Saturday Change of Plans

Yesterday morning I was at Cedar Lane UU Church in Bethesda, attending a program with other regional Unitarian Universalists on local immigration issues and preparing for General Assembly 2012. The event was sponsored by Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) and the Chesapeake Unitarian Universalist Growth Committee (CHUUG). There were six of us there from UUCA. My big take-away from the morning was this: There is a lot that we at UUCA could be doing to support other congregations in their efforts to address the issue of immigration. We can post what's worked for us and what hasn't on our website, as well as the Cooking Together blog. Questions that emerged Saturday morning were things like, How did UUCA participate in Arlington County's opposition to Secure Communities? How do you organize local communities to advocate for themselves? How do you build relationships with other cultural groups that can be sustained? ... I welcome partners in creating this content!

I thought as was going to be at Gini Courter's presentation on governance at UUCA yesterday afternoon, but found out that morning about a GA preparatory meeting for people of color at Davis Memorial UU Church in Camp Springs, Maryland. Knowing that both Rev. Michael and Rev. Dr. Linda were going to be attending the UUCA program, I opted to go to the people of color gathering instead, which I understand was the second of its kind this fall for the Joseph Priestley District. The large question in the air which had many tangents was "How do people of color who do not identify as Latina/o engage authentically as allies on immigration issues and GA 2012?" There may even be some workshops and other event flowing out of these initial immigration conversations ...

Looking forward to seeing and hearing Gini this morning at 9:15 and 11:15! Meanwhile, here are the folks who were at Davies yesterday. A very energetic and inspiring group that I look forward to knowing better!