JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) calls for congregations to research, identify, and acknowledge Indigenous peoples

by Leave a Comment

  • Do you know the history of the land your congregation calls “home?”
  • Do you know what Indigenous people historically or currently inhabit that land?
  • Do you know who the Indigenous people or communities are who live in your area or region and what their visions and struggles are?
  • Are you acting in relationship or solidarity with any of them?

If your answer to any of these questions is “No,” it is not because these questions are irrelevant or unimportant.  It is because the continuation of our colonial and white supremacy power structures depends on your not knowing, your not caring, and your not connecting.

The enormous wealth of the United States is based on the theft of Indigenous land and the enslavement of people of African descent. In order to maximize wealth, the colonizers sought to eliminate or minimize the number of people who could claim their Indigenous rights to land, natural resources and sovereignty. These attempts are ongoing and have included genocide, forced removal, forced assimilation and the more contemporary systemic erasure of Native people through invisibility in education, media and pop culture…

See much more at Link to complete article here.

The Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) calls for congregations to “Research, identify, and acknowledge the Indigenous peoples historically and/or currently connected with the land occupied by congregations, and find ways to act in solidarity with or even partner with those Indigenous peoples.”

Please begin to do (or revisit) this work now, in the weeks leading up to the Harvest the Power Virtual Summit for Justice & Decolonization on November 19-22nd. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for program and schedule announcements.

Please also know that the UUA and Side With Love will be amplifying the livestream broadcast of the 50th National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Massachusetts, organized by the United American Indians of New England, on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2020.

See much more at Link to complete article here.

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Fall 2020 Virtual Series

by Leave a Comment

Please join NW Immigrant Rights Project for the following conversations. You can RSVP or read more about each of these topics by following the links provided below:

 

 

NWIRP’s Past, Present, and Future: A Lunchtime Virtual Discussion (LIMITED TO 20). Sign up for the best date for you: October 19 OR November 12 @ 12pm

The Cascade Divide: Unique Immigration Challenges in Eastern & Central Washington. October 20 @ 1PM

Imagining the End of Deportation with UW Law Professor Angélica Cházaro, October 27 @ 1PM

Intersection of Immigration, Gender, and Survivors of Violence with Grace Huang, policy director at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-based Violence. November 16 @ 2PM

Honoring the Life & Legacy of John Trudell

by Leave a Comment

A Free Virtual Event October 13th – 14th
More Information Here:1st Annual Gathering of Clear & Coherent Thought
(must have active membership & registration for Redthought.org

Join us for a unique Gathering Honoring the Life & Legacy of one of the Greatest Thinkers of Our Time John Trudell. Throughout the Gathering there will be many offereings of John’s work. Musical performances, speaking engagments, as well as a showing of the “Trudell” Documentary. Friends and relatives of John’s will be participating throughout offering testimony and sharing life experiences with John as well. Also there will be opportunities for our participants to engage and practice “Clear & Coherent Thought” with some exercises and courses that will supplement the live event. This was always a strong advocacy of John Trudell and as we Honor his life and legacy the intent is to practice it and potentially implement it into our lives during this gathering and going forward. Looking forward to all of the “Thinkers” that will be joining in our very unique event. Futher details will be provided and announced within the next couple weeks.

Performance: “The Race 2020,” Sept. 24 to Oct. 4, 2020, Streaming

by Leave a Comment

Seattle’s Intiman Theatre in partnership with Mandala Center presents: “The Race 2020”

Attend a thought provoking interactive performance of The Race 2020. This theatrical civic dialogue invites people to explore ways to use their voice and take action to affect positive change and be inspired to vote!

Originally developed by Sojourn Theatre, Intiman’s adaptation blends performance, call and response, question and answer, and music into a participatory, highly improvised exploration of civic responsibility, race, and what America wants in a leader during a time of change. All participation is voluntary. Join in the discourse or simply witness the process.

Sign up for free tickets here.

Sunrise Seattle Hub Strategy Session, Sept. 26, 2020, Online

by Leave a Comment

This Saturday, September 26th from 5-8pm, Sunrise Seattle will be holding a hub strategy session. If you have an interest in helping our hub to craft a strategy for the months leading up to January 2021, we would love for you to join us! You can register here.

Why: We’ve done amazing work since Sunrise Seattle began, especially in the last few months. In order to continue showing up for the uprising for Black Lives and other movements across the city and organizing our generation, and do it even bigger and better over time; we need to unify our work around a long-term strategy.  We need a clearer vision for how the Seattle hub will work towards building people power, political power, and the people’s alignment for a Green New Deal this fall, and Sunrise National just released a toolkit to help us do just that.

How: We’ll be having a participatory session open to our entire hub, and we’re also setting up systems for everyone to give input without having to make the meeting. To facilitate that, we’re sharing the agenda for the strategy session, a shorter version of the Sunrise National Fall Strategy Guide, and an example strategy so every member can be involved and propose strategies. 

There will be 3 more days for people to develop proposals for strategies or specific goals. These proposals will be discussed in the first strategy session to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and develop our hub strategy and goals.

Once we have a first draft of our hub’s strategy, it will be posted in the #strategic_planning_session channel on our Slack, and hub members will have a week to provide feedback in that Slack channel before our second strategy session, where we’ll incorporate any feedback and come up with a final strategy. (Slack is a messaging tool we use to share ideas and collaborate – everyone is welcome to join.)

Please join the #strategic_planning_session channel on our Slack! The channel will be a place where people can discuss strategy, view other proposals, and build off each others’ ideas. Even if you can’t come to the strategy session, you can develop proposals or explain your vision for our hub this fall in that channel, and your contributions will be taken into consideration during our planning session.

Excited but unsure of how to draft your own strategy proposal?: The Sunrise National fall strategy guide is a great resource for drafting your own proposals. In addition, our Trainings Team put together a document explaining the Act-Recruit-Train cycle that Sunrise uses, our theory of change, and key questions to keep in mind when drafting a proposal for a strategy or goal.