8.25.26 Action Center Update
Welcome to the Action Center Weekly Update. Each week, we’ll share:
A brief analysis of critical issues in this political moment
Immediate actions you can take
Resources to deepen knowledge and strengthen our collective work to side with love
Nothing is inevitable. Justice movements are built by ordinary people who come together to defeat oppression and nurture a loving world. You are not alone. We have power. Together, we can create a just and thriving future.
Movements are strongest when we act together. Organize with your teams and networks, and take these actions in community. For practical tools, see our Organizing School and Trainings & Webinars.
Democracy
Core Principle: Democracy is not a destination but a practice rooted in interdependence and the worth and dignity of all. While authoritarianism consolidates power, we are the majority—and we must organize to build a truly multiracial democracy.
The Update:
Yesterday, in a 6–3 procedural decision, the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with parts of an executive order seeking to change how mail voting is administered. Importantly, the Court did not rule that the executive order is lawful. Instead, the decision concludes that the states challenging the order had sued too early because they had not yet demonstrated concrete harm. The decision leaves the door open for states to challenge specific policies in the USPS mail-in voting rules which were published in June.
Two things you should know:
This ruling does not eliminate or prohibit voters from casting mail-in ballots. Other legal challenges remain underway.
The Court did not rule that the President has the authority to run our elections or that this executive order is legal.
The fact remains: states and local jurisdictions administer our elections, which are subject to federal laws passed by Congress. That means defending democracy requires organizing at the state and local level. That is why UU the Vote is mobilizing voters, protecting access to the ballot, recruiting poll workers and election defenders, and building networks committed to making sure every eligible voter can participate and that every vote is counted.
People power our elections. Voters, poll workers, election officials, and election-protection volunteers make our democracy possible. While civic organizations and state leaders continue the legal fight for free and fair elections, each of us has a role to play.
Any effort to disenfranchise eligible voters is an affront to democracy and to our faith, which calls us to treat democracy as a sacred practice. “As Unitarian Universalists, we bind ourselves to one another through covenants—sacred promises made in response to the profound gift of life, held as shared care and mutual accountability, long central to religious communities; and born with reverence and holy aspirations through the spiritual discipline of Love.” - Faithful Defiance of Authoritarianism, a Call to Action: Reaffirming Our Covenant for Democracy and Freedom, 2025 Action of Immediate Witness
Take Action:
Resources:
Read:
Article from Axios for more information regarding the legal details and process of this fight
Join:
Common Cause’s election defense campaign to make sure every eligible is able to cast their ballot at the polls
Build power and community at your nearest UU the Vote Solidarity Summit
Decriminalization & Immigration
Core Principle: Criminalization and dehumanization deny the dignity of our communities. Safety cannot come at the expense of others. As people of faith, we proclaim a future of care, abundance, and mutuality—not domination.
The Update:
In Springfield, OH, the right to worship has become a privilege some can no longer count on. ICE raids have intensified across the city, and Haitian families are being detained and shackled after building a life here. Last Sunday, ICE was seen waiting outside at least two churches. This week, that fear became even more real. Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien, a beloved leader in the Haitian community, was detained by ICE.
Meanwhile, folks across the country are fighting increasing surveillance - from ankle monitors on Haitians in Ohio to federal agents in our congregations and Flock cameras in our towns. Increased surveillance doesn’t make anyone safer. We keep us safe. We have a responsibility to one another. May we bring about greater safety with our actions – showing up in solidarity with Haitians in Ohio, joining the DeFlock campaign, and sounding the alarm about immoral and illegal federal investigations.
Take Action:
Plan your local Ritual of Resistance using this toolkit and come to our August 26th training, Rituals of Resistance: A Training on Faithful Witness from Delaney Hall. Hosted by UU Solidarity Initiative, learn with some of the UU leaders who have been leading the faithful resistance at the Newark detention camp, Delaney Hall. Take home concrete tools and rituals for your community developed and used by Charlene Walker, Executive Director of Faith in New Jersey, Rev. Dr. Robin Tanner, minister at Beacon in Summit NJ and Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, minister at UU Congregation at Montclair. Sign up.
Support Haitians in Springfield, OH by sharing these messages widely and answering their call to support in Springfield. If you are interested in going to Springfield, sign up for the UU Solidarity Initiative for updates and/or come to our Rituals of Resistance training 8/26.
Sign On: Unitarian Universalist Support for Mohsen Mahdawi, calling for the termination of all deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a lawful permanent US resident, Columbia University student, and Palestinian human rights activist. Mohsen’s spiritual practices of Unitarian Universalism and Buddhism inform and are informed by his championing of human rights through active organizing, peace building, and policy reform.The deportation proceedings against Mr. Mahdawi aim to punish him for speaking out against the genocide in Palestine.
Resources:
Read:
How we stop the corporations supporting ICE - a graphic portrayal of strategy and tactics of the growing movement of people stopping big businesses from enabling ICE. Without cars rented from Enterprise or Hilton’s hotel rooms, ICE wouldn’t be able to occupy our cities and kidnap our neighbors. But we need to share lessons with each other and work together to demand corporate accountability.
Learn:
Watch/Listen:
Climate Justice
Core Principle: A just and loving world is also a flourishing one. A fossil-free future is possible, where clean energy is a human right and all beings thrive. To get there, we must create new systems, norms, and practices.
The Update:
In Northwest Indiana, the Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago cities have been without power for nearly two weeks. On August 11th, massive winds and widespread floods hit communities from Iowa to Kentucky. Indiana, in particular, was devastated by this deadly derecho.
During last week’s Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting, Love Is The Framework For Climate Justice, we stated that the climate crisis is the great multiplier of existing inequity. The flooding and continued power outages that Northwest Indiana, particularly the predominately Black city Gary and majority Hispanic cities Hammond and East Chicago, are experiencing is a horrible example of this phenomenon.
According to an August 19th Chicago Sun Times article,
The state’s utility company NIPSCO reported that over 60% of its customers — roughly over 370,000 homes — lost power during the Aug. 11 storm and subsequent days of severe weather. And while many customers across the state have their lights back on, about 22,000 customers in Gary were still without power, local and state officials told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Climate change impacts everyone. It does not impact everyone equally. Frontline communities, particularly historically low-income and redlined communities, are hit first and worst by the climate crisis. After decades of extreme infrastructure disinvestment, these predominantly Black and Hispanic cities are still without power. Racist policy systemically under-resources communities and abandons them during disaster.
Our faith’s commitment to equity is clear: We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.
The community impact of the derecho storm, the intensity of which is a direct result of climate change, adds to Northwest Indiana’s history of environmental injustice.
Gary’s coal-based steel mills had provided economic mobility and a true pathway to the middle class for many Black families. Saying this, factories like Gary Works, one of the largest steel mills in the world and one of the U.S.’s top greenhouse gas emitters, have also been toxically polluting the Gary community for generations. In Lake County, where these cities are, “facilities with high greenhouse gas emissions disproportionately affect minority groups with unequal access to insurance.” Furthermore, “Gary's steel industry is linked to increased health risks and lower life expectancy.”
In the rooted words of Dorreen Carey, President of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD), “The steel industry’s impacts aren’t just a statistic in Northwest Indiana; they are personal. It’s children missing school because of their asthma, families overwhelmed by hospital bills, and neighbors we’ve lost far too soon to cancer. Our community deserves clean air and a future in which Gary Works and the region’s other steel mills replace their polluting facilities with cleaner, greener steelmaking technology.”
Communities should not have to choose between their health and a decent job. Beloveds in industrial and post-industrial communities should not die prematurely, neither from pollution-caused cancer nor from poverty. Communities deserve both economic thriving and clean air. Communities deserve to live, and live well.
Environmental racism created the fragile conditions that the derecho storm and resulting floods devastated. Now, as communities try to recover, they are faced with NIPSCO’s prolonged blackout. In a blackout, communities cannot keep their medications refrigerated, electronically remove water from homes, pump gas, cook food, charge equipment, and more.
Relief efforts are led by churches, like the Tree of Life Missionary Baptist Church in Gary, and local mutual aid groups. 400 linemen are in Gary trying to restore the power.
In the clear wisdom of Benjamin Faye, host of the Graceful Atheist Podcast,
Gary, Indiana doesn’t have power for the reason Flint, Michigan doesn’t have clean water, for the same reason Jackson, Mississippi hasn’t gotten state funds for necessary infrastructure improvements.
Gary, Indiana is 76% Black.
Flint, Michigan is 57% Black.
Jackson, Mississippi is 82% Black.
It really isn’t that hard to figure out.
As of August 24th, nearly 7,000 Lake County, Indiana residents are still without power.
In related news, following a severe thunderstorm in Memphis, TN 140,000 residents were without power this past Saturday. As of Tuesday morning, August 25th, over 25,000 people are still without power. In the wake of devastation, communities step up to love and feed each other.
These communities deserve to flourish.
Take Action:
In the face of devastation, Northwest Indiana communities take care of each other. Here is a list of local organizations providing free food, oxygen refills, cleanup assistance, and more. Support these local organizations.
On August 18, the USDA Forest Service announced the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The public has until September 20th to urge the Forest Service to maintain the rule that protects undeveloped roadless areas across the country. Please submit a comment here. Learn more, including talking points, here.
Resources:
Read:
Learn:
Join:
ProPublica, the Chicago Tribune, and Deep South Today are hosting “Clean Air Act: Dismantling One of the Country’s Bedrock Environmental Laws” on August 25th 4pm EST. Register here.
Join Catalysis Project on August 25th 7pm EST for Song for a Hard-Hit People: Beth Howard in conversation with Chanelle Gallant to celebrate Beth Howard's book, hear her story, and explore what it takes to build anti-racist solidarity across race, class, and region in this critical political moment. Beth Howard is the Cultural Strategist for Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), the largest national organization bringing white people into the fight for racial and economic justice.
Third Act is hosting a “Data Centers & the Elections” webinar on Wednesday, August 26th at 6:00 pm EST. Register here.
Have questions about Green Sanctuary and Climate Justice? Drop into our next monthly Office Hours on September 2nd at 7pm EST.
Watch/Listen:
Know Your Rights Camp Podcast: Environmental Racism In Black & Brown Communities with Dana Amihere, founder of Afro LA
Watch the Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting Engaging Marginalized Communities with Rev. Ranwa Hammamy
Together, we practice the world we long for. Together, we win.
