rights now: summer/fall 2013
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UUSC envisions a world ree rominjustice. It works with grassrootspartners every day to make that vision
a reality. Troughout the world, UUSC
joins with others to organize empoweredcommunities, dismantle regressive
policies, and advance human rights and
social justice. As a UUSC member, you
play a vital role in that work.
Support rom UUSC members not
only makes it nancially possible to
do this work, but it also helps create
an amenable environment or policy
change. UUSC members are powerullegislative advocates, consumers,
shareholders, community liaisons, and
leaders or social justice.
When you raise awareness, speak
up, and take action, you make sure the
From Individual to Collective ActionBy Kara Smith
Rights NowThe newsletter of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Summer/Fall 2013
uusc.org
Continued on page 3
A Boston protest, joined by participants in the UU College o Social Justices Youth Justice raining,ollowing George Zimmermans acquittal in the killing o rayvon Martin.
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Summer/Fall 2013
Editor
Jessica L. Atcheson
Design and Production
Reid Haithcock
UUSC bargaining unit employees
are represented by Human
Rights Workers Local 2661,
UNITE HERE!
We Welcome Letters
Rights Nowis grateful to readers
for their interest and support.
We invite you to share your
questions and comments by
submitting a letter to the editor:
Rights NowEditor, UUSC
689 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
UUSC is supported by individual
members, Unitarian Universalist
congregations, and foundations
that share our commitment to
building a more just world.
2013 All Rights Reserved
Get Rights NowonlineWould you prefer to receive
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by sending an e-mail to
The Unitarian Universalist
Service Committee advances
human rights and social justice
around the world, partneringwith those who confront unjust
power structures and mobilizing
to challenge oppressive policies.
Rights Now
CoverFrom Individual to Collective Action
Page 4UUSC Action Calendar
Page 6Ending Food Insecurity, One UrbanTire Garden at a Time
Page 9In Their Own WordsAn interview with Kenel Antoine
Page 10Deepening the Journey
Page 12Order Up: Living Wages
Page 15
Stewardship Circle RetreattPage 16Human Rights at Home and in YourCongregation
Page 18Vivienn Fosman Fund or the
Fulfllment o Girls
Page 19Democracy vs. Drones
Page 20Blue Lining and the Human Right
to Water
Rights Now
In this edition of
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UUSC brings many resources to our struggleor human rights a proud history,enormous credibility, a devoted sta, and
innovative partners in 21 countries, including
the United States. But one o the most
important resources we bring is you.Most social change organizations would
give their proverbial eye teeth to have a natural
constituency made up o something like 160,000
people spread across the country manyo them experienced activists, most o them
organized into groups called congregations. Its
a dream come true or doing the work o justice.
But the truth is that UUSC has not always done well at making it easy or our
constituents to gure out how they can help. Its simple enough to give moneyo course, and we cant do without that! But many o you would like to do more,
to help us with direct action o one kind or another.
Tats what much o this issue oRights Now is all about. One way you can
do justice work with us is through a service-learning trip with the UU College oSocial Justice (uucsj.org). Another is through online activism (uusc.org/action).
And there are many more.Martin Luther King Jr. was once asked how the civil rights movement had
managed to prevail against so much power aligned against it, and he replied,
We never let them rest. Tats UUSCs inormal motto too. Tese pagesillustrate some o the many ways you can help disturb the sleep o the mighty.
Bill Schulz
1
A message rom UUSCs president
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Consignment ProgramSell UUSC goods at your congregations annual holiday air or throughits bookstore and earn 510 percent commission on all sales! Newconsigners can sign up by calling 800-766-5236, ext. 342, or [email protected].
Afliate ProgramRaise unds or UUSC and your congregation through online sales madethrough your website, e-mail, social media, and other networks. Aliatesare approved to promote UUSCs store and products by being given aunique URL, and they receive commission on sales made via that link.Get started by visiting uusc.org/aliate.
wo years ago, UUSC put out the call or its members to usetheir purchasing power to make a dierence or workers rightsand environmental justice. You responded overwhelmingly bypledging to choose compassionate consumption, and UUSChas redesigned its online store to eature hundreds o ethicallysourced and eco-riendly products. All proceeds romshop.uusc.org support UUSCs human rights work. And nowthere are two new opportunities or you to get involved!
Merchandise that Makes a Dierence
Prosperity Candle
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voices o UUSC partners are heard by
policy makers. You create pressureor corporate and legislative policy
changes that will have an eect on
peoples daily lives. As individuals,
you speak up when you eat out, teachothers about what a just recovery inHaiti looks like, promote the human
right to water, and advocate or
asylum seekers.
And you also come together
to take action collectively withyour amilies, your riends, your
communities, your congregations.Tis commitment to collective action
or social justice is critical or social
change. In the words o Aesop, Inunion there is strength. When you
engage others, incite their excitement,
entice them to take action, and
empower their leadership, you areactively making positive change and
bringing the world closer to a shared
vision o justice.
UUSC aims to provide you with theinormation, resources, and support todo this work and to engage others in
your community to be the change
agent you want to be.
Check out UUSCs new action calendar,previewed on the ollowing pages and
available online at uusc.org/calendar.
Kara Smith is UUSCs associate orgrassroots mobilization.
A group o UU participants traveled to anzania and Burundi with the UU College o Social Justice.
Tey returned to their communities ready to engage in action or the human right to water.
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UUSC Action CalendarYou are critical to social change! So how can you make a
dierence? Start planning how to integrate UUSCs social justice
work into your congregational and community activities using
this calendar.
August
Start planning or Guest at Your able details at uusc.org/planguest
Check out the upcoming year o service-learning trips with the UU College
o Social Justice at uucsj.org
September
Speak up or a air minimum wage on Labor Day (September 2) better
wages, better world!
Include the human right to water in your Water Communion service
Schedule aBehind the Kitchen Doorbook group
October Order UUSC holiday cards
Publicize your Guest at Your able program
November
Launch Guest at Your able with a worship service on Sunday, November 24
I you have an alternative git air, consign ethically sourced goods romUUSC
December
Celebrate International Human Rights Day on December 10
Choose compassionate consumption or your holiday shopping atshop.uusc.org
Sign up or 2014 UUCSJ service-learning trips
January
Commemorate the 2010 earthquake in Haiti by promoting relie modelsthat work
Refect on workers rights on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Start planning or Justice Sunday at uusc.org/justicesunday
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This years major projects
February
Join others nationwide or live discussion with noted author (to be
announced) during UUSCs annual Get-ogether
Celebrate the World Day o Social Justice on February 20
Explore ethical eating and workers rights by signing up or UUCSJs Food
or Tought service-learning trip to Chicago
March
Bid or justice check out UUSCs online auction at uusc.org/auction
Celebrate women leaders on International Womens Day (March 8)
Learn about discrimination in water access in the United States on World
Water Day (March 22) Order Coming o Age jewelry gits or youth in your congregation
April
Conclude your Justice Sunday program with a worship service on April 6
Help UUSC ensure that Congress is supporting a just recovery in Haiti; visit
uusc.org/action
Celebrate Earth Day with products or sustainable living at shop.uusc.org
May
Celebrate your mom by supporting working mothers
Nominate someone you know or a UUSC social justice award
June
Visit UUSC at the UUA General Assembly in Providence, R.I.
Honor International Day in Support o Survivors and Victims o orture
(June 26)
July
Celebrate what a great year it has been putting your values into action with
UUSC!
Note: Tis calendar oers highlights o activities that UUSC is asking you to
engage in. All activities are subject to change.
ChooseCompassionateConsumption
Haiti JustRecovery
The HumanRight to Water
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Ending Food Insecurity, One Urban Tire Gardenat a Time
By Jessica L. Atcheson
I its not impossible, we will be able
to do it. Tat was the responseo our youths to Chavannes Jean-
Baptiste, ounder and leader o Haitis
Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP),
when he told them that it would be
dicult to bring tire gardens romthe countryside into Port-au-Prince.
Tey were right that they could do
it. Tey ormed the Bright Educators
o Delmas (known by its Haitianacronym, GEAD), and with UUSC
support, the our young leaders
embarked on an urban agriculture
pilot project that has had great success
and is poised or its next phase ogrowth.
Rural tire gardens created by the Papaye Peasant Movement, a UUSC partner.
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Tire gardens: the what and
the why
ire gardens, which GEAD discoveredat MPP headquarters during a
community organizing training, useold tires recycled into ecient home
garden planters. Te tires are turned
inside out; tted with a solid base;lled with a mixture o dirt, compost,
and sand; and raised up on stilts to
keep them out o reach o animals
(and to allow greater light exposure in
the city).People grow tomatoes, cabbage,
bell peppers, carrots, onions,
eggplant, and more; they harvest
seeds or uture planting and rotate
crops among the tire planters toensure greater soil productivity. Te
process uses organic arming methods,
avoiding the expense, potential
dangers, and environmental toll o
ertilizers and pesticides. And just vetire gardens can eed a amily o our
or a year.
Te concept o personal home
gardens in the city and in
the countryside carries greatsignicance in a country where ood
security is hard to nd. According to
the U.N. Oce or the Coordination
o Humanitarian Aairs, 6.7 o the
10 million people in Haiti donthave enough to eat or have access
to adequate nutrition. Its in this
context that MPP developed the tiregarden model to enable its members
to successully cultivate vegetables ortheir own consumption and to sell at
market.
Success in the city
GEAD was determined to introducethe concept in Port-au-Prince.
Ater MPP trained them in garden
construction and growing methods,GEAD worked with UUSC to bring
the gardens to 48 amilies in theDelmas neighborhood o Port-au-
Prince. Tey oered more than just
the raw materials, though. As Danielle
Neus, GEAD spokesperson, says, Its
not about just making the gardens,
its about training [the amilies] tounderstand how to eed themselves.
GEAD worked with the amilies to
plant the rst vegetables o the pilot
project in August 2012. Wendy Flick,manager o UUSCs Haiti Program,
reports, Tey have had unbelievable
success so ar. Families are growing
vegetables with enthusiasm, enjoyingready access to healthy ood, andspreading the word to their neighbors,
who are eager to join the movement.
Tis ts right into GEADs
vision, as explained by Coordinator
Emmanuel Exuma: GEADs dreamis to see the majority o people in
Port-au-Prince have the possibility onot buying vegetables in the market
anymore. Tey could just go pick the
vegetables in their garden.
Urban training center in
development
Tat vision means the rst 48 amilies
are just the beginning and it also
means that GEAD needs space togrow. On the horizon: construction
o a tire-garden training center in
the city. Neus breaks it down: Te
next step or GEAD is to have its own
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Te Bright Educators o Delmas introduced tire gardens
in the Delmas neighborhood o Port-au-Prince.
center so that we can train young
people not just train them so thatthey can go out and earn a living, but
put the ideas deep inside o them
so that they understand that they
have their part to play and that itsimportant.GEAD is currently identiying a
suitable piece o land or the center.
Te site will include a training
acility, model garden, storage or
tools and materials, and an area ormanuacturing their own compost,
which is currently being importedrom rural Papaye. One o the
groups GEAD plans to train once
the center opens is another UUSCpartner, Zanmi imoun, which works
with survivors o child slavery and
tracking to reintegrate them into
society.
Into the uture
Te connections that people ormmay be one o the greatest products o
this process aside rom the much-
needed ood. Tis is not lost on GEAD;in act, its key to their approach.
GEAD Secretary Guerna Salomonsays, Unity is everything. With union,
we can go urther. And they are
already on their way.
Neus refects on the uture: Te
dream is becoming a reality, but we
have much to do. Well need thesupport o a lot o people. Not just
to help us realize the center or even
to help us realize other tire gardens.
We need the support o all the youth worldwide because this is
something that concerns not just us
but everyone in the world.
Jessica L. Atcheson is UUSCs writer and
editor.
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In Their Own Words: Feeling the Energy oSupportAn interview with Kenel Antoine
Conducted by Jessica L. Atcheson
Kenel Antoine is a member o the May
Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society
in Syracuse, N.Y. He took part in a
February congregational service-learning
trip to Haiti with the UU College o Social
Justice (UUCSJ) and advocated or policy
change in Washington, D.C., during
UUSCs Haiti Lobby Day in April. UUSC
conducted this interview in June.
What motivated you to take part in a
UUCSJ service-learning trip to Haiti?
I have always been interested in Haiti,since I grew up there. I let Haiti just
ater I turned 20 to go to college.
My parents already lived outside o
the country. My amily had sueredunder the Duvalier dictatorship. One
o my uncles, who was a senator, was
arrested and disappeared. My goal
always was to go back to Haiti andwork, but I went to Mexico to studyand then transerred to the United
States. I landed in Syracuse, which is
where Ive been living or a long time.
But Ive always been interested in
progress in Haiti and helping.
What were the benefts o embarking
on the trip with ellow congregation
members?
It was a wonderul thing. Memberso my congregation showed so much
interest and enthusiasm. Its amazing
what we did as a group, and we have togive credit to a lot o olks or making
the trip possible. We had several car
washes, a bake sale, a undraising
luncheon eaturing Haitian dishes.
. . . Someone at the church came upwith a concept o doing a sort o
stock buy-in option or the trip to
Haiti: people put money in, and ater
the trip to Haiti, we hosted a dinner
or the donors so we could bring theexperience back to them. First UU in
Syracuse and May Memorial combined
our orces, and members rom both
churches went on that trip.
What did you learn on the ground
that you took back with you?
Many, many things. . . . Tis interview
continues online at uusc.org/kenel.
For more on UUCSJ congregational
service-learning trips, see page 10 and
visituucsj.org/congregations. For more
on UUSCs work in Haiti, visit
uusc.org/haiti.
Jessica L. Atcheson is UUSCs writer and
editor.
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Deepening the JourneyCongregational service learning with UUCSJ
By Kathleen Mcigue
10
Service-learning journeys oeredby the UU College o SocialJustice (UUCSJ) are transormative
experiences, designed to help youdeepen your social justice work, no
matter where you live. But why not
consider bringing a whole group rom
your congregation along with you? Ia UUCSJ journey can transorm anindividual, imagine what it can do or
a congregation!
When a group travels together
rom a single congregation, members
have the benet o returning homewith others who have all shared in the
same powerul experience. Te processdeepens learning, spiritual refection,
and solidarity with partners. Te
collective experience also makes it
easier to share the journey with the
rest o the congregation and creates astrong oundation or discerning the
next steps or engagement.
A congregational grounding also
encourages a wider circle o peopleto join the journey by engagingwith the preparation materials,
holding the travelers in prayer
or mindul attention during the
journey, and receiving them back
into the community on their return.Tis process can help the entire
congregation gain clarity on newdirections or social justice work.
BorderLinks Immigration Justice in MexicoChiapas: December 411, 2013 (register by September 22, 2013)
Seminarian Program: March 2229, 2014 (register by January 5, 2014)
Sustainable Futures: May 2430, 2014 (register by March 16, 2014)
Haiti Just RecoveryJanuary 25February 1, 2014 (register by November 17, 2013)March 1522, 2014 (register by January 5, 2014)
May 1017, 2014 (register by March 2, 2014)
Register today at uucsj.org.
Upcoming Journeys
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Beginning this all, all UUCSJ
service-learning trips will be groundedin the new UUCSJ Curriculum or
Cross-Cultural Engagement. Tis
curriculum helps participants
understand the powerul, rsthandexperience o their journey within thebroader context o racial and economic
justice. It is designed or use not only
by those traveling with UUCSJ but
also by learning circles within their
home communities. Congregations,dedicated as they are to living the
values o UU aith in the work ojustice, are an ideal setting or these
circles.
I your congregation is alreadyengaged in issues like immigration
rights, economic justice, and
compassionate consumption, taking
a journey together will bring you new
insights and commitment to thiswork. Likewise, i you are seeking new
directions or your congregations
social justice program, joining aUUCSJ journey as a congregational
delegation can provide exactly the
guidance and inspiration youre
looking or.o encourage congregationalgroups to take part, UUCSJ oers
a ve percent discount or all
participants when three or more
people rom one congregation travel
together on a journey. UUCSJ stronglyencourages congregations to support
those traveling on their behal byholding undraisers, donating the
Sunday plate oering, and inviting
members to sponsor a traveler.
Kathleen Mcigue is the director o the
UU College o Social Justice. For more
inormation on UUCSJ congregational
journeys, visit uucsj.org/congregations.
BorderLinks in Mexico
Haiti Just Recovery
UU Holdeen India
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Order Up: Living WagesTime to raise the minimum wage
By Ariel Jacobson
he U.S. wage gap has turnedinto o-the-chart inequality literally. A recent report by the U.N.International Labor Organization
noted that U.S. income inequality is
so high that it could not t on thesame chart as 25 other industrialized
nations. While the U.S. ederal
minimum wage has stagnated at $7.25per hour, the average chie executive
at one o the 500 biggest companiesmakes $28,767per day.
As the Let Justice Roll (LJR) living
wage coalition, o which UUSC is a
part, puts it, A job should keep you
out o poverty, not keep you in it. Yet,
a ull-time worker making minimumwage earns an annual salary thats
just $15,080 $3,000 lower than the
poverty level or a amily o three. And
dont orget that the current ederalminimum wage or tipped employees
71 percent o them women has
been stuck at just $2.13 per hour since
1991. Bottom line: its time to raise theminimum wage; its a moral imperative.
Origins o minimum wage
Te Commonwealth o Massachusetts
established the rst minimum wagelaw 101 years ago as more women
and children entered the workorce.Te 1912 report o the Massachusetts
Commission on Minimum Wage
Boards stated that it was parasitic tocompensate workers at a level less than
the cost o living. Tis law set the stage
or additional state minimum wage
laws.
wo years later, Henry Ford morethan doubled the pay o autoworkers
in his actories. Te increase to
ve dollars per day gave them the
highest wages in the industry. While
other industrialists scoed at Fordor raising his production costs, he
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believed that his policy would reduce
turnover and associated costs. Whenit did just that, other companies
ollowed suit.
Ultimately, it took the eorts o
Secretary o Labor Frances Perkinsto institute a ederal minimum wageas part o the Fair Labor Standards
Act in 1938. All o this began the
solidication o a strong middle class.
Worker productivity increased, and
amilies could not only aord thebasics but also realize the American
dream o home ownership and a goodeducation. Tat sadly hasnt lasted.
Declining purchasing power
As ar back as 1956, the minimum
wage had more buying power than it
has today. Its peak value in 1968 would
be worth $10.69 in todays dollars. AsHolly Sklar, LJR director, notes, I thevalue o the minimum wage had not
allen since 1968, Walmarts wages, or
example, would be closer to Costco,
which pays starting wages o $11 and
has the lowest employee turnover inretail, doesnt need to spend money
on advertising, and outperorms
Walmart.
In 1968, Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr. told sanitation workers inMemphis, It is criminal to have
people working on a ull-time basis
and a ull-time job getting part-time
income. He said, We are tired o
working our hands o and laboringevery day and not even making a wage
adequate with daily basic necessities
o lie. Te real value o the minimum
wage is less now than it was when
King spoke those prophetic words.
Raising the wage in hard
economic times
One o the most common objections toincreasing the minimum wage is that
it will cause unemployment. Rigorousempirical studies o actual minimum
wage increases show they do not cause
job losses, whether during periods oeconomic growth or recession.
Opponents o the minimum
wage also cite small businesses as
the potential victims o an increase.
However, a poll by the Small BusinessMajority ound that 67 percent o small
business owners support increasing the
ederal minimum wage and adjusting it
yearly to keep up with the cost o living.
Moreover, the majority o Americaslowest-paid workers are employed by
large corporations with more than 100
employees, not small businesses.
Consider, too, that 70 percent o
the economy is made up o consumerspending. Low-wage workers recycle
their dollars back into the local
economy. As Sklar points out, When
the minimum wage is too low, it
not only impoverishes workers, itundermines the consumer purchasing
power needed or a vibrant economy.
Making a dierence or
amilies
Each dollar increase per hour means
about $2,000 more a year or workersstruggling to support themselves and
their amilies. Te Fair Minimum Wage
Act o 2013 would generate a raise or
more than 30 million workers plusmore than $32 billion in new economic
activity by 2015.
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Poverty and wage inequality are
the moral economic issues o our time.
A Pew Research Center opinion poll
ound that 71 percent o Americans
support an increase in the minimumwage but this wont happen unless
we raise our voices.
Ariel Jacobson is manager o UUSCs
Economic Justice Program. Tis article
is dedicated to the late Dick Campbell,
ormer UUSC senior associate or media
and public aairs, who was a championor economic justice and the minimum
wage.
Read the ull statement by UUSC President BillSchulz and UUA President Peter Morales andadd your signature at uusc.org/minwage.
It is time to insist that everyone share
in corporate success, not just a handulo executives. As people o aith, we
believe in the inherent worth and
dignity o every person, and raising the
minimum wage is vital in ensuring that
dignity.
Take a Stand on Minimum Wage
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Stewardship Circle Celebrates Growth atAnnual Retreat
By Maxine Neil
15
UUSCs Stewardship Circle (SC)is relatively young just ouryears old but is growing by leaps
and bounds. Tis was evident in the
attendance o 70 people at this years
retreat, held in San Francisco in May up rom six at the retreat three years
ago.SC members, who make annual
contributions o $5,000 or more, joined
together with UUSC sta to connectwith one another, engage with our
partners, and provide eedback and
guidance on UUCS intiatives.
Participants discussed UUSC
branding with CommunicationsDirector Paul witchell and
constituent engagement plans
with Rev. Brock Leach, UUSCs vicepresident o mission, strategy, and
innovation. Tey also heard rom
partners Ana Aguayo o Northwest
Arkansas Workers Justice Center,
Simon Sangale Ole Nasieku o theKenya National Alliance o Street
Vendors and Inormal raders, andrepresentatives o the Community
Water Center o Caliornia.
Maxine Neil is UUSCs director o
institutional advancement. o learn
more about the Stewardship Circle,
please contact her at 617-301-4313 or
Stewardship Circle members meet in the Bay Area.
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Human Rights at Home and in YourCongregation
By Lauralyn Smith
Suggested date for Guest at Your Table opening service:
November 24
Mark Your Calendars
Have you met George Friday,Malya Villard-Appolon, DanielleNeus, and Nelson Escobar? Get ready
to welcome these UUSC partners
through their personal stories o hope
into your homes, congregations,
and hearts this all as part o Guest at
Your able.An important annual tradition
in many UU congregations, Guest at
Your able is an intergenerational
program to raise awareness o andsupport or UUSCs human rights
work. In addition to its perennial
ocus on how UUSC and its members
empower UUSC partners to achievetheir goals, this years Guest at Yourable program oers some exciting
new eatures.
Starting in September, Guest
at Your able will oer dynamicnew tools or you to engage with
the program online and help raise
essential unds to advance human
rights with UUSC. Youll have access
to a personalized web page or
your congregations program wheremembers and amilies can pledge,
track team pages, and watch the
program unold together.
Organized by UUSC localrepresentatives and volunteer
coordinators, Guest at Your able
provides a rich opportunity or
amilies and congregations tointegrate deeper discussions aboutsocial justice into congregational
lie. Each year, Guest at Your able
Guestat
Your Table
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empowers participants, connects
shared principles to action andeducation, and helps people join hands
with UUSC partners to challenge
injustice throughout the world. o
support the program, UUSC providesa host o resources including reeposters and Stories o Hope booklets
or worship, religious education, and
related congregational activities.
Guest at Your able has been an
important part o UUSC and UUculture since 1975. And this year,
leading up to the 40th anniversary oGuest at Your able in 2015, UUSC
is conducting a special contest. You
wont want to miss it the winningcongregation will receive a sermon
written and delivered in person by
Rev. Bill Schulz, UUSCs president
and CEO! Watch uusc.org/guest or
more inormation about this excitingcommemorative event.
Not sure i your congregation is
taking part in Guest at Your able?Contact your UUSC local rep to
nd out, and learn how you can
participate and support the program.
Local reps there are more than600 o them throughout the country are part o the UUSC National
Volunteer Network, and they serve as
congregational liaisons with UUSC.
Consider getting involved and helping
coordinate Guest at Your able at yourcongregation this year!
Lauralyn Smith is UUSCs senior
associate or member development. Formore on Guest at Your able, visit
uusc.org/guest, e-mail
[email protected], or call
617-301-4366.
Guests at your table (clockwise rom upper let): Danielle Neus, Bright Educators o Delmas; George Friday, Bill o RightsDeense Committee; Nelson Escobar, Northwest Arkansas Workers Justice Center; Malya Villard-Appolon, Commission o
Women Victims or Victims
http://www.uusc.org/guesthttp://www.uusc.org/guestmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.uusc.org/guesthttp://www.uusc.org/guest -
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Announcing the Vivienn Fosman Fund orthe Fulfllment o Girls
By Rita Butterfeld
18
Arequent visitor to the UUcongregation in Marin, Cali.,Vivienn Fosman was Jewish but was
inspired by Unitarian Universalism,
especially UUs social activism. When
she passed away, her daughter BarbaraMeislin known aectionately as the
Purple Lady o iburon was looking
or a way to honor her. Meislins
philanthropy, activism, love o lie,
and commitment to peace and justice
were shaped by her much belovedmother, so she chose a named und
at UUSC as the perect way to honor
Fosmans memory.
Te Vivienn Fosman Fund orthe Fulllment o Girls will support
UUSCs work against human
tracking. For example, UUSC
partners with Rock Women Group(RWG), a coalition o teachersthat works to stop child labor and
human tracking in disadvantaged
neighborhoods o Nairobi, Kenya.
RWG addresses the underlying causes
o these problems by providing skillstraining or women and at-risk youth
so they can secure jobs or establishtheir own businesses. Additionally,
RWG organizes community
discussions, promotes lie skills,
provides legal training, and advocates
or policy change.Te Vivienn Fosman Fund or the
Fulllment o Girls will help RWG and
other UUSC partners continue and
expand this work to keep girls sae so
that they can ulll their potential and
live their lives with dignity. Te PurpleLady invites others to join this work
by making a contribution to the und.
Creating a named und to support the
work o UUSC is a unique way or riends
and amily to honor the contributions and
lives o loved ones who have passed away.
o learn more, please contact MaxineNeil, UUSCs director o institutional
advancement, at 617-301-4313 or
Rita Butterfeld is UUSCs senior
associate or major gits on the West
Coast.
Rock Women Group
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Drones are used or many things military strikes, disasterresponse, measurement o crop
growth, poacher tracking. But manyAmericans dont know that drones are
increasingly being used in domesticsurveillance. Te Bill o Rights
Deense Committee (BORDC), a UUSC
partner, is bringing that to light,though, and giving activists the tools
to protect their communities.
Te use o drones in domestic
surveillance is still so new and
rapidly growing that regulation andprotection lag ar behind. According
to Shahid Buttar, BORDCs executive
director, Because the legal landscape
governing drones is essentially barren,
law enorcement agencies around thecountry are currently making policy to
suit their interests.
Democracy vs. DronesBy Martha Tompson
Shahid Buttar
Drones are set up in such a way
that limited surveillance is impossible
all inormation registered romtakeo to touchdown is recorded, and
there are no restrictions on how that
inormation might be used in court.
Currently law enorcement can use
inormation obtained rom droneswithout a warrant.
BORDC has created tools,
including two model pieces o local
legislation, or activists to limit the
use o drones in domestic surveillanceo their communities. One model
ordinance creates a drone-ree zone,
and the other lays out rigorousrequirements that limit their use bylaw enorcement agencies.
Buttar emphasizes the importance
o grassroots involvement on this
issue: We live in a constitutional
republic, meaning that We thePeople hold the opportunity and
responsibility to petition our localrepresentatives or legal protections.
BORDCs new legislation is the rst o
its kind, and it oers people a uniquechance to use grassroots democracy to
uphold civil rights.
Martha Tompson is manager o UUSCs
Rights in Humanitarian Crises Program.For more inormation on UUSCs work
with BORDC, visit uusc.org/bordc.
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One o UUSCs most valuableassets comes in the ormo people power: the National
Volunteer Network. Engaging ellow
congregation members in UUSCs
work, these volunteers gain personal
growth and development whilehelping UUSC thrive.
Te mainstay o the Volunteer
Network is the local representative,
20
Blue Lining and the Human Right to WaterBy Jessica L. Atcheson
Youve probably heard o redlining:discrimination in housing,nancial services, and insurance that
historically excluded people o color
rom certain neighborhoods. But
have you heard o blue lining? As
Patricia Jones, manager o UUSCsEnvironmental Justice Program,
explains: similar discrimination,
dierent basic need. Tis time its
the human right to water that people
are being denied based on their classbackground or the color o their skin.
And its happening in the United
States.While this has been true or years,
the problem received internationalattention in 2011 when Catarina de
Albuquerque, the U.N. independent
expert on the human right to sae
drinking water and sanitation,
delivered a report to the U.N. Human
Rights Council. Her ndings: despite
widespread access to water andsanitation in the United States,
discrimination in services leaves too
many marginalized communities
without. As the report states, Te
people with whom the independentexpert met and who are acing
obstacles in their enjoyment o the
rights to water and sanitation were
disproportionately Black, Latino,
American Indian, homeless, orotherwise disadvantaged.
Te independent experts report
cites a study done by MassachusettsGlobal Action (MGA), with support
rom UUSC, that revealed thediscriminatory impact o Boston
water shuto policies. In Te Color o
Water: Getting Boston to Recognize the
Human Right to Water, MGA ound
that there is considerable inequality
Patricia Jones (right), UUSCs expert on the human right to water.
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across neighborhoods that refects
long running patterns based on colorand income. For every one percent
increase in the population o people
o color in a ward, there is a ourold
increase in threatened water shutos.Tis is not an isolated occurrence.Related examples can be ound
throughout the country in a variety
o settings inner cities, rural areas,
agricultural hubs, Native American
reservations. In Zanesville, Ohio,public and private utilities excluded
low-income communities o colorrom water services or more than 50
years. In Caliornias ulare County,
the Community Water Center, a UUSCpartner, will tell you that Seville
residents devote approximately 20
percent o their income (in a place
where median household income
is $14,000 a year) to water andsanitation. Why? Because their water
is contaminated with nitrates so
they pay not only or the unsae water
that comes out o their taps, but also
or the bottled water they must buyor clean drinking water and cooking.
UUSC is getting ready to dig deeper
into this issue by embarking on anambitious research project. As Jones
states, Te research will provide
an important expos into historic
discrimination in the sector at a timewhen decisions can potentially addressthis injustice. Te Georgetown Law
Human Rights Institute report apped
Out: Treats to the Human Right to
Water in the Urban United States puts it
well: Every person deserves access towater regardless o income, location,
or race. With a little eort, this rightis realizable in the United States.
For more on UUSCs work on the human
right to water, visituusc.org/righttowater.
Jessica L. Atcheson is UUSCs writer and
editor.
Water rights activists in Caliornia
http://www.uusc.org/righttowaterhttp://www.uusc.org/righttowater -
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