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View Past Webinars on UUJEC's YouTube Page

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To view all of our earlier webinars, please use this link to visit our YouTube page. 

Power To Heal, Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution

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Thursday, May 9

5 PM Pacific, 6 PM Mountain, 7 PM Central & 8 PM Eastern

To register for this Zoom event, click here 

Or watch on Facebook here

Film Screening and Chat

Power to Heal tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country in a matter of months.

Before Medicare, disparities in access to hospital care were dramatic. Less than half the nation's hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3 of hospitals would not admit African Americans even for emergencies.

Through the voices of the men and women who experienced disparities and fought against them, POWER TO HEAL will introduce the audience to a missing link in the Civil Rights Movement -- a struggle over healthcare from a half-century ago that raises questions that resonate today: is healthcare a human right? Must the federal government intervene to ensure equality.


What is ISDS, Investor-State Dispute Settlement?

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   Manuel Pérez-Rocha                          Stuart Trew                                 Stephanie Camarillo       

Thursday, April 11

5 PM Pacific, 6 PM Mountain, 7 PM Central & 8 PM Eastern

To Register for Zoom, click here: https://tinyurl.com/5n93dprn

Or to watch on Facebook, click here https://fb.me/e/1SjzIYSHS

What is investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)?

ISDS is a mechanism included in many trade and investment agreements to settle disputes. Settling these investor disputes relies on arbitration rather than public courts. Under agreements which include ISDS mechanisms, a company from one signatory state investing in another signatory state can argue that new laws or regulations could negatively affect its expected profits or investment potential, and seek compensation in a binding arbitration tribunal. Corporations typically seek compensation which may amount to millions or billions of US dollars.

 

Manuel Pérez-Rocha is an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington and an Associate of the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam. He is a Mexican national who has led efforts to promote just and sustainable alternative approaches to trade and investment agreements for two decades. Prior to working for IPS’ Global Economy Program, he worked with the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade (RMALC) and continues to be a member of that coalition’s executive committee. He also worked for the Make Trade Fair campaign of Oxfam International. Manuel studied International Relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), has a diploma on European Studies from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and holds a M.A. on Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, Netherlands. Some of his last publications include op-eds in The Nation and The New York Times.

 

Stuart Trew is the Director of the Trade and Investment Research Project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a progressive think-tank based in Ottawa, Canada. He has written numerous book chapters and articles on the interactions of trade rules and public interest regulations and policy, and co-edited (with Scott Sinclair) the 2016 anthology, The TPP and Canada: A Citizen’s Guide. He is currently researching a report (again with Scott Sinclair) on the NAFTA record of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases, with a focus on the three-year "legacy" period following the ratification of the USMCA.


Stephanie Camarillo is the Research Director for Global Trade Watch, providing in-depth information on an array of international trade issues. Before joining Public Citizen, she worked as an international arbitration and trade attorney representing Latin American governments in ISDS arbitration. She attended Duke Law and received a Master of Law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where she specialized in international trade studies.

The Greatest Transformation in Human History

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Dr. Sailesh Rao

Thursday, February 8 at 5 PM Pacific, 6 PM Mountain, 7 PM Central & 8 PM Eastern

To view our recording via YouTube, click here

Dr. Sailesh Rao is the author of four books, Carbon Dharma: The Occupation of Butterflies, Carbon Yoga: The Vegan Metamorphosis, Animal Agriculture is Immoral and The Pinky Promise, and an Executive Producer of several documentaries, The Human Experiment (2013), Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014), What The Health (2017), A Prayer for Compassion (2019), They’re Trying to Kill Us (2021), The End of Medicine (2022), The Land of Ahimsa (2022), Animals – A Parallel History (est. 2023) and Milked (2022). 

Dr. Rao is a Human, Earth and Animal Liberation (HEAL) activist, husband, dad and since 2010, a star-struck grandfather. He was designated a Climate Hero by The Guardian Newspaper in 2023, which recognized him as “a foremost voice on green transition and on the true scale of societal change required to save the planet.” He serves on the Universal Meals Advisory Council of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and on the Board of Directors of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies.

"The current situation in Palestine, the world wide response to it, and UUs"

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Curtis Bell, presenter

Thursday, December 14, 8 PM Eastern

 To watch the recording on Youtube click here

What is happening now in Gaza is deeply disturbing because of the human suffering and the real threat of a devastating regional war. In the short term one must be pessimistic.  But the massive worldwide opposition and attention provides an unprecedented possibility for change toward the world that most people want, a multipolar world that respects human life. The talk will cover what is happening, the worldwide response, the role of US imperialism, and where UUs have been and are on the issues raised.

Curtis Bell, Portland, Oregon.
Curtis Bell was born in Bahrain of American parents and went to high school in Beirut Lebanon. While there, he saw the camps of Palestinian refugees around the city, filled with people who had been forced out of their lives and livelihoods in what is now Israel. 
He became active in support of Palestinian human rights in 2008 and is a past president of Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME.org). UUJME is a UU Related Organization that works for the human rights of all people in Palestine/Israel.

The Earth Bill - The Political & Policy Solution to the Climate Crisis

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Todd Fernandez, Esq, presenter

Thursday, November 16, 8 PM Eastern

Watch the recording on YouTube here. 

 

The Earth Bill - The Political & Policy Solution to the Pollution Crisis.

There is a new flagship bill in Congress to stop our climate pollution this decade as science urges, designed to unite a movement powerful enough to break the power of Big Ag & Big Oil in Congress.  This is an all-hand-on-deck moment that will only work if we unite as one with a singular intention, powered by each of us taking action individually, toward one shared demand:  The Earth Act to Stop Climate Pollution by 2030 (H.R. 598), aka The Earth BIll.  

J. Todd Fernandez, Esquire is the Founder and Executive Director of Climate Crisis Policy & The Earth Bill Network of over 140 organizations which secured the introduction of The Earth Act to Stop Climate Pollution by 2030 (HR 598), aka, The Earth Bill, a flagship bill with true solutions. 

Materials: H.R. 598 Text.   Section Summary.  Website Strategic Analysis GHG AnalysisBill SupportersEarth Bill & Paris Accord.  Press Release 

Questions: theearthbill@gmail.com

GROUP Endorsement Form.

INDIVIDUAL Endorsement Form. 

America 2050: Our Most-Likely Climate Future

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Emily Schoerning

      Thursday, October 12 at  8 PM EDT

Watch the recording on YouTube here

 

Do you want to know how the climate is likely to change where you live?  When we understand what’s coming, we can get ready for a future that contains opportunities as well as challenges.  Using high-consensus federal resources, this conversation helps you understand America’s projected climate by 2050 in terms of changes to summers, winters, precipitation patterns, and where people may want to move. 

Bio: Dr. Emily Schoerning is an internationally recognized educator whose research on socially controversial science helps bring people together.  She is the founder of American Resiliency, the first nonprofit focused on communicating climate resilience information to the general public.  She lives in Iowa with her husband and their three children.

Join UUJEC, UUMFE, UUSJ and UUA Side with Love's Climate Action Services

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What's at stake in the farm bill -- food justice, the climate, and public health

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Juan Pablo Echeverria

Thursday, September 14 at  8 PM EDT

To watch the recording on YouTube, click here

Juan Pablo Echeverria - Arcadia Outreach and Education Manager is responsible for expanding farm education programs, creating strategic partnerships, and building capacity for schools and communities in Fairfax County - Route 1 Corridor to grow their own food. He joined The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture in 2019 to address food system inequities in local communities with the intent of improving food access, reducing food insecurity, and fostering better nutrition. He has 12 years of experience in agriculture and nonprofit management. In Guatemala, his home country, Juan Pablo co-founded an urban sustainability organization, owned and managed an urban organic farm, owned a bar and restaurant and served as president for a Public Health nonprofit. He also completed a business management degree from Universidad Mesoamericana de Guatemala.

"Working with Labor" UUJEC gives action ideas for Labor Day

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Clayola Brown

Thursday, August 24,  8 PM EDT

To view our recording on YouTube,click here

Clayola Brown, President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a longstanding constituency group of the AFL-CIO, discusses how her life was guided by union and civil rights activism. The discussion will include LGBTQ+ rights, antiracism, climate change ,and how labor and organized religion can work together for justice. UUJEC leaders will discuss Clayola's presentation and answer questions

Chuck Collins on his book, "Altar to an Erupting Sun"

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                                                        Chuck Collins, author         Click here to listen to Chuck's presentation

Rae Kelliher is a veteran environmental activist and pioneer in the death-with-dignity movement. Her husband Reggie calls her "party in a box" and "a weaver of people and movements." Facing a diagnosis of terminal illness, Rae engages in a shocking suicide-murder, taking the life of an oil company CEO for his complicity in delaying responses to climate catastrophe. Seven years later, Rae's friends and family gather at her Vermont farm to try to understand her violent exit and the rapid social transformations triggered by her desperate act.

 

The Making of a Climate Action Warrior

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Miriam Kashia

Thursday, May 25 at 8 PM EDT

Watch the recording here

Miriam will share her experiences as a climate activist and some adventures and lessons learned along the way. She'll share her mottos: "Action is the antidote to despair," and "Everything we do matters" and how they have guided her life as an activist. 


Miriam Kashia is 80. She’s been an honor student, a struggling single parent who finally finished her undergraduate degree at age 42 and then went on to earn 2 master’s degrees and became  a psychotherapist. Add a stint in the Peace Corps in Namibia, Africa at 62, and for the past 10 years, a climate activist. 

Reducing Multigenerational Poverty Through Sentencing Reform

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Jared Trujillo, JD

Thursday, April 27, 8 PM Eastern

To watch the webinar recording click here

 The relationship between incarceration and poverty is circular, cyclical, and symbiotic – poverty is a cause of incarceration, and incarceration causes poverty. Shortly after culture shifting civil rights victories in the 1960’s, states began enacting draconian sentencing laws that required judges to sentence children and adults to longer periods of incarceration. This coincided with policies that divested money and public resources from the same communities that were the targets are criminalization. For the past half century, these harsh sentencing laws have been the primary driver of mass incarceration. As a result, generations of families with criminal legal system involvement have been damned to multigenerational poverty. This is most profound in low-income communities, particularly low-income Black and brown communities.

Jared will discuss how sentencing laws operate, how so-called tough on crime sentencing paradigms are counter productive to community safety, and how sentencing structures can be reformed in order to improve community safety and ensure more people can live with their families in their communities. 

Jean Eells, PhD: Changing Narratives about Growing Food

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Jean Eells, PhD              

Thursday April 13, 8pm ET
   To watch on YouTube, click here

The soil that we need to grow food and fiber is in more danger than people realize! The steady degradation of soil worldwide is almost invisible due to widespread practices of tillage that we now understand makes the life of the microbes that support plants very miserable. Who knew? Fortunately renewal and resilience is possible, necessary, and urgently needed. This discussion will focus on action steps everyone can take immediately to work the levers of change. Dr. Eells has operated E Resources Group, LLC since 1997 and led the movement to reach women farmland owners with conservation information across the nation after obtaining her Ph.D. in 2008 from Iowa State University. 

Health Reform: Single Payer is Necessary But Not Sufficient

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Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., MPH

Thursday, March 9, 8 PM Eastern 

To view our recording via YouTube click here.

 

Single payer advocates have long called for universal national health insurance that would reform the financing of medical care in the US.  But the increasing corporate ownership of hospitals, doctors' practices and other health providers mandates additional reform to ensure that patients' needs rather than the search for profit drives our health care system.

Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., MPH is a Distinguished Professor at The City University of New York's Hunter College, a primary-care doctor in the South Bronx, and a Lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where she was formerly Professor of Medicine.  

 

Thursday, February 9, "From Opposition to Abolition - Three Steps to Nuclear Disarmament"

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Tom Rogers

Thursday, February 9, 8 PM Eastern

To view our recording on YouTube click here. 

Activists have opposed nuclear weapons since the 1950's. Tom Rogers presents a phased plan for the eventual total elimination of nuclear weapons based on existing treaties, cooperative negotiation and verification.

Tom Rogers is a 75 year old nuclear weapons activist from Poulsbo, WA. A retired naval officer, Tom served in the US Submarine Force from 1967 to 1998, including command of a nuclear attack submarine during the Cold War. After the Cold War ended in 1991, he recognized the opportunity – and the need – to abolish nuclear weapons. 

Report Back on COP27: Peace for Climate Justice

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Thursday, January 12, 8 PM ET

To view our webinar on Youtube, click here. 

UUJEC Board Member and COP 27 Delegate representing the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Cindy Piester, will offer her observations following her participation in this major climate summit.  UUJEC deals with a broad range of economic justice issues and Cindy saw some of these same issues writ large at COP. As in the past, the dominance of fossil fuel rich interest prevailed to the detriment of global and intergenerational climate justice.  While this is a significant challenge, Unitarian Universalists have a long and storied history of having taken on the major issues of our times.  Facing the climate challenges ahead can and will be done and she urges UUs to lean in and help to build the successful avenues of change that are needed to bring true climate justiceShe can be contacted at: cindympiester@gmail.com

 

Debt Beyond Reason

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Thursday, December 8

To view our recoding on YouTube, click here


Bruce Knotts is the Director of International Engagement at Community Church NY and is co-chair of the UN NGO Committee on Human Rights, the chair of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, a member of steering committee of the NGO UN Security Council Working Group.

He will speak of his experience in Africa where African nations are enticed to take loans they can never pay, but the servicing of the debt ruins all hope for progress. Bruce will mention a time when I heard the Minister of the economy in The Gambia mention that 60% of the national budget was going to service the debt leaving 40% of the national budget for everything else: education, defense, infrastructure, etc.

How Electronic Medical Records Can Save Your Life (and Your Money)

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Thursday, November 10 with William Yasnoff, MD, PhD, FACMI, a well-known UU national leader in health informatics, is Managing Partner of National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) Advisors

To view the recording on YouTube, click here

The lack of availability of complete medical records when and where needed results in hundreds of thousands of adverse outcomes, many fatal, as well as hundreds of $billions of unnecessary costs. Central community repositories for medical record information controlled by patients known as Health Record Banks (HRBs) can ensure the availability of comprehensive electronic medical records whenever and wherever needed.  HRBs are secure, low cost, simple to operate, and technically feasible. 

Unlike most problems in our health care system, fixing our medical records is non-partisan, consistent with current law and policy, and has a straightforward and readily deployable solution.  It is the most important health care problem that can be solved now and, by freeing up currently wasted funds and providing the information needed to make smarter policy decisions, could contribute significantly toward a more just and equitable health care system overall.

Mutual Aid for Congregations

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Thursday, October 27, 8 PM EDT

To watch the recording on YouTube, click here. 

The fate of Mother Earth and her children depends on mutual aid.  Mutual aid projects are voluntary, participatory,  empowering, and equalitarian arrangements, that provide goods or services.  Personal and social wellness are encouraged. The emphasis is on direct action and on  being the change that you want to see in the world. This webinar will introduce Climate Justice, mental health, and food justice programs that involve Unitarian Universalists.  Speakers include Astoria Nickerson and Nancy Hoffman from Key West, Florida, Rev. Barbara Meyers with the UU Mental Health Network, Rachel Myslivy with the UUA Climate Justice and UUJEC’s Rev Bob Murphy. 

 

Harvest Season: Food and Water Justice

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Thursday, October 13

To watch the recording, click here.

Climate change threatens food and drinking water supplies. What's the Unitarian Universalist message during the harvest season?  In the American South, congregations are feeding the hungry, working for fair trade economics, and helping to create an ethical and a sustainable food economy during a time of crisis. Information about Florida's response to Hurricane Ian will be included in this webinar.  It's information that's needed in congregations and in communities in every region.  

Presenters include UUJEC Board Member Rev. Bob Murphy, Jim Scott author of the "Missa Gaia/Earth Mass” with the Winter Consort, Jay P. "Jungle Jay" Hardman member of UU Clearwater in Central Florida, Spirit of Life UU co-president, Dara Moore and Rebecca Allen of the UU Animal Ministry. 

Healthcare Census: Because Our Health Counts!

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Thursday, September 22

We experienced technical difficulties during the first portion of our webinar, but you can view most of  Gillian's terrific presentation recorded here.  

Gillian Mason is the Director of Communications and Development at Healthcare NOW. The Healthcare Census is a major effort to talk to our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers about the healthcare crisis in this country this year. We know that talking - and most important, really listening - to people is the only way to better understand the issues they are facing and invite them to join us in fighting for Medicare for All.

The Census interview is a 15-20 minute survey about issues people might face in getting or paying for medical treatment, and it's a great way to start a conversation about healthcare. The answers can remain anonymous, or respondents can give their contact info. The interview can be conducted over the phone, via zoom, or in-person (with COVID safety precautions in place) - whatever works best for you.

 

Ideas for Organizing a Climate Change Task Force in your Congregation with Interfaith Partners

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Thursday, September 8 at 8 PM Eastern

To see the recording of the entire webinar and discussion, click here  

To see just the Saltwater UU presentation https://youtu.be/3Oi6tNMl0bU 
To see just the UU Ames presentation https://youtu.be/-DF5B7P1I2Q 

 

Ideas for Organizing an Effective Climate Action Task Force in Your Congregation” with presenters from Saltwater UU Church, Des Moines, WA and UU Fellowship of Ames, IA including Lee Anne Willson UU AmesAllison Brundy UU Ames, Mary Paynter Saltwater UU,  Sheri Jacobson Saltwater UU.  

We love hearing stories of what works to solve the problems of our day.  Climate crisis is upon us and how to prevent its further escalation has become urgent as weather calamities mount. Two congregations in different areas of the country have organized, with local action, to address causes and prevention of our climate crisis. Other congregations are looking for effective ways to develop their own action plans, involve their members and work with other community and interfaith organizations to make a difference.  It is UUJEC’s hope, with a series of webinars, that we can spark lively dialogue, share useful “how-tos” and support one another as we address this increasing challenge to the earth and the hometowns we love.

 

Carlos Jimenez Celebrates Labor Day with UUs

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Thursday, August 25 at  8 PM EDT

Watch the recording on YouTube here. 

Carlos Jimenez leads special projects for the AFL-CIO, where he works with affiliated unions and state and local labor federations in the development of strategic organizing campaigns and increased organizing capacity. His focus is on multi-union and multi-stakeholder partnerships and collaborations, and bringing the AFL-CIO's resources to efforts that seek to expand collective bargaining and raise standards for working families. He also supports the AFL-CIO’s national campaigns and priority programs, including efforts to pass the PRO Act and support for new worker organizing across the U.S. South.

  

Discussion on General Assembly Workshop Ecological Civilization: Earth, Religion & the Human Future

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Ecological Civilization:

Earth, Religion & the Human Future

With David Korten, Rev. Dr. Lucy Hitchcock, Aly Tharp & Michael Cox

                        
      

A Webinar to give our responses to the GA program, “Ecological Civilization: Earth, Religion and the Human Future.”

Program Follow-up Conversation Thursday, July 14  8-9:30 ET

Watch the recording on YouTube

UU Ministry For Earth, UUs for a Just Economic Community and Cedars UU Church, Bainbridge, WA and others met for our opportunity to reflect with David Korten on his vision for an Ecological Civilization and how we, as people of faith, can bring it into being.

Let us step out of the quagmire of war, disease, insurrection, political discord and impending climate disasters to focus on the positive steps we, Unitarian Universalists, are and will be taking to create and implement our vision of a better world for all.  Bring your clarifying questions, ideas, and examples from your experience of what our next steps can be.  Look through the Discussion Guide here which provides a framework for our webinar conversation. 

If you have not yet seen the “on demand” video presentation, of “Ecological Civilization: Earth, Religion and the Human Future” from GA, or wish to see it again, you may view our recording of it beginning on June 27: click here to see the video workshop.  

 
For more information and resources from the workshop panelists, visit:
https://davidkorten.org/
https://uujec.org
https://www.uumfe.org/
https://www.cedarsuuchurch.org/justice/green-action/

UUJEC's Annual Meeting

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Bob Lord, a Fellow at Institute of Policy Studies
Saturday, July 9, 2022 2 PM Eastern
Watch our full recording on Facebook or Bob's presentation on YouTube

Bob Lord, a tax lawyer, and former Congressional candidate, currently is senior advisor for tax policy at the Patriotic Millionaires and an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Bob has written and spoken extensively about tax policy and inequality. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Arizona Republic, The Dallas Morning News, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and numerous other print and online publications. Bob previously served as tax counsel to Americans for Tax Fairness and as an adjunct faculty member at the Arizona State University School of Law.

Here's a March article from Common Dreams that Bob wrote about how we tax billionaires.  After Bob speaks, there will be a question & answer session.  Then we'll review last year and what we have planned for next year.

Virtual Meeting during General Assembly

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Join UUJEC for a virtual meet up. 
Thursday, June 23 8:45 Eastern

Informal meeting for folks interested in issues of economic justice, old friends and new. Let’s talk about reparations, Medicare for All, unions, mutual aid, consumerism, or whatever is on your mind. The UUJEC works to overcome racism, economic injustice, and other forms of oppression by its support for religious, community, and worker organizations that are democratic and accountable, and that affirm human rights and dignity

Cindy Piester webinar: “Protect What You Love, Reduce Militarism To Create a Livable Climate.”

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   Cindy Piester 

2022 Action of Immediate Witness Proposal 

 Thursday, May 12 

 Watch the recording here: YouTube 

 Pressed for time, watch the slide show instead.

This AIW is calling for Unitarian Universalists and others to protect the future of life on this planet by calling on the Biden Administration, Congress and the United Nations to include military emissions in our nation’s annual reports to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and included as part of our Nationally Determined Contributions.

Presented by Cindy Piester, the AIW’s author, she will cover the current devastating state of the climate, failed efforts by world leaders, and the need to acknowledge that the US Department of Defense as the world’s largest institutional producer of greenhouse gas emissions.  

The Condition of Cornbelt Streams and a New Path Forward

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Dr. Chris Jones

Thursday, April 28 

Watch the recording on our YouTube page 

Chris Jones is a Research Engineer with IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering at the University of Iowa.  His research focuses on water quality in agricultural watersheds of the US cornbelt.  He has a bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology from Simpson College, and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Montana State University.  He has previously worked at the Des Moines Water Works and the Iowa Soybean Association. 

Book Discussion: The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves

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Thursday, April 14 5 PM PT, 6 PM MT, 7 PM CT, 8 PM ET

Register to join via Zoom, so you can participate in the discussion.


To begin not shopping, pick up the book at your public library.


Consuming less is our best strategy for saving the planet—but can we do it? In this thoughtful and surprisingly optimistic book, journalist JB MacKinnon investigates how we can achieve a world without shopping.

We can't stop shopping. And yet we must. This is the consumer dilemma.

The economy says we must always consume more: even the slightest drop in spending leads to widespread unemployment, bankruptcy, and home foreclosure.

The planet says we consume too much: in America, we burn the earth's resources at a rate five times faster than it can regenerate. And despite efforts to “green” our consumption—by recycling, increasing energy efficiency, or using solar power—we have yet to see a decline in global carbon emissions.

Addressing this paradox head-on, acclaimed journalist JB MacKinnon asks,  What would really happen if we simply stopped shopping?  Is there a way to reduce our consumption to earth-saving levels without triggering economic collapse? At first this question took him around the world, seeking answers from America's big-box stores to the hunter-gatherer cultures of Namibia to communities in Ecuador that consume at an exactly sustainable rate. Then the thought experiment came shockingly true: the coronavirus brought shopping to a halt, and MacKinnon's ideas were tested in real time.

Drawing from experts in fields ranging from climate change to economics, MacKinnon investigates how living with less would change our planet, our society, and ourselves. Along the way, he reveals just how much we stand to gain: An investment in our physical and emotional wellness. The pleasure of caring for our possessions. Closer relationships with our natural world and one another. Imaginative and inspiring,  The Day the World Stops Shopping  will encourage you to envision another way.

Thursday, February 24 Virtual Town Hall on Medicare for All

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UUJEC Board Member, Rev. Bob Murphy, joins

Congresswoman, Rep. Frederica Wilson and other experts.

Florida has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 3.7 million cases and more than 62,000 deaths related to the disease.

The pandemic has laid bare the dangers our profit-driven health care system. It is past time to demand Medicare for All.

Thursday, January 27, 2022 Shadow of Gold, movie and webinar with the producer

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 January 27 8 PM EDT watch the webinar Discussion with Producer Robert Lang here.


The Shadow of Gold is feature documentary that takes an unflinching look at the worlds favourite heavy metal from the big-time mining companies that dig deep and lop off mountaintops to extract gold from low-grade ore to the small-time miners an estimated 20 million people in the worlds' poorest nations who extract gold by hand, often producing just enough to survive.

Thursday, January 13, 2022 COP26 Review by Doris Marlin

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Doris Marlin's Review of COP 26.

Thursday, January 13   View the recording here. 

Doris Marlin, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth & Green Sanctuary Program; Strengthen Local Climate Commitments (SLCC) Campaign Coordinator, Member, All Souls Church UU, Washington DC Doris Marlin has been Unitarian Universalist since 1985 and a Board Member of the Unitarian Universalist Ministry For Earth. She is a member of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC. 

Retired from federal service, she has an academic background in water resources management with 30 years of experience applying and credentialed in project and risk management. As the UUA Civil Society Observer Delegation Head for COP 26 in Glasgow, Doris and the delegation channelled attention towards the social justice and UUSC / UUA priorities that: Fulfill the US Fair Share of the Green Climate Fund, Dedicate funding for Loss and Damages, and submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) consistent with the goal of preventing warming that exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius

Tuesday, November 30--Medicare (dis)Advantage

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                                     Medicare (dis)Advantage with Diane Archer

November 30  View the recording: here

Diane has been leading the effort to build Just Care so that it helps ensure people's health and economic security.  Diane currently serves on the Board of Consumer Reports and the Benedict Silverman Foundation.

It’s Medicare Open Enrollment season, and you are likely getting bombarded with pitches to sign up for different Medicare plans. Here are four things to think about: The doctors you can see, your costs, the care you’ll get and the administrative hurdles you’ll face, particularly if you develop a costly condition. Unlike Medicare Advantage, traditional Medicare gives you easy access to care from the doctors you want to see anywhere in the US. Medicare Advantage gives you an out-of-pocket cap, some additional benefits, and an insurance company that profits more the less care you get. What should you do?

Here are four articles that Diane has written about Medicare Advantage.

https://justcareusa.org/choosing-between-traditional-medicare-and-medicare-advantage-plans/
https://justcareusa.org/well-kept-secrets-of-medicare-advantage-plans/
https://justcareusa.org/ten-ways-medicare-advantage-plans-differ-from-traditional-medicare/
https://justcareusa.org/people-with-serious-health-needs-more-likely-to-disenroll-from-medicare-advantage-plans/

Thursday, November 18 The importance of the Pandora Papers

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Chuck Collins on the Pandora Papers: why they're important. 

                           November 18   View the recording on YouTube

Chuck Collins: "For the last couple months, I’ve been part of the team preparing the “Pandora Papers” (because of his “The Wealth Hoarders” book). My role has been to brief foreign reporters in advance about the US system of dynasty trusts and anonymous shell companies. I talked with courageous journalists in Mexico, Brazil, France, Denmark, Argentina, Spain, UK and other places —and I’m interviewed in these stories (mostly not in English. Including El Pais (Spain), The Guardian (UK), Metropoles (Brazil) Infobae (Argentina), Am (Mexico), Politiken (Denmark), and dozens more.) Anyway, thought you’d like to know. It’s one of the more exciting things I’ve been part of."

Thursday, November 11 Stan Cox on How Much is Enough?

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 Author Stan Cox

Thursday, November 11  

View the YouTube Recording here 

The crises that collided in 2020—climatic disasters, the pandemic, economic breakdown, near-collapse of the U.S. food system, unconstrained police violence—all disproportionately impacted marginalized communities. Various legislative initiatives to end these crises, including the Green New Deal, contain some solid “New Deal” policies for economic and racial justice; however, the “Green” policies remain wholly inadequate. The crucial but missing piece is a fast-falling cap on quantities of oil, gas, and coal that can come out of the ground and into the  economy each year, reaching zero within 15 years. Adapting to the cap will require that sufficiency, equity and fairness, not economic growth, become U.S. society's central aims.

Read Stan Cox's recent cover story for YES.

Thursday, October 28, Alan Michael Collinge "The Student Loan Scam"

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Thursday, October 28 

To watch the recording, click here.

Alan Michael Collinge is Founder of StudentLoanJustice.Org, a grassroots organization, and political action committee. He holds B.S., M.S., and Eng. Degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.

Since Founding StudentLoanJustice.Org in March, 2005 as a result of his own personal experiences with college loans, Collinge has been featured on 60 Minutes, and also in print media including Fortune Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Phoenix, The Village Voice, Inside Higher Ed, and others. He has published editorials in the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, and many other outlets.

Green Hydrogen discussion Thursday, October 14

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Green Hydrogen with Allan Lindrup

Thursday, October 14  

Watch the recording of this webinar on YouTube here.

 

Allan Lindrup, a UU since age 10, is retired after a 35 year career with the U.S. Social Security Administration. He is one of the founders of UUSJ (Chicago area), and has served on its Board since 1990. He Chairs its Task Force on Economic Justice and Homelessness and has also served on its Environmental Task Force for over 20 years. Allan has lead two UU church's successful efforts to become certified Green Sanctuary congregations.

Here's an article explaining green vs blue hydrogen.

Thursday, September 23 and 30 Book discussion webinar on "Is Inequality in America Irreversible?" and "The Wealth Hoarders"

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Chuck Collins, author of "Is Inequality in America Irreversible?" and "The Wealth Hoarders" 

Book Discussion/Webinar


First Session: Thursday, September 23 

To watch the YouTube recording from September 23rd, click here. 

Second Session: Thursday September 30

To watch the YouTube recording from September 30, click here.

                                             

 This year we have a special offer for members: a copy of Chuck Collins’ book, Is Inequality in America Irreversible?, and many of you took us up on that. Thank you to those who joined us for our book discussion on September 23rd and for joining our second discussion with Chuck Collins about his latest book, ThWealth Hoarders, on September 30.


Here's a question it would be good for us to answer in pursuit of economic justice:  "What are the reasons the social benefits floor and safety net are so low in America? ... so low that so many do not have the basic right to a full education, a home of their own, guaranteed healthcare, dignity and safety in a job with a living wage for full time work?"  And what can we, Americans, do about it? 

Thursday, September 9 at 8 PM EDT "How UUs Are Changing the World."

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Julie Skye

Watch now on YouTube

View Julie's slides with links to more information.

Julie Skye is a Founding Member and the Chief Compliance Officer of the Sustainable Advisors Alliance, LLC, with their headquarters in Tulsa Oklahoma. She has combined her experience with her passion for Values-Based Investing and works with families, nonprofits, and endowments. Read More... 

Thursday, August 26 at 8 PM EDT, Unemployed Workers' Union's Neidi Dominguez

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Neidi Dominguez

Watch our YouTube recording of the event here.

Neidi Dominguez is the Executive Director of Unemployed Workers United (UWU), a movement project to organize precarious and jobless workers. Neidi is a national immigrant and workers’ rights activist and organizer. Neidi migrated from Mexico at the age of 9 with her mother and younger sister where she resided in Pasadena, California, and began her involvement in social justice organizing from a very young age. In Los Angeles, CA Neidi was Co-Director of the CLEAN Carwash campaign that successfully unionized hundreds of workers in the country. Formerly undocumented herself, Neidi was a central leader in the campaign to win Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

July 10: UUJEC Annual Meeting with Jerry Ashton, RIP Medical Debt

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UUJEC's Annual Meeting July 10 

Jerry Ashton, cofounder, will be speaking about RIP Medical Debt, a charity that buys struggling individuals’ medical debt from collection agencies with the express purpose of forgiving it, and his new book, End Medical Debt: The COVID-19 Edition, coming out late summer.


View UUJEC's 2020-2021 Annual Report by clicking here

Wednesday, July 7 learn about the Earth Bill and how to support it.

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  Watch our YouTube recording of the event here.

Stop our Pollution! Take Action for “The Earth Bill” and Climate Justice Legislation

Learn about the growing national Earth Bill Network grassroots movement. First we’ll look at the current “state-of-play” in Congress; second learn about the “2021 Bill Package” and “The Earth Bill” -- to address 80% of our pollution through a single bill by mandating 100% renewable electricity, electric vehicles and regenerative agriculture by 2030; and third, what you can do locally with allies through the Congressional “Adopt-A-District” campaign. Learn how it's tied to UU’s Climate Justice Goals. Presenters are Members of the Climate Crisis Policy/Earth Bill Network (EBN) Faith Team Working Group: Rev. Terence Ellen, Lavona Grow and Leslie Pohl-Kosbau (not pictured). 


To learn more and choose the actions you would be interested in working on, click here.

Rev. Terence Ellen, Consulting Minister, UU Congregation in Cumberland, Md   Additional or not: (On Board, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Steering Committee, Interfaith Moral Action on Climate)
Rev. Terence Ellen, Consulting Minister, UU Congregation in Cumberland, Md   Additional or not: (On Board, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Steering Committee, Interfaith Moral Action on Climate)

June 10 Webinar: Paul Greenberg and "The Climate Diet"

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Paul Greenberg and “The Climate Diet” Thursday, June 10, 2021  

 

How can we eat better for the climate? In this talk bestselling author Paul Greenberg will walk us through 13 simple steps you can take to change how you choose, cook, and manage your food. For a preview have a look at www.paulgreenberg.org.

Paul Greenberg writes at the intersection of the environment and technology, seeking to help his readers escape screens and find emotional and ecological balance with their planet. He is the author of six books including the New York Times bestseller and Notable Book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. His other books are The Climate Diet, Goodbye Phone, Hello World, The Omega Principle, American Catch, and the novel, Leaving Katya. Paul’s writing on oceans, climate change, health, technology, and the environment appears regularly in The New York Times and many other publications. He’s the recipient of a James Beard Award for Writing and Literature, a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship and many other grants and awards.

May 27 Webinar on "Healing from Hate". Watch the movie and join in conversation

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Healing from Hate, with Moderator Car McCargo

To watch our webinar on YouTube, click here

Healing From Hate examines the root causes of hate group activity through the bold work of those battling intolerance on the front lines, including “Life After Hate”, an organization founded by former Skinheads and neo-Nazis, now engaged in transforming attitudes of intolerance, and groundbreaking sociologist Michael Kimmel (author, Angry White Men, Healing From Hate). Documenting a stunning year of hatred in America, Healing From Hate follows these reformers in their work to de-radicalize White Nationalists, and heal communities torn apart by racism - a deep dig into what's needed to return meaning, identity and tolerance to a generation of disenfranchised white men. 

Carl McCargo (M.S.) has been a UU for 34 years. He earned his M.S. in Clinical Psychology in 1981, entitled, “The Differential Portrayal of Black and White Television Families.” Carl has an enduring concern for the insidious and overt ‘teachings’ of racism in our U.S. media

Carl cautions you: It is my view that when you deal with antagonists as an enemy, using a combative approach to social justice (an us against them mentality), corporate leaders, are especially without redeemable characteristics.  Therefore, activists overlook and can't access the UU first principle of, "The inherent worth and dignity of everyone."  The activists' approach may feel that the only way to "get through" to those people at the top, is via the "sledgehammer" across the head method.  And, America sets-up activists for this failure by making the top level executives predominantly white.  It is therefore easy for a long-suffering activist who has seen and been a victim of police brutality as a set-up for activists to overlook a more humane approach to social justice work. 

May 13: Cindy Piester on Climate Disruption and US Militarism

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Climate Disruption and Militarism with Cindy Piester

To watch on YouTube, click here

Cindy Piester’s earlier anti-war, justice, and human rights work included forming and chairing Venturans for a Just Palestine, as well as Citizens for Impeachment, Ventura County. This was during the George W. Bush years.  She was arrested for non-violent civil disobedience protesting the war against Iraq and the government’s spying on the American people and use of torture, and calling for Bush’s impeachment.  For six years she and a small team were actively engaged in alternative media programming featuring issues and voices such as Daniel Ellsberg and Ray McGovern who are often ignored by mainstream media.  

The issue of US Militarism’s impact on climate is of even greater concern as our planet becomes increasingly unlivable. Extinction will be an increasing threat to us unless serious and urgent action is taken.  The US Military is the world’s largest institutional contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the data showing that is based solely on fossil fuel use. The actual bootprint is much larger. Every war emits such vast amounts of CO2 that no war is winnable any longer. 

 

April 8: Dahr Jamail and "The End of Ice"

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Dahr Jamail and the End of Ice

Click here to watch the webinar on YouTube

The Earth is now experiencing human-caused climate disruption at an ever-accelerating pace. At present, even the best case mitigation strategies will not stave off catastrophic changes that are already heated into the biosphere. How, then, shall we Live? The talk will give a brief overview of how far along we are with climate disruption, then shift into spending the majority of time addressing how we find meaning, and purpose, during such a time

Dahr’s stories have been published with Truthout, Inter Press Service, Tom Dispatch, The Sunday Herald in Scotland, The Guardian, Foreign Policy in Focus, Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Huffington Post, The Nation, The Independent, and Al Jazeera, among others. Dahr is currently and has been a feature writer for Truthout.org for five years, and his climate feature page there is titled ‘Climate Disruption Dispatches‘.

March 11: Green Amendments Movement

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Maya Rossum and the Green Amendments

 Click here  to watch the webinar on YouTube

Maya K. van Rossum will speak on the Green Amendments movement.  Maya is the author of The Green Amendment, Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment and the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring a movement to amend state constitutions to recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable civic and political freedoms. She is also a part of the Delaware Riverkeeper leading the regional advocacy organization.

February Webinar: Public Banking Webinar

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Public Banking

February 2021 Click here to view the webinar.

Sarah Manning, Rebeca Jasso-Aguilar and Melissa Pickett are volunteers with the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity, the think tank for a New Mexico Public Bank. A public bank is owned by the people through their representative government: a Tribe, City, County, State or Federal Government. It can receive deposits of public funds (taxes, fees, fines and interest earned) to  make loans to business and fund infrastructure projects.  Public Banks take our money out of Wall Street to keep our funds safe, local, and working.

Additional Information:

Public Banking in Northeast and Midwest White Paper

                 Public Banking in New Mexico

                                 How Public Banking will change things

The Story of Plastic

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Panel discussion and webinar:

Thursday, December 10 

UUJEC Green Task Force hosts a monthly zoom meeting.  In December, we are trying something new: a discussion of The Story of Plastic.  We will send participants a password-protected link to watch the film during the 10 days before our meeting, which will be on December 10.

We are currently assembling a panel to lead us in the discussion of this complex subject about a class of material that seems ubiquitous, but that can have serious environmental impacts.  We will start with a panel discussion, then break into small discussion groups.

Roots of Justice

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Roots of Justice

October 8  Click Here to watch a recording

What are the roots of justice? How do we create and grow justice? Our deteriorating ecology, politics, and economics have given new salience and urgency to answering these questions by living our faith and acting upon our principles. To create and grow justice, we need to throw off the shackles of our conditioning. We must learn the purpose and the history of the injustice and how we acquire the power to defeat it. Our education and our media have poorly served us. To find justice and build solidarity, we must learn what they are and the obstacles to clear thinking and decisive action. We must acquire the power to create and enforce justice.

Solutionary Rail--electrifying rail service so we're ready for pollution free transportation

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Solutionary Rail Webinar

Thursday, September 10 2020

Bill Moyer of Vashon Island, Washington has dual and intersecting paths as an activist and artist. In 2003, he co-founded the Backbone Campaign with friends from an artist affinity group. In the last 17 years, Backbone has emerged as a leader and innovator in the theory and practice of “artful activism.” Bill works with progressive change agents and organizations around the country to design and produce creative protest actions and provide training in grand strategy and creative tactics.


Bill is also the co-author and project lead for Solutionary Rail, a book produced by the Backbone Campaign in late 2016. Solutionary Rail provides the guiding vision for a people-powered campaign to electrify America’s railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future. Rail, unique among forms of mass transportation, can easily be electrified and is being electrified around the globe. Because electricity is increasingly coming from clean sources such as sun and wind, rail has the potential to serve as a clean and reliable form of transportation while invigorating communities along the way. Solutionary Rail proposes overhead rail electrification (possibly in combination with batteries) powered by renewable energy, utilizing rail corridors for efficient long distance transmission, as well as track modernization and mode shift of freight from trucks to trains.

Using the En-Roads Climate Simulator to Make Better Policy Decisions

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Adam Wasserman, UUJEC Board Member and Webinar Facilitator 

Thursday, August 13 

In this webinar we will introduce the En-Roads Climate Simulator, an online model of the global climate system developed by Climate Interactive in conjunction with Ventana Systems and MIT Sloan.  The En-Roads Simulator allows an individual or group to quickly see the impact of a wide variety of climate interventions—economic, technical, and behavioral.   In real time, users can see how valuable different policy choices are in actually affecting global temperature and the concentration of greenhouse gases.  Participants will get a brief overview of the simulator and how it is being used by Climate Interactive to educate involved citizens and policymakers all over the world.  We will then use the simulator to look at how different technologies and policies affect global climate.  We all have our favorite approaches to stopping global warming—which ones really work?  Let’s find out! Adam Wasserman, leading the workshop, is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe.  He is active in environmental issues in his congregation and in 350 Santa Fe.  He is a member of the board for UUJEC.  He recently completed an online training program for the En-Roads model. 


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A General Assembly Debrief  

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Members and friends of UUJEC will share highlights from this year's General Assembly.  We'll discuss changes in process and changes that happened to accommodate a virtual event.  We'll talk about UUJEC's proposed Action of Immediate Witness, AIW: The Pandemic: A Religious Response.  UUJEC's sponsored workshop: Reparations: Rooted in Repair will surely be a conversation starter.  Come as we share our biggest take-away and you can share yours.

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What is the United States strategy to pass federal legislation to achieve the Paris Climate Accord?

July 1, 2020. Noon-1:30 Eastern

Urgent: Federal Climate Bills & Strategy

Co-sponsored by UUJEC

Climate Crisis, like COVID-19, is a Global Health Threat June 11, 2020

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Climate Crisis, like COVID-19, is a Global Health Threat;

  & Managing the Health Effects of the Climate Crisis.

   Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 8 PM Eastern

Julia Ying is a volunteer public speaker trained by former US Vice President Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project. She is Co-Chair of the Climate Reality Northern New Mexico Chapter. She is also a member of 350 Santa Fe. She is a retired General Medical Practitioner from Sydney Australia, and is a happy grandmother to 5 grandchildren. She is now living in Los Alamos, NM. She is passionate about taking care of Mother Earth, to preserve the beauty of nature she loves, and to know her grandchildren can grow up in a safe, sustainable world. 

Julia Ying can be contacted on: climaterealitynnm@gmail.com

ClimateRealityNNM.org


$ The Green New Deal $ Thursday, May 14

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$ The Green New Deal $  Yes We Can!  

Thursday, May 14 at 8 pm EDT

Too often the argument “How can we possible pay for it?” stops any further discussion of implementing the Green New Deal.  Join UUJEC for a webinar that guides our thinking into a constructive process to design and enact the procedures to make impressive headway against both global warming with its environmental, social, economic consequences and the political gridlock that stymies progress.  Stephanie Kelton, author of The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy, urges us to begin by figuring out the human, material and organizational resources we need and then see which are (surprisingly) already available.  Only then do we seek additional revenue.  It is not unlike what is needed to fund our COVID 19 response, except that we are thinking it through deliberatively, not in the desperation of a pandemic.  And, it allows us to choose solutions to reverse economic inequality not exacerbate it, while avoiding inflation.

UUJEC’s Dr. Dick Burkhart, mathematician and economic justice activist, will introduce Dr. Kelton’s you tube video and help answer the questions it raises among us.   When we reframe the question to “What resources do we have and what reallocation of priorities do we need to do the work of the Green New Deal?” we can get on with creating a life-saving legacy for future generations. We look forward to our discussion. To Register or with Questions?  Write us at: greentf@uujec.org

Thursday, December 12, 2019 Webinar

Todd "Tif" Fernandez

Todd “Tif” Fernandez comes from the LGBT movement, where he led the campaign to file The Equality Act, which passed the U.S. House in 2019, to add LGBT Americans to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He has a Masters of Law in Human Rights & Democratization from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and B.A. and J.D. from Boston University. Previously, Todd served as General Counsel and Legislative Director for Economic Affairs in MA, where he stewarded passage of the MA Brownfields Act of 1998, and served as the Governor’s Ombudsman for Brownfield Revitalization, receiving two National Governors’ Association.  In 2018, he launched Climate Action Mondays to build the activist demand for federal climate legislation, working with 350NYC, Food & Water Watch, Sunrise Movement, DSA, Rise & Resist, and the 350NYC Media Task Force, working with Extinction Rebellion.  Currently, he leads The People's GND Working Group that has digested over 130 GHG policy reports for an upcoming website "Climate Action Policy Survey" (CAPS) to build awareness and consensus on Congressional demands.  He believes in the power of direct action, having worked with Marriage Equality NY, the New York Immigration Coalition, and Occupy Wall Street, and has served on boards including The Massachusetts Redevelopment Fund and MA Educational Finance Authority.  His goal now is to help build a National Climate Network to pass vanguard climate legislation by 2021.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018 @ 8 pm eastern time

The Evolution of Inequity Since the Great Recession

with Dr. Casey of The Brookings Institution

UUJEC is proud to co-sponsor and promote this November webinar with UUs for Social Justice.

Marcus Casey, Ph.D. of The Brookings Institution, will discuss the consequences of growing income and wealth inequality on the economic prospects of middle-class and poor households. His discussion will begin with a descriptive picture of how wealth and income differences have evolved since the Great Recession across demographic groups. Then, he will discuss how uneven economic growth and the housing crisis exacerbates these problems. He will close with a discussion of potential policy solutions. Register for this very timely webinar on the UUSJ page

Thursday September 13, 2018 @ 8pm Eastern

A Public Bank for New Jersey: Countering Wall Street Dominance

Featuring Joan Bartl and Walt McRee Directors - Banking on New Jersey

The mission of Banking on New Jersey is “to bring the value of a municipally owned public bank to New Jersey. We envision a public institution managed professionally, guided by strong citizen oversight, and accountable to the public as its only stockholders. The bank will have the flexibility to support current community needs and foster resilience in the face of economic and natural hardships.”

A recording of this webinar is available on our YouTube page here


Thursday August 9, 2018, @ 8pm Eastern time

Medicare for All Calculator, with Kris Hardy 

Kris Hardy, the creator of the Medicare for All calculator presented on the use it his newly developed tool. It was developed to demonstrate how a proposed funding mechanism for universal health care will save 90-95% of the population money on health care spending. The calculator is based on H.R. 676, the Medicare for All Act which is sponsored by Congressman Keith Ellison and currently has 123 sponsors in the US House of Representatives. 

To view the two-part webinar, select each link:  Part 1 and Part 2The calculator is available at https://www.mfacalc.com. To reach out to Kris Hardy, please email uujec@uujec.org . 

 

Thursday July 19, 2018 @ 8:00 p.m. eastern

A General Assembly Debrief

Members and friends of UUJEC shared highlights and inspirations from General Assembly. New changes to social witness process, our Annual Meeting, Networking Session, Table Talk, new AsIW passed, and the 4 questions to bring home were discussed. To view the recording, please visit our YouTube Page here. View the presentation materials Sally Jane Gellert created in the pdf, available here.  Our GA web page has additional resources for your review. 

Thursday May 24, 2018 @ 8:00 p.m. eastern

UUJEC at General Assembly

UUJEC members of the Board of Trustees will share current initiatives and activities planned for General Assembly in Kansas City. 
Learn which GA events and activities UUJEC will be leading and participating in, collaborate efforts on Actions of Immediate Witness (AIW's), Congregational Study Action Items (CSAI's), and share your thoughts on the Escalating Inequality Statement of Conscience (SOC).   

It's an acronym-filled webinar to get our GA gears in motion! 

Thursday April 19, 2018 @ 8:00 p.m. eastern

Thursday April 19, 2018 @ 8:00 p.m. eastern

“What is Health Justice and Inequality?" with Margaret Flowers

What a terrific discussion! Thank you Dr. Flowers! To view a recording of this webinar, visit our YouTube page here.  Dr. Flower's presentation is available for reference here.  

Dr. Margaret Flowers is a pediatrician and mother from Baltimore, MD.  Margaret left medical practice in 2007 to advocate full-time for single-payer health care.  She served as Congressional Fellow for Physicians for a National Health Program and on the board of Healthcare-Now!  Margaret is a co-founder of PopularResistance.org, which is a resource and information clearinghouse for the movement of movements, providing a daily stream of resistance news from the United States and around the world, as well as a national events calendar.  
                                                       

Sunday April 15th @ 7:00 p.m. eastern

"Reward Work, Not Wealth" with Robert Silverman

"Reward Work, Not Wealth" an online discussion with Robert Silverman from Oxfam about global inequality. Oxfam’s recent report Reward Work, Not Wealth concluded: “Last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, one more every two days. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over.”  To view Robert's webinar presentation, please click here

Robbie Silverman is a Senior Advisor in Oxfam America’s Private Sector Department, where he leads on engaging with for-profit corporations to advance Oxfam’s mission of combatting poverty and injustice worldwide.  In his role at Oxfam, he has worked to launch a new produce certification label, the Equitable Food Initiative, that prioritizes farmworkers’ rights, helped to establish an impact investing fund to support women’s entrepreneurship in Guatemala, and led company engagement for a successful campaign against US poultry processors' treatment of workers. He is currently focused on the strategy and implementation of Oxfam’s global campaign against inequality, with a focus on stopping corporate tax avoidance. 

Tuesday March 20th @ 8pm eastern

 "4 Ways to Get Our UU Voices Heard in Washington"

Our March Webinar featured UU's for Social Justice (UUSJ).  Lavona Grow, UUSJ Advocacy Oversight Committee Chair, shared ideas and resources needed to influence our US senators’ and representatives’ to act and to help our congregations to raise their UU voices to make a difference in Washington.  The UUSJ Write Here! Write Now! letter-writing campaign and other ways for individual UU's and congregations to take action in the upcoming elections were discussed. 

To view the recorded webinar visit our YouTube page here

Thursday February 8 @ 8:00 PM (ET)

“A Conversation with Chuck Collins”

UUJEC, in partnership with UUs for Social Justice, featured Chuck Collins for our February webinar. As an active member of the UUJEC Advisory Board, we appreciate Chuck’s enduring commitment to justice and equality and welcome his participation in our webinar series. On the February 8th webinar, Chuck shared initiatives cities and communities are carrying out to reverse inequality; from Massachusetts to California. 

If you missed the webinar, you can view the recording here. 

Chuck's new book "Is Inequality in America Irreversible?" is available for pre-order. 

You can find "The Community Land Trust Reader" referenced by Chuck, here. 

January 10, 2018 @ 8:00 PM

"Are You Ready for the Interfaith March for Peace & Justice?"

UUJEC is pleased to Co-Sponsor the 2018 Interfaith March for Peace and JusticeThank you to all who joined the UUJEC/UUSJ sponsored webinar on Jan. 10.  Activists from a dozen different states were represented on our webinar! It was inspiring to be joined by so many like-minded individuals to support the development of an event which may have national impact Join in fellowship within your community for peace and justice. March co-sponsors include UUJEC, the UU Peace Ministry Network, Peace Catalyst, North Columbus Friends Meeting, UU Justice Ohio and Safe Alliance of Interfaith Leaders. March resources can be found here: 

  • Assembly guidelines and tips are available here.  
  • Spread the word and the excitement with this flyer.
  • Get updates and stay connected when you register with the Mobilize app
  • Financial Assistance with March-Related Expenses Application 
  • Sample Outreach letters to build UU and Community partnerships

If no event is planned in your area but you’d like to plan one, email betty@interfaithmarch.com for help to get started.

December 6th, 2017 @ 8pm

"Worker Centers & Worker Organizing in the Current Political Climate"

Thank you for joining Magaly Licolli – Executive Director, Northwest Arkansas Worker Justice Center and Ahmed Ali – Executive Director, Greater Minnesota Worker Center for our discussion on worker organizing and economic justice. Resources provided by our speakers are valuable for UU activists across the country to organize within their communities. 

  • "Striving for a Just and Safer Workplace" Report by (GMWC)
  • "Wages and Working Conditions in Arkansas Poultry Plants" - Report by NW Arkansas Worker Justice Center
  • Presentation slides from Ahmed Ali, Greater Minnesota Worker Center (GMWC)
  • Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Perkins Project on Worker's Rights and Wages Policy Watch
  • EPI Interactive Map of anti-worker laws by state
  • "A Practical Guide to Combating Wage Theft" - Report from the Center for Popular Democracy 


Faith communities can work in solidarity with workers centers to advance our common struggle for dignity and equality. We can take the lessons from Magaly and Ahmed and apply them with organizations that are close to home. To identify a Worker Center near you, please visit Interfaith Worker Justice for a list of affiliates.  

 

Monday, November 6, 8:00 pm

William Rice from Americans for Tax Fairness 

"Tax Cuts for the Wealthy. Guess who picks up the tab?”  

Thank you for attending the UUJEC/UUSJ webinar "Tax Cuts for the Wealthy. Guess who picks up the tab?” presented by Will Rice, Policy Consultant with Americans for Tax Fairness.  Will’s presentation slides are available for you to review and share with your congregation here.  

To learn more about the tax debate underway in Congress and across the country, please visit the web resources Will provided below.  To stay connected with Americans for Tax Fairness you can visit their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @4taxfairness.  

It’s important to reach out to our Senators and Representatives on important issues like tax reform. Elected officials need to hear our voices, our faithful perspectives and our ideas for a more just nation. Please reach out to your Senators and Representatives and tell them:  I strongly oppose the any tax bill that gives massive tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations that will be paid for by deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and education.

For more general information on GOP tax plans: http://stoptrumptaxcuts.org/    

To find out how to get involved in the tax fight: http://stoptrumptaxcuts.org/events/  
To read a section-by-section summary of the House bill as presented by its authors: https://waysandmeansforms.house.gov/uploadedfiles/tax_cuts_and_jobs_act_section_by_section_hr1.pdf 

For detailed outside analysis of the House plan:  http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/publication/147726/2001579-preliminary-distributional-analysis-of-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act.pdf 

https://itep.org/wp-content/uploads/housetaxplan.pdf

Also, check out UUSJ's advocacy page "Say No to Fake Tax Reform!" to get UU background on the issue, talking points and resources. Their letter-writing toolkit "Write Here! Right Now!" can be used to let officials know how our faith and values compel us to seek a more just and sustainable world. 


Thursday, October 5, 2017 8:00 pm

Reversing Inequality with Chuck Collins 

Thank you to those who joined UUJEC, UUSJ and our guest presenter Chuck Collins for our latest webinar.  Chuck shared information about his newly released report “REVERSING INEQUALITY: Unleashing the Transformative Potential of an Equitable Economy.”  The report is an excellent resource to understand the key drivers of inequality and concrete wisdom on how to collectively and legislatively move toward a more just economy.  A key takeaway from our discussion was that we must continue addressing the concentration of wealth at the top in order to reverse inequality. Chuck emphasized, that wealth concentration “is the gift that keeps on giving.”

 In case you missed the webinar, you can find the video on the UUJEC YouTube page here. Chuck’s conversation with Senator Bernie Sanders from October 3 can also be found here.

Also, Chuck suggested a few action items and points of reference to stay engaged:

  • He is speaking at community forums across the country and happy to travel to your congregation. Contact Chuck here.
  • Sign up for additional updates at  https://inequality.org/
  • Participate in the estate tax conversation with the Patriotic Millionaires  
  • Stay informed on tax policy with Americans for Tax Fairness
  • Identify which businesses are the voice for positive change through the B Corp movement.
  • Share the events and actions of UUJEC and UUSJ in your congregations. 

 

Thursday September 14, 8:00 pm

“NOW IS THE TIME: Healthcare for Everybody”

Thank you for joining us for our UUJEC/UUSJ sponsored webinar with filmmakers Terry Sterrenberg & Laurie Simons to discuss healthcare justice and their newest documentary “Now is the Time: Healthcare for Everybody”. Laurie’s comparison to jackhammers and birds singing really put into perspective how different healthcare systems effect our health and wellbeing, regardless of being sick. If you missed our discussion, you can view the recording on the UUJEC YouTube channel here. Also, learn more about the film, how to host a screening and work for justice in your community by visiting their website, http://www.nowisthetimemovie.com/  and follow them on twitter @Nowsthetimemovi.  

Wednesday, August 2, 8:00pm

The ACA and the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA):

Long term issues for the American economy

Thank you for joining us for our latest UUJEC/UUSJ webinar with Health Economist Dr. Jerome Dugan. We were pleased to have Dr. Dugan with us. If you missed our discussion, you can view the recording on the UUSJ YouTube channel here. Also, learn more about Dr. Dugan and his colleagues’ work on their website, Health Economics Analytics Laboratory  www.healresearch.org and follow him on twitter @profdugan, where he posts economic and health related articles regularly. 


                   

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