Justice Update: Voter Registration Drive

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Dear First UU,

I’m super excited about this spring! It’s getting to be sunny and warm and COVID numbers are down for now. Best of all, I am so proud of our Justice Action Ministry Team and the great new opportunities for justice work we have coming up, as well as continuing our faithful mainstays:

Tomorrow, Sunday March 20, to kick off our Voter Registration Week, we will have a way for everyone who attends the service, in-person or online to contribute to the health of our democracy in just a few minutes after the service.

Monday, March 21st, at noon, BREAD will be presenting an Alternative State of the City Address in response to the mayor’s address last week.

All through March, diapers and other supplies are needed by Feed and Read Ohio.

Tuesday, April 19 at noon, we are partnering with Kehilat Sukkat Shalom, the Jewish group that meets in our building, and many other groups, to put on a Street Seder for Climate Justice.

Saturday, April 23 from 10am-4pm is the Single Payer Action Network (SPAN) Ohio Annual Meeting to support healthcare for all.

And, we continue to build our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Network.

Peace and love to you wherever you may be in this moment,

Amanda Hays
Justice Coordinator
amanda@firstuucolumbus.org
616-350-1409

Voter Registration Kickoff: This Sunday!
Voter Registration Kickoff
Date: Sunday, March 20
Time: 11 AM
Location: First UU or Virtually In Ohio, millions of people have been removed from the rolls simply for not voting frequently. After our Sunday Service, during Community Hour, we will have three options to contribute to voter registration:1. Create a sign reminding people to vote, bring it home, and put it in your yard to remind your neighbors on voting day, May 3
2. Check your own voter registration and text or use social media to remind at least 3 friends: https://firstuucolumbus.org/voter-registration-check/
3. Sign up for a shift to help voters check their registration at a local library this week (details below), or get on our email list for future voter registration eventsVoter Registration Shifts
Dates: Various Shifts Monday, March 21-Saturday, March 26
Time: Various Shifts 3-6 PM on weekdays and 9AM-6PM on Saturday
Location: Various Shifts at Local Libraries around ColumbusOur Justice Action Ministry (JAM) is partnering with The League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus, to do a special voter outreach week from March 21 to March 26 at many different sites ahead of the spring primary.

There is still time for you to join in!
1. Watch Recorded Voter Registration Training
2. Sign up for a shift (two people per shift)
3. Pick up a packet at church this Sunday (one packet per shift), or email contact-democracyandhumanrights@firstuucolumbus.org to coordinate packet pick-up

Take Action Page
If you haven’t yet, please check out our “Take Action” page on First UU’s website.  Just click on the “Justice” tab, then click “Take Action.”

Update: Newly added justice opportunities are now clearly marked “NEW”

We will keep it updated so that opportunities to take action that you see are current. Click here to check it out!

FEATURED JUSTICE OPPORTUNITIES
You might have seen Mayor Ginther’s State of the City Address this past week. You can view the address here.Unfortunately, although Mayor Ginther frames Columbus as an “Opportunity City,” we know that without affordable housing, environmental justice, violence intervention, police accountability, and more, Columbus’s opportunities aren’t truly for everyone. This Monday, March 21st, at noon, BREAD,  will hold an Alternative State of the City Address to ask: Opportunity for Whom? Please arrive by 11:30 am to get parked before the media arrives. This will be an outdoor event as we call out what Columbus is really like and get Mayor Ginther’s attention. We want to work with him.

BREAD stands for Building Responsibility, Equality, and Dignity, and First UU is a founding member. BREAD is a congregation-based community organization of many different religious congregations in Central OH. BREAD stands for Building Responsibility, Equality, and Dignity, and First UU is a founding member. BREAD is a congregation-based community organization of many different religious congregations in Central OH.
Feed & Read Ohio: Dandy Diaper Days

Date & Time: Anytime in March
Location: 617 Woodsfield Dr., Columbus, OH 43214 (Under the tarp in the driveway)

Donations of baby and adult diapers, all sizes, requested! There is also great need for baby clothes of all sizes and feminine pads.

You can also always donate food or other high-quality items you no longer need. Donations go to populations in Columbus and Athens county who have the most difficulty accessing food pantries and social services.
Date: Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Time: 12 PM – 12:30 PM
Location: 100 E. Broad Street, Columbus (Chase Bank Plaza)First UU has an exciting opportunity: a Street Seder climate justice action event organized by The Shalom Center. We will be partnering with Kehilat Sukkat Shalom (formerly Little Minion that meets in our building), Dayenu (a Jewish call to Climate Action), MTSO, Faith in Public Life Ohio, Sierra Club, Ohioans for Sustainable Change (formerly Interfaith Power and Light), Simply Living and more. Actions are happening nationwide with many other partners.This is part of a national “Exodus Alliance” action taking place during Passover week. We picked this date because Cleveland is acting at the same time. The Shalom Center, Dayenu and GreenFaith are just a few of the many faith groups organizing this spring’s ‘Sacred Season for Climate Justice’ around the globe.At the action, we will modify Seder rituals to list the Plagues caused by the stubbornness, arrogance, and cruelty of the modern Corporate Carbon Pharaohs who fund the climate crisis, and we will use the Exodus story to urge Chase leaders and the public to redirect their money and support away from fossil fuel projects and their financial enablers. We will create and hand out flyers and press materials to educate the public about the seven largest funders of fossil fuels and list websites where they can find cleaner investments and credit cards instead. We will then deliver a letter to branch managers, urging their parent company JPMorganChase to stop financing the fossil fuel industry.JPMorganChase is the world’s largest banker of fossil fuels, dumping more than $316 billion into that industry from 2016 to 2020. They remain among the top financiers of Tar Sands oil, Arctic oil and gas, and fracking. Despite announcing a net zero by 2050 target in Oct. 2021 and joining the Net Zero Banking Alliance, they have yet to set any immediate hard targets to cut emissions.

We hope to see you there! Please email contact-ecojustice@firstuucolumbus.org if you’d like to help with music, signs, recruiting youth, or publicity.
Single Payer Action Network (SPAN) Ohio
Annual MeetingDate: Saturday April 23
Time: 10 AM – 4 PM
Location: Quest Conference Center, 9200 Worthington Rd, Westerville, OH 43082Join us!Speakers include Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, former Public Health Director for the city of Detroit, Dr. Claudia Fegan from Physicians for a National Health Program, and Dr. Sharelle Barber, social epidemiologist from Drexell University. In order to attend you will need proof of vaccination including eligible boosters. SPAN Ohio will be providing masks to all attendees. Click here to register (required).Cost is $40, lunch is included. Make this our biggest and best conference ever!
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Network

As part of our goal to live into the ideas and dreams of Beloved Community, we acknowledge that for too long, People of Color have struggled silently within our community. We also acknowledge our part in perpetuating an insider/outsider culture and want to all we can to create space for those in our community who far too often find themselves on the outside looking in. As part of our effort to live into the 8th Principle’s call for accountability, we are working on building a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Network here at First UU.

If you identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, we would love to share more with you about this developing group, hear your thoughts about what would be most supportive for you, and connect you with others. Please email contact-bipoc-network@firstuucolumbus.org get in touch with Tamara Parson, our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Network leader.

Tech Help Needed!

Help Button, Keyboard, Button, Help, Computer, Support
Would you like to contribute your skills in web design or social media to First UU’s Justice Ministry?

Contact Amanda Hays at amanda@firstuucolumbus.org

CONTACT JAM
Justice Coordinator: Amanda Hays, amanda@firstuucolumbus.org
JAM Chair: Lynda Smith, rev.lyndasmith@gmail.com
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Network Coordinator: Tamara Parson, tamara@firstuucolumbus.orgFocus Groups:
BREAD Contact: Alice Rathburn, eulala1905@me.com, (614) 563-0536
Democracy & Human Rights Contact: Chris Johnston, contact-democracyandhumanrights@firstuucolumbus.org
Environmental Justice and Sustainability Contact: Elaine Fujimura and Erica Barnett Morrison,  contact-ecojustice@firstuucolumbus.org
Food (In)security Contact: Jacques Angelino, 614-439-0245, by email: Stuart Smith, contact-foodinsecurity@firstuucolumbus.org
Healthcare Contact: Alice Faryna, alice.faryna@gmail.com
Racial Justice and Immigration Contact:  Jan Phillips, contact-racialjusticeandimmigration@firstuucolumbus.org