Social Justice and Unami

At Unami, we seek, both individually and collectively to examine our attitudes and actions regarding race, class, ability, gender, and sexual orientation and find ways to inform ourselves and take action to address injustice. We support the work of other Quaker organizations who are committed to seeking social, economic, and environmental equity and justice.

	Social Justice Initiative
	“For years, we have been involved with the restoration of a stream bank and meadowland close to our meetinghouse. We read a book related to climate change, Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. We educated ourselves about sustainable agriculture. We donated to Earth Justice, an organization that provides legal support for environmental litigation. Our Meeting joined others to support a Pennsylvania action to limit greenhouse gas emissions during electrical power generation and to join other eastern states in a regulated carbon market (RIGGI). The Carbon Forest Logo represents our current Carbon Forest Project: the outgrowth of two years considering climate change and discerning action we can take. Click here for more information.
	Our Meeting advocates for Social Justice for black, indigenous, and people of color. We continually educate ourselves by reading books, including Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, and How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, watching films, like James Baldwin’s I Am Not Your Negro, and engaging in meaningful discussions including difficult personal observations about our own brokenness. We have participated in local and regional Black Lives Matter and anti-hate rallies. More recently, we have been studying the effects of systemic racism and what reparations would mean for us. Click here for a list of Black Owned Businesses in the Lehigh Valley, Upper Perkiomen Valley and beyond.
	Unami Meeting supports and honors diversity in our faith community. Among our founders in the 1970s were gay and lesbian members and their families. Unami Friends welcomes everyone into full participation in the life of the Meeting, including those of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, or relationship statuses. Our meeting depends on and supports a spirituality based on wholeness of body and mind. We strive to be a thriving place for trans children and their families. Unami welcomes same-sex couples and assists in uniting same-sex partners in marriage.
	There Is No Way to Peace….. Peace Is the Way….. The Peace Banner stood so long outside our meetinghouse that the weather shredded it and the tattered sign needed to be removed. A moving experience shared by many during worship was the sign clanking against the Meetinghouse. . . reminding us of the message. . . reminding us how fragile Peace is. Meeting members and attenders have been active in demonstrations and lobbying for peace throughout our short history. We are ready and able to help young men find clearness in registering with Selective Service when they reach 18. Should a draft be reinstated, our Meeting would help provide guidance, perhaps leading to Conscientious Objector status or Alternative Service. We support the work of Quakers working for peace in organizations like American Friends Service Committee and Friends Committee on National Legislation.
	This image represents opening our hearts to everyone in the world. We partnered with a rural community in India to fund a well that was built by villagers. Our First Day School provided hygiene and school supplies for village children. Unami members support the resettlement of refugees and provide food aid and relief to those living in disaster areas. We’ve had presentations by volunteers working with immigrants in Allentown and in the Berks County Detention Center. We supported Afghan refugees in the Lehigh Valley. The Social Justice and Outreach work is never done!
	Love Thy Neighbor............no exceptions It is one thing to tolerate ideas held by people far away; it is another to find tolerance for those with different opinions right next door. Unami strives to see the Light in each person and listen to the views of others. We have studied Quaker publications that highlight how to cultivate tolerance and understanding of alternate points of view. We have welcomed a Muslim group to tell us about their faith. Some of us participate in organizations (Courageous Conversations and Braver Angels) that provide opportunities to engage in discussions that help us listen to and understand others’ viewpoints on a variety of topics. Our Meeting provides support, devoting 7% of our annual budget, to Open Link, a multi-service agency that provides services and programs that help, educate, empower those in need in the greater Upper Perkiomen Valley. Our Meeting has also raised funds for Project Home, a Philadelphia organization that provides services to unhoused families and individuals.