Dia de los Muertos
Theme:
Sanctuary
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur, Catherine Farmer Loya, Nica Eaton-Guinn, and Vilma Ortiz lead our annual intergenerational services of loss and remembrance. Please bring a photo of a loved one whom you have lost to share on our altar; if you would like it returned, please put your name and contact information on the back, or remember to take it with you after the service.
If the SHU Fits: Play Exposes Torture of Solitary Confinement
The U.S. system of mass incarceration came under solemn scrutiny Saturday Sept. 27 when UUCCSM presented a dramatic reading of “If the SHU Fits”, by Andy Griggs and Melvin Ishmael Johnson. The play is based on original letters and poetry from inmates living in Security Housing Units (SHUs), mainly in California’s Pelican Bay Prison, in which they spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. The play was commissioned by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) and Interfaith Communities Untied for Justice and Peace (ICUJP), and partially funded by a grant from the Fund for a Just Society of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The evening was sponsored by UUCCSM’s Peace and Social Justice Committee and by the Committee for Racial Justice in Santa Monica. The eight readers came from a variety of backgrounds but a unity of purpose: to see an end to the growing mass incarceration of working class people, particularly people of color. The readers were Paula Brooks, Bob Gordh, Kevin Michael Key, Rev. Sidonie Smith, Anthony Taylor, Sherri Walker, Craig Walter, and Dayvon Williams. They were directed by Morna Murphy Martell, a member of UUCCSM, with assistance from Diana Spears and Peggy Rhoads.
Following the reading, a panel of speakers from organizations involved in fighting against the continuance of this legal torture discussed their current efforts in prison reform, including incarceration in immigration detention centers, and how our communities can help. The speakers included Andy Griggs, ICUJP; Melvin Ishmael Johnson, Director, Dramastage Qumran; Geri Silva and Ernest Shepard, California Families Against Solitary Confinement; Mary Sutton, Critical Resistance and CURB; Diana Zuniga, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB); Kay Brown, Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective, from our Art Wall exhibit, "Behind Bars;" and Nora Hamilton, UUCC Faith in Action Peace & Social Justice Committee.
Thanks to Sidonie Smith for her painting “Miscarriage of Justice”, to James Witker for filming, Bob Dietz and Karl Lisovsky for tech support, Tom Ahern for logistical support and to the members of the Peace and Social Justice Committee who facilitated the evening. To contact PSJ and become involved in our work, please email co-chairs Cathie Gentile or Roberta Frye. You can also obtain information at the Faith in Action table at church.
Further information on solitary confinement can be found at
http://audio.theguardian.tv/audio/kip/standalone/world/1334585861759/5478/gdn.ps.120416.hermanwallace.mp3 and http://www.hrw.org/features/growing-up-locked-down.
-- Peggy Rhoads
Art Wall Reception - Closing
Date / Time:
Sunday, October 26, 2014 - 11:00am - 12:30pm
Small Group Ministry - Labyrinth Fun Day
Date / Time:
Sunday, November 2, 2014 - 8:00am - 1:00pm
Room:
Contact Name:
Dan Patterson
Heart and Soul Worship - Alternative Worship
Date / Time:
Sunday, March 8, 2015 - 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Contact Name:
Nica Eaton-Guinn
Update on Central American Children Migrants
On Sunday, September 14, Angela Sanbrano, President of the Board of the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), spoke briefly at the 11:00 AM service, outlining the continuing needs of the Central American children who migrated unaccompanied to the United States, and the efforts of CARECEN on their behalf.
CARECEN has been working on behalf of Central Americans in the Los Angeles community for over thirty years, providing legal assistance, advocacy, organizing skills, and education programs. Its current work to assist the unaccompanied children migrants includes finding lawyers who can provide guidance and represent them during their hearings before an immigration judge. Legal representation often makes a difference in enabling children to obtain asylum or another protected status in the United States; those without such assistance are much more likely to be deported. There are recent reports that several children deported back to their home countries have been killed by drug gangs on their return.
Migration to the United States without documents is extremely dangerous, as demonstrated in the documentary Which Way Home, shown at UUSM in August. Many come through Mexico riding on top of la bestia - the beast – freight trains through Mexico to the U.S. border, where they risk falling and losing a limb or even their lives, as well as robbery, extortion, and/or rape by drug gangs. But the risks of remaining in – or returning to - their countries of origin are much greater.
While children migrate for a number of reasons, including poverty in their home countries, perceived opportunities in the United States, and family reunification, the recent upsurge in the number of children corresponds to the growing presence of drug cartels and the growth of gang and drug related violence in the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Today, Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world; El Salvador and Guatemala are fourth and fifth. In some cases, drug gangs have taken over schools and entire neighborhoods; students and others are submitted to relentless pressure to join the gangs or work for cartels with threats of killing them or members of their families if they refuse. Several young migrants report that members of their families and/or friends have in fact been killed, in some cases in their presence.
The United States bears considerable responsibility for creating conditions in Central America giving rise to violence, including support for repressive governments; economic policies favoring corporations at the expense of national interests; and drug-related policies, including resistance to the legalization of drug possession, as well as the trafficking of guns and other weapons from the United States into Mexico and other countries, and anti-drug policies in Latin America that have tended to simply displace drug trafficking from one region to another. The United States is the major market for drugs; guns and other arms from the United States have aggravated the violence that has accompanied the growth of the cartels in these countries. In addition, many of the gangs heavily involved in the drug trade, such as the Mara Salvatrucha, have their origins on the streets of Los Angeles and other U.S.
While some U.S. officials have recognized that many of the children as well as other immigrants are fleeing conditions from the home countries, efforts to improve these conditions should include revisiting U.S. policies and their impact in the region, including trade policy and the drug war.
The response in the United States to the unaccompanied migrant children has been mixed. Officially, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, originally passed in 2000 and amended by the Bush administration in 2008, entitles all unaccompanied children from non-contiguous countries (i.e., other than Mexico and Canada) to a hearing before an immigration judge to determine whether they are eligible for asylum or other types of protection. However, in its efforts to discourage further migration, the administration has sought to facilitate deportation of the children, in part by eliminating this protection, a move that has been resisted to date. At the local level, reactions have ranged from strong opposition and rejection of their presence, epitomized by the ugly demonstrations in Murietta, to the more welcoming policy of some cities. In the case of Los Angeles, Mayor Garcetti has met with various advocacy groups to provide various types of assistance to the young immigrants, including housing and food, transportation to enable them to reunite with distant families, and legal aid, including access to lawyers who can represent them in court proceedings.
Although the children migrants from Central America are no longer in the news, they continue to need humanitarian and legal assistance. During September our non-pledge offerings have gone to CARECEN (Central American Resource Center); one can also send a donation directly to CARECEN at 2845 West Seventh Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005, or through its website (www.carecen-la.org), indicating it is for unaccompanied minors.
The Green Committee - Town Hall Meeting
The Green Committee will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting on the Design of the Arizona Courtyard on Sunday November 9 at 1pm in the Sanctuary.
Discussion will include: 1) Drought tolerant plants for the landscape design
2) Landscape concepts from Keith Ludowitz for the Arizona Memory Garden/Courtyard
3) Hardscape features and integration with Anderson Courtyard
4) Activities and design features.
All members are invited to attend and contribute their ideas for the courtyard design.
For more information, contact Alison Kendall at alison@kendallplanning.com
Date / Time:
Sunday, November 9, 2014 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room:
Contact Name:
Alison Kendall
One Man Show on Thomas Paine
One Man Play about Thomas Paine, Sunday, November 16, in the Sanctuary, at 1:30 p.m. Thomas Paine is in Ian Ruskin’s skin in “To Begin the World Again: The Life of Thomas Paine.”
Ruskin reminds us that what makes us great as a nation is that all are equal in the system of justice. At a time when we were all radicals, more than any other founding father, Thomas Paine possessed a vision for a democracy based emphatically on “justice for all.” Paine foreshadowed Martin Luther King, Jr., who
believed, “the moral arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”
In this one-man play Ruskin will show us again the fiery eloquence that made Paine’s “Common Sense,” a best-seller and stirred a nation to revolution. In his “Age of Reason,” Paine championed man’s abilities and challenged organized religion. When justice seems to be foundering, Thomas Paine speaks to us again about making our voices heard — not for self-interest but for the interest of us all. To quote Paine: “The World is my country and all mankind my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”
Recent performances include a two-month run of the play in Los Angeles and at The Organization of American Historians; The American Philosophical Society; the Harvard Law School; and Conway Hall, London, England. Donations will be welcome and there will be refreshments and the sale of books and CDs at 12:45 p.m.
Date / Time:
Sunday, November 16, 2014 - 1:30pm - 3:30pm
Room:
Contact Name:
Diana Spears
Knitters and Friends Annual Holiday Bazaar
In Forbes Hall after both services. Beautiful handmade items from KNITTERS AND FRIENDS. 100% will be donated to UUCC. Come do your holiday shopping and help our church!! Contact Karen Patch with questions.
Date / Time:
Sunday, December 7, 2014 - 10:00am - 12:30pm
Room:
Contact Name:
Karen Patch
Art Wall Opening Reception - Maija Beeton
Maija Beeton: The CEL ART Project
Artist Opening Reception: Sunday, October 5, 2014, 12 Noon to 1:30pm, UU Santa Monica (Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica). The Art Wall show will run through Sunday, October 26 and is open to the public Sundays 9am – 1pm and on weekdays by appointment.
Please join us after the second service on Sunday, October 5, for the Artist’s Opening Reception with Emmy awarding winning artist Maija Beeton. The CEL ART Project explores the eerie world of built-in-obsolescence and CEL ART merchandising, wherein computer-generated images are remade as seemingly handmade, limited edition CELS, for sale. Beeton enjoys exploring the alleged distinctions between commercial art, fine art, entertainment and philosophy. Beeton utilizes painting, video, animation, theatre, music, text, and landscaping. Beeton’s CEL ART Project investigates whether the medium is, in fact, the message.
Traditionally, CELS were sheets of clear acetate or nitrate that were then hand-painted with animators’ vinyl paint, placed against backgrounds, and then shot with an actual, physical camera. In the CEL ART Project, Beeton explores unusual subjects and environments for animation, and her cels are hand-inked and hand-painted with traditional CARTOON COLOUR cel vinyl. Even though a computer is involved in creating some of the aspects of the image, Beeton intentionally makes obvious signs of human markings, to draw attention to the loss of hand drawn 2D animation and its inherent quality of abstraction.
Contact Nancy at assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436 ext. 102 for info or appointments.
Contact Beverly Alison for info about exhibiting on the Art Wall at UU Santa Monica.
UU Santa Monica; 1260 18th Street (corner of 18th and Arizona); Santa Monica 90404
Date / Time:
Sunday, October 5, 2014 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Contact Name:
Beverly Alison