

Tell your State Reps to Promote “The HOPE Program”!

The HOPE Program is the way that federal money through the Recovery Act is being distributed in North Carolina.  The fact that only $15 Million out of $85 Million has been distributed does not reflect a lack of need but rather a lack of knowledge that the program exists.

This week we’re calling our State Reps to ask them who is responsible at a local level to make sure that this available money gets to those who need it?  And additionally, what are they doing to promote the Hope Program?  Take Action Here

A NEW UUFH INITIATIVE – Volunteer Opportunities at Bruce Drysdale School

The UUFH ARE and Social Justice teams have consulted with the leadership at Bruce Drysdale Elementary School to see what help we could provide to the school students and staff.  Jan Partin has supplied a message outlining these activities and some key Bruce Drysdale data.

The student population of Bruce Drysdale Elementary is 464 for K-5 students. The school’s minority student enrollment is 55%.  The student-teacher ratio is 13:1, which is better than that of the district.  The school enrolls 69% economically disadvantaged students.  There are 36 equivalent full-time teachers and 1 full-time school counselor.

In Henderson County Schools, 50% of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 57% tested at or above that level for math.  Compared with the district, the school scored lower in math and in reading.  Only 40% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 36% scored at or above that level for reading.

The teachers and staff are passionate about their desire to help their students do better!  Our engagement with the school will give these students and teachers a boost – we can help make a difference in the lives of these young people!  Please take a few hours a week to help make that difference by volunteering there!

PTO President Amy Kilpatrick has prepared a list of possible volunteer jobs for volunteers.  In order to volunteer, you must pass a background check.  It involves filling out a form on line and another volunteer application form that you drop off at Bruce Drysdale School.  Once approved, you will receive a volunteer ID card from Secure Volunteer which you will need to bring with you when volunteering.

Contact Jan Partin at janpartin@nullhotmail.com for easy instructions.

Present volunteer opportunities include:


Library- shelving books. This can be a weekly opportunity for a couple of hours. 
Library book fair-volunteers are needed to sort and keep shelves organized and stocked.
Reading to Kindergarten classes.
Serving/Setup for teacher lunches. We have about 5-6 teacher lunches a year.Some students need to sit separately to catch up on their class work if they get behind. We occasionally need ones to sit with them to help keep them focused on catching up.
Escorting students to and from their classroom for hearing tests.
Other opportunities will present themselves through the year and we can add those to this list. 

Thank you in advance for your help in any of these areas! We look forward to working with all  of you!

REDISTRICTING

UU Justice NC Is partnering this summer and fall with “ALL ON THE LINE NC” for a campaign to ensure fair redistricting by our legislators in Raleigh.  If elected officials chose their voters instead of voters choosing the officials, then democracy is broken.

A special message and CALL to ACTION from Kitten Bulen – video and registration links follow:

You all voted to renew our congregation Climate Justice Project for this year. Since the poor and people of color are those most unjustly affected by global warming/climate change/environment issues, pursuant to UUA principles, we are committing to work on redistricting aka fair mapping, so all voices can have an impact 

First go back two years to pre-covid. Rev. John Saxon, then executive director of our state action network, now called UU Justice NC, came here to give a workshop on “becoming a justice-making congregation.” About 60 UU’s from 6 WNC congregations attended. Following this, your social justice team members presented topics. In February of 2020 you adopted climate justice for our collective focus. Also in 2019, I was appointed to our UU NC Justice board and presented a service on how growing up Unitarian caused me to choose teaching and law professions so I could represent poor and black and brown people. At the end of that service I challenged you to learn and do more with our Unitarian Universalist regional, state, and national organizations and to step out our doors to do more justice work. And, you did! So many of you answered the call! 50 of you attended the January 2020 voter registration training with the director of You Can Vote and made my heart sing and therefore I called you my wild things. Then Covid hit. Revamping plans, with UU Justice NC, our congregation partnered with NC non-profits You Can Vote and Democracy NC and the national non-profit Reclaim Our Vote. You sent over 4,500 voter registration postcards, more than any other NC congregation, and made hundreds of calls, texts, and emails. Some of you also made calls with the UUA UU the Vote. Obviously our faith’s commitment to action made a difference in the elections. Donations were made to our endowment fund because of the work we did. 

Now comes our next action!

Across our nation voting awareness was expanded, but here in NC we still have much work to do. For part one of our congregation Climate Justice Project, we, along with our other NC UU congregations, are being called to work drawing voting district maps, called “redistricting.” After the maps are drawn, they are passed through the legislative committees and legislature like any bill, but the governor can’t veto them. The constitution requires voting districts be redrawn every 10 years, generally after the census, to determine how many representatives and senators we can have in the U.S., and NC house and senate. This is a short-term, time sensitive project, thanks to the pandemic. 10 years ago we had 5 months to redraw maps. This year we have one month since the census was delayed 4 months. Raw data will be released by August 16 and put in some kind of order. Then we have a month to respond. Without fair map districts, registered voters lose their impact, so we need to jump on this.

Video (Youtube):

registration link to our Redistricting event: https://uuforwardtogether.salsalabs.org/98westernncredistrictingevent/index.html (You will receive the Zoom link via email upon registering.)

Click “play” to hear UU Justice NC executive director. Lisa Garcia-Sampson explain what we are doing and why. The most gerry-rigged tier one counties were trained first. Now it’s our WNC turn! And- mark your calendars and register for Wednesday September 8th from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. We are co-hosting the fair mapping training workshop on Zoom with the Asheville UU church and other WNC congregations given by the national organization – ALL ON THE LINE.

In NC gerry-rigging districts was a major case before the U.S. Supreme court which they labeled the worst ever seen in our nation, designed to entrench the people in power, especially in the past ten years as well as supreme pattern of intentionally diluting the minority vote. The US and NC courts have now spoken saying these communities should not be broken up. So, after training, when the narrow window of public comment time arrives, we do! There is no constitutional requirement that we be heard. We have to make them listen – with the help of All On the Line!, our comments go to the judges. We are also partnered with Jews for Justice, American Friends Society, and others. 

Part two of our congregation Climate Justice Project will take place January – March, 2022. Together we will study the 5 topics in the UUA Ministry for the Earth (UUMFE) entitled “Our Place in the Web of Life”. 

Our Climate Justice Project part three will culminate in April with a coup. Named one of the top 15 religious environmental justice leaders in the world, UUA Minister UUMFE and Minister of Music, Rev. Fred Small, has agreed to come from Boston to us , following Gretchen Thunberg’s request to lessen our carbon footprint – to present a Climate Justice Workshop (April 9) and the Sunday Service (April 10). This is an exciting awakening from our Covid year.

Please watch Lisa’s introductory video and register for the redistricting training on September 8th.  We are all in this movement together – until the next census in the next decade – so we must use our UU faith, power and numbers in commitment to justice. We continue our focus of fair elections.  The below listed training sessions from UU Justice NC partner You Can Vote will prepare you to be involved in this vital civic work.

YOU CAN VOTE NEWS
2021 SUMMER VOTER EMPOWERMENT TRAINING DATES

As we add in-person volunteer opportunities, be sure you are 2021 trained and come help us educate voters! Folks who have attended the 2021 volunteer training can sign up now! 

Saturday, August 14th @ 10am Saturday, August 21st @ 10am Saturday, August 28th @ 10am

LET’S GET BACK OUT THERE & HELP GET OUR NEIGHBORS READY TO #VOTE2021 & #VOTE2022!

Register Today

YCV’S 3-PART DEEP DIVE EDUCATIONAL SERIES

If you’ve attended a 2021 Voter Empowerment Training and you’re ready to learn more about how to effectively engage your specific communities, this 3-part educational series is for you!

3-Part Deep Dive Series: 

Climate Justice Congregational Project:

We continue our focus on fair elections.  The below listed training sessions form UUJMNC partners You Can Vote and All On The Line will prepare you to be involved in this vital civic work.  

If elected officials chose their voters instead of voters choosing the officials, then democracy is broken.

YOU CAN VOTE NEWS
2021 SUMMER VOTER EMPOWERMENT TRAINING DATES

As we add in-person volunteer opportunities, be sure you are 2021 trained and come help us educate voters! Folks who have attended the 2021 volunteer training can sign up now! 

  • Thursday, August 5th @ 6pm
  • Saturday, August 14th @ 10am
  • Saturday, August 21st @ 10am
  • Saturday, August 28th @ 10am

LET’S GET BACK OUT THERE & HELP GET OUR NEIGHBORS READY TO #VOTE2021 & #VOTE2022!

Register Today

YCV’S 3-PART DEEP DIVE EDUCATIONAL SERIES

If you’ve attended a 2021 Voter Empowerment Training and you’re ready to learn more about how to effectively engage your specific communities, this 3-part educational series is for you!

3-Part Deep Dive Series: 

REDISTRICTING U SUMMER SESSIONS | STORYTELLING IN ACTIVISM

All On the Line is hosting 3 dates to get educated on the FIGHT FOR FAIR MAPS!

“This session is an informational convening designed to educate individuals on the 2021 redistricting process and on how to share your personal story. We will look at how to describe the framework for effective persuasion conversations by using your values to move your audience to action on redistricting.”

Register Now

CLIMATE JUSTICE CONGREGATIONAL PROJECT RENEWAL

At the June 13 Annual Meeting, a Fellowship vote okayed another year for this vital project.

We’ll move forward with some of the on-hold activities and seek new opportunities for congregational education and action including use of UUA/ & UUJMNC resources and continue UUtheVote advocacy with a focus on fair redistricting and voter rights.  We’ll add a new emphasis on the 8th principle:

The 8th Principle states: “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 accountability dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” 

CLIMATE justice and RACIAL justice are inseparable.  There is no climate justice without racial justice and the dismantling of white supremacy.

In our 2021-2022 budget submission, we allocated funds for the project to conduct educational workshops, film showings, book studies and onsite action.

NAACP MEMBERSHIP – Henderson County Chapter

A message from Judy Bonner, UUFH SJ Allies for Racial Equity (ARE) leader:

I urgently invite you to join our local chapter of NAACP.  It is vital to support our chapter especially at this time. I thank you in advance for your membership. 

An Application Form is available from Charlotte Corrigan or Judy Bonner Please complete the membership form and mail with your payment of $30 to:

NAACP 318 N. Main Street Suite #11 Hendersonville NC 28792 Our local unit number is 5477

Check this website to learn about the NAACP mission and vision.  https://naacp.org/about/mission-vision Please pass on a copy of the form to your friends.  Thanks!

JUSTICE WORKERS EMAIL LIST

We’ve created a new merged list “Justice Workers” as recommended by the leaders of the various groups (SJOT, ARE, Voter & Climate Justice) and approved by our UUFH Social Justice Team; our debut message “JUSTICE WORKER NEWS” was issued on Monday, April 12.  The list is comprehensive and contains actions, events, and links that will inform and enable your justice efforts.

The more that we work together, the greater impact we have.

To join the Justice Workers list, contact Charlotte Corrigan with your request to OPT IN.

For information on upcoming training sessions with UUJMNC partners such as You Can Vote and Democracy NC, contact Charlotte Corrigan and/or sign up for weekly Justice Worker News emails.