Social Justice Action Notes

Two for Tuesday!

is our weekly summary of priority actions taken from the many action alerts and opportunities we receive from several different organizations/programs every week.

If you would like to receive “Two for Tuesday” emails and more news and updates from the Social Justice Committee, contact us at SocialJustice@firstparish.info. 

A Few Postcards

We have 500 postcards from Reclaim Our Votes partnered with We the Plug Tho. They are writing to people in rural Georgia communities who have been suffering high electric bills and other predatory practices by privately owned utilities.  The cards are asking people to come to a meeting to discuss what they can do about the bills.  Ninety percent of the people who came to their fact-finding meeting were invited by postcards!  They work!

The addresses for these cards have come in pages of 20 that can’t be divided. I can make up packets of 20 or 40 cards.  Stamps will be 7.20 per 20 cards. Cards are to be mailed on June 21st.  Please use this form to let me know how many cards you would like.  Cards will be ready for pickup in my garage at 135 Jason st by Friday.

May Action Hour

Thursday May 27, 12:00 – 1:00 PM
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Join us every fourth Thursday of the month for our Monthly Action Hour!
This will be an opportunity to hear updates about all our campaigns and take action together, such as calling your legislators, signing petitions, and more to support our frontline and coalition partners. We will focus on our key issues areas: climate justice, immigrant justice, criminal law reform, Indigenous Legislative Agenda, and economic justice.

This will also be a chance to connect with other UUs from across the state! We know that we send out a lot of opportunities to take action each week, and hope this can be one structure to support each other in staying accountable to showing up to these campaigns.

There will be an optional half hour from 11:30 – 12:00 PM for those who want to drop in if you anticipate needing extra support (i.e,, if you’ve had trouble accessing links in google docs before, etc. Most tech will just involve copy and past, and clicking through links!).
Please reach out to Tali with any questions or accessibility needs at tsmookler@uumassaction.org.

For the People Phonebank with Common Cause   

Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays  6 – 8pm

Working together to demand bold changes to our democracy to create a government that represents all of us, not big corporations or special interests. On Mondays and Thursdays, we’ll be calling into Arizona, and on Saturdays and Sundays, we’ll be calling into West Virginia. We’ll be calling voters in these states and connecting them to their Senators to support the For the People Act (S1) and eliminate the filibuster.

These shifts also always will include training for first-timers before you make calls – so if this is your first time, no worries! We’ll make sure you feel prepared before you begin.

Join the UU Mass Action Boston Regional Team 

Thursday, June 10 @7-8PM

Join our state-wide social justice, connecting with other UU congregations.  We’re building power so we can make an impact on the issue we care about? Join us for the kick off meeting of the Boston Area Regional UU Action Team!

We will come together to build relationships, share resources and information about action opportunities, and build power together so we can deepen our shared vision for a more just world. This will kick off what will become a monthly gathering, open to anyone!

RSVP here to join our Kick Off!  Facebook event here

Legislative Priorities Action

We had a great turnout for UU Legislative Advocacy Day this year.  Some of the legislators who promised to co-sponsor our bills have done so, others have not. We’re still working to increase the number of legislative cco-sponsors – here are some helpful tools to help you support this effort.

Action 1: Indigenous Justice – Thank your legislators for the bills they have co-sponsored and ask them to co-sponsor the ones they didn’t.  Here’s a template to help you with this task  (just copy & paste the appropriate section into your email).

Action 2: Criminal Law Reform Thank your legislators for the bills they co-sponsored and ask them to co-sponsor the ones they did not.  FYI, There are two bills related to solitary reform; one is the comprehensive one (S.1578/H.2504) and the other one focuses on the Mental Health Watch section of the bill (S.1283/H.2089).  We want legislators to co-sponsor both. Here’s a template to help you with this task (just copy & paste the info in your email).

Check on your State Representative and Senator and see which bills they have co-sponsors  CLICK HERE

Fast Action Alert

Rather than signing legislation passed unanimously by the Massachusetts Legislature that would allow all workers to access five days of emergency paid sick time for COVID-related sickness, quarantine, caregiving, and vaccination, Governor Baker sent it back to the Legislature with amendments that would restrict access to this essential public health tool.  The Governor’s proposal would deny Emergency Paid Sick Time benefits to municipal employees – workers who are on the frontlines of the pandemic response and deserve the same protections as private-sector workers. This is unacceptable!

Please take 2 minutes right now to email or call your legislator, asking them to oppose Governor Baker’s changes to the Emergency Paid Sick Time legislation.   Local legislators are listed below.

Support S1 the “For The People Act”

Forty-three states are proposing and readily passing 250 laws that will severely restrict voting rights for people of color, people in poverty, immigrants, young people, old people and the disabled. If these laws pass and stand, democracy will be gravely wounded. The For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Act will stop most if not all of these draconian laws at the federal level. We need you to contact Sen. Warren and Sen. Markey telling them to vote for S1 even though we know they are already committed to voting for it. They need to report numbers of constituents who have asked them to support the bill. Tell Your Senators to Support S1 – For The People Act.

Contact information for MA Legislators

If you don’t know who your legislators are, use  this handy website that lets you type in your address and find out who represents you in  Massachusetts.