FIA News Archive
Boycott Millennium Carwash!
On June 11, a group of two dozen or more area clergy, residents and carwasheros involved with CLUE (Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice) and the Clean Carwash Campaign visited Lincoln Millennium Car Wash to deliver a large number of letters from the community to the business owner, Steve Damavandi. The letters, many of which were written or collected here at UUCCSM thanks to the efforts of Faith in Action, asked Mr. Damavandi to agree to a meeting with workers to discuss better working conditions and fair treatment. For several years, local carwasheros have alleged wage theft, intimidation and retaliation by management
against workers attempting to organize at several car washes owned by the Damavandi family, which is currently involved in a class-action lawsuit related to some of these alleged abuses. This congregation has played an active role in supporting the worth and dignity of these workers, who are among the most disadvantaged and invisible residents of our community. Present on this day were UUCCSM's Abby Arnold, Jila Tayefehnowrooz, and James Witker.
As the bulk of the group waited on the sidewalk, a handful of clergy members and CLUE activists approached
the owner to present the letters, politely but firmly asking him to name a time when he would meet with workers to discuss their grievances. Mr. Damavandi reacted with visible hostility. He refused to discuss the matter and demanded that the group leave his property. After continued attempts to engage him in conversation failed and he called the police, the delegation members withdrew to the sidewalk and went ahead with the contingency plan: a peaceful picket asking the community to boycott Lincoln Millennium Car Wash until a meeting with workers is agreed to. Over the span of an hour or more, customers left and no new customers came in, causing the business to temporarily close its doors. Journalists from several local media outlets including KPFK were present, and many passersby on congested Lincoln Blvd. witnessed the picket and honked horns in support. The boycott is fully supported by Millennium's workers, who feel that it is necessary at this time.
lease spread the word to the community.
— James Witker
Fight to Stop a Deportation Continues
In our July issue we reported that Carlos Humberto CocBoch, a worker at Millennium Carwash in Venice and leader of the drive to unionize workers there, was facing a deportation hearing July 9. The judge was sick that day, and Carlos now has a three month extension of his case.
Carlos qualifies for “prosecutorial discretion” because he is a steady worker with no criminal record and is the sole support of his wife and three young children. Prosecutorial discretion means Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) drops the case and goes after criminals instead.
Over 150 members and friends of our congregation have signed letters requesting prosecutorial discretion for Carlos. We picked up another 60 at the General Assembly in Louisville, mostly from two immigration-related workshops that Peggy Rhoads and I attended.
Jim White, a vestry member at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Central Harlem, was a guest at the GA. He took
the letter back to New York with him and sent us 20 letters signed by members of that congregation, and from the Riverdale Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, demonstrating multi-racial unity against the deportation of a Latino worker.
In an effort to de-compartmentalize my life, I’ve also collected signatures at my gym and coffee shop and from
friends and family members. We now have three more months to push for Carlos’s case to be dropped. If you haven’t already signed a letter, please come by the Faith in Action table in Forbes Hall. If you have already signed it, why not take some copies to work, to school, to social events, to get-togethers with friends and family? Passivity in the face of racism is not the answer. Let’s give people the opportunity to act against the
breaking up of this family.
— Rick Rhoads
Green Living Committee
This spring the Green Living Committee and UUCCSM kids enjoyed a tradition many millennia old. They got their hands in the dirt planting our garden. One Sunday was spent turning over and amending the soil with rich organic matter.
Kids donned their rain boots and get-grubby clothes to prepare the garden for planting. This was an adventure, with small children wielding big shovels and finding wiggly worms, grubs, spiders, and ladybugs.
On May 5, after both services, congregation members “adopted” plants and seeds for the children to plant.
Strawberry, tomato, and pepper plants were the most popular, but several kids did a great job carefully planting the tiny lettuce, kale, carrot, and radish seeds. Flowering marigolds and nasturtiums add beauty to the garden, and will add flavor to your salad. The lettuce, radishes and kale seeds popped their heads up first, and the radishes are already ready for harvest. Please come by and enjoy our garden's delights.
Pluck a strawberry to taste the freshness or share a flower with a loved one. But watch out — some of those peppers are SPICY!
Thanks to all the hard-working volunteers, young and old, who dug and planted, and to those who joined the
adoption drive. Our kids are learning a new way to appreciate the bounty of the good earth.
— Lois I. Hutchinson
Help Stop Deportation of Carwashero Leader
We had a CLEAN Carwash Campaign/CLUE-LA/Faith in Action meeting in our Cottage Thursday evening June 13. Two workers from Millennium Carwash who are leaders of the workers organizing committee there, Esteban Hernandez (who spoke at a YRUU session back in November) and Carlos Humberto Coc-Boch, reported on what is going on.
Management has been using various tactics to intimidate, discipline, and fire known union organizers. They have been going after Carlos. Recently, it appears he was set up. He had not brought food that day, and another worker kept offering him food. Carlos said no several times, but finally accepted the offer. It turned out the food actually belonged to a third worker. Management suspended Carlos for a Sunday for eating someone else's food. To make up for lost wages, Carlos went to Santa Monica Beach and sold fruit. He was arrested for selling fruit and, with no ID, placed on immigration hold. His deportation hearing is July 9.
Carlos is undocumented, but he fits into a category that qualifies for “prosecutorial discretion,” meaning drop the charges and pursue deportations against real criminals. Carlos fits this category on several grounds:
—No criminal record
—Sole provider for his wife and three children
—All the children are U.S. citizens
CLEAN and CLUE are circulating a letter to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Chief Counsel in support of Carlos. The idea is to get one signature per copy. Rev. Rebecca announced this in the service Sunday June 16 and {# to be added} members and friends of our congregation signed in Forbes Hall. You can help:
1) If you haven’t signed the letter, print it (from the UUCCSM Facebook page), sign it, scan it, and email it to me at fia@uusm.org.
2) Ask your relatives, friends, and co-workers to sign the letter.
If you’ve been following the carwash workers organizing campaign, you know that Millennium (on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice) is one of the three car washes owned by the Damavandi family. The Damavandi's are defendants in a class-action lawsuit to recover stolen wages. They have hired a law firm that specializes in busting unions to defend against the suit and to advise them on how to prevent the workers from winning better working conditions, such as requiring the carwashes to comply with California labor laws regarding pay, breaks, sanitary conditions, and health and safety.
My friends Carlos (a different one) and Janet came to the meeting to help translate. Carlos is now a U.S. citizen, as are their children, and Janet has a green card, but they spent years undocumented. Janet asked, “Why do we need borders? It’s borders that create these problems, not workers doing their best to make a living.”
— Rick Rhoads
Film Showing — “The Central Park Five”
On Sunday, July 21, the Peace and Social Justice Committee will present the film “The Central Park Five” in Forbes Hall at 12 noon, following the 10 a.m. service and social hour. “The Central Park Five,” by award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, depicts a stunning miscarriage of justice through the experiences of five young African American and Latino men who were wrongly convicted of brutally beating and raping a young white woman who was jogging in Central Park in 1989. Told from their perspective, the film covers the trial, conviction, appeal process, and their eventual exoneration after serving between three and thirteen years in prison. The film will be followed by a discussion.
— Nora Hamilton
Green Living Committee News
For Earth Day this year we had an entire service devoted to Earth Justice. My husband, Bryan Oakes, and I lit the chalice in honor of the green building volunteers and professionals that strive to make a difference on a huge scale through improving sustainable building practices. Lisa Cahill of TreePeople, who is also an active UUCCSM member spoke about imagining the abundant joy we could create by each of us planting 100 trees. Lisa helped us plant 7 trees on our campus just last year. Jessica Clay, Green Living Committee co-chair, gave her first sermon on the subject of Earth Justice, a topic near and dear to her heart. It was very thought provoking! We did a collaborative effort in the sanctuary and commit to each other to try some new efforts to be green and sustainable. It was very inspiring and committing to making these small changes gave us a good sense that we can make a difference.
In the newsletter, over the next few months, we would like to highlight and focus our attentions on recognizing some green and sustainable leaders in our UU Community in continuation of our Celebration of Earth Day.
Alison Kendall has been a UU Member for 20+ years and continues to be a very active member. She is a LEED accredited architect and planner. Her latest volunteer efforts have been to host Green Teas with information on energy efficiency and green home improvements to inspire our members to improve the sustainability of their homes and their lives. As a result, four church households completed Energy Upgrades last year and six are completing a more comprehensive Green Point Rating for their homes which addresses water and materials conservation as well as energy use. She led the Building Committee through the City planning process to renovate and expand our campus, established our Good Neighbor transportation plan and managed renovation of the Cottage, working with Christine Hardin on sustainable finishes for that space. She continues to volunteer to improve sustainable transportation efforts at local schools by recognizing kids who walked or biked to school. Professionally, she has advised building programs at local schools to improve their sustainability and healthfulness for our kids. She also continues to advise the FDC Committee on improving the sustainability of our UU Campus.
Bryan Gordon, an active UUCCSM member for 5 years is the ultimate green hero. He was green back when we did not know what green was! He has been an activist in the community for over 20 years. He fought long and hard to preserve part of the Ballona wetlands. He has been preaching to his friends for 20 years on how to respect our Earth and become more green. Some of us listened and changed our ways. Me! For 15 plus years he has been working at Socal Gas/Sempra Energy and continues to infiltrate and drive this company towards sustainability. He is currently a sustainability program manager and through his leadership they have created sustainable and energy efficient campuses. In the past, he has spoken at UUCCSM on improving our green living. He continues to advise the FDC Committee on improving our sustainability of our campus. He is an expert gardener who is always willing to lend a hand in developing our UUCCSM Garden.
A big thank you to both of you from the Green Living Committee and your UU Community. Thank you for taking our Seventh Principle and promoting it in the workplace, the community and at home. Next month we will feature another two members who are leaders in the Green and Sustainable Movement.
— Beth Brownlie
Detainee at James Musick Facility writes to UUCCSM members
5-24-13
Hello!!! How are you, Peggy and Roberta?
That’s me…..First I want to say thank you, thank you so much for my new bible. It’s so pretty and it’s a wonderful gift that I received here in jail, so thank you so much.
Second I want to say sorry, really sorry I didn’t send you a letter earlier because I went to court on May 13 and my attorney didn’t show up. My judge gave me a new court date on June 14. I was very stressed the last two weeks but I feel better now.
Third, I didn’t send you a letter before because I didn’t have stamps, but I’m here and I feel better now.
Well thank you so much for asking for my legal proceedings on my case. Here is my info… [this information allows family and friends to discover when a hearing will be held so that they may attend.]
Ok. So this is my information and thank you so much for my new bible and tell Roberta thank you so much for everything and for the visits and God bless you girls and always drive safe ok? And pray for me please. Thank you and sorry for my writing
Thank you so much and receive a 1000 hugs. God Bless You
This letter is from an immigrant detainee in Irvine whom Peggy Rhoads and Roberta Frye have been visiting.
Come join us for
Food, Fun, Fellowship…and Bubbles!
at the Annual All-Church
Interweave* & Women’s Alliance Picnic
Sunday, July 28, 11 a.m.
(just after the 10 a.m. service)
Church Courtyard
We’ll be serving grilled hot dogs (veggie & meat),
salads, desserts, and lemonade.
Donations will be welcome for future Interweave events and
Common Ground, the Westside HIV Community Center,
but, technically, it’s free!
Questions? Contact Kris Langabeer
*Interweave is our church’s group for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and our friends and allies.
15 UUs Turn Out for Vigil at Millennium Carwash
At the request of workers who are leading the unionorganizing drive at Millennium Carwash in Venice, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA) held a vigil there April 28 from 1 to 3 p.m., attended by 15 members and friends of our congregation.
We gave flyers to customers and potential customers and held up our church banner and signs that read, “Escucha Las Necesidades de Tus Trabajadores” (Listen to the Needs of Your Workers), “No Lunch Where Dirty Rags Are!” “Clean Cars; Dirty Dealings,” “No Queremos Comer Junto a La Basura” (We Don’t Want to Eat Next to the Garbage), “Brake for Workers Breaks and Fairness” and “Unsafe Working Conditions from Bangladesh to Los Angeles.” (The collapse of a building in Bangladesh that housed five garment factories, with death toll now reported at over 1,100, had occurred four days before the vigil.) The signs had been prepared at our church the following evening, with input from the workers at Millennium.
A member of our congregation who is herself an immigrant participated in the vigil. She said, “Immigrants
generally end up having the worst jobs, and it’s important that we make them feel welcome and supported.” Another of our congregants added, “The low wages and inhuman working conditions imposed on these workers, who are all Latino, is an example of the institutionalized racism in our society. Unitarians are supposed to stand up against racism — we need to be here.”
One of the owners of the carwash approached another vigil participant, Felipe, took a leaflet, and politely asked what we were doing. When Felipe explained that we were supporting the workers’ demands, as outlined in the leaflet and in our signs, the owner said, still calmly, “Our lawyers are answering these charges in court, and the day will come when you apologize.” Felipe then asked the owner how much he makes, and in quite a different tone, the owner yelled, “That’s none of your business. I don’t have to stand here talking to you,” then strode away with additional words that we can’t print.
As we’ve reported previously, Millennium Carwash, on Lincoln Blvd. south of Venice Blvd., as well as Santa Monica Carwash on Pico, and Bubble Bee Carwash in Long Beach, are owned by the Damavandi family, who are resisting unionization and are defendants in a class-action lawsuit for recovery of stolen wages.
Bonus Carwash, at 2800 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica, remains the only unionized carwash on the Westside.
— Peggy Rhoads
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
June is Torture Awareness Month, commemorating the 26th anniversary of the United Nations Convention against torture. The National Religious Campaign against Torture (NRCAT) is focusing on two major issues, the practice of solitary confinement, and the conditions of detainees who have been accused of terrorism in the wake of 9/11.
With respect to solitary confinement, on April 18 FIA member Nora Hamilton participated in a NRCAT webinar that included a general description of the issue of solitary confinement; a brief description of the effects of solitary confinement by Anthony Graves, a former prisoner; a report by a representative of Detention Watch Network on immigrant detainees in solitary confinement; and a discussion of what we can do as people of faith. Among the major points raised are the following:
Some 25,000 people per day are in solitary confinement for periods ranging from a few days to decades.
There are no limits to the amount of time those awaiting trial can be kept in solitary confinement. (The term solidarity confinement is often replaced by euphemisms like “special housing unit.”)
Many of those in solitary confinement are people suffering from mental illness whose condition is often worsened as a result.
There are no provisions in the immigration reform bill currently pending in the Senate for those immigrant
detainees in solitary confinement or immigrants with mental health problems.
Although the number of women in solitary confinement is smaller than the number of men, solitary confinement has particularly grave effects on mothers, who may be able to see their children infrequently if at all and cannot touch the child during visits; and for those who come to prison after experiencing sexual abuse.
In a very moving presentation, Anthony Graves, who had experienced solitary confinement and witnessed its effect in others, described solitary confinement as “a tool designed to break a man’s spirit.” His website is at
Several actions were suggested in the webinar and on the NRCAT website. One is to sign a petition calling on government officials to end the practice of solitary confinement. The petition is available at the FIA table. A second is to join a state campaign. In California, current efforts are focused on support for Senate Bill 61 proposed by Senator Leland Yee, which would limit use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities. On Tuesday, April 23, the California Senate Committee on Public Safety hosted a hearing to consider SB 61. The bill passed the Public Safety Committee. The next step is passing the Senate Appropriations Committee in the coming weeks. (See www.nrcat.org and click on Torture-in-U.S. Prisons.)
NRCAT has a 20-minute film that includes statements by individuals who have experienced solitary confinement, and comes with discussion guides for different denominations. All Saints’ Church in Pasadena also initiated a letter-writing campaign to those in solitary confinement. Information on these and other initiatives can be found at www.nrcat.org/solitary Those interested can also keep up with local news on solitary confinement in California at www.nrcat.org/canews, which includes, among other things, a 2012 report by
the ACLU on solitary confinement in California prisons; an article in “Mother Jones” by Shane Bauer, one of the hikers held in solitary confinement in Iran, who compares his Iran experience with that of prisoners in the United States; and an “L.A. Times” editorial, “Suicide in Solitary” (October 2012) regarding the number of suicides committed by prisoners in solitary confinement.
NRCAT is also encouraging people to write to the Senate asking for the release of its report on conditions
among detainees at Guantanamo, and to President Obama asking that he respond to the recommendations. More information is available at www.nrcat.org (check Torture Awareness month), including a copy of the report and a two-page summary.
— Cathie Gentile
Sunday, June 9, is the L.A. Pride Parade!
Kids march; families march; even dogs march. You can march too! Join us! Be on the lookout for an Evite and/or contact
Janet Goodwin.
Proposed UU General Assembly Resolution
Faith In Action’s Peace & Social Justice Committee proposes that UUCCSM support Compassionate Immigration Reform as stated in the UUA’s Immigration Policy and Programs. In doing so, we affirm that any legislative immigration reform should include:
1. Uphold family unity as a priority of all immigration policies.
2. Create a process for undocumented immigrants to earn their legal status and eventual citizenship.
3. Protect workers and provide efficient channels of entry for new migrant workers.
4. Facilitate immigrant integration into U.S. society.
5. Restore due process protections and reform detention policies.
6. Align the enforcement of immigration laws with humanitarian values.
For the full text of the UUA’s Principles of Humane Immigration Reform please go to http://www.uua.org/immigration/policy/reform
— Cathie Gentile
Church Member Speaks on Health Risks from Fracking in Baldwin Hills
Oil companies have increased oil and gas production by fracking operations in the Baldwin Hills area. Fracking injects water laced with dangerous chemicals into wells to fracture rocks, releasing oil and gas. The process is sending a toxic cocktail of air pollution into neighborhoods next to the oil field in Culver City, Blanco-Culver, Culver Crest, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, Blair Hills, and Baldwin Hills.
Several of our congregants who live in the area attended a public meeting at West L.A. Community College March 23 about the air pollution caused by fracking. James Dahlgren, M.D., an environmental toxicologist and a member of our congregation, spoke to the group about the health risks created by fracking.
Why is the federal government permitting fracking all over the U.S. in the absence of studies proving it safe, and in the presence of evidence that it is unsafe? (See “Fracking Our Food Supply,” The Nation, December 2012, at http://www.thenation.com/article/171504/fracking-our-food-supply#) The drive for new sources of oil and gas by the petrochemical companies (aided by government agencies) is given a higher priority than human health and safety, but as a participant in the meeting pointed out, there is another reason, related to the Obama Administration’s “pivot to Asia” and preparation for a potential war with China. According to the Pentagon’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, “Energy security for the DOD [Department of Defense] means having assured access to reliable supplies of energy and the ability to protect and deliver sufficient energy to meet operational needs.” The main player in fracking in Baldwin Hills is Halliburton, fresh from its service on the oil fields and battlefields of Iraq.
Los Angeles County has thousands of active and abandoned oil wells. The 469 active production wells and 168 water injection wells in the Inglewood field in the Baldwin Hills have been brought back to life by fracking —injecting millions of gallons of water laced with chemicals at 6000 pounds per square inch (PSI) deep into the ground to “liberate” the oil and gas trapped in rocks. Toxic chemicals added to the water include benzene, silica, and glycol ethers, which add to the toxic chemicals naturally present in oil and gas. The toxic effect of benzene occurs far below its odor threshold, so you can’t rely on your nose to protect you. Air pollution from fracking increases long-term risk for cancer and can cause immediate adverse effects, including sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, bloody nose, brain fog, fatigue, memory disturbance, and immune and reproductive system disruption.
The “safe” level of benzene is in the low parts per trillion (PPT) range. The level of 5 parts per billion of benzene (PPB) has been shown to cause an excess of leukemia in neighbors to a benzene source in Sweden. The level of benzene from a fracked gas well in Pennsylvania was above 5 PPB, and since there are other toxic chemicals present, the additive effect of the mixture makes the quantitative safety margins for single chemicals inadequate.
The fracking of gas wells in Pennsylvania has killed livestock and sickened many humans exposed to these chemicals. It will take direct action by the residents to stop the deadly poisons arising from the oil field. For
more information contact James Dahlgren.
— Peggy Rhoads
Presentation Addresses Prison and Jail Expansion
The number of prisoners in California increased from 21,325 in 1978 to over 170,000 in 2007. In that same time period California built 22 state prisons, filling them to double their capacity. California has the second largest prison population next to Texas in the United States, which in turn has the highest per capita prison population in the western world — 700 compared to 50 to 80 in European countries. The Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that the state of California reduce its prison population by 33,000 people, but rather than seeking to reduce the prison population, the state wants to build more prisons and the County of Los Angeles is proposing to spend billions of dollars to expand the county jail system.
These were among the points raised by Mary Sutton, Program Director of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) and a member of Critical Resistance and CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget) in a talk sponsored by our Peace and Social Justice Committee on April 14. Her address was accompanied by a power point presentation of the CSPG exhibit, ”Prison Nation,” and is part of a series of initiatives focusing on mass incarceration, which has also included several discussion groups on Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow. ”
While funds from California AB109 (realignment of low level state prisoners to county jails) provide an opportunity to pay for social programs that can reduce incarceration, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has allocated the bulk of funds for the county to the Sheriff’s Department, and is planning to expand the jail system, which will require an additional $2 billion for interest on construction bonds. Initial plans include a new jail for women.
CURB, along with Critical Resistance and other organizations, is opposing jail expansion, beginning with construction of the women’s jail complex. They are calling for the AB 109 realignment funds to be spent instead on social programs that will help women with re-entry, such as affordable housing and health programs, and for an emphasis on alternatives to jails, including re-examination of sentencing laws (such as drug sentences), alternatives to the incarceration of youth, release of the incapacitated and terminally ill, and expansion of opportunities such as education, job training, and drug and alcohol treatment for those returning home from prison. They are currently attending meetings of the Board of Supervisors and encouraging others to pressure the Board to end jail expansion and redirect funds to social needs.
Sutton’s talk was followed by a question and answer session. For more information about efforts to end prison and jail expansion, see the CURB website (http://curbprisonexpansion.org).
— Nora Hamilton
Interweave
New Second Sunday Interweave Meetings. Interweave, our UU group for LGBTQ and their allies, recently held the first of its monthly Second Sunday chats in the cottage. Upcoming plans include marching in the L.A. Pride Parade on June 9 and holding our Annual Interweave and Women’s Alliance Picnic on July 28. In addition to our social potlucks and barbecues at various homes, we plan to host a Second Sunday Supper in the coming months. And stay tuned for Interweave Movie Nights! Our next meeting will take place Sunday, May 12, in the Cottage from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Hope o see you there.
Standing on the Side of Love on June 9. Last September, a group of Dallas UU congregations brought a contingent of 250 marchers of all ages to the Dallas Pride Parade. Watch this short video to see their inspiring members marching in the rain — proudly standing on the side of love: http://vimeo.com/49690449 Wouldn’t you like to be part of a similar group here in L.A.? Join us on Sunday, June 9, as we stand on the side of love, equality, and justice for all.
Why I March in the L.A. Pride Parade. This is going to be my 10th Gay Pride Parade. About 7 years ago, I was marching along with our Santa Monica UU group and I heard a voice yell out from the crowd: Hey, Janet! I looked and I didn’t recognize the person running toward me in the beautiful dress, sunglasses and heels. Janet, it’s me, Brent! A few years before, Brent had been one of my very best students at UCLA. We hugged each other like long lost friends. And then, before I left to rejoin my rapidly disappearing fellow UUs, he did something I did not expect — he thanked me for marching. Actually, people all the way up and down the parade route thanked us. They saw that we were young and not so young, gay and straight, singles and families with kids. They read our banners: “Standing on the Side of Love” and “Unitarian Universalists Blessing Gay Marriages since 1959.” Why do I march? I march because I want the world to know that our church welcomes the LGBTQ community. I want everyone to be able to march with pride. I march with pride. You can too. Wear your Love, Equality, Pride shirt, or if you want a new UUCCSM T-shirt to wear, please buy a colorful one from our YRUU group on Sundays, to support the teens’ New Orleans service trip.
— Janet Goodwin
Carwash Workers Publically Take on Management’s Dirty Practices
Workers at two carwashes owned by the Damavandi family took a brave action February 20. They wrote, signed and publically presented letters to management outlining their grievances and requesting that “The owners meet with Justin McBride of CLEAN to sign the CLEAN Agreement and discuss a path to Unionization.”
The Damavandis, who also own Bubble Bee Carwash in Long Beach, have stonewalled the unionizing campaign for about two years, including hiring a law firm that specializes in resisting unionization.
A delegation from Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA) supported the workers as they presented the letters at Millennium Carwash, on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice, and at Santa Monica Carwash, at Pico Blvd. and 25th Street. UUCCSM members participating were Roberta Frye, Peter Hermann, and Peggy and Rick Rhoads.
If you have been following the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, the workers’ grievances will sound familiar. They include
• Paychecks delayed, sometimes by weeks.
• Being forced to work through legally required breaks.
• Violations of health and safety standards, including having to share eating areas with rats.
• Preferential distribution of hours and work assignments to workers management favors.
• Firing of Anselmo Leyva, a worker at Bubble Bee whom management refused to reinstate when he came off disability.
• Being required to show up early to prepare for the day, but not allowed to clock-in until the carwash opens, thus not getting paid for the first hour or two of work. According to the workers, this practice continues despite a lawsuit filed against the Damavandis for recovery of previously stolen wages.
CLUE-LA met at our church March 14 to plan further activities in support of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign. To be notified of upcoming ways you can help, sign the Peace & Social Justice Committee email list at the Faith in Action table in Forbes Hall or email Rick Rhoads at fia@uusm.org.
— Rick Rhoads
Upcoming Program to Challenge the Prison Industrial Complex
On Sunday, April 14, the Peace and Social Justice Committee will present a program, Challenging the Prison Industrial Complex, a power-point presentation of the poster exhibit “Prison Nation” and a discussion by Mary Sutton. The program will be held in the Sanctuary at 1 p.m. “Prison Nation” is an exhibit of posters of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG), an archive of 80,000 social movement posters, which has developed exhibits that have been presented at numerous venues in the United States as well as other countries. As Program Director of CSPG, Mary helped to curate the Prison Nation exhibit. She is also a member of Critical Resistance and Californians United for a Responsible Budget. Mary’s discussion will give some background on the history of prison expansion in California and an update on the current struggle to prevent further prison and jail expansion, particularly in Los Angeles County.
The exhibit Prison Nation consists of powerful posters from artists, activists, and organizations around the country and the world depicting the devastating impact of the mass incarceration required to support the rapidly growing prison industrial complex (PIC). The posters in Prison Nation cover many of the critical issues surrounding the system of mass incarceration, including the death penalty, the three strikes law, racism, access to education and health care, the growing rate of incarceration, slave labor, divestment, privatization, torture, and re-entry into the community.
While funding for education and the arts plummets, funding for new prisons is skyrocketing. The United States has the largest prison population in the world — over 2.3 million people behind bars. With only five percent of the world population, the U.S. has 25% of the world’s incarcerated population. Black men are imprisoned four times more often than any other group. One out of three black men, one out of six Latino men, and one out of seventeen white men will be imprisoned at some point in their lifetime.
This event is part of the effort of the Peace and Social Justice Committee to understand the dimensions of mass incarceration and its impact, particularly on the African American population, and what can be done about it. Other activities have included several discussion sessions of Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” and presentation of the film “The House I Live In.”
— Nora Hamilton
Earth Day with Food Forward - Sunday, April 21, 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Want to celebrate Earth Day in a fun and meaningful way? Join in Food Forward’s annual fruit harvest at Cal
State Northridge. Food Forward is a volunteerpowered organization dedicated to the issues of urban hunger, food waste and food justice. The organization collects excess fruits and vegetables and donates 100% of the food to local food banks across southern California. Our group will carpool to CSUN from the church after the 9 a.m. service, have lunch, and then join in picking fruit from the orchard on campus. We need to know how many
places to reserve, and they do fill up quickly, so please let us know if you are interested. Visit foodforward.org to find out more about the group, and contact Rima Snyder or Rhonda Peacock to sign up for the event.
What’s up with Interweave?
Westside Bi social chat. Interweave sponsors a monthly group meeting (every fourth Tuesday 8 to 9:30 p.m.) for a group called AmBi: http://www.meetup.com/AMBILA/. Originally hosted by Judy Federick, the monthly chat is now hosted by Geoff Lee. This group recently held a movie night in Forbes, showing “Kinsey” (with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney).
Monthly Interweave chats/meetings. Beginning March 10, Interweave will meet the second Sunday after the second service 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Cottage (southeast room).
2013 L.A. Pride Parade. Sunday, June 9. We need to plan and discuss how we wish to proceed for this year. Do we want to rent another convertible? Janet Goodwin can handle the application and safety workshop. We need funds for our application fee and we need to decide if we want a vehicle (car/flatbed) since the fees vary. The application is not yet on the website so I can’t give an accurate figure yet. A unit with a float/car tends to be cheaper than just walkers (I believe the reasoning is that it is most entertaining to view cars and flatbeds).
Dallas Pride 2012. Dallas UU congregations had 250 participants in last year’s Dallas Pride Parade (please visit this link to see it):http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/blog/making-a-splash-at-dallas-pride/ We can gain some valuable ideas for signs, flags, and banners from this inspiring group.
Annual All-congregation Interweave and Women’s Alliance Picnic. July 28 (Kris Langabeer & Debbie Menzies coordinate this)
2013 Coming Out Sunday. Long-range planning for a topic/ speaker(s) for next fall.
— Janet Goodwin
Drones: Killers and Spies
On the evening of March 12, about 45 people came to our Sanctuary to hear a presentation on drones — those used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia for “targeted killings” of suspected militants and domestically, primarily by police departments, for surveillance and other purposes. The Peace and Social Justice Committee of our Faith in Action Commission co-hosted the event with the ACLU-Southern California Westside Chapter. Speaking on domestic drones and the implications for privacy and civil liberties were KNX Reporter Charles Feldman and ACLU-SC attorney Peter Bibring. We learned that these drones are typically about 3-feet long but bird- and even insect-sized drones have been developed and police departments around the country have been ordering them. However, when citizens in some cities have discovered that their police have purchased such systems, there have been such outcries that the orders were cancelled. Such was the case in Seattle when the public, mayor and city council found out that their police department had ordered drones without their consent. Use of drones for search and rescue operations is one thing, but surveillance had also been an explicit purpose.
ACLU-SC attorney Ahilan Arulanantham spoke on overseas targeted killings by Predator drones, emphasizing the absence of due process and targeting of military-age Pakistani and other men whose names were not known and whose behavior was “suspect” for no stated reason (so-called “signature strikes”). According to the New York Times and other sources, there have been up to 4,700 people killed in overseas drone strikes, including innocent civilians — men, women and children. Arulanantham also spoke on the targeted killings of U.S. citizens abroad, and recalled that Attorney General Holder did not initially rule out such killings here in the U.S., but when pressed by a group of Senators, he finally conceded it was unconstitutional. For more information on drones, visit aclu-sc.org.
— Roberta Frye
The Hunger Task Force is growing!
We now have several regular food donation projects, and we are looking for more volunteers to lend a hand and bring us your ideas. We serve a meal at Step Up on Second on the fourth Saturday of the month, and donate frozen casseroles and fresh produce to Turning Point on the first Sunday. Your Backyard Bounty donations now go to Turning Point every week. Our newest program, Lunches for Bunches, is a fun community activity preparing bagged lunches for the clients of P.A.T.H. (People Assisting the Homeless) every fourth Sunday of the month. Find out more at the Faith in Action table or contact hunger@uusm.org
— Rhonda Peacock & Rima Snyder
Faith in Action Town Hall Meeting: Putting Our Faith Into Action
Feb. 17 — After Diana Spears read a message from Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and lit the chalice, Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) started our annual Faith in Action Town Hall meeting by describing the heroic struggles of carwash workers. As a result of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, most carwashes in L.A. County have changed from tips-only to paying wages, and four have signed union contracts. Through CLUE, UUCCSM members have been active in supporting the workers. Much still needs to be done: violations of wage and hour and safety laws remain prevalent in the industry.
Christina Fialho, co-founder of Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), spoke about the need to visit the hundreds of thousands of immigrants confined indefinitely in detention centers, to make them visible, to help them get their rights, and to advocate for changing the laws that create such conditions. Our members and other UUs participate in these visitations.
There is also a growing National Pen Pal program. Cathie Gentile, co-chair of our Peace and Social Justice
Committee (PSJ), presented the UU Legislative Ministry’s plans for “Compassionate Immigration Reform.” PSJ cochair Roberta Frye reported on demonstrations against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (thousands of U.S. mercenaries are still there) on the first and third Fridays of the month at 6 p.m. at National Blvd and Barrington. Roberta also announced an ACLU program here March 12 on the U.S. use of drones as surveillance as well as weapons.
Cathie Gentile read Geoff Lee’s report on the programs of Interweave, our LGBTQ committee. Interweave
will again be leading our congregation in the L.A. Gay Pride Parade, in the Coming Out Sunday Service, and in
the Interweave summer picnic.
Kris Langabeer read Rhonda Peacock’s report on the Hunger Task Force’s programs to alleviate hunger and
to help our homeless brothers and sisters, through partnering with Turning Point and the Daybreak Center of
the Ocean Park Community Center, Step Up on Second, and the Westside Food Bank.
Beth Brownlie reminded us that the Green Living Committee continues its work to educate and encourage
our community to live green. She reported a successful Vegan Second Sunday Supper last year that may morph
into two suppers this year. A plan for involvement in Earth Day is in the works, and the minister’s office is the
recipient of new lighting that conserves energy and improves the work environment.
Peggy Rhoads reported that the book discussion of the UUA common read, “The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness,” will continue with a third group of meetings, March 24 and 31, and April 7.
For more information, please contact FIA chair Rick Rhoads at fia@uusm.org.
— Peggy Rhoads
Faith in Action Town Hall Meeting: Putting Our Faith Into Action
Feb. 17 — After Diana Spears read a message from Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and lit the chalice, Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) started our annual Faith in Action Town Hall meeting by describing the heroic struggles of carwash workers. As a result of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, most carwashes in L.A. County have changed from tips-only to paying wages, and four have signed union contracts. Through CLUE, UUCCSM members have been active in supporting the workers. Much still needs to be done: violations of wage and hour and safety laws remain prevalent in the industry.
Christina Fialho, co-founder of Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), spoke about the need to visit the hundreds of thousands of immigrants confined indefinitely in detention centers, to make them visible, to help them get their rights, and to advocate for changing the laws that create such conditions. Our members and other UUs participate in these visitations.
There is also a growing National Pen Pal program. Cathie Gentile, co-chair of our Peace and Social Justice
Committee (PSJ), presented the UU Legislative Ministry’s plans for “Compassionate Immigration Reform.” PSJ cochair Roberta Frye reported on demonstrations against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (thousands of U.S. mercenaries are still there) on the first and third Fridays of the month at 6 p.m. at National Blvd and Barrington. Roberta also announced an ACLU program here March 12 on the U.S. use of drones as surveillance as well as weapons.
Cathie Gentile read Geoff Lee’s report on the programs of Interweave, our LGBTQ committee. Interweave
will again be leading our congregation in the L.A. Gay Pride Parade, in the Coming Out Sunday Service, and in
the Interweave summer picnic.
Kris Langabeer read Rhonda Peacock’s report on the Hunger Task Force’s programs to alleviate hunger and
to help our homeless brothers and sisters, through partnering with Turning Point and the Daybreak Center of
the Ocean Park Community Center, Step Up on Second, and the Westside Food Bank.
Beth Brownlie reminded us that the Green Living Committee continues its work to educate and encourage
our community to live green. She reported a successful Vegan Second Sunday Supper last year that may morph
into two suppers this year. A plan for involvement in Earth Day is in the works, and the minister’s office is the
recipient of new lighting that conserves energy and improves the work environment.
Peggy Rhoads reported that the book discussion of the UUA common read, “The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness,” will continue with a third group of meetings, March 24 and 31, and April 7.
For more information, please contact FIA chair Rick Rhoads at fia@uusm.org.
— Peggy Rhoads
Faith in Action Town Hall Meeting: Putting Our Faith Into Action
Feb. 17 — After Diana Spears read a message from Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and lit the chalice, Pastor Bridie Roberts of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) started our annual Faith in Action Town Hall meeting by describing the heroic struggles of carwash workers. As a result of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, most carwashes in L.A. County have changed from tips-only to paying wages, and four have signed union contracts. Through CLUE, UUCCSM members have been active in supporting the workers. Much still needs to be done: violations of wage and hour and safety laws remain prevalent in the industry.
Christina Fialho, co-founder of Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), spoke about the need to visit the hundreds of thousands of immigrants confined indefinitely in detention centers, to make them visible, to help them get their rights, and to advocate for changing the laws that create such conditions. Our members and other UUs participate in these visitations.
There is also a growing National Pen Pal program. Cathie Gentile, co-chair of our Peace and Social Justice
Committee (PSJ), presented the UU Legislative Ministry’s plans for “Compassionate Immigration Reform.” PSJ cochair Roberta Frye reported on demonstrations against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (thousands of U.S. mercenaries are still there) on the first and third Fridays of the month at 6 p.m. at National Blvd and Barrington. Roberta also announced an ACLU program here March 12 on the U.S. use of drones as surveillance as well as weapons.
Cathie Gentile read Geoff Lee’s report on the programs of Interweave, our LGBTQ committee. Interweave
will again be leading our congregation in the L.A. Gay Pride Parade, in the Coming Out Sunday Service, and in
the Interweave summer picnic.
Kris Langabeer read Rhonda Peacock’s report on the Hunger Task Force’s programs to alleviate hunger and
to help our homeless brothers and sisters, through partnering with Turning Point and the Daybreak Center of
the Ocean Park Community Center, Step Up on Second, and the Westside Food Bank.
Beth Brownlie reminded us that the Green Living Committee continues its work to educate and encourage
our community to live green. She reported a successful Vegan Second Sunday Supper last year that may morph
into two suppers this year. A plan for involvement in Earth Day is in the works, and the minister’s office is the
recipient of new lighting that conserves energy and improves the work environment.
Peggy Rhoads reported that the book discussion of the UUA common read, “The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness,” will continue with a third group of meetings, March 24 and 31, and April 7.
For more information, please contact FIA chair Rick Rhoads at fia@uusm.org.
— Peggy Rhoads
Hunger Task Force to Start New program: “Lunches for Bunches”
The Hunger Task Force is happy to announce a new opportunity to put your faith into action. Once a month, beginning in April, we will be assembling bagged lunches and delivering them to P.A.T.H. Los Angeles (People Assisting the Homeless). P.A.T.H. calls the program “Lunches for Bunches.” P.A.T.H. provides the support that
homeless individuals and families need in order to successfully transition from living on the street to thriving in homes of their own. The programs at P.A.T.H. are designed to meet people “where they are” and work with them to achieve long-term stability. P.A.T.H. provides temporary housing for homeless adults and families (195 beds located in downtown, Hollywood, and on the Westside) and administers more than a dozen services in their
P.A.T.H. Mall. From a health center to legal assistance and job placement services to substance abuse treatment — it’s a “one stop shop” for getting help and getting off the streets. P.A.T.H. is nationally recognized as an innovative and effective model for serving the homeless population in our country.
homeless individuals and families need in order to successfully transition from living on the street to thriving in homes of their own. The programs at P.A.T.H. are designed to meet people “where they are” and work with them to achieve long-term stability. P.A.T.H. provides temporary housing for homeless adults and families (195 beds located in downtown, Hollywood, and on the Westside) and administers more than a dozen services in their
P.A.T.H. Mall. From a health center to legal assistance and job placement services to substance abuse treatment — it’s a “one stop shop” for getting help and getting off the streets. P.A.T.H. is nationally recognized as an innovative and effective model for serving the homeless population in our country.
We’re really excited to be participating in the Lunches for Bunches program. Our UUCCSM sandwich assembly line will take place each month on the fourth Sunday, after the second service, 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Forbes Hall Kitchen. We’ll be creating 80 bagged lunches for the homeless people who visit the P.A.T.H. Mall. To participate, you can sign up at the Faith In Action table in Forbes Hall on Sunday, or contact hunger@uusm.org. All ages are welcome to help. We’ll be doing this each month, on the fourth Sunday, after the second service in Forbes —
so mark your calendar and plan to join us sometime.
so mark your calendar and plan to join us sometime.
And if you’re free on the fourth Saturday of the month, consider volunteering with the Hunger Task Force at Step Up on 2nd. Contact hunger@uusm.org to volunteer or to get on the mailing list. Not able to volunteer right now? The Hunger Fund is here to accept your monetary donation. Mark “hunger” on your check or offering envelope; you can also donate online.
— Rhonda Peacock
First Sunday Now “Turning Point Sunday”
Due to some schedule changes with OPCC’s Daybreak, the Hunger Task Force will be giving your donations of frozen casseroles and bags of fresh fruit to OPCC’s Turning Point instead of Daybreak.
Same date, first Sunday of each month. You can leave your donation in the kitchen’s freezer — marked for Turning Point. Questions? Contact Denise Helton for more infomation. And thanks for putting your faith into action!
PSJ to Co-host “Drones: Killers and Spies – Is Anyone Safe Anywhere?”
The Peace and Social Justice Committee is cohosting a program “Drones: Killers and Spies — Is Anyone Safe Anywhere?” with the Westside group of the ACLU-Southern California Chapter. KNX Reporter Charles Feldman and Peter Bibring will speak on the use of surveillance drones in the U.S. — violating our right to privacy and attempting to suppress our right to dissent — and Ahilan Arulanantham will speak on “targeted killings” of so-called suspected militants in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Reporter Ken Dilanian reported in the Los Angeles Times (February 9), “Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-VA), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a separate letter requesting Department of Justice opinions governing all targeted killings, including “signature strikes” on groups of militaryage men whose names are not known but whose activities indicate they are affiliated with Al Qaeda or its allies. Those strikes have caused the most casualties, including civilian deaths. They have raised a backlash of public anger in Pakistan, where the
CIA drone strikes have been most intense.”
CIA drone strikes have been most intense.”
Please join us on Tuesday, March 12, 7 to 9 p.m. in the Sanctuary for this timely program. For more information, email Cathie Gentile or Roberta Frye, Co-chairs, Peace and Social Justice Committee (FIA).
— Roberta Frye
NEW: Interweave Second Sunday Meetings Beginning March 10
Beginning in March, Interweave will meet every second Sunday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Forbes 2. This will be our opportunity to connect once a month and share a brown bag lunch, socialize, and plan upcoming events. Please join us. We can already start making plans for the Pride Parade, June 9. Also, consider attending Rainbow Family Camp at Camp de Benneville Pines March 22 to 24 for LGBT families and their allies: http://tinyurl.com/deB-rainbowcamp We welcome new members and look forward to meeting you. See you March 10.
— Janet Goodwin
“The House I Live In”
The award-winning documentary, “The House I Live In,” pbs.org/independentlens/house-i-live-in/, directed by Eugene Jarecki, will air April 8 on PBS. Jarecki, who also made “Why We Fight” in 2006, won the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for this new documentary.
This film chronicles the history of the War on Drugs back to a time when cocaine, marijuana and opium were legal substances used by immigrant Chinese railroad workers and, surprisingly, society women.
Among the inmates, journalists, prison guards, law enforcement officers, and a judge who appear in the film is lawyer Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” selected as the current Common Read by the UUA.
Both the documentary and the book call for a grassroots movement to demand change in drug possession sentencing where judges’ hands are tied by mandatory minimums and the three-strikes law.
— Cathie Gentile
Peace & Social Justice Committee
Join Our EMail Group
All members and friends of UUCCSM are invited to join the Peace and Social Justice Committee email discussion list at: groups.yahoo.com/group/uusm-peace/
Nonviolent Communication Workshop in Oxnard April 13 and 14
The Sixth Annual Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Conference, which is free to attend, will occur in Oxnard April 13 and 14. Nonviolent Communication, based on the work of Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg, is a tool that may fit well into our church board’s Covenant of Good Relations (see the article by Rev. Rebecca and Cynthia Cottam in the November issue of the church newsletter) and into the deep-listening goals of our upcoming small-group ministries.
As stated on the website of the Center for NVC, “NVC begins by assuming that we are all compassionate by nature and that violent strategies — whether verbal or physical — are learned behaviors taught and supported by the prevailing culture. NVC also assumes that we all share the same basic human needs and that each of our actions is a strategy to meet one or more of these needs. People who practice NVC have found greater authenticity in their communication, increased understanding, deepening connection, and conflict resolution.”
For more information about the conference and to register, please visit http://chooseconnection.squarespace.com/nvc-conference/. For more general information about NVC, visit www.cnvc.org/.
The UUCCSM Committee on Ministry hopes to organize car pools to the conference. Please contact me for more information.
-- Kris Langabeer, Committee on Ministry
160 Pack Forbes for Movie Against the War on Drugs
January 12, 2013. What a surprise! We expected 60 at our showing of “The House I Live In,” the award-winning
documentary by Eugene Jarecki that documents the tragic consequences on our communities of the War on Drugs. By the time we started at 7 p.m., 160 people had packed into Forbes Hall to see how the War on Drugs
has pushed incarceration in U.S. prisons, particularly of young African-American and Latino men, to over two million.
“The House I Live In” was shown in theaters last fall, and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film is not yet available on DVD, but judging from the interest it has generated, as well as the impact of Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness,” we will be able to spend more time discussing it in our church community and organizing to stop the catastrophic effects of the War on Drugs and its underlying racism.
This film showing, a free screening from the makers of the film, was co-sponsored by UUCCSM’s Faith in Action Commission, and the Committee for Racial Justice, which meets at the Church in Ocean Park. Many
who came were alerted by Facebook posts, by friends, by news media, and by an email blast from Frank Dorrel, a local film maker and author of “Addicted to War.” Members of the New Jim Crow discussion group at UUCCSM spent time at our meeting on January 13 reviewing the film, and planning for further discussion of its message.
Peace Vigil Against Torture
A fellow peace vigil supporter and I joined a January 11 gathering of about 100 people at the Los Angeles downtown federal building to call for the closure of the Guantanamo Detention Center at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. Organized by Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, the protest (press conference and rally with several people standing silently in orange jumpsuits and black hoods) marked the 11th anniversary of the opening of the prison where over 160 men are still held in deplorable conditions — enduring torture, neglect, and isolation — without charge or trial. Over 80 of them have been designated as eligible for release (insufficient or no evidence against them) but languish there indefinitely as Washington politicians wrangle about whether to release them in the U.S. or return them to their country of origin. On January 1 President
Obama signed revisions to the National Defense Authorization Act, making it even more difficult to transfer any of the detainees or to close the prison as he pledged to do four years ago.
In May 2011, our congregation voted at our annual meeting to become an endorsing member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. NRCAT was established in January 2006 as a membership organization of religious organizations committed to ending torture that is sponsored or enabled by the United States.
Torture is a Moral Issue” is its mission statement. In becoming a member, we joined more than 300 religious organizations, including the UUA and the UUSC.
My friend Elly and I were not happy about the cold and blustery weather that morning, but agreed that it felt good to put our faith in action.
— Roberta Frye
Peace and Social Justice Committee: Review of 2012
In their meeting of December 9, the Multiracial Development and Peace and Social Justice committees decided to merge into a single committee, Peace and Social Justice (PSJ), a move that was prompted by the overlap in membership and shared interests of the two committees. The PSJ is one of several committees of the Faith in Action Commission, which also includes the Green Committee, the Hunger Task Force, and Interweave.
During 2012, the activities of the two committees that now compose the Peace and Social Justice committee were focused on four areas:
Peace, including opposition to the war in Afghanistan and support for various initiatives on behalf of peace and alternatives to war. Among other activities, the PSJ holds bi-monthly peace vigils between 6 and 7 p.m. on the first and third Fridays of each month at the corner of Barrington and National. Members of PSJ also participated in the May Day Westside Caravan from Santa Monica, one of four caravans that paraded into downtown Los Angeles.
Anti-racism and promotion of racial and ethnic diversity. These themes have informed various activities, including the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the annual Seder, and the program of the Thanksgiving feast. During the spring the committee sponsored a book discussion based on Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow.” Members also participated in monthly meetings of the Santa Monica Committee for Racial Justice (initially formed in the aftermath of a racist event at Santa Monica High School), which has expanded its scope to oppose racism in various institutions.
Economic justice, with a particular emphasis on labor issues. The committee (as well as other members of UUCCSM) has supported various campaigns on behalf of workers’ efforts to organize and obtain fair wages and benefits. During 2012, PSJ continued its collaboration with Los Angeles Clergy and Laity United (CLUE) and other groups in the Clean Carwash Campaign in an effort to organize carwash facilities in the Los Angeles area, including Santa Monica. Members of UUCCSM have participated in demonstrations, pickets, prayer vigils, and meetings with various carwash owners on behalf of car washers. In 2011, Bonus Carwash on Lincoln in
Santa Monica became the first U.S. carwash facility to recognize a union; subsequent activities have been
focused on the Santa Monica Carwash on Pico and 25th and the Millennium Carwash in Venice. Members
of the UUCCSM also spoke at a Santa Monica City Council meeting to urge the City to stop contracting with carwashes that violate labor laws. The Council agreed to strictly adhere to policies requiring those contracting with the city to respect the law, and stated that the City Attorney would investigate practices at carwashes in Santa Monica.
PSJ has also supported organizing efforts of hotel workers. On March 20, members of the PSJ committee attended another Santa Monica City Council meeting with hotel workers regarding a living wage
and benefits provision in the Development Agency for a new hotel at 710 Wilshire Boulevard. While the
Council did not adopt the proposals as part of the Development Agency, pressures on the developers
resulted in their signing a card check agreement with UNITE-HERE for that hotel.
Immigration, particularly issues related to immigrant detention. PSJ members have protested “Secure Communities,” an initiative of Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) which requests that police officials send the fingerprints of those they pick up to ICE, which may then request that anyone suspected of being undocumented be held an additional 48 hours to enable ICE to check their status.
In September, three PSJ members joined five others in a visit sponsored by the Detention Watch Network (DWN) to the Theo Lacey prison in Orange County, a maximum security prison that in 2010 contracted with ICE to house approximately 430 immigrant detainees. The visit included a briefing by officials of the facility and ICE, a tour of the area where immigrant detainees are held, and interviews with some 130 detainees to assess their treatment. Detainees had numerous complaints, ranging from monotonous food to cases of verbal and even physical abuse. Many of the detainees are confronting indefinite stays, due to delays in hearings or lack of legal assistance. In its final report, the DWN listed Theo Lacey as one of twelve detention centers that should be closed down. The PSJ is currently looking into setting up a program of regular visits to immigrants in detention in collaboration with CIVIC, the Community Initiative for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement.
PSJ also worked with the UU Legislative Ministry to support the TRUST Act, a California legislative initiative that would require that police officials issue ICE detainers only for immigrants accused of serious or violent crimes. The initiative was passed by the California Assembly and Senate but was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown, who said that he would revisit the initiative in order to correct some flaws.
In the meantime, Attorney General Kamala Harris issued a statement to the effect that ICE detainers are not mandatory; subsequently Sheriff Lee Baca concurred with this position, which L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck has already agreed to. The California legislature is working on a revised version of the TRUST Act in the hope that it will meet Governor Brown’s requirements.
PSJ Events in 2012
January 8. UUCCSM program on U.S.- sponsored torture and solitary confinement (recognized as a form of torture by NRCAT), including a video, “Ending U.S.- Sponsored Torture Forever”; a speaker on the three-strikes law; and a report by a mother whose son was in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay.
January 15. The annual Martin Luther King service featured a presentation by Victoria Gray, the mother of a student who was the victim of a racist event at Santa Monica High School. We learned about the failure of the school authorities to report or even recognize the seriousness of the event. Victoria Gray is a leader of the Santa Monica Committee for Racial Justice which grew out of these events and meets monthly at the Church in Ocean Park.
January 16. The Multiracial Development Committee had a table at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition Community Celebration. Will Coley videotaped interviews with participants, which are posted on our
UUCCSM website.
April 14. We sponsored our second Seder this year, with a celebration of the deliverance of the Children of Israel from slavery and an emphasis on eliminating modern slavery.
April 18. UUA Pacific Southwest District Assembly, held at First Unitarian Church and attended by several members of PSJ, included an update on legislative initiatives and action; information on the Esperanza
Project, an initiative to provide legal assistance to detained immigrants; and information on the bail fund, which raises funds for detained immigrants eligible for bonding out.
June 20 to 24. Several members of the PSJ/MRDC as well as other members of UUCCSM, including four YRUU teenagers, participated in the UUA General Assembly in Arizona. The Assembly focused on immigration
issues, including the Arizona anti-immigrant law (SB 1070), and featured several workshops on how to combat
anti-immigrant legislation. Rick Rhoads of FIA participated in a panel “Partnering Congregations and Community Organizations” where he spoke of UUCCSM support for grocery workers during their strike in 2011 and ongoing collaboration with CLUE in organizing carwash workers. On Saturday night of GA, UUCCSM members participated with others in a demonstration in front of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Tent City, where undocumented immigrants are being held in horrendous conditions.
July. FIA sponsored the monthly art wall, “Put your faith in action,” which featured photographs and brief descriptions of events and activities sponsored by member committees.
September 29. In conjunction with efforts to organize carwash workers, the PSJ committee screened the film “Salt of the Earth,” which focuses on a 1951 miners’ strike in New Mexico; a discussion followed. Forty people attended, including six carwash workers.
October 13. A visit to the Great Wall of Los Angeles, a half-mile mural that documents the cultural and ethnic diversity of Los Angeles, was sponsored by the MRDC as a Dining for Dollars event for the third year in a row.
November 17. The PSJ presented the annual Thanksgiving Feast program, based on a service by the Rev. John F. Hayward. The program recognizes the efforts of those who have suffered persecution and oppression and have sought to find a place in American society, and gives thanks for the contributions of the diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural groups that have helped to build the country.
December 1. Presentation of the film “He Who Must Die,” based on a book by Nikos Kazantzakis, which focuses on plans of a Greek village for their annual Passion Play; their faith and humanity is tested when refugees from a neighboring village that has been destroyed solicit their help.
The PSJ has collaborated with the UU legislative Ministry of California (UULMCA) on various issues, including support for the TRUST Act, the Sustainable Communities campaign, and the Assembly Bill promoting the Human Right to Water. In 2012 the UULMCA organized its activities into a series of clusters; UUCCSM is a member of the cluster which also includes First Church and Pacific Unitarian Church. The PSJ has also supported other initiatives, such as efforts of the California Nurses’ Association to obtain Medicare for All for the State of California (formerly passed by the California legislature but vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger); the anti-death penalty ballot initiative (Proposition 34); and efforts of NRCAT to end torture and solitary confinement, which are currently focused on efforts to close Guantanamo, eliminate indefinite detention, and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
Upcoming PSJ Events
January 6, 13; February 3, 10. Book discussion of Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow,” the UUA Common Read for 2012-13.
January 19. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition Celebration. PSJ will again have a table at the event.
January 20. Commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr., at Sunday service.
February 10 (tentative date). FIA crafts fair fundraising event. The next meeting of the Peace and Social Justice committee will take place on Sunday, January 20, at 12:30 p.m. Please join us.
— Nora Hamilton