Tapestry of Faith: Sing to the Power: A Social Justice Program for Children Grades 4-5

Session 12: Taking It Home

it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more. — Marge Piercy

IN TODAY'S SESSION... the children learned how members of the First Universalist Church of Denver, Colorado and the UUA's Side with Love campaign (formerly known as Standing on the Side of Love) engaged UUs across the country in the fight to allow Raύl Cardenas, an undocumented immigrant, to stay with his family. We played a game that explored what it means for a message to "go viral." We worked on creating a petition that we hope will involve many people in a cause we feel is important.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. How do you and your family connect with the experience of immigration? When did you or your ancestors arrive here? How has your family been welcomed (or not)? How difficult was it to become a citizen? Did immigrants in your family follow all the rules, or were some elements of their immigration story outside the law?

FAMILY GAME. We played two versions of tag today. In the first version, one person tries to tag every member of the group. In the second version, once a person is tagged they then try to tag others. Try these two versions of tag as a way of exploring how much quicker and easier it is to make change in the world when we draw as many people as possible into our efforts.

FAMILY ADVENTURE. Go to a place in your area where the predominant culture is that of immigrants from a country you know little about. You might visit an ethnic neighborhood, an ethnic grocery store, an ethnic house of worship, or a community fair that celebrates a particular nationality. Notice how it feels to be among many people whose language, foods or other cultural ways differ from yours. What do you enjoy about the experience? What is uncomfortable?