UU the Vote 2022
In 2020, UU the Vote was the largest activation of UUs in the history of our state and this year, we are back again! This fall, 20 UU congregations across North Carolina are coming together to write 27,000 Get Out the Vote postcards in partnership with UU Justice NC and Reclaim Our Vote. Together we will be writing to registered but infrequent voters of color in Cabarrus County, NC with information about early voting for the 2022 mid-term elections.
We’re also excited to team up with Carolina Jews for Justice and the New North Carolina Project Foundation to host 8-straight weeks of non-partisan phone banking on Thursday nights from September 15th through November 3rd (6:30 - 8:30 ET / 3:30 - 5:30 PT). We’ll be empowering and equipping North Carolina voters of color to vote love and defeat hate this fall. Register Here!
Finally, we’ll be contributing to voter safety, security and joy at the polls through four layers of volunteer opportunities during early voting and election day: becoming an election worker through the Board of Elections, a Vote Protector through Democracy NC, a You Can Vote volunteer, and through as Power, Protection and Encouragement (PPE) Safe Sites volunteers with Blueprint NC.
Medicaid Expansion
We are proud to be a part of the movement fighting for Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina, working in partnership with our friends from the Health Action NC and People’s Budget NC Coalition. In 2022 we participated in rallies and vigils and the state general assembly Watch the short video from the vigil here. We have also led Action Hours and special Action Hour events, calling our elected officials and writing Letters to the Editor about the human and financial cost of failing to expand Medicaid.
As people of faith, we know that continued inaction on this issue is morally unacceptable. In the past few months we have seen leaders in the state General Assembly announce their enthusiastic support for Medicaid Expansion, and yet we still don't have a deal. The inaction of our legislators has already caused unnecessary suffering and death. Expanding Medicaid is an urgent, lifesaving policy that can't wait.
We need our elected officials to stop playing political games with people’s lives and Expand Medicaid Now!
8th Principle
Our work together began in the spring of 2022 with UU Justice NC’s 8th Principle event for North Carolina UUs in partnership with DRUUMM. This special event Paula Cole Jones, co-author of the 8th Principle, Mari Magaloni Ramos (DRUUMM and First UU San Francisco) and Susan Lithgoe (UU Church of Lancaster, PA) was attended by 80 UUs across 18 NC Congregations – making it our largest virtual event ever!
That event has led to the creation of UU Justice NC’s monthly 8th Principle Monthly Learning Community. This is a Community of Practice gathering is for individuals who are playing a leadership role within their congregation around adopting or living into the 8th Principle. Beginning in the fall of 2022, gatherings will occur on the third Sunday of the month from 4:00 – 5:30 on Zoom.
A big thank you to our co-leaders of this community, Ann Zimmerman from the Unitarian Fellowship of Winston-Salem. Allison Mahaley from the UU Congregation of Hillsborough and Rev. Charlie David from the UU Fellowship of New Bern.
Reproductive Justice
Following the June 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, North Carolina has become an island of abortion access in the south. And still here are currently only 14 abortion clinics in the state, located in only 9 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. There is, however, a very real possibility that further abortion bans could be made law in 2023.
Our UU faith calls us to powerfully contribute to the fight for Reproductive Justice in North Carolina. We are proud to support and follow the lead of out state partners, Pro-Choice NC and the Carolina Abortion Fund as well as the national leadership of the UUAs Side with Love Team's Uplift Campaign.
In the summer of 2022, UUs across the state participated in Side With Love's three-part Reproductive Justice Series and in August of 2022, over 70 people from across 16 NC UU Congregations attended our Repro Justice Event with guest speakers Lynne Walter, from Pro-Choice NC and Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, from the UUA's Side With Love Team.
The Leandro Plan
The North Carolina constitution guarantees that all children in our state have access to a sound, basic education. However, since 1994 and the Leandro v.State of North Carolina case, the courts have consistently found that our state is failing to meet those minimum standards. This is a violation of our children’s constitutional rights, and it’s morally unacceptable.
UU Justice NC is proud to be a part of the state-wide movement calling on our state legislature to fully fund the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan to ensure that every child has access to a sound basic education by 2028. We are active members of the Every Child NC Coalition and are also proud to partner with Pastors for NC Children. To learn more about the Leandro Plan, check out these Narrative Arts short films:
- Faith Communities and the Fight for Education Equity in North Carolina
- The Untold Story of the North Carolina Constitution
- The WRAL Short Documentary, “Leandro: The Cade for a Sound Basic Education.”
You can also use the Leandro District Budget to see how full funding of the Leandro plan would impact your county’s school districts.
Join the Friday Action Hour Community
Join us every Friday at 11:00am on Zoom for Friday Action Hour! Every week, UU's and justice partners across the state gather to recap the past week and take action on the issues impacting our state and country. And there is always great music to help us feel the justice movement in our bones! All are welcome! Join us via Zoom and sign up for our weekly Friday Action Hour Email