Dear friend,

UU Ministry for Earth had a very exciting and productive time at UUA General Assembly 2018. We want to share the many resources we compiled for you and your congregations to use in your justice-seeking work. From an Environmental Justice tour of Kansas City with local grassroots leaders, to two film screenings of The Reluctant Radical with the film producer Lindsey Grayzel, to over a dozen wonderful workshops and small group “table talks” --- UU Ministry for Earth had a bustling, wonderful time at General Assembly sharing experiences and deepening relationships with so many UUs!

One outcome of General Assembly was the passing of an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW). 

The ultimate purpose of passing UUA General Assembly resolutions, statements, and actions of immediate witness is not the statement itself, but the consequent actions and solidarity that the words inspire. This issue of the UUMFE E-News is dedicated to leaning into the call for solidarity NOW with Indigenous Water Protectors that was affirmed on June 24, 2018. This powerful resolution was adopted thanks to the passion and dedication of many, many people --- especially the Rev. Karen Van Fossan (Minister of the Bismarck-Mandan UU Church & Fellowship), who actually missed the AIW vote in order to travel home in time for a sentencing hearing for an Indigenous Water Protector named Red Fawn (sentenced to 57 months in prison on July 11th). UUMFE wishes to express deep gratitude to Rev. Karen Van Fossan for her dedication, inspiration, and leadership.

CONNECTION

Write to Water Protectors in Jail

At the 2018 UUA General Assembly, an Action of Immediate Witness was passed affirming “solidarity with Water Protectors, including defendants, inmates, and their loved ones” and a commitment “to extend relationships of solidarity with Water Protectors, leveraging our spiritual, financial, human, and infrastructural resources in support of Water Protectors, especially those who face ongoing charges and prison sentences, and their loved ones.”

To support UUs in carrying out this Action of Immediate Witness, here is information from the Water Protector Legal Collective website about four Indigenous Water Protectors facing federal charges. Be sure to bookmark their website and regularly check for updates.

INSPIRATION

Winona LaDuke’s speech after PUC Line 3 decision

In a powerful speech (view here) following the approval of a route for the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Winona LaDuke calls on Water Protectors to come to Minnesota to protect the water against Line 3, saying “What I will tell you is we are not backing down. We are here, we will stand here because we have been here for 10,000 years. We’re the home team, and we’re not going anywhere.”

ACTION

#RiseTogether #NoPipelines Week of Action

From July 16th-31st frontline resistance campaigns across the continent will be taking action simultaneously to stop pipelines and extreme energy projects. During these weeks of action, we are calling on people to join us in solidarity by organizing actions targeting the banks funding these pipeline projects, or by joining the frontlines and taking action directly with us.

Across Turtle Island, Indigenous people and frontline communities are leading the fight to stop oil and fracked-gas pipelines. These pipelines and all fossil fuel extraction endangers the communities they pass through, contaminate the air and water, contribute to global climate change and continue the colonization of native lands.

EDUCATION

#ItTakesRoots Solidarity to Solutions Week

In September 2018, the San Francisco Bay area will be a massive meeting and mobilization space for climate activists of all sorts, beginning with the Peoples Climate Movement  Rise For Jobs, Climate, & Justice national mobilization on September 8th and continuing through September 14

The Indigenous leaders in the It Takes Roots Alliance and featured in this webinar feel that the Global Climate Action Summit agenda does not include their voices or visions for just climate solutions, and so they are organizing a separate event in coalition with grassroots movements and the most-impacted communities in the Bay Area to showcase and demand greater solidarity to solutions.

It is important that Unitarian Universalists, who just collectively expressed a commitment to solidarity NOW with Indigenous water protectors at the 2018 UUA General Assembly, consider this seriously in discerning where and how we will show up in San Francisco in September.

Visit UU Ministry for Earth online at uumfe.org.
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