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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.

Make a Gift to MFSA Today

A photo of Emily smiling in front of a tree. She is wearing a striped shirt.

Introducing Emily Burns

Hello! My name is Emily Burns and I am the new Development and Communications Coordinator at MFSA. I graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Economics. I went on to become a Global Mission Fellow through the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Global Ministries where I served in Michigan for two years as a community organizer. This fall, I begin a Master’s of Social Work program.
I am so excited to join the team at MFSA! I have been connected to the United Methodist Church (UMC) my whole life, and I look forward to continuing and deepening a connection between faith and social justice during my time at MFSA.

Black-Palestinian Solidarity

There is a long and storied history of Black-Palestinian solidarity in the United States, dating back at least to the 1960s. In recent years that solidarity has grown in remarkable ways, now emerging as one of the most important factors in the movement for Palestinian liberation. In recent months, commentators have credited it with a critical role in “changing the conversation” in the U.S. and beyond: widely influencing and altering public opinion about Palestine/Israel.

What does this solidarity look like today? What are some likely next developments? What does all this mean for the wider movement for Palestinian rights? How can individuals and organizations support and strengthen this solidarity? Find out on September 22, 2021.

For some background about Black-Palestinian Solidarity watch this powerful 3-min. video “When I See Them, I See Us,” at: https://www.kairosresponse.org/black-palestinian_solidarity.html

A boat sits on top of a map with text above it reading

Stealing the Earth: New Webinar Series

Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), the Native American International Caucus (NAIC), and United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR) present a five-part webinar series: Stealing the Earth: The Conquering of Indigenous People, the Role of Christianity, and What Can Bring about Justice This is part one of a five-part discussion of the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a theological and legal concept that has legitimized the seizure of indigenous people's lands by those from so-called Christian nations. We will first discuss its impact in North America and then broaden our inquiry to Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. Further sessions will delve into the impact of the ownership of land, the power of narrative, white normativity, and the theological basis to respond, repair, and repent.

Part two of the webinar series titled, "'Whose Land?' The Doctrinal Legitimization of Theft of the People’s Land." will be on Oct. 13, 2021, 1:00 p.m. ET.

Learn More about the Webinar Series

Watch the Recording of the First Session

A man sits inside a replica of a Florida prison cell. He is wearing a pink shirt and grey pants and is sitting on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed attached to the wall.

A metal pod sits in a parking lot on a sunny day. The pod reads

Beat the Heat Campaign

Most of us can agree that the summer heat can be unbearable at times, but imagine how hot an 8 by 12-foot room with no air conditioning would be. This is the reality for much of America’s incarcerated population. Over 2 million people live in over 6,00 jail and prison facilities across the United States, and they are bearing the brunt of changes in climate. As the average U.S. temperatures is steadily rising, the majority of inmates in correctional facilities still do not have air conditioning in their cells. States including Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana are involved in lawsuits after inmates have suffered from heat related illnesses. Inmates in a St. Louis prison were even captured on video yelling for help in 2017 as temperatures rose above 100 degrees. John Oliver highlights this issue further in a video where he points out how the United Nations Committee on Torture has expressed concern over extreme heat related deaths in Texas. On top of a heat wave, prisons are also faced with an enduring pandemic. Jacqueline Williams, program associate with the committee's Michigan Criminal Justice Program says that "she worries that people in prison are being forced to spend more time in their cells and are being given less time outside because of efforts to keep them distanced as a precaution against COVID-19. Prison is no place for a pandemic, but it’s certainly no place for a pandemic in a heat wave."

Learn More

A photo of Sarah in a white sweater smiling sitting in front of a picture of a flower.

Saying Goodbye to Sarah Walsh our Summer Intern

With my time at MFSA coming to a close, I wanted to take this chance to thank you for this opportunity. I learned so much during my time here and met some amazing people! I had so much fun helping out with the bookstore and meeting you all! I also appreciate the opportunity to have my voice heard and share issues I care about. It meant so much to me. I was able to bring awareness to a confederate statue in my state through an article I wrote, and I got to see real progress from that. The attorney general recently released a statement calling for the statue’s removal. As I move on to my senior year of college, I want to wish you all the best and hope our paths cross again.

Labor Day 2021: Lectionary Reflections

Vanderbilt Divinity School Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice present a series of reflections to help you honor the dignity of labor. Read through the reflections this Labor Day.

"As we still grapple with the impact of the pandemic on all who have to work for a living, we cannot let Labor Day pass us by without critically examining our faith in light of our oppressive economic and political systems that trample upon both people and planet."

Check out the resources

A Call to Truth Telling and Repentance

The Native American International Caucus of the United Methodist Church calls on the church to affirm its 2016 resolution stating the "General Conference of The United Methodist Church affirms the sacredness of American Indian people, their languages, cultures, and gifts to the church and the world" in light of the mass graves recently found on the grounds of North American church-run Indian boarding schools. They call on the church to commit to discover the locations and records from the Methodist run boarding schools and provide surviving family members with any information found. October 6th has been designated as a Day of Truth and Repentance for Our Children, and NAIC calls on the church to observe this day. Make your voice heard, and sign the statement.

Sign the Statement

A farmworker wears a face mask while harvesting curly mustard in a field on Feb. 10, 2021 in Ventura County, California. Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Farm Worker Dies in Oregon's Record Heat.
Now is THE TIME to demand action on heat stress legislation!

This summer's heat wave is creating dangerous and deadly condition for farm workers--even more than usual. Inside Climate News reports:

"People around the Pacific Northwest piled into emergency cooling centers late last month to escape the region’s life-threatening heat wave. Sebastián Francisco Perez, an undocumented farm worker in Oregon who had arrived from Guatemala just two months ago, did not have that luxury. No laws required Perez’s employer to provide water, shade or rest breaks—let alone a cooling station—to help workers cope with the punishing heat. On June 26, temperatures approached 105 degrees at the nursery where Perez worked, about 30 miles south of Portland. As the mercury climbed, Perez worked until he collapsed and died. He was 38. If Congress passed heat standards like those adopted by California in 2005, farmworker advocates say, Perez might still be alive.The United Farm Workers and Oregon-based Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) urged state officials to issue emergency rules to protect agricultural workers from unsafe conditions during heat waves."

Read the rest here: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09072021/for-farmworkers-heat-too-often-means-needless-death/

Heat Stress Legislation: The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act is named in honor of Asunción Valdivia who died in 2004 after picking grapes for ten hours straight in 105-degree temperatures.The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act will protect workers against occupational exposure to excessive heat by:

Requiring the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an enforceable standard to protect workers in high-heat environments with measures like paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, limitations on time exposed to heat, and emergency response for workers with heat-related illness; and
Directing employers to provide training for their employees on the risk factors that can lead to heat illness, and guidance on the proper procedures for responding to symptoms.

Rest, water, shade, emergency relief, and training.
This is common-sense legislation that will save the lives of farmworkers. Contact your Senators and Representatives TODAY! NFWM's resources about heat stress: http://nfwm.org/resource-center/harvest-of-justice/farm-workers-the-environment-harvest-of-justice-2020/heat-stress/

Contact your Senators and Representatives TODAY

Fair Food Program Sets New Enforceable Standards

Steadily rising temperatures across the country are putting farmworkers and other outdoor workers at risk. Senior climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Rachel Licker, told NPR, "without additional protections, the risks to workers will only grow in the decades ahead as climate change worsens, leading the roughly 32 million outdoor workers in our country to face a brutal choice: their health or their jobs."

The Fair Food Program stepped in to address the lack of state and federal protections for farmworkers and other outdoor workers with additional worker protections on FFP farms. On top of the FFP Code of Conduct’s existing provisions guaranteeing workers access to shade, water, and elective rest breaks, the FFP’s new “Heat Stress Illness Awareness, Prevention, and Response Plan” adds several key new protections, including: mandatory cool-down rest breaks, increased monitoring, education and trilingual training, and responding to heat stress symptoms.