Justice Hub
help build a better world
For details on our current JAMs and Justice Programs click HERE.
If you’re interested in starting a new JAM, contact our “New JAM Facilitator” by e-mailing newjam@fvuuf.org.
News & Opportunities from Our Fellowship JAMs
TAKE ON MASS INCARCERATION IN WISCONSIN
5-part Series with WISDOM
January 27 at 6:30-8:00pm and February 3, 10, 17, 21.
This WISDOM training was introduced in through a short video at our Jan. 16th service. ESTHER is the local affiliate of WISDOM and encourages your participation.
To sign up, go to www.esther-foxvalley.org or use the direct registration link Taking on Mass Incarceration – Jan 27-Feb 24
In the series, we will learn from experts, including people directly impacted by Wisconsin’s criminal legal system. We will learn about many aspects of the system, including:
- Front End Issues
- Sentencing
- Conditions of Confinement
- Crimeless Revocations, Probation, Parole and Extended Supervision
- Bringing More People Home
- Local Issues
Besides learning about the system and how it works, you will learn how YOU can be part of the effort to make a difference. Click here to learn more: Wisconsin Transformational Justice Campaign
NEW WAYS TO SUPPORT ESTHER’S WORK
ESTHER’s Feb 6 banquet has been canceled because of concern for the health and safety of our community and the sale of Liberty Hall, our venue. Donations are welcome to support ESTHER’s work and you can receive some gifts in return.
ESTHER is planning a fall gathering, to be held outdoors on September 15, featuring Pardeep Kaleka. Stay tuned for details. Thank you for your patience during these changing times and for your steadfast support of ESTHER.
THE POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN MORAL MONDAY
“Democracy Cannot Wait”
“Democracy Cannot Wait”
Let’s keep a sustained focus on asking our Senators to pass the Freedom To Vote Act and Build Back Better Bill until they become law.
Over 120 Unitarian Universalists participate in Poor People’s Campaign Moral March on December 13, answering the call of the Poor People’s Campaign to demand that Congress pass a Build Back Better plan. Build Back Better is a social policy bill that includes expanding Medicare and providing support for universal prekindergarten and child care.
For the Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, President of the UUA, the most critical issue on the agenda is lifting voting rights, establishing a set of protections to confront the tide of voter suppression laws sweeping the nation. In the featured UU World video, her entire speech underscores that “democracy cannot wait.”
Over 70 activists, including Frederick-Gray and seven other Unitarian Universalists, also took part in the nonviolent moral direct action on Capitol Hill that followed the rally. Capitol Police arrested all of them. Link to full article here
A sustained focus until it becomes law.
Please support the actions of our UU leaders. Make time, if not today, make a phone call after the holidays to urge them to pass key legislation that protects our communities and democracy. Text “VoteLove” to 51555 for updates from UUA on actions to support voting law.
For phone calls: State your name and address and ask them to pass the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (S. 4), and support the Build Back Better Bill.
Option 1: Call our Senators directly. Senator Ron Johnson 202-224-5323 Senator Tammy Baldwin 202-224-5653
Option 2: Here is the UUA click through link, providing talking points and connection to both Senators. phone call to the Senate
ESTHER
Interfaith Community Organizing
Consider attending one of the ESTHER regular meetings:
Get Zoom link by clicking on the specific task force meeting on the listing of upcoming events at this link: https://esther-foxvalley.org
What is Love Calling You to Do?
UUA Side With Love Action Center
Side with Love is a public advocacy campaign that seeks to harness love’s power to stop oppression. It is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association and all are welcome to join.
Explore this website: Action Center — Side With Love
Action Center is a place where we unite in work towards a world where we all thrive. Together we take action, Side With Love, and make deep impacts in this critical moment.
Will you join us?
- Subscribe to our newsletters
- Join one of our volunteer Squads, the backbone of the Action Center
- Host or join an upcoming event
Opportunities in the Wider Community
FAIR MAPS UPDATE
Rally on Jan 21!
Houdini Plaza, Downtown Appleton
What’s next in the courts?
Supreme Court of Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Supreme Court now has maps, expert testimony, and responses from several parties, including the Law Forward plaintiffs, WIMAP & Concerned Voters of Wisconsin, and others. We are waiting for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide whether they will hold hearings.
Federal Courts: The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest court in Wisconsin. Its decision in this case is not subject to appeal in either the federal courts or the U.S. Supreme Court. There MAY be a Voting Rights Act claim to be made, depending on what the Wisconsin Supreme Court decides. That would be decided in the federal courts.
Action:
On Friday, January 21, noon Fair Courts End Gerrymandering rallies will be held at 15+ locations around Wisconsin. The goal – let the Courts know that we, the people of Wisconsin, are watching and we expect them to act in a nonpartisan manner, in the best interest of the people, not politicians. Rallies will be held in: Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Green Bay, Appleton, Eagle River, Wausau, Whitewater, La Crosse, River Falls, Ashland, Eau Claire, Dodgeville, Stevens Point, Menomonee Falls, and Port Washington.
Join Fellowship ministers, members and friends at the Appleton rally which will be at Houdini Plaza in Downtown Appleton on Friday, January 21, 2022 at noon.
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/FMCRallySignUp
VIRTUAL SEMINARY FOR A DAY
Doing the Inner Work of Racial Justice
January 29, 2022
You are invited to VIRTUAL Seminary for a Day on Saturday, January 29, at First Unitarian Portland. This year’s spiritual theme is entitled, Doing the Inner Work of Racial Justice.
The keynote speaker is Rev. Abhi Janamanchi who serves as the Senior Minister of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Maryland. He describes himself as a Hindu-Unitarian Universalist and says that his Unitarian Universalism makes him a better Hindu.
If you are engaged in the work of racial justice and long for spiritual connection in this work, join us for this year’s virtual Seminary For A Day.
This is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how racism has shaped our UU faith and our congregations; how structural racism still operates today, often unnoticed; and what is involved in cultivating Beloved Community and working against racism and oppression in all of its forms.
We will practice mindfulness meditation, conversation, and experiential exercises that get to the heart of healing internalized racism and being anti-racist. We will seek to create brave space, engage in courageous conversations on what is healing and what is harming racial justice, and rest in restorative meditation and embodied practices.
Details: Saturday, January 29, 2022
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Central Standard Time
Registration is open until Friday, January 29th. You will receive a Zoom link via email before the event.
Below are the event links for Facebook and Instagram:
Facebook: https://fb.me/e/1ad0GM80I
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CYW8LB6PktT/
Edited on January 19, 2022
