Curious about ways to get involved in the USSB community? Check out our Getting Connected guide here!
A Primer on Activism from Unitarian Universalists
Want to know how to run a successful protest? Kim Bobo, of Interfaith Worker Justice, takes us to school. Read the full Religion Dispatches article of August 5, 2010, which includes USSB member, Audrey Williams.
Excerpt: " The UUs were active in two locations. A large number claimed a major downtown intersection, where 23 of them grabbed hold of a giant flag saying Arizona Human Rights, stood in the middle of the street and refused to leave. Those who chose not to get arrested stood on the sidewalks nearby cheering them on. The group sang songs, repeated chants and offered a powerful witness to the city of Phoenix. Those on the sidelines snapped pictures, posted to Facebook, tweeted and got the word out far and wide. Participants were young and old, men and women, multi-racial. One UU wheelchair-bound protestor, Audrey Williams, came from California to join the witness. Hundreds of Phoenix police in full riot gear surrounded them. The police appeared to be using the event as a training exercise. Groups of 20 police officers would run from side to side. It took well over an hour before the police began to arrest the protestors."
Standing On the Side of Love in Phoenix, Arizona
by Rev. Aaron McEmrys
On July 29, hundreds of Unitarian Universalists from across the country went to Phoenix, where they joined with justice-workers from dozens of different organizations to peacefully protest the implementation of Arizona’s controversial new immigration law.
I followed the news as it trickled in via Twitter, Facebook and text message while I also followed the story as it was reported by mainstream news organizations.
I watched as many of my friends and colleagues were arrested and jailed for their acts of nonviolent civil disobedience, like forming a human chain in front of the Phoenix jail-house to symbolically prevent immoral use of the jail and the implementation of an unjust law.
Flipping through the updates, I saw a photo of my colleague, Susan Frederick Gray, Minister of our congregation in Phoenix sitting in a holding cell with her hands cuffed behind her back. My eyes widened as I recognized the woman sitting next to her, Audrey Williams, a member of our USSB family.
Audrey was also cuffed, but looked into the camera with a broad and defiant smile. I spent much of the next twelve hours trying to figure out how to find out what was happening with her and how to help, to little avail.
She was, however, in very good company. Also arrested was the Rev. Peter Morales, President of our Unitarian Universalist Association, along with two-dozen UU Ministers and lay leaders from around the country.
Audrey will share her story with you soon enough (as of right now, the afternoon of July 30, she has been released from jail and will soon begin her journey home), so for now I want to write a bit about why so many Unitarian Universalists are ready to go to jail to prevent the implementation of this law.
Created and Facilitated by Jo Saxon 6 Wellspring Wednesdays October 6 - November 10, 2010 $35 registration fee includes dinner each week
Set aside some time to play & reconnect with your inner child. Allow P.L. Travers' Cosmic Nanny, Mary Poppins, to remind you of what you used to know so well when you were younger. We will explore some of this fascinating character's most interesting lessons, discover some keys to staying young & have a lot of fun in the process. "I Love to Laugh," and if you do too, this just might be the class for you.
About Jo: Having been inspired 2 years ago by a sermon about Mary Poppins at the Unitarian Fellowship in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, longtime children's RE teacher, Jo Saxon, decided to bring the subject of the Great Cosmic Nanny to the adult RE community.
Created and Facilitated by Jo Saxon