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We are in the homestretch of the Massachusetts legislative session- these last months till July 31st are when many actual decisions get made. Join us this hour to stay grounded in the kind of social action that nourishes us, brainstorm how we want to show up for the last 5 months of MA climate work, while keeping it spiritually sustainable. 

The UU Mass Action Climate Justice Team organizes with Mass Power Forward (a statewide grassroots climate coalition) to win collective political victories for climate and environmental justice while also connecting and building community. 

RSVP here!

UU Mass Action has been personally invited to recruit participants to join two upcoming canvassing events to support passing the Prison Moratorium bill. We hope you will consider joining for one of the opportunities ! If you can't make these, you take action on your own using this guide or during our Action Hour this week!

Join an in-person canvass in support of our policy priorities! This canvass will be in South End/Bay Village in Boston to speak with Rep Michelwitz's constituents. Rep Michelwitz is House Chair of Ways and Means, and this canvass will focus on the moratorium bill, which is in his committee. Let's urge him to ensure the Prison Moratorium is passed by the House, and talk to our neighbors and build people power! Exact location and all needed details will be provided to you by your canvass captain before the event.

Register here!

Join us to learn about the efforts to pass a prison moratorium and stop new construction of s $360 million prison, and how to support decarceration efforts.

We will be joined by guest speaker Kira Matthews, from Families for Justice as Healing!

Action Hours are an opportunity to hear updates about all our campaigns and take action together, such as calling your legislators, signing petitions, and more to support our frontline and coalition partners. We will walk you through each action, and be available to support any questions you have.

RSVP here for the Zoom Registration Link! 

UU Mass Action invites you to join us as we show up for our partners at the North American Indian Center of Boston. Join us for an incredible night of appreciation and urgent fundraising.

For 57 years NAICOB has empowered the New England Native American community through direct social and cultural services. Our community has shared the collective fight for social and economic, environmental, and racial justice. Amidst the federal divestment from urban Indigenous communities, the Center now faces a gap in funding needed to maintain already underfunded, critically needed services for urban Indians throughout the Commonwealth. 

The FreeHer Campaign has held a rally at the MA State House for Valentine's Day every year since 2022 to send love to women inside MCI-Framingham and call for decarceration and an end to new prison construction. This year we will hold a vigil for the grief and rage families are feeling while being torn apart by incarceration and deportation. As always, we will uplift the voices of women inside MCI-Framingham. Join us any time from 4:30 to 6:00 to demand the releasing women, stopping the $360m women's prison project, getting ICE out of Massachusetts, and investing in what our communities need to thrive. We will provide candles and welcome you to bring signs. We will be outside so please dress for the weather.

Register here!

Optional Pre Gathering Grounding 11:30-12pm

In January, a Minneapolis interfaith group put out “A call to Minneapolis: Faith Leaders Answering History in a Time of Peril and Possibility.” Hundreds of clergy from across the country rose to the occasion, including UU clergy from MA.  

Join UU Mass Action to hear first hand report back from UU leaders who participated in this historic moment, their learnings, takeaways, and how we can show up in solidarity both for those resisting in MN, and here in MA. 

Immigrant Justice Tea and Skill-Share from 11:30-12pm

Just before our regular meeting, we will gather for our extra 30 minutes. This month, our focus will be on 30 minutes for grounding and spiritual nourishment in this moment. You can RSVP for both times on the regular RSVP form. 

Register here!

UU Advocacy Day is a powerful opportunity to bring others in your congregation and community into our critical organizing work. Join us for this conversation to support you in recruiting others to make sure you are not alone in your district! We ask for at least three constituents in a district to organize a meeting. Getting a early start on recruitment can ensure you have a powerful meeting. 

RSVP here!

Email here with any questions 

South Bay House of Correction and Nashua Street Jail are sites of long-standing violence, neglect, and state harm in Suffolk County. For decades, these facilities have functioned as pipelines that criminalize poverty, target unhoused people, and cage community members who should never be incarcerated.

From routine sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, to medical neglect, to suspicionless strip searches, to the expansion of pre-arraignment detention and so-called community response courts, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department has repeatedly expanded its reach and power. Between 2021 and 2023, seven people died in Sheriff’s Department custody. In December 2025, Shacoby “Coby” Kenny became the eighth.

Shacoby was held on $2,500 cash bail on unit 3-4 at South Bay when his life was taken. Witnesses report that he was restrained, beaten, and choked by correctional officers. What happened to Shacoby is not an isolated incident. It is part of a devastating and ongoing pattern of violence, retaliation, and impunity inside South Bay. Men currently incarcerated continue to report harassment, targeting, and retaliation, including many who are not bailable and cannot secure release.

All Eyes on South Bay  is a call to action for community members to come together and demand change . 

RSVP here!

Join UU Mass Action, UU Ministers, and UU activists to explore UU history of civil disobedience, why UUs have felt called to action in this political moment, and how you can get involved. 

Our speakers will include:

• Rev Fred Small, Minister for Climate Justice, Arlington Street Church

• Rev Annie Gonzalez, UU Immigration Activist, Minster at First Parish in Bedford

• Eric Segal, UU Immigration Activist

• Betsy Leondar-Wright, Immigration Activist

RSVP here!

Is your UU congregation active in the work for our democracy? Or, do you wish it were more? This gathering we will connect, feel inspired, and hear from some UUs taking on Democracy work. From this initial gathering, UU Mass Action’s Democracy work will continue to evolve. If you would like to be on the panel of sharing out, please contact Claire Karl.

RSVP here!

In January, we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, and the non-violent mass movement he helped lead. Our featured speaker, Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs will reflect on the connections between empire, crusader values, and our struggles for liberation.

Clyde Grubbs is a Unitarian Universalist minister who has served congregations in California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas, as well as Quebec. Clyde honors his Native American heritage (Texas Cherokee), which informs his spiritual understanding and practice, as well as his anti-racist and anti-oppressive commitment.  He has worked for peace, justice and equality since he was in the Unitarian Universalist youth movement, Liberal Religious Youth.

RSVP here!

*You can also take these actions on your own if you can't make the action hour - see links below*

As many are reeling from the murder in Minneapolis last week, we invite you to come together with others to take actions this week. This virtual Action Hour will including taking action to:

• Support cutting and preventing contracts with ICE in MA

• Demand justice for Shacoby Kenny, who died in jail in MA in December.

• Reject increase funding for ICE

• and/or other relevant actions as they emerge this week 

We know that violence from ICE, violence from correctional officers, from police, and more, are connected. We hope you will join us to take action together.

We will walk you through each action, and be available to support any questions you have.

You can also take all these actions on your own time using the links above. 

RSVP here!

Affordability is the word of the hour! Join us this hour to ground into our UU values of generosity and interdependence and also learn from our guest speaker Cathy Kristofferson about the truth around gas and energy prices.

Cathy Kristofferson is a co-founder of the Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast (PLANN), an organization whose mission is to prevent the overbuild of fossil fuel infrastructure and to champion our transition to clean energy solutions. Cathy is PLANN’s representative on the Mass Power Forward Planning Team and is also a Conservation Commissioner for the Town of Ashby.

RSVP here!

Flyer here

 Join UU Mass Action and guest speaker Leah Hastings to learn about the intersections of our criminal justice system and our immigration detention and deportation system - often known as “Crimmigration.” We will learn about how local law enforcement, police, courts, and ICE cooperate; why it’s so important to understand how these systems are intertwined; and how these intersections show up in our movements. We will unpack how and why it’s important to not fall into the good/bad immigrant narrative that we often see. Finally, we will identify opportunities to dirupt these collaborations and how this analysis can inform and strengthen our organizing.  Leah Hastings is the Staff Attorney for the Immigrant Detention Conditions Project at Prisoner’s Legal Services.

Immigrant Justice Tea and Skill-Share from 11:30-12pm

Just before our regular meeting, we will continue our extra 30 minutes of informal sharing and problem-solving. You can RSVP for both times on the regular RSVP form. 

RSVP here!

Join UU Mass Action and Mass Power Forward for our December UU Action Hour with a focus on climate justice. We will learn about the efforts this past month to roll back MA climate legislation and about how we have shown up to fight back, as well as take actions for climate justice together. 

 The UU Mass Action Climate Justice Team organizes with Mass Power Forward (a statewide grassroots climate coalition) to win collective political victories for climate and environmental justice while also connecting and building community.

Gatherings include song, sharing, learning, and calls to action on our campaigns.

More info and RSVP link coming soon!

Join us for a protest demanding that Sheriff McDonald end the ICE agreement. The location is noted as being the home to the only ICE detention center in Massachusetts.

RSVP here!

For our UU November Action Hour, join us to learn about the Dignity Not Deportations bill, and take action in lead up to the hearing on Nov 25. We will have a powerful speak line up!

This Action Hour and Teach in is a collaboration between UU Mass Action, the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network,  LUCE, Essex County Community Organization (ECCO), and Asian Pacific Islanders CAN. 

RSVP here!

This November we notice how solutions for climate justice can be traced back to Indigenous justice- and we give thanks. Join us to share, feel, learn and act.

The UU Mass Action Climate Justice Team organizes with Mass Power Forward (a statewide grassroots climate coalition) to win collective political victories for climate and environmental justice while also connecting and building community. 

RSVP here!

Facebook Event here

This month we look at the intersection of Indigeneity and gender liberation. All too often where manifest destiny brought colonizers, it also enforced the gender binary where it had not previously existed. As two-spirit, trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people are experiencing increased repression under the Trump regime, we turn our attention to how Native cultures continue to hold out a vision for our collective liberation. Join us as we have a “fireside chat” with local Native gender non-conforming community members and organizers.

Submit Written Testimony!

In Person Hearing: Thu Nov 13, 2025 1pm – 5pm at the State House 

Our clean energy goals, our energy bills, and our environmental justice communities are under attack. This bill prevents approval of new and expanded large gas pipelines and power plants within 5 miles of environmental justice communities. These projects would increase customer bills, pollute communities, and work against the State’s clean energy transition. The bill also supports a just transition for former and current energy workers who could be displaced by not building these projects in the future. Fact sheet. 

The Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee (TUE) will hear testimony related to this bill on November 13th at 1pm.  We need as many people as possible to show up for the hearing and submit written testimony. 

Register here!

Advocacy Day at the State House

We’ll bring our voices to Beacon Hill to urge legislators to pass the Dignity Not Deportations Bill. The day will include a briefing, visits with legislators, and a rally to call for an end to harmful collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE. Register here, use " RACMAfree" at checkout (after you select a level of giving) for free registration. This is hosted by the RAC MA, JALSA, UU Mass Action, and Merrimack Valley Project. 

Can't make it?

• Use this template to write written testimony we will submit to the committee when the hearing is scheduled. Here is the testimony template you can use to write your testimony

• Join us for our Dignity Not Deportations Teach in and Action hour (more below!)

RSVP here!

Monday Nov. 10th, 12-1:00 pm

How do you build and grow your immigration justice efforts in your congregation? Join our November UU Immigration Justice Team gathering to learn concrete organizing skills for how to grow your congregation immigration and social justice teams. In this session, Rabbi Allen Lipson from Essex County Community Organization (ECCO) will lead a training to support you in strategizing about how to build leaders, build power, and deepen your impact so your immigration and social justice work is as strong as it can be. 

Optional Pre-Meeting Gathering 11:30-12 for Tea and Skill Sharing!

Just before our regular meeting, we will continue our extra 30 minutes of  sharing and problem-solving. This is an optional, informal time for more open conversations with each other to support you in building your immigration teams. We also  discuss more strategic  questions about immigration justice organizing in your congregations. Topics we’ve covered in the past include legal resources, what skills you need to accompany someone to court, getting started, and more! You can RSVP for both times on the regular RSVP form.

RSVP here!

At some point this fall, state legislators will hold a public hearing on Dignity not Deportations. Dignity not Deportations will end agreements through which MA local and state law enforcement volunteer resources to ICE, slowing the impact of mass deportations without due process. At this Dignity not Deportations Testimony Workshop, we will hear stories from directly impacted people, review best practices for preparing written and oral testimony in advance of the hearing, and set aside time for you to workshop your own testimony.

RSVP here!

Join us for a fun Halloween-themed rally on October 28, 11:30am - 2pm, organized by Mass Power Forward to bring climate groups together and get attention to our shared legislative priorities. We will meet on the State House steps for a skit featuring our legislators warding off vampire utilities and billionaires with garlic bulbs representing our priority bills. Then we'll go inside to deliver "trick or treat" gifts that will aid our legislators in a heroic fight for climate policies that defeat the vampires!

Facebook event

Register here! 

We're in sight of the end for this round of signature collecting to put rent control on the ballot in MA! Join us on Tuesday, October 28 from 6:00 - 7:00PM for an online rally to boost energy as we keep working toward collecting 125,000 signatures. We'll hear updates from special guest speaker Carolyn Chou (Director of Homes for All MA), stories from the field, and even help you get ready if you want to start collecting now. As housing costs are driven by corporate real estate investors, and people are pushed out of their homes & neighborhoods, grassroots power is how we'll win this fight! Let's go!

If you are not able to join, we would still love your support. We are still under 50% of signatures needed with only 2 weeks left to reach out goal of 125k - that means we need all hands on deck! Here's how you can get involved: 

• **NEW** Sign up here to join a Greater Boston shift and election day! 

• Click here to watch the recording from our interfaith training- you can also share it with friends and others from your congregation. You must be trained before collecting!

• Sign up here to anchor a shift or get started on your own! You will get all the info you need to jump in. 

• Collecting outside a local grocery store is gold! Grab a friend and go for 1-2 hours to farmers markets, grocery stores, or anywhere people gather in your community. If everyone did this 1-2 times in the next two weeks, it would make a world of a difference.

• Email Tali with any other questions!

RSVP here!

Food! Singing! Celebrating each other and our accomplishments! 

Join us in person on Thursday, October 23 from 6:00-8:00 PM at the First Parish in Concord for our annual UU Mass Action community gathering to celebrate all our work together in the past year. We will share highlights from our year, and provide nourishment both through food and through song. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend an evening with other UUs who care about justice, learn about our campaign teams, Youth Corps, and our partners, and build community. We hope you can join!

Accessibility info:  For wheelchair accessible entrance, go down the driveway on the right of the building, enter the side door of the building. There is an elevator that is accessible on all floors, and there is accessible parking and an accesible bathroom. Masks are not required at this event, but if you are feeling sick, please stay home and we'll see you next time!

We encourage you to wear a yellow side with love shirt to the event, or a yellow UU Mass Action T-shirt! A percentage of the cost of the shirts will go directly towards our work. If you'd like to order one, you can do so here. Please note that the shirts take about two weeks to arrive after placing an order.

RSVP Here!

Join us for our Kick Off UU Immigration Justice Team meeting! We will share context from the landscape and threats we are facing, and share how UU Mass Action is working to take impactful action. We will have time in break out rooms to learn about opportunities to host immigrant families, support critical immigration justice legislation, support our partners at LUCE and BIJAN, engaging in signature gathering for rent control and how that connects to immigration justice, and more!