Social Justice and Activism

“How does our faith hold brokenness, injustice, and suffering? Clumsily. Gingerly. Tenderly. Bravely. Lovingly. Reverently. Humbly and deliberately. Imperfectly.” – Victoria Safford

I have been politically active since my teenage years, when I started helping out with the teacher’s political action committee my mother founded. My passion and compassion has always been with the underrepresented, the underserved, the abused and disregarded. I stayed politically active throughout college, working for various progressive candidates and officeholders in Texas (three years with the iconic Jim Hightower.) Over time I became disenchanted by the dog-eat-dog world of electoral politics and found myself becoming cynical and frustrated. My spirit was weary. My Unitarian Universalist church was a balm for my spirit, and I began to consider ministry as a form of social activism. 

Throughout my ministry, I have continued my activism, mostly related to anti-racism and environmental justice. The Black Lives Matter movement has transformed my understanding from racism as an issue, into recognizing that our cultural standard and mythologies of white supremacy has resulted in the multiplicity of injustices that we confront today. My learning is hardly complete, and I am challenged each day to live into a different way of being that acknowledges my privilege and to use my power for the greater good of all people. 

In recent years I have witnessed the ways in which injustice acts out on the world stage. I had the privilege of meeting grassroots activists in India who help the powerless claim their power. And in October, 2019 I led a delegation of UUs to Israel and Palestine to learn more about the entrenched conflicts that exist there. These experiences have been powerful and transformative for me and challenge me to stay open and not turn away.