Register for UUA General Assembly, June 22-26.
Many ways to plug into UU The Vote here https://www.uuthevote.org/events/
From Side with Love Organizing Team:
Dear Ones,
On Saturday, an 18-year-old white supremacist carried out a premeditated fatal attack on a Black community in Buffalo, killing ten and injuring many more. Today, we mourn the ten unique and precious lives of the people murdered in Buffalo – church elders, civil rights activists, grandmothers, parents of small children. We grieve with this community as they reel from this violence and collective trauma.
Tops supermarket is more than a grocery store – it is a space that the community created to meet essential needs. The shooter’s plan was specifically designed to target the beating heart of the Black community, taking aim at a nexus of community care, resources, and resiliency. This is the essence of white supremacist ideology – the elimination of not only BIPOC people as individuals, but entire communities and cultures.
Given the persistent white supremacist attacks in our nation’s history, it is dishonest and irresponsible to call these “isolated incidents.” We will not cause further harm by calling this a mental health issue. We must refuse the complacency of accepting that this is simply a gun reform issue. This is the expected consequence of a nation that has yet to confront an ideology that proclaims whiteness is superior and treats blackness as less valuable or a threat. Shootings like these are not an affront to America’s deepest values; they are the embodiment of them.
In all too familiar moments, we recall these words from the song “Tell It Like It Is” by Tracy Chapman:
Say you’ll never close your eyes, or pretend that it’s a rosy world.
Say you’ll never try to paint what is rotten with a sugarcoat.
Say you’ll talk about the horrors you’ve seen and the torment you know,
And tell it like it is.
This latest attack is the result of a society that is rooted in white supremacy. This violence begins with people aligning themselves with white supremacy, however, it shows up in our lives. It shows up with believing that white lives should be protected over Black lives–knowing that Black children playing on playgrounds or sleeping in their homes are killed by police without hesitation, while white assailants are taken safely into custody. It shows up with packaging genocidal movements in language like “Replacement Theory.” It shows up when the media calls Mike Brown an “18-year-old man” and the Buffalo shooter a ”white teenager.” Whether it is the lie of a stolen election or calling a deadly insurrection “legitimate political discourse,” we must remember that “those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” White supremacy, in all its expressions, is violence. And until we collectively commit to eradicating that root structure, this violence will continue.
We must keep telling the truth, keep fighting, keep building a shared story and collective power because in our bones–we know another world is possible. As Black movement builder and Director of the Working Families Party Moe Mitchell said this morning, “If you don’t think change is possible, organizing is not your ministry.” We begin with truth-telling and moving together in that truth. Another world is possible if we build it together.
In faith and solidarity,
The Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team
What Does Public Safety Mean to You? Tell Us at a Listening-and-Learning Session for Reimagining Public Safety
The City of Olympia has launched a community-led process to ensure our public safety system works for everyone. This process is being led by a Community Work Group that is hosting a series of Listening-and-Learning sessions. We invite you to join us for an in-person conversation on May 31 from 6:00-8:00 pm at The United Churches of Olympia, 110 11th Avenue SE Olympia. What is working well with the City’s public safety system? What is not working well with the City’s public safety system? What the City can do today to make a difference in our public safety system? How will you know we are making progress with improving our public safety system, and what will that look and feel like to you? The City of Olympia is dedicated to a deeper exploration of racism, specifically anti-Black racism. Marginalized communities such as people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community and specifically people who are transgender or non-binary, immigrants, people in poverty, and many others also have important concerns. To learn more about this process, including how to join the listening-and-learning session, and view helpful pre-discussion materials, visit Engage Olympia. To stay informed on this process, sign up to receive Community Safety, Health & Livability e-mail notices at www.olympiawa.gov/news. Reimagining Public Safety Flyer
Green Your Home’s Carbon Footprint Webinar – June 14 at 6:30 pm sponsored by Green Faith Olympia and Faith Action Climate Team (FACT). Court Olson is a civil engineer with decades of experience in green buildings. This practical presentation will help you sort out what you need to do for your home to do your part to become part of the difference for our beloved planet! Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdO2spzMtEtA4KVBzFJEyJM2s0QJK17cT
For questions, please contact lynn@fitz-hugh.org