And now we add Rayshard Brooks of Atlanta Georgia to the list…

The moving protests–in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought together young and old, working and retired, every ethnicity and racial background in the past weeks since the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Tony McDade. This defining moment in our nation seems ripe for substantive change. As in the Civil Rights era, many Americans seem ready to address the militarized and overreaching policing in the context of systems of criminalization and racial injustice aimed at communities of color.

So I hear the prophetic call of President Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray “Don’t Turn Away From The Challenge And Truth of The Uprisings!”

As a person of color–a Latino, cisgender male–who has had troubling interactions with police, I am angry at the never-ending nagging fear and worry when dealing with police. And the seeming indifference of my fellow Americans. I am livid. ESTOY HARTO YA! (I’m fed up!) Now is the time for living our UU faith out loud, rather than retreating to intellectual principles. Now is the time to stand for compassion and justice. Now is the time to act in love and solidarity with all those affirming that Black Lives Matter!!!

This moment reveals what Rev. Dr. William Barber II calls “the interlocking injustices of systemic racism” and the “systemic policy violence against poor people” and the dispossessed in American society (Statement: Budget Committee, U.S. House of Representatives). This is a deeply troubling moment for our nation. We are witnessing an unfolding national conversation about the disproportionate economic impacts of the pandemic on communities of color. We are also witnessing the continuing murders of people of color by police, often protected by entrenched systemic racism.

Now, more than ever, it is deeply important for UUs to support campaigns that center the leadership of people of color, poor and low-income people, and others who are disenfranchised.

This is why the UUA and UUSJ are enthusiastically supporting The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival (PPC).  UUSJ and I are honored to be part of the UUA’s PPC Leadership Council.

I strongly believe the PPC shares our Unitarian Universalist commitment toward bending the “moral arc of the universe toward justice,” equity and compassion.  And moving away from ecological devastation, escalating inequality and rampant inequity. We are both for justice in service to the human condition.

Please join us on June 20th at 10:00amET for the PPC movement milestone — Digital Justice Gathering. Be among the UUs standing in fellowship with those “othered” in our society and economy. Use the special UU RSVP to demonstrate our denominational solidarity! (Click the button)

Siding with racial justice means being in community, developing common understandings of our society’s failings, and building toward the beloved community. Unitarian Universalists across the country are becoming part of this nationwide moment.

Please join me and join the movement, on June 20th at 10amET.