Human Rights Working Group
Chairs: Angela Mc Cray and Melvin Starks
Email: humanrights@uusf.org
The Human Rights Working Group has two areas of concern: 1) Immigration and 2) End Racism!
Our immigration concerns are several. Our UUSF Guardian Group serves LGBT refugees, asylum seekers/asylees in their time of adjustment to a new country and culture. The Guardian Group provides a mentor and various practical support elements as they are needed and available. We seek to increase support through financial contributions and personal participation in this important work.
Under development is further immigration-focused work, particularly as it pertains to immigration and the Americas. Through education within the congregation and action steps beyond our walls, we hope to have an impact on issues such as deportation policy, procedure and prevention.
We are also interested in moving forward in the effort to End Racism! We have initiated participation in Beloved Conversations, a small group process through which people of color and white people do much needed healing, and where white participants in particular do their own work to amend attitudes and behaviors—those that we are aware of and those we will come to be aware of (macro- and micro-aggressions)--that continue the legacy of racism we seek to end.
Under exploration is the subject of sentencing and prison reform, especially the issue of mass incarceration. Exploration includes planning educational events and linking with other faith and secular groups to take action steps. One focus is to end police over-reach and horrific, unnecessary violence that has taken lives, most particularly brown and black lives.
Events Calendar
About the Human Rights Working Group
Contact Us / Get Involved
Critical Issues
UUSF Resources
Beloved Stories Video Toolkit
Below, you will find the materials discussed in the "We Built People of Color Visibility with Video" workshop presented at the UU General Assembly in Spokane, WA, 2019. In working on the Beloved Stories UUSF video, we started with the StoryCorps Toolkit. Also, included below are the questions we used in our interviews, the release form for the participants, and a flyer. Hope these materials provide a helpful starting point for your project. Click the links below to see the materials.

Close the Camps
Ongoing
Members of UUSF have held public witness twice a week, on Wednesday mornings during rush hour and on Sunday afternoons after service, to draw attention to the forced detention of asylum seekers, separation of families, and in particular the mistreatment of young children.
Sanctuary City
January 6, 2017
Read the letter from Senior Minister Rev. Dr. John Buehrens to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee supporting the status of San Francisco as a Sanctuary City and encouraging Mayor Lee to allocate funds for migrants facing possible deportation.
For more Social Justice Ministry Events go here