News from the Social Action Committee (SAC) & 8th Principle Task Force:  September, 2023

– SAC was invited to share an end-of-day meal with middle school and high school participants of the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) at Rural & Migrant Ministry’s 2023 Summer Day Program (SDP) in Riverhead on August 2nd.  The ten young people present, members of Voices of Long Island Youth (VOLIY), were from four different communities in Suffolk who had spent the day learning about social justice and creating picket / protest rally signs for the support of vineyard / farm workers.  They have invited us to participate with them in a Farmworker Celebration and Walk on Sunday, September 24, 2023, co-hosted by VOLIY, at Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, 12-2pm lunch, 3-4pm Celebration Walk touring the LI Farmworker Flower Cooperative’s greenhouse.  This is a fundraiser and they are asking people to attend for lunch, the walk OR BOTH! And if you cannot attend, you can still:

*  Sponsor a youth member or Farmworker to attend

*  Purchase an advertisement (the deadline for ads is September1, 2023)

*  Make a ‘’pay what you’re comfortable” donation

For more info / donate, visit the fundraiser website set up by their Program Leader, Lionel Charles, at:

https://ruralmigrantministry.memberhub.gives/2023/m/yepli

We also discussed, with the adults, how we can continue to ally with them and expand our supporting their upcoming fall project on environmental justice.  Lionel will be emailing info which will be shared with you.

– Our August First Sunday Share the Plate (STP) collection amounted to $225 which will be sent to Women Cross DMZ (WCDMZ), our August STP recipient, via Aiyoung Choi, Chair of their Board of Trustees.

On July 27, 1953, military commanders from the United States (representing the United Nations Command), the Korean People’s Army, and Chinese People’s Volunteer Army signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, a military ceasefire ending three years of fierce fighting and delineating the establishment of a “demilitarized zone” (DMZ) near the 38th parallel (latitude 38° N).  This is roughly the same “army boundary” chosen near the end of WWII (in July of 1945) to divide the country of Korea into two regions (the north in which the then U.S.S.R. accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces, and the south in which the Americans accepted the surrender of Japanese forces).  The geographic buffer zone between North and South was meant to be temporary and prevent incidents which might lead to a resumption of hostilities while a political solution could be worked out.  However, South Korea objected to the continued division of Korea, did not agree to the armistice, and did not sign the agreement.  AND the agreement specifically says it is not a peace treaty.  So while the fighting ended, technically the “police action” never did end and a “cold” war continues in many ways through policies of isolation, sanctions, the separation of millions of families, threats of military strikes and nuclear annihilation.

WCDMZ is an international group of Nobel Laureates, peace and human rights activists, women’s movement leaders and film artists formed in 2014 to promote peace and bring an end to the Korean War.  In 2015, thirty (30) women activists set out to bring global attention to the unresolved “Forgotten War” and “demand a seat at the table in bringing about peace.”  Their journey was documented in “Crossings,” by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Deanne Borshay Liem (2021, Mu Films).  Numerous viewing events have been scheduled this year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice.  Aiyoung told the congregation, when she spoke on August 6th, that she would provide a link to view the documentary film “Crossings” for anyone wishing to host a “watch party” in their home.  She has information on and links to several other films about the history and culture of Korea, the human costs of the war in Korea, and its impacts today, which she is eager to share.

SAC has scheduled a viewing of “Crossings” to be held at Holy Trinity on Sunday, October 22, 2023.  We are planning to have a light brunch after service immediately followed by the film.  Aiyoung will be present to facilitate and answer any questions.

– At the August Board meeting, SAC received approval that the September 3rd, First Sunday STP collection be earmarked for the Community Church of Plano, TX (which was firebombed on July 23, 2023).

At the August meeting, SAC requested / received approval to hold a 2nd special collection on Sunday, September 10^th, to benefit the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, VT (which was damaged after being surrounded by water during recent floods).

Cards and writing paper were available during coffee hour after Sunday service during August, so that anyone wishing to could write notes of solidarity to Plano and Montpelier.  That practice will continue through the middle of September at which time they will be gathered up and mailed to each of the two UU congregations.  If you have a special card(s) that you would like to include please bring/send it to one of the upcoming services or I can arrange for pickup.  If you wish to mail something yourself, contact me for the addresses.

– There has been no change to the already approved October STP collection which will be used to fulfill our yearly membership commitment to NYUUJ (1/10 of 1% of our annual fiscal year operating budget).

– SAC will be showing the last of the Prophetic Voices series Part 5: “Spiritual Audacity – the Abraham Joshua Heschel Story” on Sunday, September 10.  Born in Poland in 1907, Heschel narrowly escaped the Holocaust and arrived in New York in 1940.  Over the next 30 years, he emerged as one of the most influential voices in the world of religion.  Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the entire Civil Rights Movement, a leading critic of the Vietnam War, a champion for Soviet Jews and a pioneer in the work of interfaith dialogue.

Date & time: Sunday, September 10, 2023, 2:00-4:00 pm at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Fourteen people were in attendance at the showing of “Revolutions of the Heart – The Dorothy Day Story,” half of whom were not members of our congregation.  All had seen the Suffolk Times Calendar listing and four came from as far as Laurel and Aquebogue.  There were requests for a repeat of the series (perhaps in the winter) and the possible addition of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion.

– Join the March to End Fossil Fuels in NYC!  Join UU Ministry for Earth (UUMFE) on Sunday, September 17th. The march will start at 1pm.  We will gather at 56th Street and Broadway between 12 noon and 1pm.

– The next meeting of SAC / 8th Principle Task Force will be held:

Date & time – 2nd Wednesday of the month, September 13, 2023, from 4:00-5:00 pm

Place:   in person at the Southold Free Library in the 2nd floor meeting room OR via Zoom link, which will be emailed the day prior to the meeting

Agenda to include ALL OF THE ABOVE!  Come join us – bring your thoughts, ideas, concerns, energy!

Watch for email “Climate Week in New York City, September 17-23, 2023

Thoughts for the month from Martin Luther King Jr., August 23, 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech during the march on Washington:

– Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake.  Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

– Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

– We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

– We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

– We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

Patte McManus, Chair           (631)997-9405           [email protected]