JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

General Assembly Ware Lecture, by Naomi Klein, Features Green New Deal

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The 2020 General Assembly Ware Lecture, held online, featured remarks on the Green New Deal by Naomi Klein. She has authored books on the economy and climate change, including This Changes Everything, and attended the 2015 Convention of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which negotiated the Paris Agreement.

Klein’s Ware Lecture noted that the COVID pandemic has changed many people’s orientation to change, and opened possibilities for addressing climate, economic and racial issues. The Green New Deal is designed to address these issues on a multi-tasking basis, Klein notes, and would provide a framework for government policy in a post-COVID world.

Klein commends UUs for our “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part,” our Seventh Principle. Although she does not explicitly mention it, UUA has endorsed the Green New Deal and our actions will fulfill many of its goals.

The Ware Lecture by Naomi Klein can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/showcase/7462757/video/433421388

Seahawks cancel practice. Pete Carroll demands whites finally listen to Black People

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For more than 14 minutes, Seattle’s 68-year-old coach didn’t say one word about football or training camp or the upcoming opening game just two weeks and one day away—other than to mention he’s been coaching “since I was 13 years old coaching Pop Warner kids” in Marin County, California.

For 14 minutes, 26 seconds, he took no questions. He described the pain and fear Black people, including his Seahawks players, live in daily (as of June, 70 of the 90 players on the team were Black men). He described the most immediate action they are taking for change. They all chose to be 100% registered to vote for Election Day instead of practicing Saturday.

Read more here.

Faith Action Network Endorses Referendum 90 for Comprehensive Sexual Health Education in Washington schools.

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The Faith Action Network Governing Board has unanimously endorsed Referendum 90 that will appear on your November ballot. We want to tell you about it and invite your endorsement and participation today.

During the 2020 legislative session, a coalition of parents, educators, medical professionals, and advocates passed SB 5395 (Sen. Claire Wilson) in Washington state focused on keeping young people safe and healthy. This law requires all public schools to teach age appropriate, inclusive, comprehensive sexual health education to K-12 students. This law was backed by a large statewide coalition and has strong support from a majority of Washington state voters. Those opposed to the bill, sometimes citing religious reasons, have launched a misinformation campaign and gathered enough signatures to put that law up for a public vote this November. See more at the campaign’s website: approve90wa.org

WE NEED YOUR HELP as faith leaders and faith advocates to speak out on this important issue. Here’s how:

  • Please read the Faith Leaders Statement on Referendum 90. If you are in agreement with this statement and are willing to add your name as a signatory, please let FAN know at this link: bit.ly/FANsupportsR90. Tell us how you want your name, your faith tradition and the city where you live/serve listed. Please sign by September 9 and we will share FAN faith leaders’ and advocates’ names with the campaign.
  • If you are not a faith leader you can still sign and share the link with your congregation and friends, so that they might also Approve R90 and strengthen support in faith communities. Each of you will help counter misinformation and ensure YES on R90 in November.
  • We will share your signatures with the campaign and keep you informed as the weeks go on. If you would like to be directly involved in the campaign there are many possibilities – please let them know at this link.

These are difficult times for all of us, but it is also an extremely critical time for us as faith leaders and advocates to make our voices heard in this campaign to Approve R90. Thank you for taking a stand, for lifting your voice, and for joining your colleagues as we share our statement strongly approving R90 for safe and healthy youth.

FAN Staff and Governing Board
fan@fanwa.org

The federal government abandoned us on coronavirus relief. What now?

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The stalemate in Congress over relief checks raises larger questions about work and who deserves a dignified life.

On July 31, federal eviction protections and unemployment relief, in effect since late March, expired. After two more weeks of fruitless negotiations, the Senate adjourned, making any new action before mid-September unlikely. Trump’s attempts to play the hero — four executive actions announced with great fanfare — don’t actually mean much. Nationwide, a third of renters have little or no confidence they can pay this month’s rent.

. . .

But all of that is somewhat beside the point. Like so much of political speech, the incentive-to-work argument is not really about saying true things. It’s about provoking specific feelings. In this case, the message is that someone else is getting things for free, things they didn’t work for and don’t deserve. The desired effect is that the target audience — people who feel they are working hard and still treading water — resents and blames the people below them on the economic ladder, instead of those above. When this kind of argument also succeeds in its aim — keeping the poor miserable and desperate for work — it creates downward pressure on wages and makes those with jobs feel lucky, insecure and less likely to demand more or to stand up to abuse at work. In other words, it’s about dividing and disciplining the whole labor force.

Read more here.

Recent protests revive push for WA to speed up police reform

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Nearly two years after voters approved I-940, training lags while investigations into police-involved killings face scrutiny.

. . .

At the forefront of the conversation that has emerged in the past few months is a restless generation of activists who are rejecting long-held ideas about how to reform the police. They say existing reforms, such as those mandated by I-940, have done little to slow killings by police. They call instead for foundational change, including steep cuts to police departments’ budgets and the diversion of those savings to other social services such as crisis-intervention units.

This emerging movement comes as reforms required by I-940 were due to be taking effect. Yet, a review by InvestigateWest of the state’s compliance with the voters’ nearly 2-year-old mandate reveals a process fraught with delay, compromise and pushback. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, police agencies were on track to miss deadlines set to enforce the law. And as the shooting by Wiley reveals, it may take intervention by activists to ensure that agencies follow the standards set under the law.

https://crosscut.com/equity/2020/08/recent-protests-revive-push-wa-speed-police-reform?utm_source=Crosscut%20Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Crosscut+Weekly+-+20200830+-+READYRead more here.