“Without community, there is no liberation.” —Audre Lorde, poet
Do you want to join people of faith and conscience from across the U.S. in taking action and practicing reflection? Are you seeking ways to offer grounded solidarity without reproducing oppressive practices? Have you ever gone to an immigration (ICE) check-in or court to support a person at risk of deportation? Is your congregation part of the New Sanctuary Movement, or talking about joining?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you may wish to join our new e-course, Changing systems, changing ourselves: Anti-racist practice for sanctuary, accompaniment, and resistance. This free interactive e-course will meet monthly and support groups in learning, reflecting, and acting for social change.
In four sessions, we will explore:
- Undoing racism in the context of immigrant rights solidarity.
- The U.S. immigration system’s history of racial exclusion and how it plays out today.
- The theology and practice of accompaniment.
- Real life examples through case-studies.
- Practical skills in three streams: ICE/court accompaniment, congregational sanctuary, and immigration detention/prison visitation.
We especially encourage small groups working together locally to join our interactive program. If you don’t have a group we can help match you up, along with connecting you with partner groups seeking volunteers where possible. There will be homework between sessions, and attendees are expected to participate in the full course.
Read the frequently asked questions.
The e-course begins May 1st and continues through August. The e-course series will be broadcast over an online platform, and connection details will be sent in advance of each session.
We hope you will join us to help enact what Alice Walker talked about when she said, “I think we have to own the fears that we have of each other, and then, in some practical way, some daily way, figure out how to see people differently than the way we were brought up to.” Learn more and register here.
This program is a collaboration of the American Friends Service Committee’s Sanctuary Everywhere initiative and the UUA and UUSC’s Love Resists campaign in partnership with Church World Service and Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC).
In peace,
Lucy Duncan
Director of Friends Relations