partners

Call to Arms

Our experiences at Justice General Assembly and in our own communities have taught us that the work of justice making is long haul work, work for our arms, our feet, our voices, and our hearts.  Rev. Marta I. Valentín offered us this prayer as we awaited the Supreme Court decision, and it is just as pertinent now as it was before General Assembly -Ed.

 

Spirit of Truth and Justice

Hear us as we ask that you

hold the collective anxiety

that permeates this fear-filled situation.

 

This is a call to arms.

 

Arms that will hold broken hearts,

and elated hearts

arms that wrap themselves around

a body, beaten and disfigured

in truth and metaphorically…

 

Arms that provide a strength

neither giver nor receiver

knew they possessed…

 

Arms that hold up

the sky of misplaced authority

and righteousness

from crashing down upon heads

struggling to be held high

as each shred of dignity is yanked

from their tired, over-used,

under-appreciated bodies.

 

This is a call for committed arms

to continue leading heads

and hearts

to know the facts

but feel the truth,

a call to remember

that the freedom we’ve been given

to swing our arms as wide and open

to the sun as we like

has come on the backs of humans

others wish were invisible.

 

This is a call to arm

ourselves with the facts

but feel the truth

borne out of the power of our

Unitarian Universalist love

and the balance of justice.

 

Marta I. Valentín

March 29, 2012

 

Rev. Marta I. Valentín is the minister at First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts

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Education, Reflection, Witness and Action, Worship, Your Recipes

The Doctrine of Discovery: The True Story of the Colonization of the United States of America

“The Doctrine of Discovery: The True Story of the Colonization of the United States of America”,  new fourteen-minute video, suitable for adults, young adults, older children, and youth, invites us to follow clues to how the Doctrine of Discovery is embedded in the cultural and historical narrative of the United States. Discover why our immigration justice partners in Arizona have asked us to learn about this story and join them as allies in calling for the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery.

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Education

UUA Bookstore Sales Support Immigration Justice Partners

Thinking of bringing a banned book to Phoenix? Planning on purchasing books for yourself or your congregation? The UUA Bookstore is committed to the social justice mission of Justice General Assembly. Check out this announcement!- Ed.

Make any purchase from the UUA Bookstore entering the code PhoenixGA at checkout, and we’ll donate 5% of your purchase to The Comités de Defensa del Barrio (CDBs) and Puente AZ. These organizations performing vital human services and migrant justice work in Arizona are approved by the General Assembly Planning Committee. If ordering by phone at (800) 215-9076, be sure to mention the code PhoenixGA before you complete your purchase!

If sales using this code exceed $100,000 we donate 10% of each additional sale – up to a total contribution of $15,000!

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Education

The Spiritual Practice of Being in Partnership

As we prepare for Justice GA in Phoenix, Unitarian Universalists need to attend to how we engage as partners with those whose lives are most impacted by the social and legal effects of U.S. policy, law, and attitudes regarding migrants. This week, Janice Marie Johnson, UUA Multicultural Growth Director, offers her reflection on partnership.-Ed.

The Latin American Theology of Accompaniment offers an important glimpse into the spiritual practice of being in partnership. I first heard this term just a couple of days ago when I participated in worship led by Rev. Jackie Clements at Finding Our Way Home 2012, the annual gathering for religious professionals of color.

We learned that the idea of accompaniment was put forth by Roberto S. Goizueta in the book Caminemos con Jesus: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 1995). We considered how the verb ‘acompañar’ in Spanish is different in complexity, texture and weight from the verb ‘to accompany’ in English which can be used to refer to going to the grocery store with someone. At our retreat someone said, “’it’s like being joined at the hip.” (more…)

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Education, Reflection, Your Recipes