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The Rev. Robin Tanner, lead minister at Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, gave her account of the protests that erupted in the city after Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by police. “This is a city that made me a minister. ... This is the city where I married my spouse, where I had my children. And now this is the city that tear-gassed me. Last night did not have to end like it ended,” she said. Tanner was among approximately 40 clergy present, including the Rev. Jay Leach, senior minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte, who was also interviewed amid the demonstrations. (CNN – 9.22.16)
More coverage:
“Blame, rumor and blood in Charlotte as protests surge and authorities bolster forces” (Washington Post – 9.22.16)
“Protesters pause to remember Justin Carr; leader disputes police report” (Charlotte Observer – 9.23.16)
“Faith leader: Police struck protesters with clubs prior to fatal shooting” (QCityMetro – 9.23.16)
“Amid a Militarized Charlotte, Protesters Demand Justice” (telesur – 9.22.16)
“Police reviewing Wednesday shooting; eyewitnesses say police escalated tension” (Charlotte Observer – 9.22.16)
Defying the Nazis premieres on PBS
Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War, a documentary telling the story of Unitarians Martha and the Rev. Waitstill Sharp and their work to rescue those fleeing persecution during WWII, premiered on PBS September 20. Co-producers Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowky, grandson of the Sharps, were interviewed by various news outlets, who have reported widely on the story and the courageous legacy of the Sharps. The film was also screened at the White House last week, where Latifa and Colin Woodhouse, members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, New York, were honored for their help with the current refugee crisis. (Washington Post – 9.19.16)
More coverage:
“Humanitarians Invited To The White House” (Great Neck Record – 9.21.16)
“Premier of Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War” (Manhasset Press – 9.19.16)
Congregations in Virginia to help resettle refugees
Roshan Chaddha and Zubair Suri of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Sterling, Virginia, will partner with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, Virginia, to coordinate the resettlement of refugees in Northern Virginia as part of the Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area’s Good Neighbor Program. The two congregations have assembled a team of about 70 volunteers to help with finding housing and food and with paying the refugees’ rent for the first three months after their arrival, among other services. The congregations do not yet know where the refugees will come from or when they will arrive but are preparing to possibly welcome them as early as late September. (Loudon Times-Mirror – 9.18.16)