What do the values of Unitarian Universalists have in common with the values of anarchists, communists, and socialists? Many of us who are congregants at the All Peoples Church in Fort Worth have noticed that the young adults coming to our church are active for social justice. It has been inspiring for me to participate in some of their meetings.
The social justice organization that has been most active here has been DFW Support Committee for the Prairieland Defendants. Many of them consider themselves to be anarchists. Working with them, I have noticed that one of their main activities is mutual aid. Some work in community gardens and have prepared and shared food on Wednesdays with people from the community. Others devoted hours to cleaning the kitchen here. One person has spent time trimming trees around the church.
The main activity of the DFW Support Committee, however, as the name implies, has been seeking justice for the people who had a noise demonstration outside the Alvarado ICE Detention Center on July 4, 2025. They wanted to let the detained immigrants inside know that people care about them.
On June 23, 2026, nine of the demonstrators were sentenced from 30 to 100 years, a harsher penalty than the people who forced their way into the Capitol building to prevent the elected president from taking office on Jan. 6, 2021. On July 1 this summer, seven more people were sentenced.
Those who pled guilty but refused to testify against other defendants got 15 years. Those who pled guilty and testified against others were given a more lenient seven years. The only person who vandalized cars and cameras and testified against the other defendants got sentenced to less than two years.
Everyone I have met from DFW Support Committee organizes for social justice, and they love our church because we support the LGBTQ+ community and because we oppose the way that immigrants are being rounded up and held in inhumane conditions.
Communists and socialists who occasionally hold meetings at our church appreciate our support for the Voting Rights Act that was passed to guarantee that Black and brown voters get represented. They also appreciate UU’s support for reproductive rights, the right to public education, affordable housing, health care, universal childcare, and public transportation.
We can all probably agree that stopping endless wars could help pay for those things that all humans need, such as a higher minimum wage, increased Social Security payments, and better coverage from Medicare and Medicaid. I think most of us believe in taxing millionaires and billionaires to help redistribute wealth.
All of us have probably noticed that certain politicians are buying warehouses for detaining people. I believe that many of us could be at risk, so I want to conclude with and updated version of the famous poem “First They Came,” by Pastor Martin Niemoller.
First, they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews, Muslims, and immigrants
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew, Muslim, or immigrant
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views expressed here are those of the author.
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