Solidarity as Resistance Companioning One Another Through These Times
NICOLE PRESSLEY Organizing Strategy Director, Side With Love – Unitarian Universalist Association
On November 15, 2015, the Minneapolis Police Department killed a black man named Jamar Clark. That night, community members, organizers, and activists formed an encampment outside the Fourth Precinct to demand the release of the body camera footage and justice for Jamar Clark. For 20 days, as the Minnesota winter set in, businesses, organizations, unions, and people came together to build and sustain community. Meals were served, warm clothing was provided, and systems of care, security, and conflict resolution were designed. People danced. People sang. And people preached.
On a very late night, as many of us huddled under the propane heaters donated by the Sierra Club, Rev. Danny Givens preached a sermon about Henrietta Lacks, a black woman whose cells were used without her consent to lead to breakthroughs in science. He called us to remember the many ways in which that violation of black bodies feeds heteropatriarchal capitalism. He invited us into the powerful call to ground our work demanding justice for Jamar Clark in a broader demand to dismantle state violence and commit ourselves to black liberation.
This was the beginning of my journey into Unitarian Universalism. Rev. Danny Givens worked at Unity Church in St. Paul. At this encampment, I experienced “church” and activism in a new and powerful way that transformed my relationship to both. In my prior experience, sermons were delivered from ornate pulpits in the comfort of a building, not on a cold wet street under the threat of arrest and violence from police and white supremacists. The primary subjects were usually men whose stories felt too far away to be easily relevant to the struggles I find to be critical, as a black queer woman. Instead, he elevated the story of a black woman. Instead of focusing on salvation as a reward for our good deeds after death, he opened us up to the possibility of transformation and liberation as an urgent spiritual and political practice.
I reflected on this moment recently as I stood in solidarity with students at their encampment at Northeastern University. I was in Boston because I had the honor of being the respondent to the Minns Lecture, an annual Unitarian Universalist theological presentation, offered by Rev. Jason Lydon a few days previous. Rev. Jason spoke about the UU Service Committee’s National Moratorium on Prison Construction. He opened his remarks
Solidarity as Resistance cont. on page 5
“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”
cornel west
in this issue
SOLIDARITY AS RESISTANCE
Nicole Pressley
JUSTICE
Multiple authors
A SEASON OF CHANGE FOR LEARNING FELLOWS
Rev. JeKaren Olaoya & Jes Hunt
UPDATES FROM THE CLF ANNUAL MEETING
Jody Malloy
LOVE IS AT THE CENTER (OFFICIALLY)
Rose Gallogly
JUSTICE
What does justice look and feel like in our communities?
JACOB
CLF Member, incarcerated in AR
Justice in our UU communities is being accountable and providing equitable treatment for everyone, not just our UU brethren. Justice is fair and equal, not being driven by greed, fear, hatred and discrimination, like the current criminal justice system is.
The criminal justice system and civil justice system in the US does not meet the basic standards that we as UUs strive for, and as such we have to reach out and try to educate, while assisting those we can, even if it is just a letter or kind word while they are affected.
We who preach accountability and equity should be appalled by the horrors a so-called balanced justice
system enacts on a daily basis. It is fueled by greed, fear, hatred and discrimination. It seeks to lock away people and throw away the key. It chooses to ignore rehabilitation, mental health and physical health. The justice system is unjust and does nothing to reduce crime, discrimination, and the repeat offenses. Instead it encourages repetitive offenses with
SERGIO
CLF member, incarcerated in TX
Justice is something that a lot of people claim they want. The best way to ask for justice is by clearly defining and describing what we want. Even better than asking for justice is fighting for justice. We have the great examples of Mary Woll-
stonecraft, Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Emma Goldman, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Thich Nhat Hanh, and so many others that have left us a legacy that can’t be ignored. It shouldn’t be ignored if we really want to bring justice to every neighborhood on earth.
extreme prison sentences, and does nothing to help those who most need it. It does nothing to teach accountability and assist people in recovering and rehabilitating.
Justice is not what the legislature and judicial system currently practices, but with our advocacy and help, it can change! ¢
Justice is useless if only a few are able to get it. Justice must be universal, transcending time, space, culture, language, financial status, or any other characteristic of a person or group of people.
Now, I have a question for everybody. What is it that you want when you say you want justice? ¢
PHOTO BY SIMON DAOUDI ON UNSPLASH
What is Justice?
GARY
CLF Member, incarcerated in SC
What is justice? Is it an America that is but 4% of the world’s population, but 20% of the world’s incarcerated? Is that justice?
Or is it the 79% recidivism rate, with 1 in every 4 released returning to prison in the same year, and 5 out of 6 within 3 years — is this justice?
Is it justice to live in a nation with 19 million having a felony record and 77 million a criminal record? Is this justice?
Perhaps it is the fact that Mississippi alone incarcerates a higher percentage of its population, than Russia, China, or Iran. Is this justice?
Is it the fact that homelessness is off the charts, drug abuse and mental health issues are running rampant, racism expanding and anti-LGBTQ legislation has been passed in 19 states, while $180 billion goes to fund prisons? Is this justice?
Is it justice that since 1970 the prison population has grown 500% while crime rates have dropped 40%? Is this justice?
Justice is not equated with legality.
What is Justice?, cont. on page 4
I, Justice
TIMOTHY
CLF Member, incarcerated in NY
I, Justice, restore balance after loss or injury I seek to make the victim whole and reduce the community’s fears You break a window, you repair it, I am there You steal, you repay, I am there
But seldom are loss and I measured in the same unit You are assaulted, I exile the assailant to prison His sentence does not equal your injury Your spouse is murdered, I sentence the killer to life Years in prison cannot equate to your loss and horror I can not restore balance with such disparate scales
Still, I have grown over the centuries I once equated a thief’s hand with the value stolen I now rarely inflict death on the taker of a life Witnessing these cruelties in my name does not reduce your fears
Nor restore your faith in me
I am distressed being unable to create safe communities
Because you call me too late, after harm is done The prisoners who caused harm will soon be back among you
The youth likely to cause harm is already with you
I have matured enough to see the possibility of Your society itself transfiguring to good citizens Those who caused harm, and those likely to Only then will you all live in community Where you need not fear your neighbor Only then will I have served humankind
The Drums of Justice
FRANCES KOZIAR CLF member
The call to justice is like drums in the deep, muted beneath the footsteps of the Many as we fight for our lives nonetheless.
Trapped invisibly as the world passes overhead, we can hold onto hope so long we forget what hope even is.
But if we don’t live to see it, our day will still come, to our children or grandchildren’s children, to those born of the rage of warriors and the comfort of healers, to those who never stopped creating, and those who never stopped destroying.
The drums ever echo through our caves, crying that we still exist, promising that we still matter, drumming the rhythm of those heartbeats to come.
What is Justice?, cont. from page 3
Our Founding Fathers did not act “legally” when they committed treason to establish this nation. Harriet Tubman did not act legally when she violated the law to help African Americans flee the tyranny of slavery. Youth in the 1960s acted illegally in burning draft cards to protest the Vietnam War. Berliners risked their very lives smashing an ugly wall that had divided a city for nearly a half century. Four young college freshman defied Jim Crow and sat at a lunch counter. No, “justice” isn’t always legal.
Justice looks like many things: the freedom to talk back, the courage to find your voice, to ask the hard questions, Take a stand; Our voice is our greatest power. To not be silenced. To speak out.
For justice is a song we all sing, From the streets of New York to the dirt roads of Appalachia; Justice belongs to everyone. for justice isn’t justice until it’s justice for all!
The hallmark of a civilization is found in the manner it treats its incarcerated. Is there justice in a nation that ranks third in history — behind only Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia — in imprisoning such a percentage of its citizens? ¢
Solidarity as Resistance, cont. from page 1
with the connection between the police violence against students on Emerson College’s campus and that of the cruelty of the prison system. At the Shabbat service that followed the early morning raid and arrests of Northeastern students, attendees discussed the police repression on Emory’s campus and at Stop Cop City actions in Atlanta. In the midst of this political action, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case on the criminalization of encampments of unhoused people across the country. With the Court’s ruling in favor of criminalization, students at elite universities and their unhoused neighbors will sit in the same jails, with the same charges, and for different reasons with vastly different resources. I think about how our jails will fill with trans people, medical professionals, and people
seeking abortions, because life-saving care is also criminalized.
“If they take you in the morning, they will be come for us that night.”
—James Baldwin
Baldwin wrote these words on November 19, 1970 in a letter to Angela Davis in solidarity after her arrest. These words are not a warning like those we usually hear, “you’ll be next,” or, “first they came for…”. It is an understanding. Baldwin knows, deeply, that being targeted by the state can happen to anyone who finds themselves out of favor with those in power. LGBTQ, BIPOC, and disabled people, union organizers, sex workers, the unhoused, even women in bathing suits have found themselves the target of state based violence.
Criminalization as a tactic is not new, yet under increasingly fascist condi-
tions in this country, we may find the connections between our struggles more easily.
As I wrote in this year’s 30 Days of Love, a project of the UUA’s Side with Love campaign: “before criminalization becomes a political tactic of disconnection and domination, it is first a spiritual acquiescence to dehumanization and disposability. We deny a moral mandate of mutuality in search of the protection of power over others.” Too often, we take up solidarity in a reaction to a threat. We use it as a political strategy, attempting to build larger coalitions as a means to pass or block legislation or win some other material demand for our communities. I hope that instead, like Baldwin, we can begin to know in our bones that our liberation is inextricably bound — that maybe, we are not just all we have, but we, together, are all we need. ¢
PHOTO BY CLAY BANKS ON UNSPLASH
A Season of Change for CLF Learning Fellows
Summer is a time of change at the Church of the Larger Fellowship. Our Learning Fellows program welcomes intern ministers to serve our community for a two year fellowship. The two fabulous Learning Fellows who have been with us for the past two years, Jes Hunt and Rev. JeKaren Olaoya, ended their time at the CLF at the end of June. In July, we welcomed two new Learning Fellows: Donte Hilliard and Katherine Hofmann.
While at the CLF, Donte’s work will center on worship, and he will also be a part of our covenant group and
JES HUNT
Learning Fellow, Church of the Larger Fellowship
Imagination is essential. It holds amazing power. We can use our imaginations to take us deep underwater to explore the ocean floor. We can zoom into outer space and slide along the rings of Saturn. We can put on a long brown coat and join the crew of Firefly. And maybe you just did all of that in just these last few moments.
Something I’ve heard a lot over the past few years is, “I could have never imagined something like this happening.” Despite what our imagination was able to do in just those last few moments, none of us could have
pastoral care teams. Katherine’s work will center on prison ministry, and she will also be part of our pastoral care teams. We will be sharing more about both Donte and Katherine in future publications, and look forward to learning from and with them during their time on our staff.
As we say goodbye-for-now to our outgoing Learning Fellows, we thank them for all the gifts they have shared with us over the past two years. Below and to the right are outgoing messages to this community from Jes and Rev. JeKaren.
OUR NEW LEARNING FELLOWS
imagined all that we’ve encountered during this global pandemic slash civil rights uprising slash civil war slash genocide slash whatever tomorrow brings. It feels like each day something else happens and we say the same thing, “I could not have imagined this.”
Sometimes, we will dream and plan and things will continually NOT turn out the way we imagined. It could seem that maybe imagining isn’t a good thing. Maybe we should stop all this imagining. Yet, as each new chapter unfolds, I’m more and more convinced that imagination is the only way forward towards a better world. One that seems more and more possible to attain.
Imagining in a changing world is an exercise in letting go. Our imagina-
tion for what is to come is in constant motion and we will continue building and growing our dreams for collective liberation no matter what comes.
It is this continual building and reshaping and building again that creates within us our resiliency. It is that resiliency that allows us to lead and endure changes. It is that ability to change that allows us to grow. To heal. To build a better future. To dismantle systemic oppression and create a more loving and just world.
As Semisonic so poetically sang: “Every new beginning, is some other beginning’s end.” The dreams and imaginings we have never leave us, even when things seem to end, they move into a new beginning, a new possibility. And always with us is love. ¢
Two years feels like a really long time and absolutely no time at all. As my time here at CLF nears its end, I find myself feeling both sadness and excitement. I’m leaving this place that has helped me grow into a better minister, a better human. It has helped me learn to listen, and learn to slow down and pay attention.
I remember when I was in my early twenties, lamenting about how I felt
so out of place, like an outsider in every space I attempted to join. I was a queer kid and adult who read too many books and moved in the world to a different beat. I spent so much time trying to figure out how to fit in or pick myself apart to justify bad treatment.
I’m still the queer woman who reeds to much and does anything but stay on beat, but finding Unitarian Universalism gave me the place I’ve always been seeking. I’m not the only one who reads too much. I’m not the only queer person. And I am never alone.
Gone are the days of wondering what’s wrong with me. I know that I’m exactly who I am supposed to be in this moment. I know that I belong wherever I chose to invest my energy. I know that I am loved.
Though I leave this space, if you don’t remember anything I’ve ever said, I want you to know that you, too, are loved. You belong here. CLF is your home, if you want it to be. There are no rules or regulations, only the commitment to keeping love at the center.
All my love, Rev. JeKaren Olaoya
Updates from the CLF’s 2024 Annual Meeting
JODY MALLOY
Executive Director, Church of the Larger Fellowship
The CLF held its Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday June 16, 2024. A packet with voting information and mail-in ballot was distributed in April. Anyone who could not attend the meeting was invited to vote by mail ahead of the meeting.
The agenda for the meeting included an update from the Lead Ministry Team, reflections from the outgoing CLF board chair, a financial update, and a vote for board members and nominating committee members
as nominated by the elected CLF Nominating Committee. Information presented at the meeting can be found at clfuu.org/annualmeeting, and will be shared in the next issue of Worthy Now
We received 295 votes either by mail or in person, and the slate as presented by the Nominating Committee was elected with 279 yes votes, 1 no vote, and 15 abstentions. Thank you to all who participated in the process. And a warm welcome to our newest CLF leaders!
– Board of Directors 6/2024–6/2027: Fen Tuggle
– Board of Directors 6/2024–6/2027: Erin White
– Board of Directors 6/2024–6/2027: Rev Margalie Belizaire
– Board of Directors 6/2024–6/2026: Julica Hermann de la Fuente ⁕ ◆
– Board of Directors 6/2024–6/2025: Rev Lisa Garcia-Sampson ◆♥
– Treasurer 6/2024–6/2025: Darbi Lockridge ⁕
– Clerk 6/2024–6/2025: Mandy Neff ⁕
– Nominating Committee 6/2024–6/2025: Doreen Christiani ◆
CLF Unitarian Universalist, 24 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210-1409 USA
Copyright 2024 Church of the Larger Fellowship. Generally, permission to reproduce items from Quest Monthly is granted, provided credit is given to the author and the CLF. ISSN 1070-244X
Love is at the Center (Officially)
ROSE GALLOGLY
Publications Coordinator, Church of the Larger Fellowship
After a years-long process, delegates at the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly 2024 voted to approve a new statement of values and beliefs for Unitarian Universalism, commonly referred to as Article II. The new language of shared values was approved with an 80.2% vote, after continued discussion and debate during the General Assembly.
This all-virtual General Assembly also voted to approve statements of denominational support for Transgender, Nonbinary, Intersex and Gender Diverse People; Solidarity with Palestinians; humanitarian work amidst climate change; and support during the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have been exploring these values — Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Justice, Pluralism, Transformation, and Love — throughout this year in Quest, and look forward to sharing more about this change in coming issues. ¢
