Letter to Interfaith Leaders in Support of Jena Six
September 14, 2007
To:
Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith Northwest Cluster
From:
Rev. William Sinkford, President, Unitarian Universalist Association
First of all, thank you so much for your work for justice in
the trial of the six young men in Jena, Louisiana. It is good to know that a strong and
vibrant interfaith coalition is engaged in this work.
Second, thanks for inviting the
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to partner with you in your work. We have been delighted to do so. I have written a letter to Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco asking her to commute the sentence of Mychal Bell, or to pardon him. UUA national staff have also sent out
action alerts about this matter to our anti-racism activists and congregations, to interfaith coalitions with which we are in partnership, and engaged our
periodicals staff in engaging our people with this story.
I wish that I could be with you on September 20 in Jena; however a longstanding complex meeting involving many people from all over the country hangs in the balance. In my absence, I am sending a senior staff member, the Rev. Meg Riley, director of our Advocacy and Witness programs. Meg has worked to support many communities of color in the Gulf Coast area over the past two years, working for justice in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Finally, thank you for recognizing the UUA's long struggle towards racial justice. We know full well that racism in the criminal justice system does not exist only in this case, or in Louisiana. We will continue to work with partners such as yourselves for the decades ahead, believing in our souls those words that Dr. King lifted up as a talisman—that the moral arc of the universe is long, but it does indeed bend towards justice.
My prayers, and the prayers of Unitarian Universalists all over the nation, join with you in your struggle now.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
