In 2024, Skinner House Books was honored to publish Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, a practical guide for both individuals and groups to use for creating systemic social change in their communities. Iyer’s book not only presents ideas and frameworks for justice-making work, she also helps readers think through the practices that can lead to effective change.

Social Change Now has been selected for this year’s UU Common Read. The Common Read is itself a practice of Unitarian Universalism, an example of the commitment that UUs have made to lifelong learning and reflection, and to communal care and action. As part of the Common Read, congregations across the country are asked to read the same book and reflect on it in community. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) provides congregations with resources to help guide them through the Common Read process. Previous Common Reads include Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World; Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment by Zach Norris; and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the U.S.

In Good Faith asked Deepa Iyer for a reflection as Unitarian Universalists (UUs) embark on this year’s Common Read. A racial justice advocate, weaver, frontline responder, storyteller, and guide, Deepa currently helms the Solidarity Is program at the Building Movement Project, where she creates narratives, provides trainings, and facilitates networks around social change and solidarity practice. An immigrant who moved from Kerala, India to Kentucky when she was twelve, Deepa graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School and Vanderbilt University, and has served as executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) and held positions at Race Forward, the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, and the Asian American Justice Center. You can read more about her at the inSpirit bookstore website. We thank Deepa for contributing to In Good Faith.

Finding Community in Times of Crisis

I live in the DC metropolitan area where the National Guard is patrolling neighborhoods, immigration enforcement is increasing, and arts and cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian are facing content reviews. It’s an unsettling and jarring time. A question I often consider is: how do we act with clarity when so many crises are converging at once?

In uncertain and volatile moments like these, many of us look to trusted institutions to provide a safe space and a steady anchor. Here in the DC area, that’s certainly been the case with youth groups, mutual aid organizations, faith-based institutions and civil rights activists coming together to support vulnerable community members.

Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations in particular can be spaces of support and sites of power. But sometimes, it can feel as though we are moving from one crisis to another, unsure about where we should devote our limited time, energy, and resources.

A tool that can support our ecosystems in times of pressure is the Social Change Ecosystem Map, which I developed in 2017 for individuals, organizations, and networks to identify the right roles that can advance shared values and be responsive to current needs and crises. The map outlines ten roles—from Weavers and Caregivers to Storytellers and Disruptors—that together form the fabric of strong social change ecosystems. The map helps us see ourselves not as isolated individuals, but as part of an interconnected ecosystem embodying our core values. Each role is vital, and requires collaboration from others in order to be effective and sustainable in the long run.

Unitarian Universalist communities already know what it means to move together in covenant. The Social Change Ecosystem Map offers another way to practice covenant in a fractured world: by aligning our values with concrete roles we can play in this moment. Congregations can ask: What role does our community need us to play right now?

For example, as DEI policies and taskforces are being dismantled around the country, UUA congregations could consider being disrupters and builders, in order to issue statements of concern and develop programs that deepen a collective understanding of the importance of DEI in society. Or congregations could act as caregivers to provide sanctuary and pastoral support for individuals directly impacted by immigration enforcement or attacks on the rights of trans people. Another possible role is to play the role of weavers to create bridges of understanding within congregations so that people can learn each other’s stories and experiences and transcend silos of difference.

Several factors can support role identification, including geographic location, the demands of directly affected community members, and alignment with other movements. For example, a UU church in a suburban area may be uniquely positioned to act as a weaver between neighbors, while a city congregation may have the capacity to be a visionary for cross-racial, cross-faith organizing.

Using the Social Change Ecosystem Map

Here are a few ways UU congregations can start using the Social Change Ecosystem Map:

• Learn More via the Common Read. I’m honored that my book on the social change ecosystem (Social Change Now, published by Skinner House Books) is the UUA Common Read for 2025. You can find an introductory video and resource here.
• Role Reflection Circles. Dedicate a small group session to the ecosystem map. Invite members to reflect on which roles feel natural to them, and which roles they want to cultivate.
• Congregational Mapping. As a community, map your collective roles. Notice where you are strongest and where you may need partners. For example, perhaps your congregation has many Caregivers but fewer Builders—who in your local ecosystem could you align with to strengthen that role?

These practices are not meant to add “one more thing” to an already overwhelming time. Instead, they are meant to clarify, to ground, and to guide. In a season of fracture, when the very idea of belonging is under siege, UU congregations can become ecosystems of solidarity and courage.

In this time of fracture, we can do more together and stay safe when we are in community with others. We do not have to face these crises alone. UU congregations are an ideal ecosystem in which people can support vulnerable communities, practice solidarity, and imagine bolder futures.