Saturday in San Diego – Social Justice Conference
This is the fourth in a blog series, chronicling the adventures of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign in San Diego between Thursday, February 25th and Sunday, February 28th. This blog is written by Martin Kruming, who is building bonds between churches to become more effective justice advocates. On Saturday, February 27th, he helped organize a gathering of six local Unitarian Universalist Congregations for a Social Justice Conference.
I’ve always realized the power and impact of a penny. When I spot one on a sidewalk, in an airport or at a grocery store, I’ll pick it up. By themselves, pennies don’t buy much these days; but you put them with other pennies and now you’re on to something. Pool them with nickels, dimes, quarters and even a $20.00 bill that my wife found in the bushes during a walk, and you’ve really got something. It’s the same story with Unitarian Universalist churches and social justice work. Each one is powerful and can get things done but together a Cluster or group of them can do so much more for the homeless, marriage equality, immigrants, the environment – you name it. And when Unitarian Universalists link with other churches, people and groups, the possibilities soar.
Saturday, February 27th, some 30 Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay leaders spent five hours together at Palomar UU Fellowship in Vista, about 40 miles north of downtown San Diego to talk about social justice and what we could do together that would have an impact on the entire county. What if we made bowls and fed homeless families? What if we read to grade school kids at nearby Camp Pendleton whose Marine moms or dads were fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq? What if we gathered clothes, computers and more for colonias in Tijuana? Imagine what six churches together rather than one church alone – sort of a 6 vs. 1 concept. Toward the end of Saturday’s 1st Annual Social Justice Conference, we had the plan as well as the vision. We’ve had a San Diego County Cluster for four years but social justice has always been an individual church story – until today.
Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson, the minister at Palomar, probably put it best: “It’s obvious that we can do more together than we can do alone. We can continue to be that liberal, progressive beacon in San Diego County. This is a special and auspicious day.”
I was fascinated to hear UUs in the room share their passion for social justice and the words they used to describe it. Caring and need were at the top of the list. As we listened to Adam Gerhardstein talk during lunch of Subway sandwiches about the Standing On the Side of Love Campaign, we knew how powerful this 6 vs.1 concept was and how our work in San Diego is really all about love. Ironically, during our Social Justice Weekend a noose was found hanging in the library at the University of California at San Diego campus, just a few miles south.
Pennies. They’re the building blocks; they’re the connectors; they’re the “little people” in the world of millions, billions and trillions. Later that week, as I headed to a meeting in downtown San Diego, I spotted a penny on the sidewalk. I bent down, picked it up and when I got home dropped it into my 2010 Trader Joe’s coffee can of coins.
