Racial Justice Upcoming Events

PRAXIS: a workshop for religious/spiritual leaders to generate lessons, culture, and power for collective liberation with Ayoka Turner and Chris Crass Saturday, April 15, 2023, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm This workshop is designed for folks engaged in leadership or interested in leadership within their communities. This is great for members of an anti-racism team, a congregation council or board, finance teams, and staff supervisors.  This workshop will be in-person only.

Anti-racist Parenting for Collective Liberation Sunday, April 16, 2023, 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm This participatory workshop with focus on sharing stories and insights with an understanding that there are many ways that we do this/can do this in our families, and that sharing and being in community together can help us feel more connected, grounded and capable. This gathering will have a zoom option, so that people can still participate in small group conversations online

CONVERGENCE: Heart and Soul Nourishment for Anti-racism and Collective Liberation with Rev. Sekou and Chris Crass Saturday, April 22, 2023, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm This gathering is open to all and is designed to encourage and uplift us. The gathering will include music, sharing, learning, and connecting. This gathering will be livestreamed as well as in-person!

This Tuesday, August 10, thousands of people across the country will attend a Democracy Can’t Wait rally in their community to demand Senate action on the For the People Act, a once in a lifetime bill that will ensure fair districting, make voting easier and more accessible, and take on dark money in politics. Now is the time to show up, loudly and relentlessly, to fight for our democracy. Will you? Despite some positive signs (as reported by The Washington Post), we’re at a make it or break it moment in the fight to defend our democracy, and we cannot afford to wait any longer for Senate action: → Next Thursday, August 12, the census data will be released, allowing states to begin drawing new maps for state and federal districts. If passed before the deadline, the For the People Act will ensure fair districting and ensure our communities can thrive for the next 10 years and beyond. When it comes to our districts, we draw the line. And the stakes have never been higher. → The freedom to vote is under attack by extremist state lawmakers across the country who want to put up deliberate barriers to make it harder to vote -- especially for people of color. In response to this urgent threat to our democracy, people all across the country have been raising their voices and showing up every day to fight for the passage of this bill, on the streets and through phone banking, writing letters to the editor, and organizing actions. Now the Senate needs to step up, do their job, and pass the For the People Act to protect our votes and our democracy before the August 12 deadline. That’s why on August 10, local rallies across the country will take place, joining in power for one massive national day of action to send a strong and clear message: democracy CAN’T wait. We need the Senate to stop stalling and take decisive action now. Check out the map of dozens of rallies across the country and sign up to attend a Democracy Can’t Wait rally in your community! Every single fight for the advancement of civil rights in our nation’s history has been met with resistance and required Americans to rise up to demand change. We must do our part to make our message impossible to ignore. Sign up now to attend a Democracy Can’t Wait rally near you. And, if for some reason you can’t attend a rally, we still have other ways for you to take action:

1. Call your senators and keep calling every single day demanding that they get this done.
2. Check to see if your state legislators are signed onto this letter. If they are, thank them. And if they’re not, ask them why the hell they’re on the sidelines.
3. Record a video asking your senators to eliminate the filibuster and stop voter suppression. And urge your friends, family, and colleagues to get involved in this fight.

It Starts With Faith: Organizing School for Teams? There’s still time. Complete the brief application by July 30th! Organizing School will support  20-30 teams with the goal of aligning all of our faith organizing to build power and impact in 2022. The teams will have access to organizing coaches and be invited to participate in national leadership roles in our upcoming Side With Love Action Center. If you are looking for ways to advance racial justice through your congregation or social justice teams, this year’s Organizing School is for you! 

At General Assembly 2020, Unitarian Universalists just like you, voted to pass an Action of Immediate Witness called "Amen to Uprising" This AIW draws UUs into supporting the Movement for Black Lives and their call to Defund the Police. Now, Phoenix-organizers Poder in Action, White PAWS, and UUJAZ invite us to join them in calling 24,000 neighbors to talk about community safety, policing, and the city budget. We are talking to white, high propensity voters, 55+ who lean liberal and score high in "compassion" with the goal of moving them to take action. Poder is specifically asking UUs to get involved, because they know we show up. This is the time for us to gather our neighbors, have values based conversations, and to invite folks into this struggle. Joining in the fight against police violence in Phoenix, will give you the strategy and skills it takes to fight fascist police tactics when they come for your city. Help us build power, and be ready when it happens near you. We've been doing this phonebank for weeks, and it's so much fun! If you've been nervous to try phonebanking... we are calling neighbors who are eager to have this convo, and already probably agree, and we are asking them to take action. Find the joy that being in movement can bring. If you've been wanting to act for racial justice, in deep partnership with a Black and brown led, frontline grassroots coalition, this is an opportunity.