Signs of Resistance, January 2017
By Lifespan Faith Engagement
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Welcome, Belonging, and Digital SafetyFrom Call and Response
As we are striving for sacred inclusivity, prophetic justice, and meaning-making we are also wrestling with digital security, data management, and protecting vulnerable populations.
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Whole Church Religious Education (RE)From Call and Response
Faith Development for All, With Love (and Community) at the Center
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I Got Stuck in the Youth Leadership-to-Seminary Pipeline
Ember Kelley
From Call and ResponseEmber Kelley writes, "I’m a survivor of the youth leadership-to-seminary pipeline. In elementary school, I made a statement that would end up shaping the course of my entire life. When asked about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I dared to name “Pastor” ...

In Boston, a woman costumed as the Statue of Liberty wears a cape with a woman power symbol on her back.
At peaceful protests on the day after the Presidential Inauguration, signs of resistance--literally--were abundant and varied. Clever, passionate, and artistic messages waved above the crowds at the Mall in Washington, DC and in the parks and avenues of Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and many more cities and towns.
Unitarian Universalists were well represented, some in bright, yellow tee shirts that affirmed we "stand on the side of love."
Many UUA staff joined a Women's March in Washington, DC or a sister city that day. Here are some signs of resistance we saw.
Next Steps!
Did you join a Women's March on January 21, 2017? Please send photos!
During the Inaugration weekend, the UUA collected videos, photos, and other social media from Unitarian Universalists who joined protests and shared activist energy in their congregations. See the Storify album and more photo s on Facebook.
The Show the Love Map on the UUA website offers many congregations' answers to the question, "What next?" after the Presidential Election. Find inspiration and resources for spreading Unitarian Universalism's message of hope, caring, dignity, and justice, and add your congregation's vigils, events, projects, and actions.

Demonstrators at the Washington, DC Women's March on January 21, 2017 overflowed the national Mall. A sign reads, "I am not 'Ovary Acting.'"

After the Boston Women's March, two women show their protest signs. Left: "Women are perfect." Right: "Our bodies, our minds, our power."

Woman using a wheelchair holds a sign reminding national Women's Marchers about the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s.

Demonstrators from the North Parish of North Andover (MA) at the Boston march.

A family's homemade signs defy the "nasty woman" and "bad hombre" labels offered by Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign.

A woman holds a cardboard sign, "B'ham Queers against Fascism," at a Women's March in Alabama.

Members of the North Parish of North Andover (MA) UU congregation at the Boston Women's March. The child displays a quote from Frederick Douglass, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

A sign at the Boston Women's March: "Being Pro-Choice does not make me Anti-Life."

A sign proclaims the UU Social Justice Singers' presence in the Portland, OR Women's March.