Taking It Home
Our lives begin to end the day that we become silent about the things that matter. — Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King
IN TODAY'S SESSION... we talked about public witness as a sign of our Unitarian Universalist faith. We said that we should speak up when we witness a wrong and speak out to support those who need help. We viewed posters that witness for justice. We heard about John Cashin, an African American leader in Huntsville, Alabama who was a member of the UU congregation there. Cashin witnessed for the rights of black Americans to participate in the political process. He is one of our UU ancestors.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... public witness events family members have experienced. Where did they go, what did they do, and why? Did they believe their presence made a difference? How?
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... witnessing together. Attend a rally, march or public forum to support a cause your family believes in. Ask other families to join you and make a banner that says "UU Families For... " to further your witnessing presence.
Family Adventure. Explore the world of public witness art, online. If you use Pinterest, create a board devoted to your favorite social justice and public witness graphics. Start by pinning images from these sources:
- Ricardo Levins Morales is one modern artist who has designed many social justice posters. His graphic illustration of global inequity in access to clean water appeared in the Summer 2010 UU World Family pages.
- The Graphic Imperative was an art show presented by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Philadelphia University. It includes social justice posters from 1965 to 2005.
- The Syracuse Cultural Workers catalog has myriad items from tee-shirts and posters to CDs and DVDs to support public witness on a variety of causes.
Family Discovery. The University of Wisconsin's School of Education produced a list of 50 books for children on peace and social justice. How many have you read? See how many more you can read together.
Family Ritual. Do you know about Standing on the Side of Love, the Unitarian Universalist Association's campaign for justice? Research a variety of justice causes, learn how to support them with your family or congregation, and purchase tee-shirts from the campaign. When you attend social justice events, wear your shirts as a sign that you are a UU family working for justice.
Leadership Suggestion. Public witness can be about all kinds of issues and topics. Children may be inspired to think of their own witnessing ideas by watching Clara Huff's series of Kids Witness News videos on YouTube. She witnesses about many different topics, from favorite books to turning twelve.