History of the Economic Justice Action Group (EJAG)
How did EJAG get started?
In her social justice sermon of September 27, 1998, Marilyn Sewell, Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, offered the congregation a challenge and an opportunity to focus on issues of economic equality. She talked about the growing evidence of economic inequality in our city, our country and our world and urged members to undertake education and action program.
That effort initially attracted over 60 members and led to a series of meetings during the 1998-99 period. One of the outcomes of people learning more about the systemic causes of economic inequality was the November 1999 protest of the WTO in Seattle, an event that drew a bus load of over 100 people from the Portland church.
Following our participation in the WTO protest, a group of concerned church members and non-members formed the Economic Justice Action Group. The group has chosen to focus on many economic justice issues including globalization, international trade agreements, food and water security and campaign finance reform.
What do we Believe?
What kinds of roles does EJAG play?
What has EJAG accomplished to-date?
The following are some of the activities the EJAG has undertaken:
How does EJAG relate to the rest of First Unitarian Church, Portland?
The Economic Justice Action Group (EJAG) is one of a number of action groups that is authorized by, and reports to, the Social Justice Council of our church.
All EJAG decisions are made by majority vote and all activities must be approved by the Social Justice Council which in turn reports to the Board of the Church. EJAG’s annual operating budget is allocated by the Social Justice Council with the approval of the Board. EJAG members also undertake a number of fund-raising projects to supplement the funds from the church.
EJAG has three Co-Chairs and a core group of approximately 10 -15 active members. The Co-Chairs are responsible for overall coordination of projects and working groups as well as our regular twice-monthly meetings of the entire group. One of the Co-Chairs services on the church’s Social Justice Council where the activities of all action groups are coordinated.
For the past several years EJAG has had a significant voice in promoting alternatives to the standard pharmaceutical paradigm of mental health care, supporting and promoting a wide spectrum of therapies including drug therapy under the name Rethinking Psychiatry. The Executive Team of the church and the Social Justice Minister believe this relationship is harming the greater church. For this reason, EJAG leadership has agreed, reluctantly, to disassociate from Rethinking Psychiatry. 6/19/2014.
In her social justice sermon of September 27, 1998, Marilyn Sewell, Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, offered the congregation a challenge and an opportunity to focus on issues of economic equality. She talked about the growing evidence of economic inequality in our city, our country and our world and urged members to undertake education and action program.
That effort initially attracted over 60 members and led to a series of meetings during the 1998-99 period. One of the outcomes of people learning more about the systemic causes of economic inequality was the November 1999 protest of the WTO in Seattle, an event that drew a bus load of over 100 people from the Portland church.
Following our participation in the WTO protest, a group of concerned church members and non-members formed the Economic Justice Action Group. The group has chosen to focus on many economic justice issues including globalization, international trade agreements, food and water security and campaign finance reform.
What do we Believe?
- Equitable access to economic opportunities for all citizens benefits the entire society
- Trade and commerce are necessary and beneficial practices when conducted in a fair open and non-exploitative manner
- Organizations that make economic policies and manage economic relations need to operate in an open and democratic manner
- Human rights, worker rights and the environmental needs should not be subordinated to the pursuit of economic gain
- The sovereignty of local, state and national governments should not be diminished in any way without the exercise of democratic and legal processes
- Global capitalism, as it is currently practiced, is not in the best long-term interests of the vast majority of the world’s citizen.
- The current lifestyle of Western industrialized nations consumes an unacceptable proportion of our planet’s resources
- Our planet cannot sustain the extension of this level of consumption to the entire population of the world
- Alternative economic practices and lifestyles that are more sustainable must be investigated and implemented in order to assure the long-term survival of the earth and its peoples
What kinds of roles does EJAG play?
- Information Gathering and Dissemination – clearinghouse of resources
- Education – educating ourselves, other members of our church and the public
- Brokering – matching people and organizations engaged in positive solutions and actions
- Collaboration and Coalition Building – actively working with other groups
- Political Activism – affecting positive change and accountability from elected officials
What has EJAG accomplished to-date?
The following are some of the activities the EJAG has undertaken:
- Gathering and sharing information on relevant economic justice issues.
- Conducted an eight-week study course on globalization in cooperation with the Woman’s International League for Peace and Freedom which attracted an average of 35-40 people each week.
- Participated in a study series on globalization sponsored by the Northwest Earth Institute that met for 8 weeks at our church.
- EJAG members developed and taught a course entitled: “Habermas and Radical Democracy”
- Joined a Portland-based coalition of environmental, labor and human rights activists called Local To Global with which we have partnered on numerous activities including press conferences, protests, forums and lobbying.
- Sponsored numerous Sunday Forums at our church with invited speakers from local universities and action groups that have focused on economic justice issues in the community and the world.
- In June 2000, EJAG published a 18-page booklet entitled “WTO vs. American Democracy: Is Trade the Only Thing That Counts.” The booklet was written by one of our members, Margaret Gribskov and designed and produced by another member, Josie Koehne. The booklet provides an overview of the negative impacts trade agreements are having in on consumer choice, the environment, family farms, small businesses, public agencies, workers rights, human rights and governmental sovereignty. We printed and have distributed 1500 copies of this booklet.
- Distributed 500 copies of the WTO booklet at the UUA General Assembly in Nashville in June of 2000.
- Made xerox copies of the booklet after the 1500 copies were gone in response to requests from groups like the League of Woman Voters and others.
- Spun off a sub-group that became the Campaign Finance Reform Action Group that gathered more signatures for a 2001 Oregon ballot initiative than any other single group in the state. The ballot measure got enough signatures to get on the ballot (over 110,000) but failed in the general election by a few percentage points.
- Wrote, sponsored, gathered signatures and spoke on behalf of the Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) on Campaign Finance Reform that was successfully passed at the UUA General Assembly in June 2000.
- Were actively involved in establishing the Northwest chapter of the UUJEC in the Fall of 2000 and continue to play an active role (e.g., arranging for the keynote speaker for the Spring 2001 meeting).
- Wrote Senate Joint Memorial 2 that was passed by both houses of the Oregon Legislature in May 2001 and sent on to the US Congress. SJM2 expressed the Oregon Legislature’s concern over the impacts of international trade agreements on the sovereignty of local and state government and urged the US Congress to hold hearings around the country and to study the issue. In addition to writing SJM2, EJAG members worked actively in coalition with Local To Global and the Tractor Coalition (farmers) to educate and lobby members of the Oregon Legislature on the importance of this issue.
- In June 2001, EJAG members Margaret Gribskov and Josie Koehne wrote and published another booklet entitled: “Why Americans Are Free: and why foreign corporations are attacking our freedoms” Many copies were distributed at UUA General Assembly in June 2001 in Quebec, Canada. Copies are still available by contacting EJAG at [email protected].
- Wrote the original version of the Study Action Item on globalization that was passed at the 2001 UUA General Assembly in Cleveland. Members worked with the UUJEC and others at GA to insure passage.
- Worked with the National UUA’s Faith in Action to create the Resource Guide that has gone out to all UU churches in support of the globalization Study Action Item.
- Produced a 30 minute video titled “Free Trade Isn’t Fair Trade” which was presented at the 2003 General Assembly in Boston and distributed to many Unitarian churches and other groups interested in a clear and concise overview of how trade agreements are affecting real people around the globe. Copies can be purchased using the order form at the following link: Video Order Form (please print out this form and mail or fax it to the church – we are arranging to have an online form soon)
- Helped draft and a Stement of Conscience (SOC) which is the conclusion of the 2 year Study Action Item (SAI) on Economic Globalization which was voted on and successfullly adopted as part of the Unitarian Universalist official policy at the 2003 General Assembly! See a copy of the final statement online here.
- After a presentation sponsored by EJAG given by Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins about reforming the Estate Tax, a working group formed to pursue action on this issue at the state and national level. They continue to lobby our elected officials and have developed a speakers bureau with trained presenters that are available to help educate other groups about changes proposed to this progressive tax. For more information on the estate tax and actions you can take, go to: http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax Or http://www.ombwatch.org/estatetax/
- Sponsoring various conferences, forums and lectures designed to educate members of our church and the general public about economic justice issues.
- After a another EJAG sponsored presentation by radio host & author Thom Hartmann, a working group formed called End Corporate Personhood which has been very active in raising awareness of the abuses of limited liability corporations and their challenges to democracy. This group has become a separate social justice action group at the church, and they also work closely with the local chapter of Alliance for Democracy. For more go to: www.afd-pdx.org
- We’ve also been making buttons to distribute to members and sell to raise fund for our efforts. Topics have included: No War, Peace (symbol), Peace is Patriotic, Don’t Trade Democracy, Free Trade Isn’t Free, and a few others. We’re open to input for new designs, but we aren’t really set up to handle bulk orders…yet.
How does EJAG relate to the rest of First Unitarian Church, Portland?
The Economic Justice Action Group (EJAG) is one of a number of action groups that is authorized by, and reports to, the Social Justice Council of our church.
All EJAG decisions are made by majority vote and all activities must be approved by the Social Justice Council which in turn reports to the Board of the Church. EJAG’s annual operating budget is allocated by the Social Justice Council with the approval of the Board. EJAG members also undertake a number of fund-raising projects to supplement the funds from the church.
EJAG has three Co-Chairs and a core group of approximately 10 -15 active members. The Co-Chairs are responsible for overall coordination of projects and working groups as well as our regular twice-monthly meetings of the entire group. One of the Co-Chairs services on the church’s Social Justice Council where the activities of all action groups are coordinated.
For the past several years EJAG has had a significant voice in promoting alternatives to the standard pharmaceutical paradigm of mental health care, supporting and promoting a wide spectrum of therapies including drug therapy under the name Rethinking Psychiatry. The Executive Team of the church and the Social Justice Minister believe this relationship is harming the greater church. For this reason, EJAG leadership has agreed, reluctantly, to disassociate from Rethinking Psychiatry. 6/19/2014.
