What does virtual popular education look like? How do you facilitate a meaningful conversation about anti-blackness, cooperative economics, or the impacts of COVID-19 over Zoom? These are some of the questions the UFE team has been asking for the past couple of months.

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Beloved UFE community,

It is with great sorrow and fond memories that we share that frequent UFE collaborator and close friend Elandria C. Williams has transitioned to ancestor at the age of 41.

Elandria's impact on the movement for economic and racial justice cannot be understated. We are so grateful that we were able to connect and collaborate with Elandria on many occasions. We are grieving and we are grateful for Elandria’s spirit, energy and vision.

Elandria was the proud Executive Director and trainer at the PeoplesHub, a grassroots training organization that UFE has collaborated with and will continue to in the future. We wanted to share their words for our Beloved Elandria, and ask that if possible you join us in supporting their mission in Elandria's memory.

Doing this kind of work there are many people that touch your life, but Elandria touched my soul. There are few people like that, and I am thankful to have known them. They will forever be with me. Elendria PRESENTE!

In love and community,
Jeannette Huezo

PS: Please read the full statement from PeoplesHub in the Facebook post below--

Our country is built on stolen land and our democracy has never represented the voices of all. Our movements have done much to make our democracy more fair; but this progress is threatened by big donors, corporations and white nationalists. Our democracy is at risk.

Can you give 1%?

Responsible Wealth and UFE have joined One for Democracy, which is asking wealthy people to sign the pledge before election day to move their resources to groups organizing for democracy.

Two of our staff, Sara Sargent and Mike Lapham, have recorded a video about the pledge. Click through to watch!

Imagine this scene: books are being thrown up in the air, classrooms are humid because of the broken air conditioning, students are yelling at the top of their lungs, and teachers are too frustrated to teach. This was the scene of my eighth grade class because the school down the street from mine closed. My school days had not always been this way. A few years prior, class sizes were small, there were enough books, students enjoyed the fruits of learning, while teachers enjoyed teaching...

Rest in peace, rest in power, Congressman John Lewis.

He will be missed. He's been an inspiration to millions, and will continue to be for generations to come. We celebrate his lifelong commitment and love for justice.

The recording of a webinar we recently hosted on behalf of Mark McDermott, a former UFE board member and labor educator, is now available!

We're working to build and sustain movements for economic, racial, and gender justice. We're side-by-side with frontline leaders, building a world that provides real health and safety for all, using popular education to unpack how our economy is sustained through systems of racism, criminalization and anti-Blackness, and using healing justice to address ongoing trauma. In times of physical distancing, we are working hard to make tools and resources available.

Click above for stories of how we partner with movements and ways we might work together...

Dear UFE Family,

Take a deep breath with us. Inhale... Exhale...

This is a hard moment we are in. Not only are we being called to acknowledge the violence and racism woven into the very fabric of this country’s founding, we are being called by all those who have been targeted to imagine a just world.

Imagine with us...

UFE is supporting national and local work to lift up, strengthen, and coordinate immigrant community-based struggles for dignity and well-being, and helping to keep that work alive in virtual spaces. Alianza Americas is a national coalition shaping new narratives about Latin American immigrants and the systemic problems that force thousands of people to flee their countries of origin. We are supporting Alianza as they transition their leadership development online in response to COVID-19. Our support is enabling them to connect with local leaders who are mobilizing immigrant essential service workers to demand dignity and protections now. UFE’s first fully online training of trainers for Alianza took place in early May, and we will provide ongoing online workshops through the remainder of 2020.

Register now for our upcoming online event series Getting Through Economic Downturns Together. During previous crisis, people from different walks of life gathered in solidarity to create real solutions for themselves and their communities. From organizing and advocacy, to mutual aid networks and worker cooperatives, people around the globe have formed lasting solutions at great odds. What can today’s movements learn from how our ancestors built and resisted?

We're excited to release the cover illustration for our upcoming report, State of the Dream 2020: Building a Fair Economy at the Intersections. This year, our State of the Dream report will focus on the significance of gender and race in the fight for a fair economy, and will be released late this month (April) to concide with Coretta Scott King’s birthday.

Feelings Zoomed out? Here’s a list of 25 practices to make online meetings/trainings more engaging, equitable, & effective. Not comprehensive. We're still learning. What would you add?

Earned wages are going down, but the cost of living continues to climb. This is the sad reality for the majority of Americans. But at UFE’s Training of Trainers, we hold space for liberatory conversations to be born between the majority and the minority.

Our second ever cohort of trainers in our new NC Training Network came to Charlotte from cities and towns all across North Carolina, representing 8 different organizations. These included the Fight for Fifteen/NC Raise Up, Communication Workers of America (CWA), Carolina Jews for Justice, Just Economics of WNC, and Power Up NC.

Our current economy and government is not set up to support the health and well-being of all people. This reality is starkly reflected in the disproportionate fallout from COVID-19, which while affecting us all, impacts some of us more than others because of systemic inequality and structural racism. However, if you have more than you need right now, we encourage you to join the #ShareMyCheck campaign and pledge to redistribute your checks in solidarity with those hit hardest.

We're so appreciative of the amazing year we had in 2019... from celebrating our organization's 25th year, to launching a new training network in North Carolina... thank you to all those who collaborated with us, supported us, and otherwise made the work we do possible!

We're proud to share with you our 2019 impact report --as an infographic!

We at United for a Fair Economy recognize that we are in the midst of a disaster, a world-wide public health and economic crisis not witnessed in living memory.

Building a more fair economy capable of better responding to crises requires a more equitable allocation of resources to communities that have been historically disadvantaged or exploited. As we’ve seen with natural disasters in places like New Orleans and Puerto Rico, crises compound already existent inequalities, causing devastation for people of color in particular, while generating opportunities for a powerful few. Uplifting these marginalized voices is the best way to move forward and ensure lasting, economic change that benefits everyone, not just the wealthy.

On March 16, 2020, thirty-five members of Responsible Wealth – all in the top 1% of income and/or wealth – sent a letter to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature advocating for higher taxes on ultra-wealthy individuals like themselves to help fill New York’s pressing and unmet budget needs. Responsible Wealth, a project of United for a Fair Economy, is a national network of investors and other wealthy individuals who are concerned about growing economic inequality and working to change it.

Just a month before quarantine our Director of Cultural Organizing, Eroc Arroyo-Montano had the opportunity to be a co-facilitator and advisor in collaboration with the Educators Healing Gathering hosted by "Our Fire Collective." Combining healing justice and popular education, Eroc moved educators through different practices and helped to advise the group on next steps.