Letter to UUJEC from Pablo DeJesus,
council member UUA’s PPC Leadership Council:

I’m writing to ask if UUJEC can do several things to support UU involvement in the PPC, especially in these final days leading into Sat. June 20th — a major milestone for PPC. See the UUA announcement on the formation of a UU leadership council HERE or UUSJ’s promulgation in our May eNews, of which I am a part. (Several council members are CCed here.)

As you know, this is a deeply troubling moment in our nation, rife with an unfolding national conversation about the disproportionate economic impacts of the pandemic and the cross-cutting role of systems of criminalization and racial injustice as entrenched policy and social structures.  For this reason, it feels even more deeply important for UUs to support campaigns that center the leadership of poor and low-income people, people of color, and other disenfranchised folks in our society.  The PPC is such a campaign.

So I’d ask on behalf of the UUA’s PPC Leadership Council for several steps in the assistance of the council and our UU denomination’s commitment to the PPC.

Four Asks:

1. UUJEC Contacts: Very Timely/Urgent — Can you help connect the council with any UUs that are low-income folks, willing to speak of that experience (to witness) as part of a Church of the Larger Fellowship service on June 14, 2020, centered on PPC?  I’m thinking of folks perhaps like your brave UUJEC member who spoke directly to Sen. Portman (OH) during our joint UU conference in 2017 (Reversing Inequality: Healthcare Justice is a UU Value). Personal stories like his will help the PPC council win hearts and minds.

2. UUJEC Promotion: Can you promulgate the special UU RSVP for June 20th and encourage UUs in the UUJEC network to register and attend several times going into June 20th in ~10 days?  In so doing you’d be joining the UUA, SideWithLove, and UUSJ.   You can see in UUSJ’s June eNews and our events list how UUSJ is striving to promote (in part). You may have seen some of our eBlasts. UUSJ is also posting events and content to Facebook as possible. Please consider closely what UUJEC can do to support the promotion of PPC. Here is the PPC’s digital toolkit that offers text & graphics to make things easier.

3. UUJEC Connection: Rev. Robin Tanner, NJ is a UU minister from NJ and also a lead national faith organizer for the PPC. She might be able to speak to UUJEC stakeholders to explain the PPC campaign and its goals and especially its economic justice commitments. I will comment here, I can think of few national campaigns beyond the PPC that are so clearly aligned with UUJEC’s general interest in restructuring the American economy away from escalating inequality, rampant inequity, and towards justice, equity, and service to the human condition.

4. UUJEC Follow-on: Please consider having an internal conversation during the next month or so, on if or how UUJEC can support UU mobilization and participation in the PPC heading towards November. It is my understanding after we “click” past June 20th the PPC will be more focused on Voter Mobilization and GOTV activity engaging poor and low-income participation. As you know from our two conferences together, if we can get candidates who take structural inequity and inequality seriously as a policy area, we will have more traction and support for policies in the next congress that reflect UU values and principles.  This is generally consistent with UUA’s UU the Vote campaign, and UUSJ’s joint project with Reeb Voting Rights Project (review an upcoming event June 17 HERE or RSVP). On how PPC activity dovetails with UU the Vote, Susan Leslie, UUA might offer referrals to specific staff.

It is my sincere hope that UUJEC can look at what is possible in response to this request for connection and assistance from the UUA PPC Leadership Council.

In love and for justice, 

Pablo