We are making our future together: October Update from UU the Vote
This week is a beginning.
Across the country, thousands of people have taken to the streets for No Kings mobilizations, energizing voters to vote early. UU the Vote is launching its final Fall push, bringing people together through voter contact mobilizations, community defense, and the historic Freedom Rides of 2026.
Each of these actions is part of something larger. Each reminds us of a truth that history has taught us again and again: The future is not simply something that happens to us. It is something we make together.
Side With Love is proud to sponsor The Ride 2026, a powerful pilgrimage retracing the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides. Sixty-five years ago, Black and white activists boarded buses to challenge racial segregation in interstate travel. They entered spaces where Black people had been told they did not belong, confronting the violence and injustice of Jim Crow with the power of organized, collective action.
Their courage helped transform this nation. But their actions were not taken with the certainty of victory. They acted because they believed a different world was possible, and because they understood that making it real required something of them.
This history is also part of our Unitarian Universalist story. Members of our faith participated in the Freedom Rides and the broader Civil Rights Movement. From the Freedom Riders to the Rev. James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, who gave their lives in the struggle for voting rights, our ancestors in faith remind us that love is not merely a conviction we hold. Love is a commitment we practice, a risk we take, and a future we help bring into being.
Today, UU leaders are joining the journey from Washington, D.C., through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, before reaching New Orleans. Along the way, riders and local communities will gather for mobilizations, justice revivals, teach-ins, and public witness. Together, they will honor the unfinished work of those who came before us while organizing for the democracy that generations to come deserve.
The Freedom Rides remind us of something profound: Desegregation did not begin when the law changed. It began when Black people and their allies organized, moved, and occupied spaces from which they had been excluded. The law followed the courage and collective action of the people.
That is the power of faith. Not the assurance that victory awaits us on the other side of our actions, but the conviction that our actions help create the other side.
In the days before Election Day, our community will answer that call in countless ways.
Some of you will serve as poll workers, stewarding the sacred act of voting. Some will be outside polling places as election protection volunteers, accompanying voters and helping ensure they can exercise their rights safely and with dignity. Some will phonebank, textbank, canvass, or drive a neighbor to the polls. Some will minister to weary spirits, offering care and courage to those carrying the weight of this moment. Others will sit with family members, friends, and neighbors, inviting them to align their actions with their deepest values.
These acts may look different, but they are not separate. Each is an expression of our collective power. Each is a contribution to the world we are making.
The victories of our past were not inevitable. They were created. Created by people who organized when the odds were against them. By people who practiced solidarity before it was popular. By people who chose to act even when they could not know the outcome.
And so it must be with us.
I believe a new world is possible. And I do not believe it is as far away as we sometimes imagine.
I see it in the people who journeyed to Minnesota, in defense of immigrant neighbors. I see it in the twelve UU the Vote Solidarity Summits that brought communities together to imagine, organize, and build the relationships and infrastructure that freedom requires. I see it in the Freedom Riders taking to the road once again, connecting generations of struggle and possibility. And I see it in the thousands of Unitarian Universalists who are preparing to show up for their neighbors in the days ahead.
These are not simply responses to the crises of our time. They are the beginnings of the future we seek.
We may not know what November will bring. But we know that what comes next will be shaped by what we build now: the relationships we strengthen, the neighbors we defend, the courage we practice, and the power we organize.
The future is not waiting for us somewhere beyond this election. It is being made in this very moment.
And each of us has a part to play.
So let us say yes.
Yes to the sacred responsibility of this moment. Yes to the power of solidarity. Yes to the work of building a democracy that is made for all of us.
Let us act, not only because we hope a better future awaits us, but because we know that our actions are what make that future possible.
Three ways to help make the future today:
1) Join a UU the Vote voter mobilization. Sign up for an in-person or virtual phonebank, textbank, or canvassing opportunity to help turn out voters and strengthen our democracy.
Oct 31: Textbank: TXUUJM and Women's Health's and Evolutionary Wellness (WHEW)
Nov 1: Philadelphia Canvass with UU the Vote & New Voices for Reproductive Justice
Nov 2: Phonebank with UUTV and New Voices for Reproductive Justice
2) Follow and support the Freedom Rides 2026. Join a gathering along the route, share the stories of the riders, and help carry their call for justice into your congregation and community. Learn more about The Ride 2026.
3) Support the UU the Vote Solidarity Fund. UU the Vote has support work from Minneapolis to Delany. We are calling and texting thousands of voters. And we must be ready to mobilize and take action to make sure every vote is counted and the election is certified. This work will continue past election day and we need your support. Support the UU the Vote Solidarity Fund with a contribution today.
