Committee Meeting Cancelled
The Social Justice Action committee meeting scheduled for Sunday, May 25 is cancelled. The meeting will be rescheduled as a Zoom meeting in early June, date TBD. Thank you.

Justice Actions Events Calendar

The following events are not official UUFSD events, but have been offered up by individual members of the Social Justice Action committee as events that may be of interest to community members.

WEEKLY

TUESDAY: Demonstrate for Democracy with the Black Mt Dem Club, Mira Mesa Blvd & Westview Parkway, 4:30-6:30pm

TUESDAY: Escondido Weekly Sign Waving to Raise Awareness – 11:30am-1pm

WEDNESDAY: Escondido Defend Democracy Rally – 4:30-6pm, Felicita Ave & Center City Pkwy, Escondido

THURSDAY: *Issa Hold A Town Hall Rally, 11-1 Every Thursday, 415 Parkway Plaza, El Cajon – see this KPBS report.

THURSDAY: *No One Voted For Musk/DOGE Has To Go Rally – 4-5:15pm, 1424 Encinitas Blvd @ El Camino Real. March 1 block to Encinitas Tesla, 1302 Enc Blvd.

FRIDAY: *Issa Hold A Town Hall Rally, 10:30-11:30am Every Friday, 221 W Crest St #110, Escondido

SATURDAY: Veterans For Peace Rally – 10-12, Ocean Beach entry, Sunset Cliffs Blvd @ W Point Loma Blvd, SD

SUNDAY: Stand Up Encinitas 12-2pm Cardiff Kook on Highway 101 at Chesterfield

Climate Justice

CLIMATE CONVERSATIONS

Two weeks ago we defined micro and nanoplastics and how they might harm our health; last week we offered options for reducing our exposure to them in our food and water.  Today we look at how to reduce our plastic use.

Buy less new stuff.  This is the BEST way to make a real difference because the environmental impact of products comes mostly from manufacturing and transporting them to you.  Here are ideas from New York Times sustainability editor, Katie Okamoto:

• Group online purchases. If you regularly order stuff online, group purchases from retailers and opt for slower delivery.
• Pack a reusable shopping bag. Keep shopping totes where you won’t forget them — so you’ll actually use them.
• Buy bulk, refillable, or solid goods. This includes soaps, detergents, and shampoos.  You can also opt for cardboard packaging which has a higher likelihood of being recycled than plastic.
• Pack a to-go mug, bottle, or tumbler.  Avoid drinking from plastic.  Use glass and stainless steel containers.
• Use plastic-free items you already own. For cling-wrap in the fridge: put a plate on top of a bowl — or just reuse a pickle jar to store food.

How do YOU reduce plastic?  Please share your ideas with climatecoord@uufsd.org and we’ll print them here.

June 2025: Gun Violence Prevention Month
Forum: Sunday, June 29; 11:30am-1pm; Founders Hall

June is the GVP month, the Social Justice Action Committee will hand out orange ribbons at the June 1st Sunday Service and we will close out GVP Month with a Gun Violence Prevention Forum on Sunday, June 29, from 11:30 to 1 pm in Founders Hall. Our guest speaker is our State Senator, Catherine Blakespear, who will speak to the efforts and legislation at the State level, and what we can do to help those efforts.  

WE INVITE EVERYONE TO WEAR ORANGE ON BOTH JUNE 1 AND JUNE 29.

Our UUFSD Gun Violence Prevention Group is a coalition member of the San Diego 4 Gun Violence Prevention. SD4GVP is holding a Coalition Member Gathering at Flood Church, 4772 Alvarado Canyon Road, 92120, on Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 am. A light brunch will be served. If you can, please join them, wear orange and your orange ribbon!

No Kings Demonstrations
June 14; 10am-12pm

Let’s show our support for democracy by participating as a group in the June 14 “No Kings” demonstration in San Diego. Planned for Flag Day, which is also the day an obscene and wasteful military parade is planned for Washington DC, multiple organizations have called for peaceful counter-demonstrations nationwide with the message “No Kings.” In our area, there are gatherings planned in downtown San Diego, as well as Oceanside, Del Mar, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, and Mira Mesa (see https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/) for details. Some UUFSD members have already indicated their plans to go to the downtown San Diego venue, and plan to wear our yellow shirts and bring our Side With Love banner. There is free parking at the La Jolla Village trolley station and the trolley is inexpensive and easy.

If you are interested in joining other UUs at one of these venues, please sign up here. There is nobody formally organizing this effort, but you can check the list and make arrangements for carpooling or taking the trolley or Coaster together.

Palestine-Israel Justice Group Petition Drive

The Palestine-Israel Justice Group is circulating two petitions. One is asking our US Members of Congress to co-sponsor House Joint Resolutions #68,69,70 and 71. The resolution proposes to disapprove the proposed foreign military sale to Israel of certain defense weapons and services.  

The second is asking our US State Senators to co-sponsor Senate Resolution 224. This is a resolution a bill introduced by Senator Welch, calling for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza.

There is an information sheet at the Palestine-Israel Justice Group table with an explanation of all these resolutions. Please pass by the PIJG table to sign the petitions.

5/25/25

Federal Trade Commission

Americans are getting squeezed at the grocery store, the gas pump, the pharmacy, and beyond. Corporations are blaming inflation and tariffs as they jack up prices, but the truth is clear: this is price gouging, and it’s time for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to crack down.  A Kroger executive admitted the company raised prices on basics like eggs and milk beyond inflation through the COVID-19 pandemic, and they weren’t alone. Big Pharma, oil giants, and telecom companies all played the same game, squeezing more out of working people while padding their profits.

Join us in demanding the Federal Trade Commission take action to stop corporations from using tariffs as an excuse to price gouge our families.

Public Health Policies

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised transparency. Instead, he’s torching it.  Under his leadership, the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA have gutted public access to science. Thousands of pages of critical health guidance—on HIV, contraception, and gender-affirming care—were wiped from the web. Then, the agencies dismantled media and public records teams, cutting off communication with reporters and the public.

We have to demand accountability now. Tell RFK Jr. to stop silencing science and hiding public health policy.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is building a massive data center near Black neighborhoods in Memphis—and it’s putting lives at risk. This facility runs on 35 methane gas turbines that are releasing toxic pollutants into the air. The turbines are operating without proper permits.

We must take a stand. Add your name to the petition demanding Elon Musk stop the expansion of this dangerous data center.

Tax Code

Congress is gearing up to extend and expand Trump’s 2017 tax scam, handing out $5.5 trillion or more to billionaires and the biggest corporations on Earth.  We need a tax code that works for us, not the ultra-wealthy. That means letting the Trump tax cuts for billionaires expire, closing loopholes that let billionaires dodge taxes, and investing in programs that actually help working families, like the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Demand Congress reject this $5.5 trillion scam and protect the programs that millions of Americans rely on to survive.

Clean Energy Jobs

Republican leaders in Congress are once again trying to gut the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) clean energy investments as a part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” If they succeed, much of the progress we have made in transitioning to clean energy could be wiped out.

Please call Representative Mike Levin now at at 202-972-6477 and ask him to protect clean energy jobs.

Conservation Efforts

Republicans in Congress are pushing legislation that would force the federal government to hand over vast tracts of undeveloped public land in Nevada and Utah for sprawling suburban housing developments. This reckless land grab would gut long-standing conservation protections and sacrifice our natural heritage for real estate industry profits.

Sign the petition to tell Congress: Do not sell off our public lands. Protect the climate, protect biodiversity, and reject this dangerous Republican-led giveaway to developers.

Air Force One

Donald Trump wants a luxury jet gifted by the authoritarian regime of Qatar to become Air Force One. This is corruption in plain sight.

The $400 million jet, once owned by the Qatari royal family, is dripping in gold trim and velvet seats. Experts call it a national security nightmare. It wasn’t built to meet the military, communications, or safety standards required of Air Force One, and retrofitting it could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions.

Sign the petition to denounce Trump’s corrupt Air Force One bribe.

Medicaid & SNAP

When Congress cuts programs for vulnerable communities, those cuts disproportionately harm Native peoples. Thirty percent of Native peoples are on Medicaid due to generational unemployment and a lack of investment in Native communities. We also face food insecurity at three times the rate of white U.S. residents with roughly 25% of Native peoples relying on federal nutrition assistance including SNAP food assistance and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). Now, the right-wing is seeking to cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and SNAP, for what? To pay for even more tax cuts for the rich and corporations. In fact, the 400 richest Americans would get a combined $800 million tax break in just the first year, while everyday people would get just $40.

Click here to send a message to Congress to reject the Billionaire Budget that cuts Medicaid and SNAP to pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the rich and corporations.

Climate Justice

Fossil Fuels

As extreme weather intensified by climate change devastates communities around the world, it’s urgent that we stop burning fossil fuels and transition to a clean energy system. Yet Big Banks continue to finance new fossil fuel operations, worsening the climate crisis and environmental injustices.

Write to Citi and demand they stop financing fossil fuel expansion, uphold human rights, and invest in the clean energy transition that the world needs.

5/18/25

Science Attack #1

Donald Trump just dismissed ALL of the scientists who are working on the National Climate Assessment (NCA), the premier report guiding U.S. climate policy. This dismissal is a direct assault on science, public transparency, and the American people’s right to understand the threats posed by the climate crisis.

Sign the petition to denounce Trump’s interference in science and call on Congress to continue the work on this Congressionally-mandated report.

5/11/25

EPA Attack #2

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Lee Zeldin, wants to abandon the entire purpose of the agency.

ADD YOUR NAME: It is unconscionable to put corporate profits above the fate of the American people’s health and safety. Join us in demanding a reversal of Zeldin’s actions.

5/11/25

Energy Justice

Clean Energy Under Attack

Clean energy is under attack. This month, Trump fired the entire staff responsible for running the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).LIHEAP helps low-income families afford heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Now, that support will either disappear or become less accessible for millions.

Summer is coming, and climate change has the potential to make this year’s heat waves more extreme than ever. Tell Congress to stop Trump from gutting LIHEAP and restore its staffing now.

5/11/25

More Action Items

Medicaid Cuts

Healthcare is a human right. When Congress comes for Medicaid, they’re coming for the most vulnerable people in our country, veterans, seniors, kids, and working folks just trying to get by.

Tell Congress: NO Medicaid cuts. NO to kicking people off care. YES to the will of the people. Now!

5/18/25

Tax Cuts

Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are pushing to lock in permanent tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. These tax cuts are nothing less than a massive giveaway to millionaires and billionaires who already control a staggering share of our nation’s wealth.

Trump is sending mixed messages to Republican leadership, but his public messaging gives Congressional Republicans the cover they need to do the right thing. Tell Congress: No more handouts for billionaires. Tax the rich now.

5/18/25

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program #2

Congress is considering cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  Write to your lawmakers now!

Sign Feeding America’s petition and tell lawmakers to protect SNAP now.

5/18/25

Native Americans

According to the National Indian Health Board: “Tribal Nations face an ongoing health crisis that is a direct result of the United States’ chronic underfunding of Indian health care, which contributes to vast health disparities between Native Americans and other U.S. population groups.”

Click here to send a message to your members of Congress demanding they reject cuts to programs and services that impact Native communities, just to pay for more tax cuts for billionaires and corporations.

5/18/25

Science Attack #2

Donald Trump’s assault on women’s health, LGBTQ+ care, and racial equity isn’t just rhetoric, it’s already rewriting the future of medical science. Under his executive orders, federal agencies like the NIH and NSF are banning terms like “trans,” “diversity,” and even “women” from grant proposals. The result? Cancer research halted. HIV studies slashed. Investigations into maternal mortality and racial health disparities thrown into bureaucratic limbo.

Help stop this assault on science. Once we reach 50,000 petition signatures, our partners at UltraViolet will deliver them directly to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and NSF Interim Director Brian Stone at a public press conference.

5/18/25

Education Attack

Donald Trump is waging an all-out war on America’s universities — and we must rise up to stop him. In a brazen assault on free thought, Trump is targeting colleges he labels “un-American,” threatening to rip away funding, strip nonprofit status, and muzzle academic voices.

Tell Congress: Defend academic freedom from Trump’s attacks. Click here to add your name to the petition.

5/18/25

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program #1

Right now, House Republicans are pushing a cruel new budget plan that would gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), shifting billions in costs to states and making it harder for families to access life-saving support. All of this comes just months after Republicans passed massive tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations — blowing a hole in the budget, then using that deficit to justify taking food away from hungry children.

Sign the petition to demand your representatives vote NO on Republican-led SNAP cuts. Kids’ lives are on the line.

5/11/25

Affordable Care Act

The Supreme Court is on the verge of handing Donald Trump the power to gut one of the most essential parts of the Affordable Care Act. If they succeed, millions could lose access to no-cost birth control, cancer screenings, HIV prevention, and more.

Sign the petition demanding Congress protect preventive care before Trump is handed the power to take it away.

5/11/25

Teacher Attack

One public school teacher in Idaho, Sarah Inama, was recently threatened with discipline over a poster simply stating, “Everyone is Welcome Here.” And she’s not alone. This is not freedom—it’s a dangerous abuse of power designed to chill speech and erase history.  Trump’s agenda is clear: ban books, bury history, and bully teachers into silence. But we won’t let him rewrite the truth.

Tell Congress: Stop Trump’s chilling attacks on teachers. Click here to add your name to the petition.

5/11/25

Protect America’s Workforce Act

Not only is Trump’s executive order gutting federal workers’ collective bargaining rights an attack on unions: it’s an assault on the very people who keep our country functioning.

Send a direct message to your Representative and demand that House Speaker Mike Johnson immediately bring the Protect America’s Workforce Act to the floor.

5/11/25

NPR & PBS

Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to officially defund NPR and PBS.

<< So please, team, we’re asking: Will YOU be one of the 25,000 supporters we need to sign on RIGHT NOW to oppose Donald Trump’s Executive Order to DEFUND NPR and PBS? Don’t delay >>

5/11/25

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Elon Musk wants to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Don’t believe us? Let’s be clear about what’s happening: pro-oligarchy lawmakers, backed by Musk and Wall Street billionaires, are moving to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – the only agency tasked with protecting everyday people from financial abuse.

Not on our watch. Will you take a moment to defend the CFPB from Elon Musk and his profit-seeking cronies?

5/11/25

Georgie Lawmakers

A young woman in Georgia recently experienced a medical crisis that no one should ever have to endure alone.  After suffering a miscarriage nearly halfway through her pregnancy, she was rushed to the hospital due to severe blood loss. Instead of receiving compassion, she was met with handcuffs.

Let that sink in: She lost her pregnancy—and now she’s being prosecuted.

But here’s the truth: This was a natural miscarriage. There was no evidence of wrongdoing—only a desperate need for medical help.

Click here to join us in demanding Georgia lawmakers repeal the law that allows miscarrying patients to be criminalized.

5/4/25

No Rogue Rulings Act

The House just passed the No Rogue Rulings Act — a dangerous, calculated attempt to cripple judicial oversight nationwide. This bill would strip judges of the ability to issue nationwide injunctions. If the courts can no longer act as a nationwide safeguard, we lose the very foundation of our constitutional rights.

Click here to send a message to your Senators demanding they reject the No Rogue Rulings Act.

5/4/25