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Image Description: The Harvest the Power Justice Convergence & Teach-In Advertisement for November 19-26, 2020. The Image contains a beautiful illustration of 5 women surrounded by nature created by Molly Costello which says “The Land Loves Us Back”. At the bottom are the logos for the UUA, UUMFE, and UUSC. |
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Harvest the Power, inspired by Jim Scott’s hymn “Gather the Spirit”, is a six week confluence of Unitarian Universalist Justice ministries (that began Oct. 21) to deepen our relationships, draw on the sources of wholeness and strength in which we are rooted, and move together in powerful ways for justice. The final phase of this programmatic season is this Harvest the Power Justice Convergence & Teach-In, detailed below. |
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Saturday, Nov. 21st 3:00 - 4:30 PM CT |
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How We Win celebration and election debrief
We will be joined by UU the Vote and State Action Network leaders, along with some of our frontline partners in key states to unpack the 2020 election and discuss how we build on our successes towards electoral justice and collective liberation. Do not miss this important examination of how and why we won and how we keep winning! We'll be landing a date soon with our partners for when we can all come together for this critical event.
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Sunday, Nov. 22nd 1:00 - 3:00 PM CT |
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Georgia Phonebanking Launch It’s not over! From protecting the results of the election to continuing to expand democracy in Georgia and your home state, we must commit ourselves to building democracy and justice for all us! One way to do that is by supporting our national partner Reclaim Our Vote in calling voters in Georgia before the Runoff elections. Join our volunteer squad THIS Sunday, Nov. 15 to learn how you can get out the vote in GA. We'll be using a manual dialer so that we can leave voicemails with important voting information. All training will be included in the event. |
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Saturday November 28th @ 9:30 am Let this one go - We will be celebrating with you but we will send something out that allows you to enjoy a virtual celebration when it feels right to you. There are so many zoom meetings and requirements for live and love these days we want to acknowledge that this week may best be spent with family and friends online. Together with UUANI let us celebrate the election and all the work accomplished Get Out The Vote and Vote Love. |
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Sunday Nov. 29 11:30 am CT |
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The Urgency of Sentencing Reform Illinois’ aging incarcerated population is on the rise: although prison populations are shrinking nationwide, the number of aging people in penal institutions has grown 280% since 1999. To better inform us of long-term sentencing abuses and the benefits of reform, this important forum will be hosted by Jennifer Soble of the Illinois Prison Project (IPP). The forum will feature a panel of three recently rejoined citizens freed by attorneys working with IPP. First Unitarian & IL Prison Project |
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Contact First Unitarian Justice task force for further information: FUSJTF email |
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Creative Compassionate Action |
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Supporting the work of our world is an important part of practicing gratitude and showing up. Please consider supporting the work of the UU the Vote and its frontline partner in Georgia: The New Georgia Project |
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THE NEW GEORGIA PROJECT IS A NONPARTISAN EFFORT TO REGISTER AND CIVICALLY ENGAGE GEORGIANS.
Georgia’s population is growing and becoming increasingly diverse. Over the past decade, the population of Georgia increased 18%. The New American Majority – people of color, those 18 to 29 years of age, and unmarried women – is a significant part of that growth. The New American Majority makes up 62% of the voting age population in Georgia, but they are only 53% of registered voters.
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Write letters to voters Writing letters to voters is one of the most effective ways to help increase election turnout. And you can do it right from home! Click here to join Vote Forward. |
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Elder Sit-In's or Stand by's THIS IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE and TAKE CARE. Take your (non-partisan) signs and stand on a local corner with other UU's to encourage people to support our democracy. Contact UUANI for voting information sheet to hand out. uuani@uuani.org |
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We are sitting because this cause aligns with the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism that guide us as a spiritual community. We sit because we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We sit because we affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations. We sit because we affirm and promote acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. We sit because we affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We sit because we affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. We sit because we affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. We sit because we affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. |
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As we fight on to ensure that love win. That votes are counted and affirmed. That our collective voices are heard. You might wish to rewatch this offering from people around IL: https://youtu.be/B9QlGowcN5o |
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Resources for Election Defense Thanks to UU College of Social Justice. These are resources that individuals, committee and congregations can use to move forward in this work to protect our election results.
- Here is a crowd-sourced guide to start out.
- Faith in Public Life also has multiple training sessions this week and their Toolkit for Building a Resilient Network offers helpful pre- and post-election guidance focused on strengthening our communities.
- The Frontline is a coalition of the Movement for Black Lives, the Working Families Party, and a number of nonpartisan justice organizations, including UU the Vote. Sign up here to join their Election Defenders campaign.
- Choose Democracy resources help us organize, support each other, and protest if any attempt is made to short-circuit the vote-counting process or resist the outcome of the election.
- Join our Senior Grassroots Organizer Ana Maria de la Rosa in a weekly "Monday Movement Moment" conversation with Side With Love Campaign Manager Everette Thompson and Dr. Charlene Sinclair of BlackPAC, airing live on Facebook from 12:30 - 1:15pm EST. Tune in here!
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The Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois commits to act in solidarity with activists, organizers, and the communities they represent as they fight for justice. We recognize the outrage and grief arising from a long history of senseless killings-lynchings and violence, a product of the dominating (dominant) culture of white supremacy. We see you, you are our families, our friends, our neighbors. We are devastated and commit to hear your voices and follow your lead. In solidarity against oppression and racism, we will show up where and when you ask, bringing water, offering zoom space, giving money, saying names out loud, raising our voices and fists and being present to the best of our ability. We will do what we can to help amplify the marginalized voices of those most directly harmed by this destructive system which seems to safeguard most pointedly people of privilege. Continuing to deepen our individual and collective knowledge of systemic racism and white privilege, we will share with friends and families how our action or inaction has kept racism alive and commit to use our privilege to change hearts, minds, and systems toward a world that works for all. We will recognize when we fail this, because we will fail again and again, but we will not stop working until there is a just society for all. As a people of faith committed to principled living we call on Unitarian Universalists, especially those living in Illinois, to join in this transformative work for justice. We must live the values we state to respect the worthy and dignity of every person, to promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations, and to recognize our interdependence with all who are marginalized, to demand change in this time. |
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Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois (UUANI)
UUANI is supported by contributions from Unitarian Universalist individuals and congregations in Illinois, and by grants from the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the Chicago Area Unitarian Universalist Council, and the Illinois Environmental Council. We are grateful for each of these forms of support! |
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