Posts Tagged ‘California’

Living Our Love Out Loud

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SSL Campaign Manager Jennifer Toth with post author Jessica Halperin at the Supreme Court.

“What do we want?”
“EQUALITY!”

“When do we want it?”
“NOW!”

I’m sure the walls of the Supreme Court’s building were built to withstand the roar of a crowd. I’m also fairly confident that, unfortunately, the nine justices inside couldn’t hear our dance party, our chants for justice, and the noisy conflicts between those for and against marriage equality. Nonetheless, the steps of the Supreme Court felt like a very important place to be. As the Court heard oral arguments on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, hundreds gathered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to send a message to the world: Marriage is a right that should be available to all people who love each other.

With two full-size Standing on the Side of Love banners and prime real estate on either side of the road in front of the Supreme Court, Unitarian Universalists showed up in numbers. I had a great time chatting with UUs from around the region about why they had taken the morning off work, why they decided to take their kids out of school for a few hours, and why marriage equality is important to them.

Prime real estate in front of the Court. (Credit: Jessica Halperin)

As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Witness Ministries team, one serious perk of my job is the opportunity to live our faith – live our love – out loud. I was proud in ways I can’t fully express to know that our entire faith community was behind us. We arrived in numbers because of our faith, not just in spite of it, because we know that love and sexuality and diversity are sacred gifts that draw us together into more full humanity. My day-to-day work on reproductive justice gives ample opportunity to live into this call of ours, but it was truly a special few days at the Supreme Court, to publically offer Unitarian Universalism and religious and spiritual affirmation to the movement for justice and liberation for all people who love each other.

I was also very proud to be holding up a corner of the Standing on the Side of Love banner, especially during the tense moments that the National Organization for Marriage rally paraded down the street between the pro-equality crowds.

“2, 4, 6, 8! Kids do better with love, not hate!”

They had a permit for the street, and we were crowded onto the sidewalks and the public space in front of the Court. The SSL banners had front-row seats as the NOM supporters marched by – one of our banners even got in front of the NOM rally! – and it was unnerving to look into their faces and signs. We were literally standing on the side of love. We were also standing on the side of justice and the right side of history. As much as I feared their bigotry, I felt sorry for the NOM marchers. It must be so much less fun to be fighting a losing battle for discrimination than propelling forward a movement all about love.

Calling for LGBTQ-inclusive immigration reform. (Credit: Jessica Halperin)

Speaking of love, this post would be incomplete if I didn’t give a shout out to the folks near us who were witnessing at the intersection of immigration reform and LGBTQ advocacy. We were lucky enough to stand right next to them at the Supreme Court and offer our support and cheers, as the Standing on the Side of Love campaign has before. Their presence was a great reminder that justice is interconnected, intersectional, intertwined.

This post was written by Jessica Halperin, a lifelong Unitarian Universalist from Pittsburgh and the UUA’s Witness Ministries Program Associate. Jess holds the environmental justice and reproductive justice portfolios for the UUA.

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Stop the Deportations Now!

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Irasema Zapata speaks at the rally in front of the Massachusetts State House. (Credit: Eve Harris)

“I have a deportation order, and I don’t want to be separated from my family. That is why I’m here,” said Irasema Zapata, a wife and mother of three U.S. citizen children from Guatemala. Irasema was speaking at a rally and press conference on March 20th to launch the Massachusetts Trust Act.

I first met Irasema just a few days after she and her husband were pulled over by the police. Her husband was arrested for driving without a license, even though he has a valid Washington State license, and they were both put into deportation proceedings. We met when she was speaking at a UU Mass Action event about the Massachusetts Trust Act, telling her story for the first time.

Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) says that their so-called Secure Communities program is about deporting hardened criminals. However, their own statistics tell a very different story. In Massachusetts, 60% of those who are deported are like Irasema and her husband. They have committed no crime and are getting deported for things like minor traffic violations.

We must help stop these deportations! Thirty people, including 15 members of North Parish in North Andover, went with Irasema to a deportation hearing and slowed the process down. North Parish then collected over 100 post cards and brought them to the March 20th rally and press conference at the Massachusetts State House to deliver a message to their legislators. The message? We need to stop deporting hard working immigrants and breaking up their families by passing the Massachusetts Trust Act.

MA Trust Act advocates, including post author Jesse Jaeger of UU Mass Action (center with SSL sign). (Credit: Eve Harris)

UU Mass Action is playing a leading role in organizing the interfaith community around the Massachusetts Trust Act. Throughout April and May, we are organizing a series of actions statewide along with our partners in the labor and immigrant rights community. These actions include our annual Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Day where we will bring over 100 UUs to the State House to demand passage of the Trust Act. We will gain inspiration from our featured speaker, Sister Simone Campbell of Network, who organized the Nuns on the Bus tour in opposition to Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget.

If you live in Massachusetts, please join us in the Massachusetts Trust Act Campaign. Trust Act campaigns are gaining momentum in states across the country, including California and Connecticut. You can also learn how to bring the Restoring Trust Campaign to your local community at the Interfaith Immigration Coalition website.

Together, we can stand on the side of love with immigrant families to help stop the deportation of community members like Irasema.

This post was written by Jesse Jaeger, Executive Director of UU Mass Action.

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When It Happens in Your Own Neighborhood

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Hector’s daughter

When it happens in your own neighborhood, you cannot ignore it; you cannot turn your back.

When I learned of a local undocumented day laborer named Hector who had been arrested after being falsely accused of assault by the man that hired him, I knew we had to act. Hector and his wife and three-year old daughter are residents of Canoga Park, the tiny community which is also home to my congregation, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church.

We called NDLON and asked how we could help. In addition to the petition demanding that Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) drop its immigration hold on Hector and donating to his legal fund, we helped mobilize UUs to participate in a press conference which was held on Valentine’s Day. What a perfect way to celebrate the holiday: standing on the side of love with immigrant families.

We also reached out to the UU Legislative Ministry of California. As part of their Immigrant Justice Team, we are helping to link congregations with local immigrant justice allies and coordinating actions to advance compassionate immigration reform.

I proudly represented our UU contingent at the Valentine’s Day press conference as one of the speakers, here is what I said:

“We Unitarian Universalists are here today to stand on the side of love with Hector and his family, with day laborers across the country and with the more than 11 million immigrants in our country to say, ‘Not one more.’

Not one more unnecessary, indefinite detention, not one more deportation that rips families apart, no more injustice for our immigrant communities.

UUs at the Valentine’s Day press conference.

UU’s have had a long history of commitment to immigration justice since 1963 and Emerson UU church right here in the valley has also long supported immigrants’ rights since housing a family in the first sanctuary movement, supporting farm workers’ rights and the grape boycott in the 70′s, and supporting an immigrant family throughout the second sanctuary movement.

And our commitment continues today with the fight for immigration reform that is not merely comprehensive, but also compassionate. Immigration reform, which keeps families together, restores human values to immigration law, and supports an affordable, confidential and generous path to citizenship.

It starts with Hector. Hector’s story is part of a pattern of abuse of day laborers. Workers who stand up for their rights should be protected, not punished. ICE needs to take action to prevent employers from retaliating against workers based on immigration status. This can start by lifting Hector’s ICE hold

Our Unitarian Universalist faith promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person and justice equity and compassion. As people of faith, we believe immigration is a moral issue and we must come together as a nation to take care of ALL of our people.

At Emerson church, we begin our service by reciting our covenant which declares, ‘Love is the spirit of this church’ — ‘La doctrina de este Iglesia es amor.’ Let us turn that love into to action. We are all part of this community and we work together for this country. Todos somos parte de esta communidad y trabajamos juntos para este pais.”

You can help Hector by signing the petition to drop the ICE hold. Click here to take action.

This post was written by Sara LaWall, Ministerial Intern at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Canoga Park, California.

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Immigrant Justice Day 2012: One California

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Update June 8th: The Trust Act will be heard in the Senate Public Safety committee on Tuesday, June 12th.

OneCaliforniaOn May 21st, Unitarian Universalists joined immigrants, advocates, community members, and policy makers in raising our voices on behalf of all of California’s immigrant families at the State Capitol in Sacramento. The UU Legislative Ministry of CA (UULM CA) collaborated with the CA Immigrant Policy Center and many other immigrant justice groups for this day of education, witness and advocacy.

We were there to support  AB1801 (Ammiano), the TRUST Act—a bill to restore trust and accountability to California’s participation in the Secure Communities (S-Comm) program, respecting the wish of local communities to opt-out of the program and implement safeguards to guard against racial profiling. [See Restoring Trust: Congregational Grassroots Resources for Breaking ICE’s Hold on our Communities to learn about the local opt-out movement.]

ssl-banner-sacramentoWhile UUs across CA are organizing to come to Justice GA in Arizona, we also know there is very important work to be done in California.  The UU Legislative Ministry has formed a statewide Immigrant Justice Team with UU lawyers, immigration advocates, clergy and lay leaders who are working to build a network for long term, effective engagement of California UUs in immigrant justice with the first priority being the protection immigrant families and restoring trust in law enforcement by resisting the S-Comm (Secure Communities) program.

People came in vans and buses and drove in from across the state, including from Los Angeles, San Diego, Visalia, Fresno, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.  Two dozen UU clergy and lay leaders participated, wearing our  ‘Love’ and UULM CA shirts, and carrying our Standing on the Side of Love banner, ,joining a group of 400 allies.

Attorney Daniel Stracka, Executive Director of UURISE (UU Refugee and Immigrant Services & Education) and the UULMCA Immigrant Justice Team Co-Convener, was among those who traveled all the way from San Diego County.  A team from Mt. Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek rode up on the train, and UUs from conservative Merced to progressive Berkeley joined immigrants from across the state.

UULM CA helped to lead and anchor the interfaith prayer and procession that began the day, joining the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and Franciscan, and Jewish leaders.  Following the prayer for the people, we marched from the steps of the Cathedral to the steps of the Capitol, accompanied by the drums of Rev. Wendy Bartel, co-minister at the Sierra Foothills UU Church, and lifting our voices in song –  “Soon and very soon.. we are going to change the world… For all families, we are going to change the world…”  (See words to the entire song  below.)

ammiano-sacramentoWe rallied at the Capitol where Assembly member Tom Ammiano, author of the TRUST Act,  said, “We  have many people in California who contribute to the economy, to family life, to religion. Deported, incarcerated, denied income and split from their families, this is not democracy.”

UUs were assigned to teams to visit their legislators with members of the other immigrant justice groups from their area. We were particularly proud to join in the visit to Assembly member Bill Monning, a UU from Monterey County, and co-author of AB1081, who, as a long time advocate for farm worker justice, was able to dialogue fluently in both Spanish and English with the constituents visiting his office.

sacramento3Amy Moses-Lagos, Immigrant Justice Steering Committee member for UULM CA (and former immigration legal aid) and ministerial intern at Mt. Diablo UU Church said, “We were very impressed that Assembly member Joan Buchanan met with us herself . She really took the time to listen to our concerns and seemed supportive of the goals of the TRUST Act.  The meeting helped us see what a difference we can really make on this issue. One of our members had a conversation with Victor from Street Level and was touched by a comment he made.  He said (paraphrasing), ‘In El Salvador, I never would never have considered doing something like this.  Now I have realized that we can come together, speak up and improve things for ourselves.’  We were very impressed that the lobbying group was so diverse and included many immigrants.”

To help participants prepare for advocacy visits on Immigrant Justice Day, UULM CA held a webinar led by Angela Chan from the Asian Law Caucus.

In addition to Immigrant Justice Day, UULM CA is starting to organize at the county level.  We had our first meeting on May 19th of UUs interested in helping LA County follow the lead of Santa Clara County to stop collaboration with S-Comm.  We also had folks out in the strawberry fields in Watsonville that same weekend learning from farm workers and experts on globalization and the broken immigration system.

Through our advocacy we are creating new partnerships and relationships and helping to build The Beloved Community.

Lyrics to the song we sang at the Interfaith Prayer and Procession

1.  Soon and very soon, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

2.  No more crying here, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

3. For all families, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

4.  Come and walk with me, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

5.  Prayer and advocacy, we are going to change the world (x 3)
Together, together, we will change the world.

RevLRamsdenweb

Rev. Lindi Ramsden is Executive Director of the UU Legislative Ministry of California.

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UUs Stand in Solidarity with Immigrant Workers in California

No Comments | Share On Facebook| UUs Stand in Solidarity with Immigrant Workers in California Share/Save/Bookmark Jun 27, 2011

by Bob Lane, Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church Immigration Task Force

Castlewood Arrest

Bob Lane is cuffed by officers in Pleasanton, CA.

It was a long day.  It started with the tight plastic handcuffs on my wrists and the Sheriff’s bus transporting us––17 women and 8 men––to jail.  We had been arrested for obstructing the golf tournament for the members of the Castlewood Golf Club in Pleasanton, California, where I live.  We wanted to call out the members of the Club to stop the injustice they were continuing to commit against the workers they had locked out of their jobs 16 months earlier.  The Club claimed the lockout was the result of a contract dispute, but its conduct in those 16 months plainly showed it wanted to get rid of these workers, many of whom are immigrants, and their union, Unite Here!

The ongoing injustice against the workers was a big reason we were on the bus, but there was more.  We had all seen the workers’ courage as they showed up to picket day in and day out for 16 months.  We had witnessed their dedication to securing health care for their spouses and children and to asserting their own dignity in the face of the Club’s abuse.  We saw the support and care they gave to each other.  We saw them come together.

But the most important reason we were on that bus is simply because they asked.  They asked us to join with them in their struggle, to stand beside them to resist injustice and to insure dignity for people who work with their hands.  They invited us to make their fight our own.  And they gave us the opportunity to feel the fellowship that is part of every struggle for justice.  They offered us the chance to be brothers and sisters with them, and with each other.  Because they asked us, it was easy to get on the bus.

Fourteen hours later we were free again, freer than we had been before we got on the bus.  It was a long day, but it was a good day.  A very good day.  The alliance between the interfaith community and local unions in support of the workers is something we need to hear about at this moment in our country’s history.  Today in our society, if you want to see the incarnation of community forged in the fight for justice you don’t need to look any further than unions.  Solidarity for justice is the hallmark of their action.  We have much to learn from them.

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