Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ
A Unitarian Universalist voice for justice, equity and compassion in NJ
Dear Friend,
Our GivingTuesday campaign is well underway, with every gift up to our $2,500 goal between now and November 30, the National Day of Giving, matched 2 to 1. To give you an idea of how your gift to UU FaithAction NJ will make a difference, this week we spotlight the work of our Reparations Task Force.
In The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome, Alondra Nelson details how DNA testing is being used to grapple with the unfinished business of slavery: “to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations.”
On Sunday, November 21st, Unitarian Universalists gathered with others in vigil and witness following the Kenosha verdict.
Helen Ewan, member of our Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, writes:
Our UUCCH GVP Task Force joined with other social justice groups for a silent vigil protesting the Kenosha verdict… Rev. Margret stood with us. We gathered at 4:00 pm. Signs were available for those of us who needed them. The church also supplied battery powered tea lights for us to hold. We walked down the driveway and stood on the grass by the sidewalk. Lisa Winkler spoke, and there was singing, but mainly we stood in witness. We received many honks of support from passersby on Kings Highway. The vigil ended at 5:00, and we left the church feeling that we had shown our dedication to gun violence prevention and common sense gun laws.
Sixty protestors gathered in total. Helen thanks Lisa Winkler for her key role in bringing people together.
Victims Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber lost their lives, and Gaige Grosskreutz was shot and injured, while protesting police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, 2020. The shooter was acquitted of all five felony charges on Friday, November 19th.
Dear Friend,
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I am sure many of you are making menu and travel plans and looking forward to gathering with family and friends to give thanks and revel in the precious joy of being together. Among the things we are thankful for, safety, security, warmth, food on the table, and loved ones to share in this abundance all rank high on our lists.
But in many parts of the world, and even here at home, simple freedoms and the blessings of security, safety, lack of hunger, and being with loved ones are a distant dream for too many.
More than 75 New Jersey based organizations have signed on to a statement declaring their support for the Reproductive Freedom Act urging lawmakers to take action and pass the bill in its entirety before the close of the current legislative session. Introduced in October 2020, the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848) is a proactive bill that both ensures the right to abortion in New Jersey and removes barriers to access, especially for our most vulnerable and marginalized populations.
150 souls attended the “Say The Word: Reparations” Rally in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on October 30th, 2021. Clergy and laypeople representing diverse faith traditions gathered to call on Speaker Craig Coughlin to bring A711/S233 to the Assembly Floor.
Major rally sponsors included: NJ Episcopal Diocese, Peoples Organization for Progress, local NAACP chapters (state level, Perth Amboy City/Woodbridge/Sayreville, Camden County), Trenton’s historic Shiloh Baptist Church, NJ Institute for Social Justice, and UU Faith Action NJ’s Reparations Task Force.
Say The Word—REPARATIONS!
The New Jersey legislative cycle is a two-year process. This year is an election year, which means that the current legislative cycle will come to an end in early January. Any pending legislation that is not passed and signed into law within the current cycle must start over from the very beginning in the new legislature.
FAIR (FaithAction Inclusivity Representatives) youth leaders and members are preparing for in-school assemblies featuring FAIR youth discussing a history of racism and antiracism activism in NJ, and we want to extend our invite more widely. Please share our invitation with the youth (grades 8-12) in your congregation!
If you are interested in participating in FAIR, we meet on Thursday nights at 7:30pm on Zoom. Sign up here!
FAIR will be presenting a pilot of their assembly at the Fall Issues Conference (Oct. 16), and FAIR Co-Leaders look forward to meeting new youth during their breakout session. Register to attend the Fall Issues Conference.
If you have questions about FAIR, please contact FAIR Co-Leaders at fair@uufaithaction.org or advisor Liandra Pires at gvprevention@uufaithaction.org. You can follow FAIR on Instagram @faithactionyouth_
It is our privilege and joy to welcome our new ministerial intern, Laura Kushner!
While I am excited for my new life adventure to begin in San Miguel de Allende, and to see what it will be like to more purposefully create my own old-age “story,” there are many people and many qualities about my interactions with so many of you that I will deeply miss.