Faith In Action News Archive
Roy Zimmerman ReZists!
Political folksinger Roy Zimmerman brought his ReZist tour to the UUSM sanctuary on Sunday, February 11, with performances at both worship services, and a community fundraiser that filled the church that evening. Zimmerman’s songs, available on YouTube, iTunes, and CD, speak to the issues facing our country, including gun violence and marriage equality. The Rev. Greg Ward made Roy Zimmerman the beneficiary of the newly-inaugurated Entrepreneurial Ministry Project, to recognize “inspired individuals following an entrepreneurial call to cast a vision, call out shared values, wake people up, and get people involved in changing the world.”
Spirit of the Sixties: Then and Now
Photojournalist and peace activist Francesco Da Vinci will offer a talk and multimedia presentation about his struggle as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, hosted by the Peace & Social Justice Committee on Saturday, March 3, at 5 pm in the sanctuary. He is currently producing a documentary film about his story, the lessons of the 1960s, and how they can be applied to today’s divided America. Discussion will follow the presentation.
— James Witker
Valentine's Day Protest
On Valentine’s Day, UUSM members joined CLUE organizers, clergy, and other community supporters to walk the picket line with workers at the JW Marriott Le Merigot hotel as they continue their struggle for fair treatment. The day concluded with an Ash Wednesday blessing at the shore.
We CAN Help Our Unhoused Neighbors
There has been an astounding rise in the number of homeless on our streets that includes disenfranchised young, poor families, forgotten veterans, and the chronically homeless. Officials on the subject along with many political leaders point to the cause as steadily rising housing costs and stagnant incomes.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has said that the issue of homelessness has persisted “through administrations, through recessions,” and that “our city is in the midst of an extraordinary homelessness crisis that needs an extraordinary response. These men, these women, these children, are our neighbors.”
The statistics are just staggering – for 2017, the homeless count in the County of Los Angeles is 58,000 (up 23%), in LA city it is 34,000 (up 20%), and in Santa Monica, it is up 26% from last year to 921 people. And, for a city the size of Santa Monica, that means 1 out every 100 persons is living on the streets.
But we care and we can help! And maybe give them some hope. The FAITH IN ACTION committee of UUSM, with the assistance of the Didi Hirsch Center and other local centers that serve the homeless, plans to donate packages of emergency supplies - things like blankets, socks, and toiletries - to people in need.
Our initial goal is to hand out care packages (drawstring carry bags) to at least 100 people. While it is not necessary for anyone to donate 100 of anything, cumulatively, we are looking to gather all the supplies for 100 bags before we bundle them. Giving anything listed below, in any quantity you can, would be greatly appreciated.
All donations should be sized for INDIVIDUALS, meaning that there should as little repackaging as possible. No large containers of things like soap or toothpaste. Hotel size products are ideal. It is easier to provide two or three hotel soaps, for example, than to resize a large one.
– Barbara Andres
WE STILL NEED:
(Quantities of each to total at least 50)
Blankets Bottled water (Dasani, Arrowhead, and the like)
Hand wipes
Toothbrushes and toothpaste (hotel size)
Nail clippers and/or a finger nail file
Band aids (probably a box each)
Packs of Kleenex
ChapStick or other lip balm
Shampoo (oatmeal is non allergenic) (in small bottles)
Combs and/or small brushes
Mints or cough drops
Bar soaps (hotel size)
Deodorant (stick type, hotel size)
Rain ponchos Large or XL underwear (tighty-whities, for all gender identities)
Lotion in small bottles
XL T-shirts (generic please)
Bus passes
Gift certificates for fast food or meal vouchers
CURRENTLY STOCKED:*
For this year, we have met our goal for the following items –
Drawstring backpacks (180 total)
Socks (2 pairs for each backpack) (256 pairs total)
Underwear (tighty-whities), (1 pair for each backpack) (98 pair total)
New (shop size) terry cloth towels (2 for each backpack) (204 total)
Quart and gallon size Ziploc bags (at least 1 for each backpack)
* Previously donated; however, additional quantities are more than welcome.
Cash donations should be made to the FAITH IN ACTION committee for the Homeless Street Survival Project. PLEASE NOTE that this is not a food handout. We are looking to assemble some street survival items.
There will be a COLLECTION BOX in Forbes Hall along with a current worksheet of items still required. Please take a worksheet, give what you can, and hopefully, by the end of February we will make this happen.
Join Us to Support Anti-Klan Demonstrators at Trial on Monday, February 26
UUSM member Hugo Contreras, along with allies Nichole Schop and Mark Liddel, was arrested two years ago while opposing the Ku Klux Klan at a rally in Anaheim. The Anaheim Three face charges of misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest in Orange County Superior Court.
The trial is scheduled to start on Monday, February 26, at the North Justice Center, 1275 North Berkeley Avenue, in Fullerton.
Congregation members and friends are encouraged to attend the trial in support of Hugo, Nichole, and Mark. We will have a rally outside the North Justice Center at 8 am on February 26. Carpools will be arranged at the Faith in Action table.
For more information, stop by the Faith in Action table between services or contact Sarah Mae Harper.
UUSM members joined thousands of others at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles on January 20
Non-Violence Workshop Inspires and Empowers
On Saturday, November 18th, 17 committed UUSM members gathered in Forbes Hall for a full-day workshop on non-violent resistance and activism organized by FIA and Adult RE. The program was developed by Abby Arnold with others from the Santa Monica Committee of CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), and is rooted in principles and strategies developed during the Civil Rights era by Martin Luther King, Jr. and others. Our facilitators, Rabbi Neill Comess-Daniels, Rev. Jim Conn, and Gabriella Rosco, led us through history, philosophy, and implementation of non-violence as a moral discipline and practical approach to effecting change. Rev. Greg presented a timeline of liberatory ideas and social action in UU history, helping to ground the training in our own spiritual tradition. It was a powerful day of learning and discussion that inspired and equipped us for the work ahead.
— James Witker
I believe compassion is the most important quality to cultivate. Indeed, the most revealing insight for me during the CLUE workshop was during our enactment of a protest march, with harsh insults hurled at the marchers. Some people said it felt good to be on the other side – it was cathartic. But I must say, I felt deep compassion for anyone who behaves with such ire. As I pretended to march, I could feel their hearts as heavy as stones, and their minds and souls in upheaval as they fought against what is in their own best interest. It didn’t make me defensive. It brought me sadness. The fight is a hard one, but we must always keep our eye on the prize, a time when everyone can come together and be on one page. It might be naïve, but I believe reconciliation between sharply divided Americans can be achieved if we exercise compassion and hold tight to hope.
— Sarah Robson
The Anaheim 3 Struggle Continues
On Monday, November 27th 4 congregants, our Director of Religious Exploration, other UUs and friends came out to the North Justice Center in Fullerton to support Hugo Contreras, Nichole Schop, and Mark Liddell in their ongoing legal battle. They are still facing misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest charges from opposing the KKK in Anaheim in February 2016. A group led by strong women chanted and picketed before going inside to support the defendants. As we went to enter the courthouse, the police stopped us and demanded decorum, telling us we wouldn’t be allowed to chant inside. We packed the hearing room and the judge’s jaw dropped when he saw the number of people who had come out in support. As long as the unfair prosecution of anti-racists continues while violent white supremacists walk free, we will be there.
The trial is scheduled to start on Monday, February 26th at the North Justice Center in Fullerton. We will have a rally outside at 8 am. Carpools will be arranged at the Faith in Action table.
Save the date: Monday, February 26, 2018 at 8 am. North Justice Center 1275 North Berkeley Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832
For more information, stop by the Faith in Action table between services or contact Sarah Mae Harper.
— Sarah Mae Harper
More Than 100 Turn Out for Interactive Panel on Racial Injustice
On the night of Saturday, November 11th, Faith In Action collaborated with our new friends and community partners from OFA (Organizing For Action) to bring you “An Uncomfortable Truth: Time To Talk About Racial Injustice.” The evening was a great success and exceeded our expectations, with a combined turnout of more than a hundred from our congregation and the wider community packed into the sanctuary to hear from a diverse panel
of experts. Visitors came from all the way across town and as far as Orange County.
Topics covered included the challenges of implicit bias, reform of policing and the criminal justice system and, for those of us who are not people of color, how to understand white privilege and be effective allies to Black- and Brown-led justice movements. Powerful stories were shared by the speakers, and some exchanges with an engaged audience became emotional. A few highlights from the panel: Randy Shrewsberry, a former police officer turned reformer, discussed the racist culture in law enforcement into which he had been indoctrinated, and his own struggle to overcome the false narratives he had grown up with. Charles Swain, Esq., a civil rights attorney and the
father of one of OFA’s student organizers, choked up as he related memories of segregated maternity wards in the Alabama of his youth. Donazaleigh Abernathy, the daughter of civil rights pioneer Ralph Abernathy, described memories of Dr. King and her own journey from the deep South to living as a black woman in Beverly Hills, where she continues to face routine discrimination and harassment based on the color of her skin.
For the first time, our FIA team put in place a security plan for the evening with input from the new UUSM Safety Task Force and the Santa Monica Police Department. In the last several months, concerns have been raised about newly-energized hate groups in our area and disruptions at other anti-racist events in the neighborhood. Thankfully, the evening went smoothly and without incident.
We are excited about the many connections that were forged or strengthened between our congregation and the wider community at this event, and we look forward to new possibilities as FIA continues work to confront and oppose racism in greater LA and beyond!
— James Witker
Member and Allies Face Trial for Anti-Klan Protest
UUSM member Hugo Conteras and allies Nikki Schop and Mark Liddell face misdemeanor charges of battery and resisting arrest for protesting a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim in 2016. As has been demonstrated most recently in Charlottesville, VA, the Klan and other white supremacists are armed and dangerous. We must continue to oppose their presence in our communities.
Their trial is set to begin on Monday, November 27, and is estimated to last two weeks. We will need supporters both as spectators inside the courtroom and protestors outside the courthouse. There will be a fundraiser and planning meeting on Saturday, November 4.
For more information, please contact Sarah Mae Harper at amapolaroja@gmail.com, or stop by the Faith in Action table after services.
Save the dates:
• Saturday, November 4 at 6 pm – Fundraising potluck and planning. Contact Sarah Mae Harper for the location.
• Monday, November 27 at 8 am – Trial begins at the North Justice Center, 1275 North Berkeley Avenue, Fullerton, CA
— Sarah Mae Harper
Panel Discussion About Racial Injustice - Saturday November 11 at 7 pm
Faith in Action presents “An Uncomfortable Truth: Time to Talk About Racial Injustice,” an interactive panel discussion that will take place on the evening of Saturday, November 11 in the sanctuary, in partnership with the local chapter of Organizing For Action (OFA). The event will be moderated by OFA’s organizing fellows and will feature distinguished guests:
\• Jennifer Williams, professor of African American and Gender Studies at Loyola Marymount University.
• Donzaleigh Abernathy: Author, civil rights activist, actress, and daughter of civil rights pioneer Ralph Abernathy.
• Charles Swain Esq. Civil Rights Attorney and filmmaker.
• Dr. Penelope Facher, Psychotherapist.
• Professor Marne Campbell, Professor of African American Studies and History, Loyola Marymount University.
Please join us for this exciting opportunity for education, dialogue, and collaboration with local activists who share our congregation’s commitment to justice and equity. A reception in Forbes Hall will follow the discussion.
More about OFA: Organizing For Action (www.ofa.us) began as the organization to elect President Obama in 2007-2008 but has evolved into an independent, non-partisan, grassroots movement working for progressive change on many fronts including racial justice, reproductive rights, healthcare and climate change. It has 250 chapters nationwide in which experienced volunteers work with and mentor young people with the goal of mobilizing the next generation of progressive organizers and social justice leaders.
Principles and Practice of Non-Violent Resistance
UUSM members are invited to enroll in a day-long workshop presented by CLUE-LA to develop a shared practice of non-violent resistance on Saturday, November 18 from 9 am to 3 pm. Pre-registration is required. Please sign up at the Faith In Action table after services on November 5 or 12.
Non-violence is a philosophy, a spiritual practice, and a strategy. Beginning with framing in the Unitarian Universalist faith, the training will focus on the six principles of nonviolent direct action, and the six steps of a nonviolent campaign. Components include values exercises, historical examples, and responding to violence. The workshop was developed by clergy and lay members of CLUE’s Santa Monica committee, building on the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. We ask you to make a commitment to attend the full workshop, which will strengthen our congregation’s solidarity and power as a force for justice.
Raising Awareness about Accessibility
We have done much to make our church campus more accessible and friendly. The sloped entrance from the Anderson Courtyard, the ramp behind the cottage, and the bathroom spaces in the cottage and Forbes Hall all improve access. However, we still have many barriers to full inclusion for persons with special needs and disabilities. As an example, many important church activities are planned without considering how to ensure accessibility.
You can help by looking around as you are involved in the church. Would a person with limited vision, with a walker or wheelchair, with limited hearing, or cognitive limitations be able to participate fully? Do you have a need that is not being addressed? What can be done to improve access?
You can help by talking with the Disability Support Group and others in the church about ways to improve support for persons with disabilities in our church community or by sharing your concerns and needs. Not sure whom to contact? Look for Mark Christiansen, Michael Young, Steve Young, or Sylvia Young.
— Steve Young
UUSM Joins Annual Interfaith March
UUSM participated in the annual Interfaith March, held this year on Sunday, September 10 in observance of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace, and Justice hosted the Interfaith March, which was held in the San Fernando Valley, following two years of marches in Koreatown. Approximately 400 people, more than previous marches, turned out from all faith traditions, alongside atheists, agnostics, and humanists. The march started at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church in Encino, then continued to Temple Judea, and on to the final stop at the Islamic Center of Reseda.
Soraya Deen of the Muslim Women’s Speakers was one of the main organizers. UUSM’s Peace and Social Justice Commission hosted her group’s first public outreach event in our sanctuary Labor Day weekend 2016.
Seven of our congregants (Sarah Mae Harper, Hugo Contreras, James Witker, Deirdre Dietel, Roberta Frye, Patrick Tape, and Stan Bemis) braved the heat to attend the march, along with UUs from Emerson, The Onion, and Santa Clarita. Most of us could not make the entire march, mainly due to the heat. We look forward to the next interfaith march and hope to bring more people out in the future.
— James Witker and Sarah Mae Harper
Interweave Picnic a July Success
UUSM’s Interweave, along with the Women’s Alliance, held its annual picnic for the church in the courtyard on Sunday, July 30. Participants were asked to make a donation, which was forwarded to The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) young people. Once again organized by Kris Langabeer and Debbie Menzies, the picnic was well attended, delicious, music-filled – with many helping hands and lots of opportunities for good conversations – wonderful!
Interweave is our church’s group for LGBTQI individuals and our friends and allies. In addition to the annual picnic, Interweave helps organize the Coming Out Day Sunday service in October, and coordinates UUSM participation in the Pride Parade each June.
Peace and Social Justice Committee Resists ICE Detention of L.A. Pastor
Pastor Noe Carias Mayorga, an Evangelical minister, was detained by ICE when he appeared for his routine immigration hearing at the Los Angeles Federal Building. Pastor Noe is married to an American citizen and has two children who are also American citizens. He is the pastor of a small congregation near Echo Park, and has been living in the U.S. since he was a teenager.
On Thursday, July 27, a prayer vigil organized by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) and partner Matthew25 SOCAL, took place in front of that same Federal Building. Pastor Noe is now in detention at a GEO Group (a for-profit company) facility in Adelanto in San Bernardino County, another county away from his family and congregation.
Peace and Social Justice Committee members Hugo Contreras, Roberta Frye, Cathie Gentile, and Audrey Lyness attended the vigil to show solidarity with our partner, CLUE.
Our Banner Is Back!
Faith In Action’s Black Lives Matter/Standing on the Side of Love banner was reinstalled on the fence in front of the Eternity Garden on July 14. FIA would like to thank Bob Dietz, Jessie Dietz, and Audrey Lyness for their valuable assistance in repairing and reinstalling the banner.
– Cathie Gentile
UUs Join Second Annual #InterfaithMarchLA
On Sunday, April 2, at least 25 members and friends of our congregation participated in the second annual Los Angeles Interfaith March, a show of solidarity in troubled times that began at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, LA’s oldest Jewish congregation, and ended one mile down the street at the Islamic Center of Southern California, the city’s original Muslim community. Whereas last year’s event was inaugurated as mainly a coming together of the Abrahamic faiths, the organizers intentionally expanded the frame this year to include “people of all faiths, philosophies, and creeds.”
Along the way, we saw familiar faces from the interfaith community and heard from many local faith and civic leaders. A rabbi spoke of the Wilshire corridor as having long been a microcosm of the city’s religious diversity. A Catholic priest decried through a megaphone that people in his church were living in fear of the new administration’s policies. A Zoroastrian priest preached from a Presbyterian pulpit on the dignity and equality of all women and men. Two city officials and an Imam spoke words of welcome specifically to humanists, atheists, and other secular folks who had joined in the march from Sunday Assembly LA, Atheists United, and the Santa Clarita Freethinkers. (The pluralism modeled here could not happen easily in every city.) Sikhs passed out bowls of hot food. The event’s principal organizer, Dr. Arik Greenberg, thanked so many UUs (many of us visible in our yellow shirts) for turning out. In closing remarks to the crowd at the Islamic Center, he argued that we are at war -- not with our fellow people, despite perceived differences, but with racism, sexism, homophobia, ignorance, greed, and other “spiritual faults” that prevent us from realizing beloved community.
I was asked to be on the planning team for this year’s march, and would appreciate your feedback both on how it
went and what we can do to increase UU participation next time.
— James Witker
Inspiration for the Future from Michael Dowd’s Visit
On March 19, the Rev. Michael Dowd delivered two rousing sermons at UUSM on the sacred side of science, his own eco-theology, and climate justice. Later that afternoon, he gave his full 90-minute multimedia presentation to a packed sanctuary of UUSM members along with friends from the wider community and Citizens‘ Climate Lobby. A lively reception co-hosted by Adult RE, the Green Committee, and AAHS (Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists & Secularists) followed. We’re fortunate to have someone familiar to UU congregations who can “evangelize” so passionately on these crucially important subjects. As Michael terms it, he preaches a unique “synthesis of science and religion that transcends and includes both.”
The Adult RE Committee has acquired the complete collection of Michael and Connie’s video and audio presentations, which they dub “The Great Story.” This will enable us to further explore the richness and relevance of their ideas -- evidence as modern scripture, death in the context of deep time, Big History and cosmic/biological evolution as a sacred creation story, and more -- in study and discussion groups in the months ahead. We think there’s material here (and also in Dowd’s bestselling book, “Thank God for Evolution”) for many Adult RE programs. And we’re encouraged by the way Michael and Connie (“crea-theist” and “cre-atheist” respectively) have the potential to bridge persistent theological differences in a profoundly meaningful way.
— James Witker
Anti-Racism Talk after Second Sunday Supper, May 14 at 7:15 pm
Shelly Tochluk — “Feeling the Push to be an Ally for Racial Justice? Concerns, Conundrums and
Contradictions”
The Faith in Action Commission and the Peace and Social Justice Committee invite you to welcome anti-racist activist and educator Shelly Tochluk to a program following the Second Sunday Brunch for Supper potluck on Sunday, May 14 at 7:15 pm. Shelly is a Professor of Education at Mount St. Mary’s University - Los Angeles, a volunteer at Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere - Los Angeles (AWARE - L.A.), and the author of the books “Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk about Race and How to Do It,” and “Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice.” Shelly has spoken about her anti-racist work at venues across the country, including UU churches, and has been invited to participate at General Assembly New Orleans this summer.
“Shelly Tochluk invites you into welcome conversation about how we can reawaken our deepest moral traditions to promote inclusion, equity, and address fundamental questions of belonging that embrace our diversity and complexity,” says John A. Powell, director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley. Rebecca Parker, President Emerita, Starr King School for the Ministry, says of Tochluk’s work: “. . . Living in the Tension makes it clear that racial justice work requires spirituality and spirituality requires racial justice work.”
Shelly will address questions contemplated in social justice circles regarding the role of racial dynamics, the tension between the need to uplift our common humanity and to respect difference, accountability to others, and whether a primary focus on personal and collective healing is sufficient without engagement in political action.
Please join us for the presentation, questions, and discussion.
Office of The Americas, International Action Center,
and ADDICTED TO WAR invite you to a screening of:
and ADDICTED TO WAR invite you to a screening of:
CITIZEN CLARK: A Life of Principle
A Film about Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General and Human Rights Activist
Directed by Joseph Stillman - Narrated by Martin Sheen
Saturday, May 13 – 7 pm
Doors open at 6 pm for food, drink and talk
The Peace Center
3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City 90230
Parking behind building or at the book store next door
Suggested $10 Donation at the door
With Special Guests:
Director Joseph Stillman
Blase and Theresa Bonpane of The OOA
John Parker and Maggie Vascassenno of The IAC
FIA Art Wall and Fundraiser June 4
June is the FIA Art Wall Show with each of our action groups represented (Green Committee, Hunger Task Force,
Interweave, and the Peace and Social Justice Committee). On Sunday, June 4 FIA will host a reception and have its annual fundraiser. The Fundraiser has church member-made craft goods and some special used items for sale. Please check out our sale and help our FIA groups do their good community service work. Contact: Diana Spears.
UUSM Children Put Their Faith into Action
Seventeen UUSM children made 55 sack lunches on Sunday, March 26 for a multi-generational Faith In Action project. Accompanied by 10 adults, the children walked five blocks to Turning Point Shelter, and delivered the lunches, along with their survival supplies, for the residents of Turning Point, who were waiting for permanent housing opportunities to become available/P&SJ Collects Signatures at Ciclavia
The route of the Culver City Meets Venice CicLAvia March 26 went right over the spot on Windward Avenue where Brendon Glenn was killed May 5, 2015. Members of the UU Santa Monica Peace & Social Justice Committee and others were there to collect signatures on a petition demanding that District Attorney Lacey prosecute the LAPD officer who killed Brendon, as part of our continuing antiracist activities. Photo by James Witker.
Know Your Rights workshop
Co-sponsored by the ACLU Westside Chapter.
Tuesday, February 28, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
We rely on law enforcement keep us safe and treat us fairly regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. This workshop provides tips for interacting with law enforcement and understanding your rights.
Our presenter is Shakeel Syed.
Shakeel Syed is currently serving as the Executive Director of OCCORD (Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development) and is a board member of ACLU & Death Penalty Focus. He is a life long civil rights & human rights activist. He is the former executive director of the Islamic Shura Council, an umbrella organization of mosques and Muslim organizations in Southern California.
Note: free parking for this event will be available at the UCLA Hospital parking structure at 16th & Arizona. See link for parking pass instructions.
Congregants Step Up Fight Against Racism
In the wake of Donald Trump’s derisive primary and general election campaigns, racist, sexist, antiimmigrant, anti-Islamic, homophobic, and other hatebased attacks have risen sharply. In response, many UU Santa Monica members and friends — along with millions of other people throughout the nation — have stepped up, or plan to step up, their anti-racist, pro-unity activities.
Peggy Rhoads supplied the text for the Peace & Social Justice Committee’s new “No Racism” poster, and Pam Teplitz designed it. We added some names at the top and bottom. The new names are a small sample of those killed by police in the US in 2016. In the center is an enlargement of the button PSJ has been turning out with our button machine for over a year. So far, we have distributed about 1,500 buttons. If you wear one, you may not have it long. Wherever you go, someone will say, “I like your button.” If you offer it to them, more than likely they will accept and put it on. What are the demographics of people who take the button? Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander. All ages. High school and college students, restaurant workers, bowling alley workers, flight attendants, medical workers, teachers, people in business attire on airport security lines, baggage handlers, unhoused people. You can get a button, or several, at the FIA table. You can donate a dollar (or more), or nothing at all. Proceeds go into the work of PSJ, including making more buttons.
MLK Sunday Service
John Raphling, the guest speaker at our 11 am January 15 service, congratulated us on our 20-monthlong (and ongoing) campaign to have LAPD officer Clifford Proctor prosecuted for killing Brendon Glenn, a homeless Black man. John was co-counsel representing Brendon’s mother and 4-year-old son in a civil suit against the City of Los Angeles that was recently settled for $4 million. John placed the death of Brendon in the context of the gentrification of Venice and a push by politicians, the LAPD, and some corporations and wealthy homeowners to drive un-housed people out of Venice. Then he acted out the video showing Proctor killing Brendon. The video has not been released to the public, but John saw it in preparation for trial. As John played the roles of Brendon Glenn, Clifford Proctor, and Proctor’s partner, culminating in the two shots in the back that killed Brendon while he was prone in the street, you could hardly hear anyone in the Sanctuary breathe.
Later in the service, Rev. Rebecca spoke of a meeting she had recently attended, convened by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, at the Islamic Center of Southern California. “I saw a vision of what Dr. King called Beloved Community: a multiracial, multifaith coalition of leaders willing to call one another to be peacemakers, to be truthtellers, and to stand in the place of moral courage, and tell one another what we see.…
“So often the real prophets in our midst don’t tell us what will happen; they tell us what is happening, already, all around us, if we could but open our eyes and keep them open; if we could but awaken from our sleeping and stay woke.…
“I’ve been amazed at my own ability to not see the truth, when I don’t want to…. I protect myself from the truths I don’t want to see: inequality, suffering, the pillaging of our planet for personal gain.…
“You know, I know, we know in our bones, with the stories of our lives, that truth and a just peace and courage and freedom and love go together. That while we live in lies, we are not free. We know that to remain blind, we must bind ourselves into ever smaller circles of living.…
“I know the coming weeks and months and years for this country are going to ask a lot of us, to ask a lot of communities like this one that are grounded in love, in service, in the search after truth. That’s why I’m asking you today to affirm your commitment to peacemaking, to truth-telling and to moral courage.”
Following the service, people lined up at the FIA table in Forbes Hall, to sign the petition demanding the prosecution of Clifford Proctor, to sign the petition to the Orange County DA demanding the dropping of the charges against the anti-KKK 3, to sign up to participate in the January 21 Women’s March in Downtown LA, and to otherwise get involved.
MLK Sunday FIA Town Hall
The annual Faith in Action Town Hall meeting took place in the Sanctuary at 12:30 pm January 15. The components of FIA — Peace & Social Justice, Green Living Committee, Hunger Task Force, and Interweave — presented what they have been and are doing, and ideas for additional actions were proposed from the floor. There’s way more than we can list here, but we’ll try to have the notes from the meeting at the FIA Table and on uusm.org.
MLK Day, Monday January 16
As we do every year, UUSM participated in the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition celebration. Peace & Social Justice Committee members staffed a booth at the community fair at St. Monica’s church, following the formal program at the Soka Gakkai International Auditorium. Our table had information about our church and our anti-racist activities. Many people signed our petitions demanding the prosecution of Clifford Proctor and the dropping of the charges against the anti-KKK 3. We ran the trailer for “Profiled” on a laptop computer, and a number of people signed up to see the movie next time we showed it or expressed interest in showing the movie at their organization.
LA Women’s March Saturday, January 21
The LAPD said “well past” 100,000 people participated. The LA Times said “hundreds of thousands.” The organizers said 750,000. What we know for sure is that UU Santa Monica folks were there in numbers, at least 70, perhaps as many as 100. At the services the next day, those who participated were asked to raise their hands.See photo. Comments we heard: “The march is so big, we may not get to City Hall.” “Construction workers and bus drivers are giving a high five and honking horns.” “We can’t just make this about Trump, we have to protest murders by police.” “We want 12 of your No Racism buttons. I’ll give you my email. Maybe you can bring them to our church.” “We should have been marching when Obama was deporting 2.5-million people.” With the help of our UUSM members, these messages will grow in number and volume.
— Peggy and Rick Rhoads
