Category: Sanctuary and Solidarity

Por La Vida: UUCSJ Delegation Public Statement In Solidarity with the People of Guapinól

February 20, 2019 | Heather Vickery | Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, Honduras, Immigration, Racial Justice, Sanctuary and Solidarity

Delegation members – Por La Vida 2018 As a human rights delegation to Honduras from November 29 to December 6, 2018 that visited the community of Guapinól in the municipality of Tocoa, Bajo Aguán, we are deeply concerned about the recent police and military occupation occuring there. We have received news as well as photo […]

Back to the Future: US Intervention in Latin America, Version 2019

January 31, 2019 | Heather Vickery | Immigration, Sanctuary and Solidarity

If we were surprised by the news a few days ago that the U.S. is backing a sudden and self-proclaimed “interim president” in Venezuela, we shouldn’t have been. Though it didn’t garner as much notice as it deserved, the Trump administration publically advertised its intentions at the beginning of November, in a speech by National […]

My Trip to The Border (Operation Streamline)

October 30, 2018 | Heather Vickery | Congregational Trip, Immigration, Sanctuary and Solidarity

A unique perspective from a past Border Witness participant. More than a trip to Tucson, ours was a pilgrimage to the Mexican American border, and an experience that has shaken me to my core. One day after coming back from the desert walk, we went to a court to witness Operation Streamline. Let me […]

The Nuns I Always Wanted To Meet

July 3, 2018 | Gina Collignon | Honduras, Sanctuary and Solidarity, Volunteering

“Do I call them ‘Sister?’” My co-worker and I were settling our things into our assigned room at the convent. The air was hot and muggy, something I felt acutely as I was still in that heightened state of awareness that you feel your first moments in a new land. I had technically been to Honduras before, but everything felt new. “I dunno,” my colleague answered (she had been raised Catholic as well). “It’s kinda weird one way or the other.”

Join Us To Flood The Desert!

June 29, 2018 | Heather Vickery | Immigration, Religious Professionals, Sanctuary and Solidarity

JOIN US TO FLOOD THE DESERT! DIRECT ACTION IN ARIZONA, AUGUST 3-6, 2018 Leaders from the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice will be Flooding the Desert with Faith in August. Join Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray (President of the UUA), Rev. Mary Katherine Morn (President of […]

Lenten Reflection, Honduras

February 21, 2018 | Heather Vickery | Pastoral, Religious Professionals, Sanctuary and Solidarity

Praying the “stations of the cross” is a longstanding Lenten tradition all over the Christian world, during which believers are reminded of the last moments Jesus lived through as he carried his own cross to the crucifixion. Throughout Latin America, the Way of the Cross, or Via Crucis, is often an elaborate procession, during which […]

Letter From Susan Frederick-Gray to Religious Professionals

February 1, 2018 | Heather Vickery | Immigration, Religious Professionals, Sanctuary and Solidarity

Dear Colleagues, As we enter a new year, we are more determined than ever to mobilize our UU communities around the core justice values that make our faith so relevant to the current political moment. Among these core values is our commitment to the worth and dignity of each person, which leads us to resist […]

Answering the Call for Solidarity and Action in Honduras

January 24, 2018 | Heather Vickery | Immigration, Pastoral, Religious Professionals, Sanctuary and Solidarity

In early January I received an email that began with these words: We are writing you on behalf of Padre Melo, the Jesuit priest who has accompanied the Honduran people for more than 20 years. He is appealing to the international community for an emergency delegation: “We need you to organize people who will accompany […]

Post Hurricane Harvey Houston Update

January 2, 2018 | Heather Vickery | Environmental Justice, Immigration, Racial Justice, Sanctuary and Solidarity, Volunteering

In early December, our Director, Kathleen McTigue, and UUSC consultant, Syma Mirza met with four grassroots groups in Houston, Texas: the Fe y Justicia Worker Justice Center, the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS), and the Living Hope Wheelchair Association, as well as the local Houston organizer for RAICES. Kathleen also met with members of four area […]

Visiting Across Borders

November 20, 2017 | Heather Vickery | Congregational Trip, Immigration, Sanctuary and Solidarity

Gina Collignon is UUCSJ’s Senior Associate for Immersion Learning. She recently led a group from the Bethesda, MD/Washington DC area (that included members from the Cedar Lane, All Souls Unitarian in DC, and Davies Memorial UU churches) to the Arizona/Mexico Border. Manual at the Border Wall “People used to visit here,” Manuel told us. “They would […]