Resolution on Racial Justice As individuals, we commit to a new level of engagement, to continually seek ways to use our voices, our privilege, our standing in the community to effect change. As a congregation, we commit to turning a new page. We declare the obvious—that Black lives matter to our beloved community. We affirm the need for powerful words and collective action, both to call out injustice and to call in love.
RRUUC Land and Labor Acknowledgment We acknowledge that the land on which we worship is the traditional land of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway people and the land through which other Indigenous Peoples traveled. We acknowledge that enslaved African people and their descendants likely labored and lived on this land. We recognize these and other people displaced, enslaved, or harmed by past injustices.
We pledge that we will follow our faith in love and work to make our congregation and our larger community more accessible, inclusive, and equitable. We pledge that we will be good stewards of the land by encouraging healthy ecosystems. We pledge to remember the past while building a more just and welcoming future for all.
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
– The Talmud
Get Out the Vote (GOTV)
Our efforts/actions are non-partisan and we partner with other non-partisan groups in various efforts to “get out the vote.” We seek to activate, educate, and empower underrepresented voters who do not have a history of voting regularly. These efforts take the form of postcard writing, texting, letter writing, and phone banking. Some of these actions are spearheaded by members of RRUUC supported by many congregational volunteers, but other efforts/actions can be done individually.
Reclaim Our Vote / Center for Common Ground has 879,000 addresses of consistent Black voters in Georgia available for receipt of postcards. You will need to use their cards, so build in time to order them. The postcards must be mailed by November 23. For background information and to sign up, go to Postcards (centerforcommonground.org).
SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) has several texting and phonebanking sessions already scheduled to help win the runoff. Sign up for one or more here.
Supporting Get Out the Vote Organizations
New Georgia Project is an established, on-the-ground “get out the vote” organization that has a website where you can volunteer. Although it has not yet posted specific opportunities for the run-off, it is expected to do so soon.
Our postcard campaigns are supported by Regional Organizers who are volunteers like you. They can assist you in obtaining addresses, supplies, best practices, and connecting with other volunteers in your area.
Reclaim Our Vote postcards are required. They can be ordered from Vista Print – the more you order, the lower the cost per card – 50 cost $4, 1000 cost $40
Typically the postcards are bundled for local distribution into groups of 20-25 with accompanying instructions, addresses, script, and stamps
Write to your members of Congress in support of changes to the Electoral Count Act to help prevent future attempts to overturn an election.Send letters electronically.
Bring your laptop, or join us online, for a group text banking session at First Parish in Concord on Thursday,Nov. 3 from 5:00-6:00pm. No prior experience necessary. Training is provided online by the Poor People’s Campaign.
Get Out the Vote in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is a key state for deciding who controls the Senate. Last Thursday, working with the Poor People’s Campaign, seven of us got together and sent 15,000 texts to Pennsylvania voters. It helped to do this together. We supported each other, and decided to do it again.
Bring your laptop, or join us online, for a group text banking session at First Parish in Concord on Thursday, October 20 from 5:00-6:00pm. No prior experience necessary. Training is provided online by the Poor People’s Campaign.
Young people are more motivated than ever to get out and vote. Still, we need your help providing them with information on how to do just that to ensure their voices are heard. Whether you’ve been texting with us all year, never textbanked before, or are ready to get involved again after a break from 2020, we welcome you! Choose the shift that works for you and we’ll provide the script, texting platform, resources, and a community to connect with other NextGen volunteers! Weekdays, 1:00-3:00pm ET, now through October.
Center for Common Ground uses three (3) Peer to Peer (P2P) texting platforms: Spoke, Outreach Circle and CallHub Fast P2P. We plan to text 3 million Black voters who did not vote in 2020 or 2018. The texting schedule is shown below.
Virginia – just launched! (Outreach Circle)
Georgia – Begins late September (Outreach Circle)
North Carolina – Begins early October (Outreach Circle)
South Carolina – Texting Begins October 1st (Outreach Circle)
Florida – Begins early October (Spoke)
Texas – Begins mid October (Spoke)
Alabama – Begins late October (Outreach Circle)
To sign up to text with us complete the Action Network Form indicating which state you would like to text as well as any texting tools where you have experience.
North Carolina Faith in Action Phonebank. Thursdays from 6:30 – 8:30 ET.
Every Thursday from now until the election join The UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina for this joyful evening of phone banking in partnership with Carolina Jews for Justice and The New North Carolina Project Foundation. Here in NC, our movement is constantly fighting for abortion access, LGBTQ rights, racial equity, Medicaid Expansion, a living wage (our minimum wage is 7.25 ) and so much more. With the stakes so high, the forces of voter suppression and intimidation are out in full force – especially in our communities of color – but this will not stop us from creating the North Carolina that we deserve. Since early September, we have been calling North Carolina voters of color – equipping them to vote their values and reminding them that in NC, elections are CLOSE and every vote matters. In 2020, over 30 elections in our state were decided by one vote or a coin toss!
Thursday, October 20th from 6:30 – 8:30pm
Thursday, October 27th from 6:30 – 8:30pm (Halloween Edition – Come in Costume!)
Thursday, November 3rd from 6:30 – 8:30pm *** Our Final Night Celebration
Come for the Impact, Stay for the Good Vibes! We promise to fill your Thursday nights with joy, purpose and deep connection. And stay until the end so you don’t miss our weekly Whitney Houston Dance Party.To add to the fun, every phone bank is hosted by a UU or Jewish congregation who bring the spiritual grounding and a participation challenge! Two weeks ago, First Unitarian in Portland reached their participation goal and their Music Director DeReau Farra dyed his hair blue! That’s Commitment! This week, our host congregation will be our long-time partners All Souls Church in Washington D.C.
We’re so excited to work together to demand bold changes to our democracy to create a government that represents all of us, not big corporations or special interests. There is training at the beginning of each shift.
In the 2020 election, voter turnout was highest among those ages 65 to 74 at 76.0%, while the percentage was lowest among those ages 18 to 24 at 51.4%. A healthy democracy needs more young people to vote.
Ask Your College is a volunteer program that helps you encourage the colleges you’re connected with to register more of their students to vote.
Good news: some colleges are registering 95%+ of eligible students by helping them complete the appropriate forms. However, most schools still need your encouragement to achieve this goal. Through Ask Your College, you can send them the information they need to help register more of their students. Even in small numbers, these messages have persuaded colleges to improve their practices.
Email AYC@fcleadership.org with the names of colleges you’re connected with, and we’ll help you easily send them an important and useful email message. Thanks!
To become a poll worker you will need to contact your local elections office. If you don’t know where that is, you can sign up with Power the Polls and they will send you the information.
If you agree that every eligible voter deserves to have their voice count, you can take action from home of in person by serving as a nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer
Train to Protect the Vote – various dates. This training is required for poll monitor volunteers. Please select one time and date to attend our training sessions. Please note: refresher trainings should only be selected if you have previously volunteered as a poll monitor with our coalition.
To support groups and individuals seeking to take electoral justice work, UU the Vote (an initiative of the Unitarian Universalist Association) holds biweekly office hours, every other Tuesday from 5pm to 6pm PT/ 6pm to 7pm MT / 7pm to 8pm CT / 8pm to 9pm Eastern. Join online or by phone to speak with an experienced UU the Vote volunteer.
Next nights of UU the Vote Office Hours:
October 4, 2022 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET
October 18, 2022 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET
UU the Vote and UUA leaders are joining congregations, State Action Networks and frontline partners for on-the-ground actions and national mobilizations to make sure the values of democracy, bodily autonomy, and human dignity are heard in the 2022 midterm elections. Don’t miss President Susan Frederick-Gray, JaZahn Hicks, and Nicole Pressley at our Fall Flex events! From knocking on doors to working the polls, we need Unitarian Universalists to harness the power of our faith to take meaningful actions as we approach another critical election year.
Experts say an extreme interpretation of the Constitution in this North Carolina redistricting case would make it even easier for state legislatures to suppress the vote, draw gerrymandered election districts, and subvert election results, among other concerns. At issue is a fringe legal ploy, the so-called “independent state legislature theory,” which has never been accepted by American courts. While the Moore case will not affect the 2022 election voting maps, it could have profound implications for the freedom to vote — and having those votes count equally in future elections — including the all-important 2024 presidential cycle.
Becky Harper of Common Cause NC – also a long-time member of UU Fellowship of Raleigh, NC – will discuss arguments by Republican lawmakers on the case’s potential impact on our elections and what Unitarian Universalists can do to fight back. Becky will be joined by an attorney from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice involved with the case.
Let us know about your interests by filling out the very briefInterest Survey and we can plug you in to meaningful action to defend democracy, in keeping with our UU values.
Or contact Reeb (All Souls DC’s Voting Rights Project) directly to discuss your interests: ascvotingrights@gmail.com
