Category: Social Justice

News from the Social Justice Committee or related to social justice and posted by another group

MOV Exhibit: There is Truth Here: Creativity and Resilience in Children’s Art from Indian Residential and Day Schools.

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Check out the Museum of Vancouver exhibit: There is Truth Here: Creativity and Resilience in Children’s Art from Indian Residential and Day Schools. Four UCV’ers accepted an invitation from Canadian Memorial to join a dozen others at the exhibit Nov 26 for an explanatory talk by the curator, Dr Andrea Walsh. All found it a powerful, deeply moving experience.

More information about the exhibit:

April 5, 2019 – January, 2020
There is Truth Here: Creativity and Resilience in Children’s Art from Indian Residential and Day Schools.
There is Truth Here focuses on rare surviving artworks created by children who attended the Inkameep Day School (Okanagan), St Michael’s Indian Residential School (Alert Bay); the Alberni Indian Residential School (Vancouver Island) and Mackay Indian Residential School (Manitoba). The focus of the exhibition is not on the schools themselves, but upon witnessing the experiences of the survivors as conveyed through their childhood artworks – for some the only surviving material from their childhoods.

Are you worried about overdose deaths? Forum in January will address what more can be done about harm reduction.

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According to the latest figures for 2019, there were 2.6 drug toxicity deaths every day in BC. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/death/coroners-service/statistical-reports

This horrifying number is despite there being Overdose Prevention Sites, mobile needle exchange programs, the Insite program for treatment of drug users, and other services. If you want to know more about what can be done, come to the Social Justice forum on January 12, to hear Micheal Vonn, CEO of Portland Housing Society (PHS) https://www.phs.ca/.

She will be discussing the Society’s harm reduction programs and further actions she would like to be taken to reduce the number of deaths and provide treatment and other services to drug addicts. Micheal has recently been appointed CEO of PHS and was previously the Policy Director for BC Civil Liberties Society. Prior to that she worked on developing BC’s HIV/AIDS program.

 

Support Sole Food Street Farms

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The Outreach Opportunities Fund recipient for October to January will be Sole Food. During the past seven years, Sole Food Street Farms―now North America’s largest urban farm project―has transformed acres of vacant and contaminated urban land in Vancouver into street farms that grow artisan-quality fruits and vegetables.  It has empowered dozens of individuals with limited resources and addiction and chronic mental health problems by providing jobs, training, and community support.

Visit their website here https://solefoodfarms.com/

A silent auction: Art for Refugees

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Art for Refugees is a silent auction of artwork by Karen Brumelle with all proceeds to the refugee committee. The art is on display in the Fireside room from December 1 to 22.

Come view the artwork and write your first bids when the exhibit opens on December 1.

You can review bids and bid or rebid on any day. Bidding closes at 12:15 pm on December 22.

Support the wonderful work of the refugee committee – get some art for yourself or as a gift.

Preview: Art for Refugees (@UnitarianUCV) – click on that link to see tweets with images of art for sale in the silent auction. (You do not need a Twitter account for this.)

 

notes and links

featured image from silent auction

artist’s website: brumelleart.com

in these notes, DuckDuckGo bang commands (!?) link to search results for words they follow when the commands are in parentheses, for words they precede when they are not:

!ucv refugee committee / a search on the UCV website

!tw “Art for Refugees” (@UnitarianUCV) / a search on Twitter

the Merriam-Webster definition of a silent auction (!mw) notwithstanding, the written bids in Art for Refugees are not sealed but displayed with the art

All Candidates Meeting – Oct 5, 2019 – UCV

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Vancouver Unitarians hosted a successful and well-attended All Candidates Meeting on Sat Oct 5thin preparation for the 2019 Federal Election. Five of six candidates from the Vancouver-Granville riding (in which UCV is located) attended, representing the GPC, LPC, NDP and PPC as well as Independent JWR (current MP); the CPC candidate declined to attend.

The ACM was held in the Sanctuary from 7:00-9:00 pm, moderated with clear and articulate focus by Diane Brown. Cecilia Point provided a powerful Musqueam Welcome followed by a UCV Welcome from our Minister Reverend Stephen Epperson. Candidates and audience (approximately 250) respected the rules of procedure and decorum, including candidates speaking one at a time and within prescribed time frames – and no heckling from audience! There was very positive response to this format!

Candidates responded to prepared questions on the Climate Crisis, Indigenous Peoples, Refugees, and the Trans Mountain Expansion. This was followed by questions from the audience covering a variety of topics including: electoral reform; safe drugs and the overdose epidemic; fossil fuel subsidies; homelessness and the economy; the environment and the economy; Indigenous rights; taxing billionaires; and voting by conscience versus the party line.

Candidates met with the public in the Hewett Hall alcove for a half hour before and after the ACM. Candidates set up information tables, responded to questions and engaged in lively discussion! Candidate contact information was available to the public for any questions not answered during the evening.

Environment and Social Justice team members organized the ACM, with leadership and impeccable attention to detail provided by Karl Perrin. Thanks to the many who stepped forward with their particular expertise and timely dedication!

Here is a link to the Oct 5th All Candidates Meeting at UCV – with thanks to Marie Witt and videographer August.

https://youtu.be/IenG7r2Ou5s

 

Global Climate Strike in Vancouver

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Contact the Enviro Team | Join Our Email Group

Photo: Vancouver Unitarians join the Global Climate Strike in downtown Vancouver on September 27th 2019

Above: Vancouver Unitarians join thousands at the Global Climate Strike in downtown Vancouver on September 27th 2019

An estimated 100,000 people, including Unitarians from all four Metro Vancouver congregations, rallied at Vancouver City Hall on September 27th for the Global Climate Strike

Unitarians from all four Metro Vancouver congregations – including three Unitarian ministers – gathered under the Vancouver Unitarians banner at the start of the Global Climate Strike in Vancouver on September 27th.

The event was organized by students and we proudly joined with tens of thousands of them to fill the length of Cambie Street on our way through downtown Vancouver to the CBC building at West Georgia and Hamilton streets.

photo: Vancouver Unitarian youth at the 2019 global climate strike in downtown Vancouver

Above: Kiersten M. with UCV youth at the historic September 2019 global climate strike in downtown Vancouver

It was exhilarating – and reassuring – to be a part of this massive mobilization of Canadians. Police estimated that 100,000 people participated – perhaps the largest march ever in Vancouver.

Would you like to join us for future rallies, marches and activities? Learn more about Environment Team or contact the Outreach Coordinator by Email

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Many tens of thousands gathered for the Global Climate Strike at Vancouver City Hall September 27, 2019

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Refugee committee update

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An update from our Refugee Committee – September 23, 2019
  • Two refugees received their Canadian citizenship recently. This was very moving as they were Palestinians and stateless their whole life.
  • One Syrian family of three (mom, dad and three-year-old daughter) are finishing their sponsorship year. The father is working. They are continuing their English lessons.
  • We have sent applications for an Iraqi family of four
  • And for one young Iranian LGBT woman refugee in Turkey and one Iranian LGBT young man.
  • We are waiting for the arrival of Jean, a Unitarian Burundian refugee in Rwanda but we do not know when.
  • We also welcomed four single young Eritrean refugees in Israel this year. They are all working in the day time and learning English in the evening‎.
  • The four young Eritrean‎ men refugees in Israel who arrived at the beginning of last year have completed their sponsorship year at the beginning of 2019. They are all working full time.
  • We are preparing an application for a single mom and her young daughter from Iran refugees in Turkey who have family in Vancouver.
If we get extra spaces we will be preparing applications for a family of five and a family of four‎ as long as we can raise the necessary funds.
– from Huguette.
See also the group that Paul Prescod is involved with supporting.
Stop by the Refugee Committee‘s fundraising table any Sunday or contact the committee to support, donate or ask questions.

Genders – a new discussion group

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Our Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) is pleased to announce a new group forming.

Gender is an important aspect of our lives, whether we know it or not.  We often live in some relationship to gender roles that are expected of men or women; sometimes we spend our lives breaking free of the conditioning that supports these roles and expectations.

Our sense of what it means to be a man, woman or other gender is usually shaped by key people in our lives as we grow up: parents, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, and role models in popular culture.

The gender discussion group will give each of us a place to share the influences on our gender identity and expression. We will explore whether our models were sufficient for us: both how they were and how they were not.

Participants will be invited to tell stories about their journeys involving gender identity and expression – how these were shaped and how they are continuing to evolve. What have been some of the challenges and some of the victories?

The GSA is also looking at possible VIFF films to attend and a play Trans Scripts at the Firehall Arts Centre in the new year.

As we have for the past year, we’ll also host a potluck dinner before the January and June Out in Harmony Concerts.

 

Outreach Opportunity Fund Nominations

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Every year, the OOF Committee selects three recipients to be given 25% of the funds from the Sunday collection. The Committee would welcome nominations from individuals or a group in the congregation for the next recipient of OOF funding. Nominated organizations must comply with the selection criteria: priority is given to local organizations undertaking social justice, refugee support and settlement and environment sustainability, with a focus on vulnerable or marginalized communities. For more information go the UCV website, or check the notice board in Hewett Hall for nomination forms.

Please click below to fill in form.

OOF Nomination form

You can submit the form to Melody Mason or leave it in the OOF mail box in the UCV office.

Contact Melody Mason with any queries.

Prepare for Pride – Info Table and Photo Booth

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Prepare for Pride

Drop-in to the Genders and Sexualities Alliance table to prepare for Pride. In the courtyard before and after the service.

You can

  • paint a rainbow on a rock
  • take a selfie in front of our Welcoming congregation banner
  • pick up the GSA brochure and rainbow book mark
  • add your preferred pronouns to your name tag
  • get a rainbow or trans button or bracelet – by donation
  • check out new Welcoming Congregation mugs
  • ask anything at all

UCVs Genders and Sexualities Alliance was formed in the summer of 2018.

In the past year, we’ve

  • had two potlucks at UCV prior to attending the Out in Harmony choir concert (January and June)
  • hosted a forum with representatives from Qmunity
  • two other potluck/discussion/planning sessions
  • planned a worship service with Lorimer Shenher
  • created GSA brochure and worked with Communications team on principles bookmark
  • hosted a film screening of She’s a Boy I Knew
  • developed our group to include liaisons from other Metro Vancouver Unitarian congregations.