Media roundup: Getting out and getting organized to end systemic racism

Media roundup: Getting out and getting organized to end systemic racism

A weekly guide to stories about Unitarian Universalists from other media sources.

Rachel Walden

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Anne Laukaitis, a member of Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, attended a recent Black Lives Matter organizing event on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus. Noting the relatively young age of the crowd, Laukaitis said that although few would have remembered the civil rights movement of the 1960s, “I've heard many comments over the past weekend that what has been happening reminds people of that time period. The violence, the protests. . . . It seems like there is all kinds of unfinished business.” ( Independent Tribune– 7.15.16)

Unitarian Universalists from Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, joined local Showing Up for Racial Justice activists for a national collective day of action for justice. Wearing Standing on the Side of Love shirts, church members explained that their religion calls them to bear witness to movements for justice wherever they can be of help. ( The Daily Progress– 7.21.16)

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton, New York, hosted marchers during a Black Lives Matter demonstration last weekend. Their minister, the Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson, addressed the crowd: “All lives will matter when black men are not gunned down in their cars at routine traffic stops. . . . All lives will matter when black women don’t have to worry about being arrested for being sassy or talking back to police officers. ” ( East Hampton Star– 7.21.16)

More coverage:

“Black Lives Matter Rallies Draw Vocal Crowd” ( East Hampton Star– 7.17.16)

“Knoxville group planning events to ‘end white silence’ on racism” ( WATE.com- 7.19.16)

“Rally against social injustice held at federal building in Charlottesville” ( newsplex.com– 7.22.16)

Learn more about the Showing Up for Racial Justice national network.

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