Social Justice

The focus for my own learning and social justice work continues to be around issues of combatting white supremacy culture in myself and in the institutions I serve; building relationships and partnerships with communities of color if possible given the time that I have; and de-centering whiteness.  The attacks on rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gender non-confirming persons and on a persons reproductive choices (including the choice NOT to have children!) is serious, sustained and spiritually, emotionally and politically devastating.    Although I serve but for a short period of time, these times demand our voice and certainly our vote. As I write this, we are heading into one of the most significant presidential elections in our lifetimes.  I am currently involved in getting out the vote efforts in Albemarle County, working with my husband who is one of the Democrat Precinct Captains for our area.

While serving as a settled minister (Cleveland, OH 2000-2016) I was a leader in the following areas, which represent my Social Justice Witness, Activity and Training:

1. Supporting LGBTQAI + members of the community, working closely with a Clergy Alliance | Allies in support of LGBTQAI+ issues and concerns. 
2. Working with our ARAOMC (Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive and Multicultural ) Team to provide on-going training, education and advocacy around issues of racism and white privilege;
3. Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts, particularly focused on teens and young women;
4. Reproductive Rights as an All-Options Counselor for Ohio Religious Coalition for Choice;
5. Supporting our congregation’s turnout efforts as a member of Greater Cleveland Congregations, an IAF-affiliated Organizing Group.

Called to be a Witness

2020 – 2022, Washington DC.  I attended regular rallies and marches for The Poor People’s Campaign, Rally for Reproductive Justice; Climate Justice, Anti-Gun Violence Rally; Black Lives Matter protests and more.  Of course, serving in the nation’s capital means that one can spend every week attending a protest.  I usually attended such gatherings when other members of All Souls were planning to attend as well.  In addition to attending these gatherings, there would also be strategic conversations about the issues, educational opportunities and connecting with All Souls larger mission and vision.

2022 – 2024, Saint Paul, MN.  Unity Church Unitarian organized their social justice efforts into what was called the Community Outreach Ministry Teams (COMT)).  I was the Ministerial Liasion for the following focus areas: Indigeneous Justice; Gun Violence Prevention; Housing Justice; Partner Church Program; and Mano a Mano (supplies & relationship with a community in Bolivia.)  Because Saint Paul is the State Capital, I was asked to attend rallies, gatherings and offer testimonial and prayers when a COMT needed their minister to draw attention to a piece of legislation.  In addition, a lay-led effort was initiated while I was serving at Unity to push through a Medical Aid in Dying Act.  While ultimately, the legislation did not pass, we got closer than ever of legislators being receptive to allowing Minnesotans to die with dignity.

Other Opportunities

Clergy Call to Non-Violent Witness, Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2017

My husband and I had just moved to Charlottesville four days before the “Unite the Right” rally was scheduled to occur.  We were aware that there were many responses to the event: the city of Charlottesville had planned multiple “teach-ins” around town.  The minister and executive team of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial UU Church of Charlottesville (TJMC) had planned to make the church a safe place for church and community members to gather, learn and pray.  I decided that I wanted to accept the invitation of the clergy group known as Congregate Charlottesville, led by two United Church of Christ pastors, who were organizing a non-violent peaceful witness in front of Emancipation Park that day.  I attended non-violent training on Friday afternoon, and worshipped with over 300 interfaith members of the community on Friday, August 11th.  The next day, our service began in worship at 6:00 am, and afterwards, we walked to the park, linked arms and formed a phalanx of clergy in vestments in front of the park.   What was clear to me was the importance of showing up, and as people of faith to embody a peaceful presence in the midst of violence and chaos.

Two weeks later, Reverend Jesse Jackson came to preach at TJMC and I was asked by the editor of our denominational magazine to write an article about his sermon.  You can read the article here.  My husband and I were both invited to do a live on-air interview at WEOL Radio (930 AM, Elyria, OH) following the Charlottesville protests.  You can hear that interview here.  As a resident of Charlottesville, I continue to follow the aftermath of the Alt-Right rally and participate in community forums when possible.

Standing Rock/Standing Rock/ #NODAPL. On November 1, 2016, Episcopal Priest Rev. John Floberg put out a call for clergy of all faiths to join him and Native Leaders of the Sioux Nation at Standing Rock to participate in an interfaith witness and prayer vigil near the Oceti Sakowin Camp, where the North Dakota section of the proposed pipeline is being laid. By November 3, I was on a bus with a dozen other clergy and laity to participate in the vigil. The event was framed as a “peaceful, prayerful, lawful and non-violent” witness and indeed, it was all of that and so much more. I returned back to the Appleton community, interviewed for a front page news article, wrote a letter to the editor and took up a collection for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which was the largest single social action collection taken at the Fellowship to date. In February 2016, the Fellowship will host a panel discussion and film on Native American issues, rights and concerns.

Black Lives Matter. In April 2014, the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship put up a “Black Lives Matter” sign. As has happened with many of our congregations, it has been repeatedly stolen. The second time it was stolen, I organized a re-dedication of the sign, expecting about 20-25 people to show up. Over 100 members and friends of the Fellowship, plus community members attended the service of re-dedication. Unfortunately, that sign was also stolen. We continue to hang some variation of Black Lives Matter (i.e., “When Black Lives Matter, then ALL lives WILL matter”) as a public witness against racism. News story: Black Lives Matter Sign Stolen for 4th time. http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2016/09/26/black-lives-matter-sign-stolen-fourth-time/91111266

Witness for Tamir Rice. On November 22, 2014, twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a Cleveland Police Officer about five miles from the congregation I served in Cleveland. As more details of this incident were uncovered, it became apparent that this incident revealed a widespread pattern of police using deadly force and more brutal tactics against African Americans. This incident galvanized ours and other congregations, especially those involved in Greater Cleveland Congregations, to demand higher accountability and the creation of a Citizen’s Review Board. I was involved in on-the-street protests outside the church walls, and educational opportunities and community forums within to examine more closely the links between racism, the police tactics, mass incarceration and white privilege.

Witness for Women:  Women of Faith: Voices Against Violence.

In 2009, the missing bodies of eleven Cleveland women were found murdered by serial killer Anthony Sowell. In 2012, Jyoti Singha of New Delhi India was gang raped, beaten and murdered on a taxibus in New Delhi. On May 6, 2013, missing Cleveland teen Amanda Berry escaped from serial rapist and abductor Ariel Castro, revealing that he had kidnapped two other missing Cleveland women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus. I had been meeting regularly with a group of interfaith women in the Cleveland area and we were alternately horrified and deeply troubled by the misogyny and violence against women we had read about and/or experienced. So, an idea was born; to create a vigil, event, and protest called “Women of Faith: Voices Against Violence.” On September 22, 2013, some fifty women, representing over a dozen faith traditions, gathered together for a public witness in Downtown Cleveland. My role was serving as chief liturgist and organizer. Although this group did not continue to meet after the event, the bonds of friendship and interfaith collegiality remained strong.

Anti-Human Trafficking Work.   In 2010 I preached a sermon about human trafficking and asked if anyone in the congregation would partner with me to form an anti-human trafficking group.  A core group of eight women and I started WAAHT (West Shore Allies Against Human Trafficking).  Our mission was “educate to eradicate human traficking”  Since its inception, the team has grown in numbers and visibility.  We partnered  with a larger organization,  the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking and the Renee Jones Empowerment Center to draw attention to the realities of human trafficking in the Greater Cleveland Area.  It’s an area of my social justice work of which I’m very proud to note that it continues even though I left West Shore in 2016.

Spiritual Leaders for LGBTQ Rights – Greater Cleveland.

I was a leader and participant in the Spiritual Leaders Group of Greater Cleveland for twelve years. We were called together by the then Executive Director of The Center, a Resource for LGBTQI members of Cleveland to provide a religious and spiritual perspective on LGBTQI and related issues. I worked with aproximately a dozen laity and clergy from a variety of faith traditions (United Methodist, Catholic, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalian, Mennonite, American Baptist, Zen Buddhist) to offer an annual worship service during Pride Weekend, and to write op-eds and Letters to the Editor about LGBTQI issues (particularly around the passage of Amendment 1 “Marriage is defined as between one man and one woman”). We created a “Moral Manifesto” which called out the homophobic rhetoric that accompanied the passage of Amendment One, held yearly retreats for the group to sustain ourselves spiritually, and worked to provide a religious voice on LGBTQI concerns to the wider Cleveland Community.

Newspaper Articles, etc.

Below are links to various media outlets that highlight a few of the areas of my social justice work:

Letter ot the Chief of Police, http://www.postcrescent.com/story/opinion/readers/2015/09/15/faith-leaders-letter-appleton-police-chief/72304038

Prayer vigil for victims of Orlando Shooting http://www.unityofappleton.org/prayerful-action-love-and-peace

Cleveland Pride March, http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/08/pride_in_the_cle_march_a_joyou.html