JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Tribal leaders pitch Congress on farm bill, Violence Against Women Act

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Tribal leaders pitch Congress on farm bill, Violence Against Women Act

Sen. Mazie Hirono speaks to a packed room about issues in Indian Country. (Photo by Jourdan Bennett-Begaye)
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye by 

Members of Congress met with tribal leaders during a two-day Tribal Unity Impact Days event hosted by the National Congress of American Indians this week.

Tribal leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., carrying a list of concerns they wanted to speak with congressional members and staff about, such as water development, sacred sites, cultural resources, economic development, the opioid epidemic, funding, agriculture, domestic violence, reorganization of the Department of Interior, and self-governance.

. . .

Over the four and half hours, congressional members stood at the podium providing their statements and answering questions. The three issues that came up often: The Farm Bill, the Violence Against Women Act and the court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

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Climate Displacement, Climate Justice and Indigenous Communities

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The following text is from the UU Service Committee report on climate displacement (see Resources for the link to the full report).  Also see Climate-forced Displacement Initiative for more info.

The threat of climate-forced displacement is disproportionately acute in small developing states and indigenous communities in remote areas. These communities are often under-resourced and politically marginalized, and, in some cases, have histories that include dealing with environmental change, tribal conflict, and earlier displacement by colonialist or corporate land grabs. Communities are often carrying out resettlements or relocations without legal protections and inadequate funding from private or governmental sources. Above all, global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change must be guided by human rights norms and principles, including the rights to participation, self-determination, transparency, and nondiscrimination.

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Environmental Justice and Climate Change in Greensboro, NC

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Rev. William J. Barber II, a Baptist minister who addressed the Unitarian-Universalist Association’s General Assembly in 2017, is fighting for environmental justice in Greensboro. A coal-fired power plant is polluting the waters of a lower-income colored community with coal ash, disposed in unlined waste ponds that contaminate wells. Rev. Barber was joined in late August 2018 by Al Gore, fighting coal power generation as part of his fight against climate change. Gore linked the issues: “Both are necessary byproducts of our addiction to fossil fuels.” Rev. Barber put the issue succinctly: “Jesus said love your neighbor. I don’t care how many times you tell me you love me, if you put coal ash in my water you don’t love me. Because if there was nothing wrong with the coal ash, then put it in the wealthy communities.”

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Death Penalty Reform 

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UU perspective on Capital Punishment – as early as 1974

BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1974 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association continues to oppose the death penalty in the United States and Canada, and urges all Unitarian Universalists and their local churches and fellowships to oppose any attempts to restore or continue it in any form.

Washington State Status –

Governor Jay Inslee has placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Washington State.

The Washington State Senate in 2018 session passed a bill that would stop death penalty.  The house of representatives did not vote on a parallel bill.  UU Voices testified to the Senate Law and Justice committee in favor of the abolition of the death penalty, as did Quakers, Catholics, Ecumenical organizations, and several directors of the Corrections..

Lolita may never go free. And that could be what’s best for her, scientists say

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Just last month, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously passed a resolution urging the Seaquarium to retire Lolita based on the recommendations of a long-standing retirement plan originally created in 1996 by the nonprofit Tokitae Foundation (Tokitae was given the stage name “Lolita” by the Seaquarium) which later became Orca Conservancy. It involves transferring Lolita to a seaside sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest, in her native home, teaching her to fend for herself, and eventually releasing her back into the wild.