How We Began
It all started with a response to the Sarasota School Board.
In the Spring of 2023, a group at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice (UUCOV) learned that members of the School Board had been making disparaging comments about Tom Edwards, the only gay member of the group. They also heard that the Board was planning on hiring Vermillion, a conservative company that would create a “Christian” curriculum for Sarasota Public Schools.
The UUCOV group rallied to publicly support Tom and voice their disapproval of Vermillion, and, voila! the seeds of the Social Justice Alliance of the Florida Suncoast were sown.
Deciding to focus on hosting a banned books festival, and knowing that there is strength in numbers, they invited a variety of faith-based and secular organizations in the Venice/Sarasota/Port Charlotte areas to meet and discuss the event. Fifteen people from eight different organizations agreed to work together to make a festival happen. But that wasn’t all!!! Since each organization was already doing other social justice work, the group decided to support each other with the existing projects as well, thereby creating the start of a whole social justice movement.
The group voted on a name, and SJAFS became a reality!!!
We hope to engage more and more individuals and organizations in this effort so that we can make our voices heard loud and strong.
See a list of Our Members.