Friend,

It's almost here! Sign-up for the February 22nd Meet-Up from 7 to 8:30 pm via Zoom. We invite you to join other justice leaders from across the state to share your thoughts and insights about the work we can do right here in South Carolina! What excites you? What do you care about? Let's share and start making plans. 

Register Here for the Zoom meeting 

This gathering will provide a much-needed opportunity to connect with UUs, share ideas, and discover how to form an issue cluster (or support one) to focus our energies statewide. We want to learn from you about all your social justice hopes and needs. So please register if you can and help build the foundation of the South Carolina UU Justice Alliance. We look forward to greeting you there! 

- Pippin & Jean, South Carolina UU Justice Alliance 

SCUUJA is funded in part by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility

Sue Berkowitz

SCUUJA Board Member and Director, SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center 

Profile of a UU Social Justice Leader

What is at the heart of your social justice passion? 

My spiritual upbringing in the Jewish faith taught me that each day we should strive to make the world a better place for all peoples. I work to make the world more just and fair for everyone. When I was in law school, I knew I wanted to practice public interest law. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do so for nearly all my legal career. At SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, we work to get laws and policies changed, and I am drawn to this systemic change endeavor.

What excites you about the new SC UU Justice Alliance?

There’s a great deal of overlap in how we approach issues of injustice. It’s imperative that we listen to and act from the voices of those most impacted by injustice. Our organization has often partnered with the UU Congregation of Columbia, and we are excited to be able to partner with UU’s across the state. There are so many issues to work on including fair housing, health care, reforming payday loans, immigration, and criminal justice reform. We are fighting for the equity and inclusion sorely missing in our state. See www.scjustice.org for ways to sign up and take action.

Since systemic change is often slow, when an opportunity arises to create change we need to seize it immediately. As SCUUJA grows, UU’s will be able to engage in rapid response when an issue arises in the state legislature or a policy proposal needs immediate input. 

Greeville UU's Work in the Community and For the Community

The Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (GUUF) Social Justice Committee focuses on three areas: environmental justice, immigrant justice, and economic justice. Due to the pandemic, the committee is focusing on local actions. Congregational members bring food donations to the church six times a year. The church then partners with United Ministries, Jesus el Rey, Upstate Food Not Bombs, and other justice organizations to distribute the food collected. They are also able to help houseless families (in partnership with United Ministries) through their Rowland-McFerrin House. This duplex houses families in transition who live rent free for up to a year and then move on to settled housing.  Other activities include participation in Adopt a Highway Clean-Up (see image). 

GUUF is a founding member of the newly formed Greenville County Interfaith Justice Network, an organization of 16-plus Greenville area churches devoted to justice issues. This organization is part of DART (Direct Action & Research Training), whose mission is “to engage congregations in doing justice.” Greenville now joins Columbia (MORE Justice—Midlands Organized Response for Equality and Justice) and Charleston (CAJM—Charleston Area Justice Ministry) in having DART in their communities. While the first major planning meeting of the Greenville DART will happen in the fall, conversation has begun on Greenville County issues such as houselessness, transportation, and the need for affordable housing.