7 Ways to #UUtheVote from home: Even apart, we can work together

Right now feels pretty intense.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has many of us stressed and scared; we might be feeling overwhelmed or helpless with uncertainty. While many of us are being asked to work from home and many more do not have that option, we can stay connected to each other as well as with our UU the Vote community.

In the words of UUA executive vice president Carey McDonald, “This is a time when we need more ministry and connection with each other, not less. It just may need to take a different form.”

We hope we can offer some connection and ministry to you.

Spiritual Sustenance Twice per Month

UU the Vote now offers twice monthly spiritual nourishment circles on the first Wednesday and the third Monday of each month. These groups offer space share stories from organizing and justice work, reflect, bear witness, amplify joy, and lessen the sorrows. Find the Spiritual Sustenance Schedule and RSVP.

How to #UUtheVote without leaving the house

We looked at our 50+ Ways to UU the Vote and suggest:

Visit Vote Forward to send letters to unlikely or unregistered voters.
Go to Reclaim Our Vote to make calls to voters who were purged from the rolls.
Consider small group meetings instead of large gathering or gather online using zoom, google hangout, or slack.
Set a date for your congregation to watch Suppressed: The Fight to Vote by Brave New Films or the movie Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook (available on some streaming services, including Amazon Prime) from each individuals home then hold a group conference call to debrief together.
Call your legislator to advocate for paid sick leave and relief for affected workers—not a bail out for the fossil fuel industry. Call (202) 224-3121 to be connected.
Spend the time to brainstorm who in your life to engage in values conversations with. Start making those calls and texts. See page 27 in our launch guide.
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper with your opinion of how the pandemic is being handled and what you would like to see our elected leaders do.

Moments like these are actually why it’s so crucial we have elected leadership who hold our values of beloved community, welcome and sanctuary, accountability and transparency. We want a country that responds with empathy rather than fear; we hope we can all find a way to do so. In closing, we want to share this prayer/poem from Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen, which so perfectly captures our aspirations.

this is the part where we commandeer cruise ships for people migrating to feast at all you can eat buffets and party pool side and then split the corporate profits with the staff, right?

this is the part where we teach ourselves how to make our own medicine - the kind from herbs and grandma's recipes and vaccines and antivirals and insulin and epipens too, right?

this is the part where we open our spare rooms to the college student whose school is closed and the asylum seeker who just got out of detention, and our co-worker who just got evicted and the queer teen who needs a place to crash, right?

this is the part where we feed lunch to the kid whose school is cancelled and text the people who can't be in public spaces anymore and we breathe, right?

this the part where we introduce ourselves to our neighbors we've been living next to for 10 years because tomorrow we might need each other, right?

this is the part where we ask "what do i really need for surviving?" and find a way to seek no more and no less, right?

this is the part where we stay home, we cancel, we show up, we call, we fight, we let go, we stay, we don't let anyone go it alone, right?

this is the part where when we say we, we mean: we elderly, we immunocompromised, we sick, we well, we in prison, we free, we who can buffer our way out with money and privilege and we who definitely can't.

right?
right.

This is the part where we call, we fight, we don’t let anyone go it alone, right?

Right.

Let us know what you need so you can #VoteLove and #DefeatHate in this time of stress and anxiety. We’re grateful to be in this with you.

In faith and solidarity,

Audra Friend
UU the Vote National Team

Not subscribed to our emails? Subscribe here!