UUPMI Events:
For now, our in-person events are suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get Involved!
Carceral Systems and Siding with Love Fall Series (virtual)
Carceral Systems and Siding with LoveRegistrationJoin with UUPMI and the Unitarian Church of Evanston for the Chicago-land focused four part series, Carceral Systems and Siding with Love. How do we actively side with Love in the face of harmful carceral systems that especially target black and brown people? Join in one or all of these reflective, informative sessions to learn more about (1) Policing, (2) Prisons, (3) Family Separation and Surveillance, and (4) Basics of Restorative Justice. Registration is required and a short reading or video will be emailed to you one week before each session. This is a four-part series of 90-minute Zoom workshops over eight weeks, each two weeks apart.
Register here.
Thursday, September 23 Policing 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Why do activists make the call to “Defund Police”, and what do they mean by this? What is the impact of spending a large percentage of local budgets on police while disinvesting in low-income neighborhoods? What other approaches are being tried?
Thursday, October 7 Prisons 7:00-8:30 p.m.
What are the dynamics and history that brought this country to mass incarceration? What is the impact of prisons on individuals and communities? Does prison make us safe?
Thursday, October 21 Family Separation and Surveillance 7:00-8:30 p.m.
How does the foster care-to-prison pipeline affect poor communities of color? What is the history of child removal? What assistance is available for families when poverty creates less than ideal conditions? What remedies are anti-racist activists suggesting?
Thursday, November 4 Basics of Restorative Justice 7:00-8:30 p.m.
What is the framework for restorative or transformative justice and how is it different from the criminal legal system? How do restorative justice community courts work? What other models to address harm are being developed?
Register here.
Thursday, September 23 Policing 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Why do activists make the call to “Defund Police”, and what do they mean by this? What is the impact of spending a large percentage of local budgets on police while disinvesting in low-income neighborhoods? What other approaches are being tried?
Thursday, October 7 Prisons 7:00-8:30 p.m.
What are the dynamics and history that brought this country to mass incarceration? What is the impact of prisons on individuals and communities? Does prison make us safe?
Thursday, October 21 Family Separation and Surveillance 7:00-8:30 p.m.
How does the foster care-to-prison pipeline affect poor communities of color? What is the history of child removal? What assistance is available for families when poverty creates less than ideal conditions? What remedies are anti-racist activists suggesting?
Thursday, November 4 Basics of Restorative Justice 7:00-8:30 p.m.
What is the framework for restorative or transformative justice and how is it different from the criminal legal system? How do restorative justice community courts work? What other models to address harm are being developed?
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us Abolitionist Praxis Series (Virtual)
pages June 2021-February 2022
Join our Education team two Sunday afternoons a month (from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm central time) for community-building, facilitated reflection on the book, and real-time actions we can take that bring us closer to a world of reimagined safety and a world without cages and police. Each gathering, we will work our way through the book, two chapters at a time. We will center inside voices with participating prison pen pals and hope to hear from those you know with direct experience, especially also the recently released. Register here for Zoom links. Due to the extended nature of this praxis, we understand that committing to all sessions may not be accessible. At the same time, we hope to build relationships together that we can carry with us in our community spaces.
Session schedule, two Sundays a month:
June 6, 20 pages xvii-17
Skip July (summer break)
August 1, 15 pages 18-40
September 12 : pages 41-53
September 26: pages 54-62
October 3: pages 63-71
October 17: pages 72-81
November 7: pages 82-103
November 21: pages 104-118
December 5: pages 119-131
December 19: pages 132-147
January 2: pages 148-163
January 16: pages 164-186
February 6: pages 187-192
February 20: last essay and what's next
SPECIAL NOTE FOR PEN PALS: Please order the paperback ASAP and send to your pen pal. As an outside pen pal participant, please take notes from the "outside" zoom discussions and mail/email your inside pen pal the notes so that we get a good flow of inside/outside reflections and conversation. Outside pen pals, with permission from inside pen pal, will share reflections during zoom gatherings.
Join our Education team two Sunday afternoons a month (from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm central time) for community-building, facilitated reflection on the book, and real-time actions we can take that bring us closer to a world of reimagined safety and a world without cages and police. Each gathering, we will work our way through the book, two chapters at a time. We will center inside voices with participating prison pen pals and hope to hear from those you know with direct experience, especially also the recently released. Register here for Zoom links. Due to the extended nature of this praxis, we understand that committing to all sessions may not be accessible. At the same time, we hope to build relationships together that we can carry with us in our community spaces.
Session schedule, two Sundays a month:
June 6, 20 pages xvii-17
Skip July (summer break)
August 1, 15 pages 18-40
September 12 : pages 41-53
September 26: pages 54-62
October 3: pages 63-71
October 17: pages 72-81
November 7: pages 82-103
November 21: pages 104-118
December 5: pages 119-131
December 19: pages 132-147
January 2: pages 148-163
January 16: pages 164-186
February 6: pages 187-192
February 20: last essay and what's next
SPECIAL NOTE FOR PEN PALS: Please order the paperback ASAP and send to your pen pal. As an outside pen pal participant, please take notes from the "outside" zoom discussions and mail/email your inside pen pal the notes so that we get a good flow of inside/outside reflections and conversation. Outside pen pals, with permission from inside pen pal, will share reflections during zoom gatherings.
Events you should know about:
Get Involved!
For action you can take, visit the Illinois Prison Project, who is keeping a running list of ways we can stay engaged in our vision of liberation in these difficult times.
For action you can take, visit the Illinois Prison Project, who is keeping a running list of ways we can stay engaged in our vision of liberation in these difficult times.