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Dear Justice-Seeker,

This issue of MFSAVoices is jam-packed with resources and information. So much so that it won't all fit in your email message so be sure to click view entire message at the bottom of this email to view the entire issue. Our newsletters are designed to be used all month long. So take a quick glance and take note of important dates to add to your calendar but also come back in the following weeks to work your way through the action items. 

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We continue to see the urgency of our work to make broad systemic change. Change that honors the dignity and worth of all people, puts people over money, and honors the earth and all her inhabitants. COVID-19 continues to highlight the inequities in our society that has literal life or death consequences. Since 1907, MFSA has been shining a light on injustice and organizing to change it. 

You make our collective work possible by your witness for justice every day in your church, community, and Annual Conference. MFSA does not receive any financial support from the United Methodist Church's giving channels. 100% of our budget is funded through your membership dues and your generosity in giving.

In our next MFSA and UMKR webinar, we will address a bombshell investigation by the Nobel Prize winning international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).  HRW's investigation not only concludes that Israel is now an apartheid state but asserts that Israel is engaged in "crimes against humanity."  Reactions to the investigation, both in support and in refute, have been passionate.  Please read the report below, and we hope you'll join us for this important webinar on May 12.

Michigan MFSA's Time to Connect and Seek Justice Together

Michigan MFSA traditionally meets over a meal each year at Annual Conference, so after over a year of being unable to meet in person, the board decided that the work must go on and organized a virtual gathering to bring people together to worship and to hear about the work MI MFSA has begun in new ways.  With over 30 people participating in planning and/or leading worship and presentations, on March 27, over 65 people gathered on Zoom for a Worship Service of Lament, Healing, and Call to Action. The virtual worship was followed with video presentations from focus groups for Anti-Racism work and the LGBTQIA+ Justice Group.  The virtual gathering also included updates on pending legislation for Michigan’s 2021 Annual Conference and news about General Conference.  After these presentations, the larger group was broken into smaller breakout rooms focusing on each area.  This gave attendance an opportunity to learn more about ways to become involved moving forward.  Though the pandemic continues to present new challenges, it also offers opportunities to consider new ways to connect to advocate for social justice.

So, though virtual gatherings will never replace gathering in person for fellowship, education, support, and worship, they provide a wonderful way of connection.  This virtual gathering allowed fellow friends throughout Michigan to get connected and wonder ways to work together.  MI MFSA is hopeful other conferences are also finding ways to gather to collaborate in this important work and pray that all are feeling God’s Peace surround us in this action.

Words, Relationships, and Becoming Anti-Racist
with Rev. Neal Christie

United Methodist clergy and part of both the Lakelands Institute team and Justice Seeking Community, Dumbarton UMC in Washington, D.C., Rev. Neal Christie participated in a podcast on anti-racism.  Rev. Christie joins Rev. Steve Martin, the founder of Lakelands Institute, in a dialogue surrounding the importance of language, relationships, and what it means to become anti-racist.  Listen to the recording and join the imagining of "how the hard work of becoming an anti-racist Church can be done with grace."

If your church, small group, ministry group, or community is interested in becoming a Justice-Seeking Community, please click the link and check out the JSC Covenant: https://bit.ly/2HUTgA1

Native American International Caucus
Responds to Comments by former Senator Rick Santorum

A statement from our coalition partner Native American International Caucus on the white supremacist comments by former Senator Rick Santorum.

April 29-May 5: 2021 National Week of Action for
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)

There is an ongoing crisis of the "abduction and murder of Native women and girls."  According to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, "the murder rate of Native women is more than ten times the national average on some reservations," and "these disappearances or murders are often connected to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking."  This week of action culminates on May 5th because "May 5th is the birthday of 21-year-old Hanna Harris (Northern Cheyenne) who went missing and was found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013."

A week of action is not enough to solve the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), but this week can serve as the first week of our beginning to seek justice alongside our Indigenous sisters and siblings.  The crisis of MMIWG spans intersectional injustices like racial injustice, gender injustice/gender-based violence, and more, and thus, requires an intersectional lens in seeking justice.  Let us join the communities of Native and Indigenous folks directly impacted, listen, and be present and in solidarity this week and beyond.  Take action this MMIWG Week of Action, and join the BWC Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM) on May 13 for a conversation with Dr. Casey Church about the impacts of COVID-19 and MMIWG on Native American Communities.

White Supremacy Characteristics:
20 year Anniversary Webinar

20 years ago, inspired by and collaborating with dozens of movement leaders, Tema Okun wrote the article, "White Supremacy Culture Characteristics." Join Tema, SURJ and special guests from around the country to launch the new "white supremacy characteristics" website and share what we've been learning ​about white supremacy culture in these last two decades.

We'll hear from Scot Nakagawa from Change Lab, NC Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, Skill in Action's Michelle Johnson, Vivette Jeffries-Logan of Biwa Consulting, Kari Points from Finding Freedom, SURJ's Misha Heij-Mariano, and Cristina Rivera Chapman and Justin Robinson from Earthseed Land Collective.

Join the call on May 13 8PM EDT for a night of discussion, sharing, music, and more to deepen our understanding of white supremacy culture and commit to the work of dismantling it.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Week of Action:
May 3-7

This Mother’s Day, MFSA joins a coalition of organizations, leaders, mothers, and those who love them to take action to urge Congress to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act through a week of action that raises awareness of the discrimination that thousands of pregnant workers continue to face on the job every year.  Follow MFSA and participate in the week of action for the passing of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act with the hashtag #ProtectPregnantWorkers.

Bonnie Ray (1945 - 2021)

An East Ohio social justice advocate, Bonnie Ray passed away on April 7, 2021, of cancer.  Bonnie Ray was a passionate advocate for social justice issues involving peace, poverty, and people's rights.  A 50-year member of Uniontown United Methodist Church and past East Ohio Conference Lay Leader, she was also active in local MFSA activities and at General Conferences.  We remember and celebrate Bonnie Ray's life. Donations in her memory can be made to MFSA.  

Now's the Time for Action

Here are a few ways you can seek justice and work for broad systemic change:

1. Learn more about the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and join the call on May 5th honoring the missing and murdered Indigenous women.
2. Hold President Biden accountable to his promise to restore refugee resettlement by contacting your members of Congress and amplifying this call on social media with the hashtag #RestoringWelcome
3. Write to the leadership of the township of Fairfield, CT to contact Sturm Ruger, the largest firearm manufacturer in the United States with headquarters in Fairfield, and demand the company suspend weapon and bullet sales to Israel.
4. Sign the petition to call on the Biden administration to rescind Title 42, a Trump era policy still in place that expels asylum seekers back to their home country without any chance to seek protection.
5. Tell President Biden and Vice President Harris to hold Israel accountable to its obligations as an occupying power and insist that Israel provide COVID-19 vaccines equally and fairly to Palestinians living under its occupation.
6. Contact your elected officials to take an intersectional response to the incidents of AAPI hate and to center the needs of those most impacted, Asian American women and elders.
7. Check the State Voting Bills Tracker to find out if your state lawmakers have introduced one of the 253 bills aimed at suppressing voting rights, and contact your state lawmakers to demand they support voting rights.
8. Sign the petition and tell Congress to abolish the federal death penalty.
9. Has your country signed on to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons?  Contact your elected officials to support the end of nuclear weapons in the world.
10. Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
11. Manufacturing in an illegal Israeli settlement is a war crime.  Tell General Mills to stop making Pillsbury products on stolen Palestinian land by signing the petition, sending an email to the CEO, and #BoycottPillsbury.
12. Write a letter and join the grassroots organizing for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
13. Sign the petition and join Palestinian Cry for Hope: a Call to Decisive Action, a global movement set by Kairos Response that "rouses churches to action and awakens civil society to the reality of Palestinian suffering."
14. Take free online university courses on systemic racism.
15. Host a virtual Card Writing Party to write and mail letters to immigrants in detention via The Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program.
16. Call your legislators (202-224-3121) and advocate for permanent federal paid sick leave, expanded unemployment benefits, SNAP increases, and a moratorium on evictions, utility shut-offs, and payments. 

In Case You Missed It

1. Watch the recording of MFSA and Association of Ministers with Disabilities's webinar titled "A Conversation on 'A Healing Homiletic Preaching and Disability' "
2. Access the latest webinar and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar "Protecting the Right to Boycott"
3. Watch the discussion with the I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist. writers and editor Rudy Rasmus, moderated by M. Garlinda Burton.
4. MFSA Reflection on January 6 on Martin Luther King Jr Day

We at MFSA encourage you to be a witness and a good neighbor. Please continue to do your part in flattening the curve by practicing physical distancing.