Racial Justice News

Dear supporters, friends and allies, At the beginning of legislative session we saw an unprecedented number of legislators of color taking office in the Washington State Legislature. Meanwhile our Statewide Environmental Justice Summit created a groundswell of interest and energy from communities of color calling for change. By the end of session, we made environmental justice and equity a real and meaningful conversation in Olympia, with outcomes that will move our state toward a just transition. Together, with our coalition and allies, we worked to ensure the 100 percent clean energy law prioritizes equity, and that clean electricity will benefit and be affordable to all. We blazed a trail for environmental justice principles to be adopted as state law, and now have a task force with leaders representing communities most impacted by pollution poised to recommend strategies for addressing long-standing health disparities.

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Initiative 940 is officially law in Washington State. However, the road towards implementation has just begun. We have an opportunity to speak up on how this law is shaped and practiced. Two very crucial components are being developed: law enforcement training and independent investigations (when deadly force is used). We will provide an update on what steps have taken place since its passage and discuss what our communities envision for how this law is carried out. Comments shared at the event will be submitted to the Criminal Justice Training Commission who is responsible for finalizing the new training rules.

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You can register here.

In our work as the Commission on Institutional Change, we have found that an area in need of analysis is that of over-reliance on informal structures to carry out governance work whether at the local, regional, or denominational level. Informal structures rely on social relationships and thus tend to privilege people from the dominant culture in a community or organization. As we seek to add more and diverse voices into leadership among us, reliance on informal structures can mean that new people cannot figure out how to contribute. If the way to get something done is to know the “right” people, then this can perpetuate a narrower circle of leadership. Continue reading Informal Structures Privilege Those in Power on UUA.org.

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Join us for this important and long-overdue community conversation! Rep. Ilhan Omar. Linda Sarsour. Tamika Mallory. Marc Lamont Hill. Angela Davis. How are charges of antisemitism being weaponized to specifically target powerful Black and Muslim leaders, force Jews and Jewish allies into false dichotomies, divert attention from the worldwide rise of white nationalism and state violence, and divide progressive movement-building? Who benefits? Who is harmed? And most importantly, what can we do to recognize and disarm these attempts to divide us? FREE event, but registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/intersectional-dialogue-on-weaponizing-charges-of-antisemitism-tickets-60506424344

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5th Annual CUUSAN Conference 2019 Living Our Values, Building Our Movement June 19, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Doubletree Grand Ballroom I 322 N Spokane Falls Ct, Spokane WA We are super excited to announce our keynote speaker at the 2019 CUUSAN Conference will be Chris Crass!! If you know Chris, you are freaking out with joy right now!  If you don't, you've got to get yourself to this conference! More We are also collaborating with our friends and colleagues at JUUstice Washington - we're really excited about this conference and hope you can come! We need you to REGISTER, please

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We are working alongside community members and partner organizations to ensure that lawmakers fund and modernize the Working Families Tax Credit. We’re holding a phone bank on Thursday, April 18, to urge passage  and we need volunteers! The phone bank will be at Poverty Action’s office in Wallingford, Seattle (1501 N 45th Street), from 5-7:30 PM. Volunteers will receive training and support from staff and a free pizza dinner. If you can’t stay for the whole time, no sweat. Join us for as long as you can! For more information or sign up, please call 206-694-6794. We hope to see you there! During these final weeks of the 2019 Legislative Session, lawmakers must negotiate and pass a 2-year state operating budget for 2019-2021. It is crucial that the final version of this budget contains a progressive restructuring of our state’s tax code and bold investments in social service programs that support Washington’s low-income communities and communities of color. In addition to supporting the working families tax credit (funded by a tax on capital gains, which is also included in budget proposals), we are working alongside community members and partner organizations to ensure that lawmakers provide a bold and much-needed funding increase to Housing & Essential Needs, stop the sweep of money from the state’s TANF program, and reject the Senate’s proposed cuts to the state’s Medicaid Dental Program. (For more information and our analysis on both the House & Senate’s budget proposals .) Send an email here to urge lawmakers to pass a progressive budget that tackles poverty head-on!

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A collection of progressive bills, most of which will primarily impact low-income communities and communities of color in Washington state, were voted on and passed by state legislators. These bills—some of which Poverty Action has been working alongside community members and partner organizations for years— could not have been passed without your voice and your action!  Thanks to your advocacy, Washingtonians will now see more robust and transparent laws regarding debt collection than ever before. This comprehensive package of five consumer protections bills is a big step forward for Washington state and particularly for its communities of color.

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A relatively new phenomenon at East Shore is the Alternative Service Co-op, an attempt to deepen our spirituality by centering marginalized voices.

• In November, they produced a 9:00 am service centering the homeless men staying at our church.
• In February they produced a Black History Month 11:00 am service with three speakers, including Elmer Dixon, one of the founding members of the Seattle Black Panthers.

We woke up with the horrendous news of the shootings at the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and we’ve been listening for how best to respond as faith leaders and faith communities to support our Muslim neighbors. We condemn and lament Islamophobia and white supremacy in all its forms, and we pledge to act together against such hatred and violence in the days ahead.   Our friends at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) invite us to stand in solidarity with our neighbors and grieve as a worldwide community on Monday at the Interfaith Vigil and Anti-Islamophobia Teach-In, hosted by MAPS, MAPS-AMEN, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Monday, March 18 from 7-9 PM at MAPS Redmond (17550 NE 67th Ct). We also encourage you to download a #WeStandWithOurMuslimNeighbors sign and put it in your faith community or workplace to let our Muslim neighbors know of your support.

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