Category: Social Justice

Donate a Banned Book to the Banned Book Bookshelf

Starting this Sunday (18 May 2025) and beyond — donate a banned book to our congregation’s banned book bookshelf dedicated to the memory of John Tuggle.

Thanks to our Board President Sally Wood (who was inspired by a gift of banned books from her daughter) we now have a banned books bookshelf in the sanctuary foyer waiting to be filled.

Please bring one or more banned books from your home library to donate to the bookshelf.

Want to find out what books have been banned?  Check out the American Library Association’s Banned Book Lists.

You may be surprised by some of the books on it and a Unitarian Universalist is probably going to have at least one banned book in their home library.

The Banned Books Bookshelf is dedicated to the memory of our own John Tuggle who (before his death in September 2024) was Director of the Shreve Memorial Library System and a fierce advocate for the right to read the books of our choosing, free from censorship by those who would rewrite history, and even write some of our fellow citizens out of existence.

Let’s work together to build this very fitting memorial to our friend John.

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Empty Chair Town Hall Rescheduled (15 May 2025)

Empty Chair Town Hall — Make your voice heard!
Thursday, 15 May 2025 — 6:00 -8:00 PM
Grace Community United Methodist Church
9400 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106

Note — This is a rescheduled event (original event was cancelled due to weather on 6 May 2025).

Whether you’re concerned about cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, veterans benefits, and education, appalled by illegal deportations, or just worried about the state of democracy — come and let your voice be heard in a 2-minute statement that will later be shared with our no-show congressional representatives.

This is a non-partisan, non-denominational event sponsored by 10,000 Women Louisiana, Indivisible North Louisiana, and Indivisible Shreveport-Bossier City.

Click here to register for this event (registration is free).

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Shreveport Green — May 2025 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to a community organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist values.

For the month of May 2025, we choose Shreveport Green.

Shreveport Green programs include:

Two ways to donate:

Online — Go to our donation site using this link.  If you are paying your pledge, select “2025 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution.  Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to Shreveport Green and then put “GATP MAY 2025” or “Shreveport Green” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of May 2025 will go to Shreveport Green.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106.  Please put “Shreveport Green” on the memo line of the check if  you want to have 100% of your check go to Shreveport Green.  If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Shreveport Green, please put the amount you want going to Shreveport Green on the memo line.

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42nd Annual Holocaust Remembrance Service of Northwest Louisiana (27 April 2025)

The 42nd Annual Holocaust Remembrance Service of Northwest Louisiana will be happening on Sunday (27 April 2025) at 3:00 PM at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (275 Southfield Road, Shreveport LA  71105).

Since 1984, various community partners have gathered to present a service in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

The Chair of the service this year is Father Michael Cannon of St. Paul’s and the featured speaker is award-winning author and child of Holocaust survivors Kathy Kacer.

Register here if you plan to attend.

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Empty Chair Town Hall (6 May 2025)

Empty Chair Town Hall — Make your voice heard!
Tuesday, 6 May 2025 — 6:00 -8:00 PM
Grace Community United Methodist Church
9400 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106

Whether you’re concerned about cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, veterans benefits, and education, appalled by illegal deportations, or just worried about the state of democracy — come and let your voice be heard in a 2-minute statement that will later be shared with our no-show congressional representatives.

This is a non-partisan, non-denominational event sponsored by 10,000 Women Louisiana, Indivisible North Louisiana, and Indivisible Shreveport-Bossier City.

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Advocate Documentary Film Screening (26 April 2025)

The Shreveport Chapter of  Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East presents a viewing and discussion of Advocate on Saturday (26 April 2025) at 4:30 PM in the All Souls Social Hall.

This screening is free and open to all.

This award-winning 2019 documentary by Israeli filmmakers Rachel Leah Jones and Phillippe Belloiche profiles Jewish Israeli human rights lawyer Leah Tsemel who has spent much of her career in defense of Palestinians accused of terrorism.

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Pride In The Park Tomorrow (Saturday, 12 April 2025)

The annual Pride in the Park celebration is happening on Saturday (12 April 2025) from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM in Columbia Park.

This is a fun and family-friendly event — we hope the terrific weather forecast holds for next Saturday.

Steve Caldwell is coordinating our booth at Pride this year and he can use help with the following tasks:

  • Setup (no official time yet but we are estimating 10:00 AM unless we hear otherwise)
  • Staffing our booth throughout the day
  • Breakdown at 3:00 PM

Email Steve or reply to the post on the All Souls Caring Connection if you can help next Saturday.

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Pride In The Park (12 April 2025)

The annual Pride in the Park celebration is happening on Saturday (12 April 2025) from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM in Columbia Park.

This is a fun and family-friendly event — we hope the terrific weather forecast holds for next Saturday.

Steve Caldwell is coordinating our booth at Pride this year and he can use help with the following tasks:

  • Setup (no official time yet but we are estimating 10:00 AM unless we hear otherwise)
  • Staffing our booth throughout the day
  • Breakdown at 3:00 PM

Email Steve or reply to the post on the All Souls Caring Connection if you can help next Saturday.

 

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Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (6 April 2025)

Please join us on Sunday (6 April 2025) for our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM.

Our adult religious education class is now a dual-platform class — meeting in person in the church social hall and also on Zoom.

We will be watching Part 2 of Jon Stewart’s interview with Maria Ressa.

Maria Ressa is a Filipino-American Nobel Laureate, journalist, activist, and author of How to Stand Up to a Dictator.

Maria Ressa is an extraordinary person whose voice is so necessary in the world right now.

As a journalist and CEO of the Filipino online news site Rappler, she was a prominent critic of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and was arrested by the regime on 10 different charges (two which she is still contesting.

She is the author of the book How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future.

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Volunteers for Youth Justice — April 2025 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to a community organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist values.

For the month of April 2025, we choose Volunteers for Youth Justice.

As their mission statement says, Volunteers for Youth Justice seeks to “provide a caring community for children, youth, and families in crisis” and they do so through many programs:

Two ways to donate:

Online — Go to our donation site using this link.  If you are paying your pledge, select “2025 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution.  Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to Volunteers for Youth Justice and then put “GATP APR 2025” or “Volunteers for Youth Justice” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of April 2025 will go to the Volunteers for Youth Justice.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106.  Please put “Volunteers for Youth Justice” on the memo line of the check if  you want to have 100% of your check go to Volunteers for Youth Justice.  If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Volunteers for Youth Justice, please put the amount you want going to Volunteers for Youth Justice on the memo line.

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