Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center
PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 46 No. 4 April 2016
States Damage Higher Education, Create Punishing Student Debt By Neil Cosgrove
The popularity among young people of Bernie Sanders’ proposals to fund tuition-free college education and student loan forgiveness is easy to understand, when we consider how state governments have abandoned the funding of public higher education in recent decades. The unrelenting drone emitted by “no new taxes” politicians, mostly Republicans, appears to emerge from an alternative reality that our most recent generation of college graduates and students do not share. That unfortunate cohort finds itself between the rock of needing a diploma for economic viability and the hard place of accumulating crushing debts to pay the ever-increasing tuition the diploma requires. (See Nijah Glenn’s article “Under Pressure” in the March NewPeople.) Pennsylvania represents the worst consequences of states’ retreat from funding public higher education. In 1983, state funding accounted for 63% of the operating budgets of the 14 state-owned universities that make up the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). Currently, state funding covers about 25% of those budgets. State appropriations now contribute seven percent to the state-related University of Pittsburgh’s operating budget, and six percent to Penn State’s. As a consequence, total costs for PASSHE students increased nearly 28% between 2007 and 2014, according to the Keystone Research Center, while University of Pittsburgh’s and Penn State’s tuitions are among the highest for the nation’s
public universities; in-state tuition at those schools was nearly a third of the nation’s median household income of $53.657 in 2014. Not surprisingly, the average debt of our state’s college graduates ($33,264) is well above the national average. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, Pennsylvania ranks third among all states in average student loan debt. Our college graduates are commonly forced On April 14th, working class people from across to take jobs that are temporary in nature and withPittsburgh are coming together for a day of acout much opportunity for advancement, at pay tion to call for an equitable, livable city for all. levels that do not provide financial independence, Workers from across industries are joining given the graduates’ debt burdens. Careers that hands to demand that all workers earn $15 an once drove a young person’s ambitions are indefihour and have the right to form a union! nitely postponed, as are life-fulfilling events such as marriage and creating a family. It's time to reclaim our city! Join us in the streets! Two states extremely similar in terms of popApril 14 ulation (Illinois has around 10,000 more people 3:30 pm than Pennsylvania, according to 2013 census estiForbes & Bigelow, Oakland mates) have experienced long-running budget battles that adversely affect the already inadequate funding of public higher education. Page 4 Illinois’ situation Port Authority Killing Challenged… remains the most catastrophic of Rally for Economic Justice… Pages 8- 9 the two, as no money has been allocated to the Pages 10– 11 state universities Primary Election Preview… since June 2015. Continued on Atomizing the Middle East… Page 13 Page 5…
In This Issue
Gentrification Gone Wrong: Interview with Filmmaker Chris Ivey By Nijah Glenn
Local film documentarian Chris Ivey is the creator of East Of Liberty, which chronicled the very beginning of recent gentrification in East Liberty. I asked Chris about the gentrification of the East Side, his inspiration for the film, and where the community can go from here.
Photo of Josh Gibson. “These men were not only among the greatest players of all time, but what strikes me is their spiritual strength in overcoming the prevailing racism at a time when lynchings were commonplace.” Find full article on page 6
How do you define gentrification? Depends on how you see it. In certain ways, it can be in a community that's rundown. In communities that are left alone, the property value goes down. Many communities are left alone until people with money return and buy up the area. And then the people around [those areas] are not able to stay because they can't afford the new rent or the taxes. [Gentrification] doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it depends on the intentions of the developers and the investors. They're nothing like the people there who are experiencing it. A lot of them don't want to relate. They hope things will go away. I see some ef-
fort from the current city administration to address it, but it's too little, too late. Personally, what was it that bothered you about the gentrification in East Liberty? I think when there was not a lot of community input and a lot of things happened behind closed doors. There’s been talk about "bringing back" East Liberty; even the shopping area is catered to a white community. Even when we talk about Homewood, we talk about how it was an Italian neighborhood and they want to get back to that in a lot of ways. It's in the way developers act. I just don’t see open dialogue without agendas . The secrecy is the one thing I hate about it all. This is the same problem, "We know what's best for you even though we don't know you or want to live around you.” A lot of times I feel like things are already in motion, and the developers get defensive when people share Continued on Page 7… The Thomas Merton Center works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice. TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world.
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(TMC projects follow TMC guidelines and receive financial and ongoing resources and support from the Thomas Merton Center.)
(Affiliates are independent partner organizations who support the nonviolent peace and justice mission of TMC. - Articles may not necessarily represent the views of Affiliates)
Anti-War Committee awc@thomasmertoncenter.org Book‘Em: Books to Prisoners Project bookempgh@gmail.com www.bookempgh.org Capital’s End 724-388-6258, iamholtz@iup.edu CodePink: Women for Peace francineporter@aol.com, 412-389-3216 www.codepink4peace.org
Neil Cosgrove, Ginny Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Marni Fritz, Nijah Glenn, Erin Ludlow, Jim McCarville, Bette McDevitt, Thomas Mulholland, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush, Jo Tavener
East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010, shawnapgh@aol.com
TMC Staff, Volunteers & Interns
Economic Justice Committee drohanmichael@yahoo.com
Executive Director: Antonio Lodico Finance Director / Project Liaison: Roslyn Maholland Administrative Assistant: Marni Fritz Support Staff: Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly, Meagan McGill Office Volunteers: Monique Dietz, Nancy Gippert, Lois Goldstein, Barbara Irons, Joyce Rothermel, Judy Starr, Tyger New People Coordinators: Marni Fritz & Tom Mulholland East End Community Thrift Store Managers: Shirley Gleditsch, Shawna Hammond, & Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly TMC Organizer/ Internship Coordinator: Gabriel McMorland
Thomas Merton Center Interns: Imaz Athar, Joy Cannon, Raphael
Cardamone, Alexandra Clarke, Lamar Clark, Nijah Glenn, Erin Ludlow, Jordan Malloy, Kathleen Mannard, Meagan McGill, Earl Pearson, Matthew Petras, Deepti Ramadoss, Miriam Reichman, Olivia Smith, Vivian Tan, Kamaria Tucker, Kimberly Webb, Brett Wilson, Andrew Woomer
2016 TMC Board of Directors
Thom Baggerman, Ed Brett, Michelle Burton-Brown, Rob Conroy (President), Neil Cosgrove, Mark Dixon, Michael Drohan, Patrick Fenton, Mary Jo Guercio, Wanda Guthrie, anupama jain, Ken Joseph, Anne Kuhn, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Jim McCarville, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush (co-founder), Tyrone Scales, Evan Schindler, M. Shernell Smith.
The East End Community Thrift (Thrifty) is an all volunteer-run thrift shop which provides quality, low-cost, used clothing and household goods to the surrounding community. Thrifty needs volunteers and shoppers! Please contact us at (412) 361-6010 and ask for Shirley or Shawna, or stop in at 5123 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Email shawnapgh@aol.com.
Environmental Justice Committee
environmentaljustice@thomasmertoncenter.org
Fight for Lifers West Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition Anne Wirth 412-716-9750 Harambee Ujima/Diversity Footprint Twitter @HomewoodNation
Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up (prisoner support and advocacy) 412-802-8575, hrcfedup@gmail.com www.prisonerstories.blogspot.com Marcellus Shale Protest Group melpacker@aol.com 412-243-4545 marcellusprotest.org New Economy Campaign gabriel@thomasmertoncenter.com Pittsburgh 350 350pittsburgh@gmail.com World.350.org/pittsburgh Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance Pittsburgh Campaign for Democracy NOW! 412-422-5377, sleator@cs.cmu.edu www.pcdn.org Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org Pittsburghers for Public Transit 412-216-9659 info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook 412-363-7472 tvnotebook@gmail.com
Publish in The New People The New People is distributed to 3,000 people who belong to diverse organizations, businesses and groups each month. The deadline for all submissions is the 13th of the month for the following month’s issue.
School of the Americas Watch W. PA 412-271-8414 drohanmichael@yahoo.com Shalefield Stories (Friends of the Harmed) 412-422-0272 brigetshields@gmail.com
To Submit Articles, Photos, or Poems: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit. To Submit an Event to the TMC Calendar: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/calendar/submit-event To Advertise: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/ad Advertising prices range from $15 for a business card size to $250 for a full page. There is a 10% discount when purchasing 6 months of ad space at a time, and a 20% discount when purchasing a year of ad space at a time. An additional 10% discount is available for non-profit organizations and faith-based groups. For more information: Call 412-361-3022 or email newpeople@thomasmertoncenter.org.
Stop Sexual Abuse in the Military 412-361-3022 hildebrew@aol.com Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group 724-837-0540 lfpochet@verizon.net
Table of Contents
Page 1 States Damage Higher Education, Create Punishing Student Debt Fight For $15 Gentrification Gone Wrong: Interview with Filmmaker Chris Ivey Black Sports Heroes Page 3 Come One; Come All! Seeking Campaign Reactions “Mollys Hammer” in St. Louis Meet New Board Member: Evan Schindler Page 4 Activists Challenge Port Authority Board Battle of Homestead Calendar Page 5 Vacant Lots: Rehabilitating Pittsburgh’s Environment and Economy 15 Hours Could Save Your Life– and Your Country States Damage Higher Education.. Cont’d.. 2 - NEWPEOPLE
April 2016
Page 6 Poverty and Justice Black Sports Heroes Featured in Films, Theater and Even an Opera! Page 7 Prison Justice– Steps Forward? Resentencing Juveniles Interview with Chris Ivey Cont’d Page 8 Fight For 15 Worker Profiles Page 9 Fight For 15 Worker Profiles Page 10 Primary Election Preview: U.S. Senate Feat. Profiles of McGinty & Fetterman Page 11 Primary Election Preview: U.S. Senate Feat: Sestak & Vodvarka Page 12 Economists Dispute Single Payer Affordability
Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org - www.amnestypgh.org Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750 B.a.finch@att.net Battle of Homestead Foundation
412-848-3079
The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org The Black Political Empowerment Project Tim Stevens 412-758-7898 CeaseFire PA www.ceasefirepa.org—info@ceasefirepa.org Citizens for Social Responsibility of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, evolve@atlanticbb.net Global Solutions Pittsburgh 412-471-7852 dan@globalsolutionspgh.org www.globalsolutionspgh.org
North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition 412-369-3961 email: info@arc.northpgh.org www.arc.northpgh.org PA United for Single-Payer Health Care www.healthcare4allPA.org www.PUSH-HC4allPa.blogspot.com 412-421-4242 Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi 412-761-4319 Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition 412-303-1247 lisacubasi@aol.com Pittsburgh BDS Coalition bdspittsburgh@gmail.com
412-512-1709
We are mission driven volunteers who look to build love and community by serving others in times of need.
Abolitionist Law Center 412-654-9070 abolitionistlawcenter.org
Pittsburgh North People for Peace 412-760-9390 info@pnpp.northpgh.org www.pnpp.northpgh.org Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org Raging Grannies 412-963-7163 eva.havlicsek@gmail.com www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com
Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com SWPA Bread for the World Joyce Rothermel 412-780-5118 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org Veterans for Peace kevinbharless@yahoo.com 252-646-4810 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net
TMC is a Member of Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network 412-621-9230 office@piin.org Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Martha Connelly 412-361-7872, osterdm@earthlink.net TMC supports these organizations missions.
Clinton Beats the Drums of War Page 13 Sexual Abuse by Military Recruiters a Significant Problem Atomization of the Middle East Political Cartoon Page 14 Flintsylvania Indigenous Activist Berta Caceres is Assassinated in Honduras 200 Sugar Maples Lie Dead In Eminent Domain Case Page 15 Corruption Vanquished in the Raman Curia APP To Host Open House Bread For the World Workshop and 2016 Lobby Day Meet With and Join Black & White Reunion
Merton Center News
Come One; Come All!
Seeking Campaign Reactions
By Shawna Hammond
East End Community Thrift will hold its annual fashion show, “Affordable Chic”, on Saturday, April 30, 2016. Sojourner’s House will partner with Thrifty for this 23rd year of fashion and food. The show will be held at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Co-ordinator Shirley Gleditsch and volunteers will be there to showcase the wonderful fashions and boutique items that can be found at Thrifty. The Silent Auction includes gift certificates from the local Garfield businesses and gift baskets created by long time Thrifty supporter Rose Evasovic. Lunch, will include salads and desserts, and will be provided by volunteers and friends of Thrifty and Sojourner House. Entertainment
will be supplied by long time Thrifty supporter Sandra Talley, Morningside COGIC Praise Team, and pianist David Boxley. Join us on Saturday, April 30th, at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Registration Cost: Regular cost is $20.00. Limited income is $5.00. To register, contact Shawna at East End Community Thrift or through The Thomas Merton Center website at www.thomasmertoncenter.org. All proceeds benefit the peace and justice work done by The Thomas Merton Center, Sojourner House and East End Community Thrift. Shawna Hammond is the Manager of East End Community Thrift.
There are few issues within the social justice community that are so highly contested as the issue of our electoral process and whether or not it works. The political climate this election year is fluctuating all over the spectrum and is unlike any other of recent rime. We have candidates covering a broader political spectrum in this election than in recent years, and candidates seem less inclined to seek some alleged “middle ground” than has frequently been the case. Whether or not these candidates speak for the people, voters will narrow it down to two choices: one representing Democrats and one representing Republicans. While TMC does not take a stand on this issue, or endorse any particular candidates, we are interested in opening up a public space where folks can express their opinions on the most highly contested issues. We would like to invite you to help us analyze the current events, political parties and electorate of this election in an ongoing series. Whatever your opinion
may be, we would like to hear from you. \ Write to us answering some or all of the questionsQuestions we have chosen to facilitate this discussion are: How do elections run by the two-party system represent or fail to represent the views of the people? In the limited choices of the election, how do you prioritize your own values when choosing a candidate? What are your priorities, what are your sacrifices and how do you react as a voter? Do you feel as though there is someone truly representing you? How do you perceive the current electoral system to be working for you? How is it not? What do we want to preserve and what do we want to change in our current system? Have you ever decided to refrain from voting in an election? Why? How do electoral campaigns either co -opt or build genuine social movements?
“Molly’s Hammer” Premieres in St. Louis
Photo By Margaret Laskey
A drama by Pittsburgh playwright Tammy Ryan, entitled “Molly’s Hammer,” has opened in St. Louis to glowing reviews. The play depicts the actions of the Plowshares Eight, who took hammers to nuclear warheads in a King of Prussia missile plant, while focusing on the spiritual and familial journey of one of the eight, Merton Center co-founder Molly Rush. Based on Liane Ellison Norman’s 1989 book Hammer of Justice: Molly Rush and the Plowshares Eight, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis premiered Ryan’s work from March 9-27, 2016. In the words of Riverfront Times’
reviewer Paul Friswold, “Molly’s Hammer” is a “transformative experience” and “a great gift” that “teaches you how to fear again in order to make you feel what’s at risk if you don’t take your chance to live.” Stage Left St. Louis considered the play a thought-provoking “first-rate production,” and Molly Rush herself, present at the premiere, said simply that the “actors and directors are wonderful.” Merton Center members hope “Molly’s Hammer” will soon be performed in some form in Pittsburgh.
Meet New TMC Board Member: Evan Schindler Evan Schindler has the distinction of being the Merton Center’s youngest current board member. A former summer intern at the Merton Center, Evan was elected to the board for a three-year term last November. What are the values and convictions of someone now in his twenties and what has formed them? Evan remembers growing up during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and it being a normal thing to “watch the war” on TV. Since those days the U.S. intervention in the Middle East seems to Evan to have changed nothing. As he has grown older the USA’s constant engagement with war continues to appear as just another “normal” thing. What can change that? Evan has always been fascinated by other cultures and is proud that his country is so open to diverse people. The age of the internet has made it incredibly easy for Evan to expand his cultural appetite. He thinks it’s important for his generation to connect with others around the world on a personal level. Evan says, “War will become a thing of the past when we grow to love one another and respect one another as equals.” Evan is a recent graduate of Clarion University with a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications (a combination of Public Relations, Advertising, and Journalism). In 2013, Evan served as a summer intern at the Merton Center, assisting with membership outreach and media publications. He was intrigued by the political and economic controversies surrounding the Occupy Movement and the Wall Street bailouts at the time. Evan says, “The internship gave me hands-on experience in writing, publication design and public speaking. It was awesome to be in a position where I felt my voice was heard. I left with a solid resume and portfolio, but more importantly I saw first hand how grassroots movements gain momentum. It was an eye-opening experience to see the commitment of staff and projects, and to see how much they accomplished.” Evan now works full time in the Pittsburgh area. He and his fiance, Jingjie, also work with Chi-
nese international students who wish to study in the United States. When asked to serve on the TMC board, Evan did not hesitate. “I believe that the Merton Center continues to be a vital resource for those with a cause. It’s a place where people without a voice can finally speak. I love the energy of the organizers and the overall mission of the TMC. It’s an honor to be on the board, and I hope to bring the same eyeopening experiences that I’ve encountered to others in my generation.” Evan is a self-starter and plans to follow through on promoting the Center to a younger generation during his board term. He believes there are some exciting tools that can help the Center increase engagement with its membership and grow support for the Center and its projects. He hopes to assist the Center in utilizing new technologies in accomplishing its mission. Evan says, “As someone who works in consumer engagement and data science, I hope to educate others on the benefits of strong membership relations. I also want to work with Tony (TMC’s Executive Director) on some of the exciting new big data initiatives. I hope to provoke younger people to get involved in The Center. I think it's important to reach out to Gen. Y as they become more aware of their own political and economic choices. All of this is in an effort to grow TMC membership and to move The Center towards a strategy for sustenance.” Evan has hope for a more peaceful and just world and tells a story to make his point. “My fiance, Jingjie, and I met during our summer internship at the Center. She came to Pittsburgh from China to study at Pitt, and we fell in love. We were born on opposite sides of the planet, yet we had such an incredible personal connection. I think it was because of our openness and curiosity towards each other's cultures. If everyone from different cultures could be so open, the world would be a better place.” Evan invites TMC members and NewPeople readers to feel free to be in touch with him through
By Joyce Rothermel
the Merton Center. He loves to hear about the new ideas and projects of the Center. We welcome Evan Schindler to the Board and thank him for his commitment to the mission of the Thomas Merton Center. Joyce Rothermel mentored Evan Schindler during his summer internship at the Merton Center.
Evan with his fiance Jingjie Chen. April 2016
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Local Activism Activists Challenge Port Authority Board Two activists spoke up about the killing of Bruce Kelley Jr. by Port Authority police at the February 26 Authority Board Meeting. One was Helen Gerhardt, who spoke on behalf of Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT), a project of the Thomas Merton Center, and the other was Dell Vann, who identified himself as a Black Lives Matter supporter. A January 31 incident involving Kelley Jr., along with his father, and the Port Authority police ended in the death of Kelley Jr. The two men were drinking together at a gazebo when two cops approached them, which led to Kelley Sr. going up to one and “grabbing her physically from behind,” according to a WPXI video of District Attorney Steven Zappala speaking at a press conference. Kelley Sr. was then pepper sprayed by the same officer, prompting him to attempt to assault her again before being pepper sprayed a second time, Zappala continued. Later, nine to ten armed officers followed Kelley Jr., who fled the scene wielding a four-inch
knife, borne out by surveillance footage provided by Zappala during the conference. A K-9 unit was eventually released on Kelley Jr., which prompted him to stab the dog to death. Afterwards, “one officer shoots Kelley [Jr.] ten times, the other shoots him twice,” Zappala said. Some are concerned about the mental health of Kelley Jr.; Zappala said “we do not have a mental health evaluation.” In response to this incident, Gerhardt essentially recited to the board the statement PPT put out online on pittsburghersforpublictransit.org on February 11. “Pittsburghers for Public Transit is deeply concerned and upset about the killing of Bruce Kelley, Jr. by Port Authority police,” Gerhardt said to the board. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time. We are also deeply concerned about the use of the police dog on a person, both in this instance and in all instances.” There are several areas Gerhardt expressed concern about, including calls for better police training and further investigation. “We understand the District Attorney, Steven Zappala, is leading an investigation into whether or not the use of deadly force was justified,” Gerhardt said. “We also think the investigation should include whether or not the use of the police dog was justified.” Dell Vann had sharply critical things to say to the board. “The killing of Bruce Kelley Jr. is Pittsburgh’s version of the tale of two cities. One version has Pittsburgh being the most livable city, and the other version has it being the poorest in the nation,” Vann told the board. “Pittsburgh doesn’t even Helen Gerhardt speaks to the Port Authority board February 26 on behalf of have a black middle class neighborPittsburghers for Public Transit regarding the death of Bruce Kelley Jr.. hood, unheard of anywhere else.” Photo By Matt Petras He went on to explain, throughout
Battle of Homestead Calendar The Battle of Homestead Foundation(BHF) offers a summer lecture and film series, free and open to the public, at the Pump House, 880 East Waterfront Dr., Munhall, 15120. The BHF is a diverse organization of citizens, workers, educators and historians which aims to preserve, interpret and promote a people's’ history focused on the significance of the dramatic labor conflict at the Homestead Works in 1892. Below are our programs for April –June, 2016 Thursday, April 21, 1-3pm- COMMEMORATION –- A new marker commemorating The Battle of Homestead of 1892 will be unveiled with an event at the Pump House. The ceremony features music and readings by students from Steel Valley High School and presentations from local dignitaries, followed by a reception. The new interpretive marker highlights solidarity between the steelworkers and townspeople of Homestead, defending their jobs against scabs, and notes the significance of this confrontation in the turbulent struggles of industrial relations in our country. The film THE RIVER RAN RED will be shown at 7:30 pm. A gripping account of a community’s struggle to preserve its way of life, the film employs documentary techniques, primary sources, dramati-
By Matt Petras
his speech, the various forms of racism evident in the city. “Pittsburgh has financially and politically ostracized its black community, and it’s a model example of ... two separate entities, unequal, and separate,” Vann said. “And it is under this atmosphere that Bruce Kelley [Jr.] was killed.” His harsh criticism comes with a strong position on what should happen next. “It’s time for the district attorney to file murder charges against the Port Authority police who killed Bruce Kelley Jr.,” Vann said. After Vann finished speaking, Gerhardt stood up and applauded his speech. Later, Gerhardt explained why she liked Vann’s speech via interview. “I have grave concerns about the role of race, and I’m speaking as an individual now rather than as PPT,” Gerhardt said. “I have seen such damage from racism and implicit bias in this city and in my own experience as a veteran. I bore a weapon at one point and I saw how implicit bias and dehumanization of certain minorities leads to incredible loss, violence, death.” PPT does not believe anyone involved should be charged with murder, Gerhardt said. Vann, who does, explained why he came to speak in a post-event interview. “What motivated me was the killing of Bruce Kelley [Jr.]. I had been an activist about ten years ago, and I hadn’t done anything and this kind of brought me out of hibernation,” Vann said. “It was a senseless killing, and it should have been handled differently.” This event made Vann think of horrific moments in history of the police abusing minorities. “It reminded me of things happening in the past, where the police would let loose the dogs, particularly in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama, and then after letting loose the dogs, then they would beat them up,” Vann said. “It’s almost history repeating itself.” Matt Petras is an intern for The NewPeople covering LGBTQ issues and local activism. He is a Class of 2018 Point Park student majoring in journalism.
By The Battle of Homestead Foundation
cally staged scenes and lyrical commentary found in poetry, song and fiction. Produced by Steffi Domike and Nicole Fauteux. (60 mins.) Sunday May 15- 2 pm- PANEL PRISON NATION –THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: Why ar e so many people – especially people of color – behind bars in the United States? We will learn about programs for re-entry, and movements for reform for juvenile lifers, people in solitary, and others. Panelists include Martha Conley, Jules Lobel and Tiffany Sizemore-Johnson (facilitator) Thursday, May 26- 7:30pm- FILM - LOST IN THE HYPE- (45 mins) Analyzing r acism in sports, this locally-produced documentary explores the roles of players, fans, owners, media and your tax dollars in perpetuating this phenomenon. It features interviews with Pittsburgh African-American leaders in many sports, as well as commentators, interspersed with photos and sports videos. Rob Ruck will lead Q&A and discussion to follow. Saturday, June 11 – 1:30pm - PANEL- BUILDING STRONG AND VIBRANT UNIONS - The subject of this discussion will be organizing, engaging workers to maximize power, growing union membership and defending existing contracts. The
panel features organizing directors from two Pittsburgh-based unions--Maria Somma of the Steelworkers, Gene Elk from United Electrical Workers, and a member of the Academic Workers Association, discussing strategies and techniques, successes and challenges facing workers today. Thursday, June 23- 7:30 pm FILM BUILDING PITTSBURGH (45 minutes). Amer ica’s oldest and most stable trade unions have sprung from the craft labor and skilled trade jobs essential to constructing our buildings, bridges, factories, and infrastructure, such as transportation and utilities. Former BHF President Charlie McCollester and Steffi Domike produced this fascinating documentary about Pittsburgh’s own building trades unions and members. Rediscover how these unionists are an essential part of our city’s history and built environment. Rick Okraszewski from the Carpenters Union will tell us about their apprenticeship program. The Battle of Homestead Foundation is a diverse organization of citizens, workers, educators and historians which aims to preserve, interpret and promote a people’s history focused on the significance of the dramatic labor conflict at the Homestead Works in 1892. Left: Pitt Students prepare for the February 26th United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) rally and march in Oakland. Right: Robin Clarke, English Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh, describes the difficulties facing many Pitt faculty at the same rally. Photos by Neil Cosgrove
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April 2016
Taking Positive Steps Vacant Lots: Rehabilitating Pittsburgh’s Environment and Economy By Kathleen Mannard
Starting with an idea and seeing it through to its final production requires stages of progression and at least one person willing to carry the project through. Fortunately, the non-profit environmentally conscious organizations of Pittsburgh surround themselves with a community of support with the end goal of survival and rehabilitation of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. In the past 11 years, the non-profit organization GTECH Strategies (Growth Through Energy and Community Health) belief in a green economy has resulted in a partnership with citizens, businesses, and organizations, to educate and improve economic and environmental health of neighborhoods. GTECH Strategies primarily works with citizens to transition littered, wasted and abandoned lands into viable resources. Hundreds of Western Pennsylvania residents work on small-scale, developing projects for vacant lots with guidance and monetary grant support from GTECH Strategies. Citizen and attorney Ayanna Lee-Davis serves as a successful example of GTECH’s partnership. LeeDavis learned of GTECH Strategies’ volunteer community ambassadors program and secured permission from the city to create a garden community space in a small vacant section of the North Side.
With her $3000 budget and 20 volunteers, she cleared away debris and weeds, established solid foundations, and beautified the space with children’s creations in a matter of 4 months. Vacant lots are a growing concern for Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania because they drain residents of their quality of life with environmental hazards and public-health issues, and increase the economic burden with taxes. Currently, there are over 25,000 vacant lots in Pittsburgh. In 2015, GTECH Strategies partnered with the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning and the Pittsburgh Greenspace Alliance to create the website LotstoLove.org, an interactive map to find vacant lots in need of rehabilitation in Allegheny County. The redevelopment of vacant lots stimulates the economic and environmental growth of underdeveloped neighborhoods. Revitalized vacant lots also create safe and appealing sites for a community to bond together. As well as identifying vacant lots with potential idea status, Lots to Love also lists “in progress” and “implemented” projects and all the organization partners involved such as GTECH Strategies and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. While exploring LotstoLove.org, I discovered that Community Human Services Corporation
(CHS) in the East End of Oakland has an “implemented” project listed from 2015. CHS provides individuals and families with access to food, housing, and community building. In previous years, I had volunteered at CHS for school purposes and donated food to their pantry. This was the first I learned of their teaching garden project, which is supported by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The teaching garden serves its CHS community with fresh self-grown produce. Although a relatively small and privately owned lot, CHS’ space incorporates all the important issues surrounding redeveloping lots. The space helps the quality of life, promotes a healthy and natural environment, and brings together a community for a common purpose of sustainability. With the help of organizations like GTECH Strategies, CHS, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and other businesses, and individuals in Pittsburgh, we can act and come together for the common purpose of the long-term vitality of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods and its citizens. Kathleen Mannard is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Anthropology. She is the environmental justice writing intern for TMC.
15 Hours Could Save Your Life -- and Your Country By Tim Cimino
[This could be the plot of an action-adventure movie with a happy ending. But the first part is true, and the second part can be made to happen.] Gradually the citizens of the United States and Canada learned that they were extremely vulnerable: Their electric power grid was highly vulnerable to a long-term collapse, potentially from coast to coast. Almost no mainstream media outlet covered the grid’s vulnerability. The consequences were too terrifying. No electricity would mean no factory production of food, fuel and medicine; no cell phone or internet communication; no heat or air-conditioning for most people; and no contact with police, firefighters and paramedics. When people learned that Congress had been aware of the problem since 2004 and had done nothing to protect the grid, nothing to force the utilities to shield the grid, and nothing to require Homeland Security to create a robust rescue and recover plan, many people became angry and felt betrayed. Others denied that the threat was real. Others became fatalistic. They decided it was a doomsday scenario. Others became terrified, and then quickly put it out of their heads. It was too stressful to think about. About one to two percent of the country decided to spend thousands of dollars to prepare. Then in August 2014 an ex-chemist learned about the problem from online videos. He too felt anger and then despair. There seemed to be no solution. But he kept thinking about it. Finally he came up with a very powerful solution. His central insight was to think of this not as a doomsday situation, but as an insurance situation. You insure yourself by doing five things that take about 15
hours total. First, people would spend an hour learning why the grid was vulnerable. The ex-chemist put government documents, links to magazine articles and short videos on his gridemergency.org website to document the problem. Second, people spend about four to six hours doing essential preparation. The ex-chemist wrote a detailed 34page PDF and put it on his website. Those who could afford it would spend about $300 per person for supplies and a few essential pieces of equipment (for instance, to cook food or collect water). Unlike other kinds of insurance that were more expensive, the $300 was a one-time cost! Third, people were to pressure national and local government to purchase and stockpile supplies for the roughly 30% who couldn’t or wouldn’t prepare. This would cost about $40 billion, and should be pushed as emergency funding. Many people doubted that government could be pushed so fast, but the ex-chemist reminded people that everyone was in the same boat and their survival was at stake. Thus, critical mass could be reached quickly. Fourth, people were to pressure government to do two other things: get Homeland Security to create a robust rescue & recovery plan, and forcefully regulate the utilities so that they would shield their equipment. All the advocacy would take about two hours total, done in brief five-minute phone calls, emails, or Facebook/Twitter posts. Finally, people were to inform and support close friends and out-of-town family to follow their example. Those learning about it must also pass on the information
to their networks. This action would lead to a chainreaction of preparation. The key was to treat this threat as urgent. If each person passed this information on to seven others within ten days, it would take four months. (Six months seems more realistic.) Here were three great outcomes of the ex-chemist’s plan: 1) It boosted a person’s self-esteem, optimism and security as soon as they began to prepare. People wouldn’t feel so helpless and trapped. 2) When they successfully passed it on to loved ones, their comfort level would increase further. 3) The plan offered significant preparation for every mega-disaster, from hurricanes and earthquakes, to pandemics, limited nuclear war or anything that would disrupt the economic supply chain. Naturally, some people procrastinated. The exchemist confronted them by saying, “Many people believe that Congress betrayed the American people through inaction. Don’t let the same thing be said about you.” Most people loved the plan. In 15 hours you were protecting yourself, loved ones, strangers, the economic future of the country, and the economic and political stability of the world! It was a beautiful, efficient and majestic plan. Thus, in less than six months 340 million people could no longer be easily terrorized. The people had protected themselves. [Many other questions and reservations are addressed at gridemergency.org. Or feel free to email timcimino@gmail.com with questions, suggestions or to volunteer.] Tim Cimino is director of Group Genie, a nonprofit creativity organization that generates original solutions to help people.
States Damage Higher Education, Create Punishing Student Debt Cont’d By Neil Cosgrove
While Pennsylvania’s dispute is an argument between a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature over raising taxes to adequately fund the budget, Illinois’ Republican Governor Bruce Rauner is refusing to accept a $36 billion dollar budget unless the Democratic legislature agrees to his recommended changes in public employees’ collective bargaining rights and worker compensation. The lack of funding has been particularly hard on Illinois’ smaller regional universities. In February the historically black Chicago State University sent layoff notices to every one of the school’s faculty, staff and administrators, declared a state of financial emergency, and cancelled spring break in order to save money by moving up the end of the Spring term. Eastern Illinois laid off nearly 200 employees and forced faculty and staff to take around a month’s worth of furlough days by the end of June. Western Illinois is considering cutting programs and laying off more than two dozen nontenured faculty.
In Pennsylvania, following Governor’s Wolf’s late March decision not to veto the most recent Republican budget iteration, the PASSHE schools will plod along with a slight 5% increase over funding that was slashed by 18% in 2011. The state-related schools like Pitt received a similar increase from last year’s meager allocation, although Democrats, some Republicans, and independent observers admit the state has inadequate revenues to pay for the budget appropriations. Tuition increases are close to guaranteed for the 2016-2017 academic year. Given public higher education’s role in spurring economic growth, in backing the personal futures of millions of citizens, and in creating an informed electorate as well as potential civic leaders, the neglect of these institutions by state-level politicians goes beyond ideological disagreements and constitutes criminally ignoring citizens’ fundamental well-being. Contemporary college students and recent graduates have every right to be angry. Something has clearly got to give. Public higher education must be funded to the
extent that it is available to potential students from all socio-economic backgrounds, without having to incur crippling amounts of debt; wages must rise for jobs not requiring a college education; and a guaranteed base income for all Americans (Richard Nixon’s 45-year-old negative income tax proposal) must be implemented. This generation of young adults appears to be demanding such measures, but simply backing one progressive-minded Presidential candidate won’t make them happen. The current state legislators and governors who create the budgets allocating funds for public higher education need to believe their jobs depend on positively responding to a new generation of voters—and for years to come. Neil Cosgrove co-chairs the NewPeople editorial collective and is a member of the Thomas Merton Center board.
April 2016
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Overcoming Hate Poverty and Justice Bryan Stevenson is concerned that one out of every three black babies born in the United States will go to prison. He’s concerned that the United States has some 6.6 million people locked up. He’s concerned that 20% of these people are mentally ill. Another 6.3 million people are on probation or parole. Pennsylvania ranks fifth in the number of people in prisons. We also rank first in the world with 524 juveniles serving life without parole. Stevenson is concerned that 7 million people are unemployed or underemployed. That includes 64% of women. Stevenson told the University of Pittsburgh School of Law on January 25 that “visions are fueled by a fire in the heart.” He was speaking as the founder, and executive director, of the Alabamabased Equal Justice Initiative, which is devoted to challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system and to fighting poverty. Stevenson’s current magnum opus is; Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
Bryan Stevenson. Photo by Rev. Dr. Roger L Thomas
By Rev. Dr. Roger L. Thomas
ruled that the case of Miller v Alabama is retroactive.” The Miller case had ruled, on July 26, 2012, that juveniles could no longer be sentenced to a mandatory life without parole. Pennsylvania had ruled that Miller only applied to sentences rendered after that decision. Montgomery ruled that it applied to all the juveniles serving juvenile life without parole. Stevenson emphasized that the first element in criminal justice is proximity. “Proximity” happens when lawyers become “animated by their work.” It’s “when lawyers get proximate to their client.” His personal encounter with “proximity” came while he was still a law student. He was grudgingly sent to visit an inmate in solitary confinement. He told the inmate that he didn’t have a degree yet, had no criminal experience, and was only allowed to visit for 20 minutes. The stone-cold inmate unfolded in front of him for the next three hours. When the guards finally intervened, the inmate broke into “I’m Going to a Higher Level.” Stevenson could hear him singing over the noise all the way through the cell The honor of block. He was the only visitor that inmate had ever introducing Ste- had. venson fell to Stevenson’s second element is to change the Professor Jules narrative - “We tolerate injustice because we are Lobel, himself afraid!” “The Rule of Law”, Stevenson said, “only serving as coun- works when it also applies to those we hate.” “The sel for the Peli- new immigrants are refugees from terror.” can Bay hunger “Our country is infected by racism,” Stevenson strikers against said. “We tolerated racism, and we must face our the arbitrary sys- history!” “We must make a commitment to truth and tem of solitary reconciliation.” Stevenson would personally like to confinement. place a marker at every lynching site in America. Stevenson The third element for Stevenson is that we must opened his protect our hopefulness. He again gave a personal presentation by example. He went to visit an incarcerated client and celebrating that was confronted by a trailer in the parking lot which “At 10:03 this was stocked with every imaginable form of racist morning the and Confederate symbols and trivia. The admitting United States guard boasted that he owned that trailer. The guard Supreme Court refused to grant Stevenson access to his client until
he completed all the visitor searches. He refused to believe that a Negro in a suit and tie was actually a lawyer. The inmate who was finally admitted to the visiting room asked whether Stevenson had brought him a chocolate milkshake. The guard watched the entire dynamic, and monitored the visit. The trailer was gone when Stevenson returned for the next visit. The guard personally escorted Stevenson in to see his client, and reported that he had personally taken that inmate on an outing to buy him a chocolate milkshake. Stevenson’s fourth element is that we must commit to doing things that are uncomfortable. “We must do inconvenient things.” “Finality must not be more important than fairness,” Stevenson said. The idea that “it is too late” demonstrates a process orientation of finality. “Why do we kill broken people?” Stevenson asks. “Because we are in a broken system.” “I do what I do because I am broken, too.” “The opposite of poverty is not wealth,” Stevenson said. “The opposite of poverty is justice!” When Dean William M. Carter, Jr. invited a few follow-up questions, Stevenson was showered with queries. People literally followed him all the way to the elevator. “You’re beating the drum for justice” Stevenson said. “This is an age for direct contact.” “The adult system should not be used for juveniles.” “We must distinguish between First Degree Murder and Felony Homicide.” “We must enforce the Federal Truth in Sentencing Act,” Stevenson said. “It’s funded by the Federal Government.” “Private prisons are an inherently bad idea,” he said. “They are based more in indifference than in malice.” Rev. Dr. Roger Thomas is the Chair, Pennsylvania Committee for the Analysis & Reform of Our Criminal System since 2003
Black Sports Heroes Featured in Films, Theater, and even an Opera! By Molly Rush
My Dad loved baseball, listened to games on the radio and told me many stories about the great players of his day. Among these were two of the stars who played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a legendary Pittsburgh team in the Negro National League. Dad attended many of the Crawfords and Homestead Grays games in the 1930s. I remember how he’d rave about the phenomenal pitcher Satchel Paige.
“Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing” Cornelius Johnson, with a record-setting high jump, opened in March at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre. won the gold. Hitler abruptly left the building. No more private box visits for any Olympic winner. Josh Gibson – the Opera Then Jesse Owens, a world record-holder, broke Josh Gibson played for both the Crawfords and Olympic records with four gold medals. Of his 26the Homestead Grays. One of the best power hitters foot long jump, he said, “I decided…I was going to and catchers ever, he is also in the National Baseball fly. I was going to stay up in the air.” Today, next to Hall of Fame. He had a .354 average and hit 962 the stadium, there’s a street called Jesse Owens Alhomers throughout a 17-season career, with single- ley. Satchel Paige – the Play season highs of .517 hits and 84 home runs. He has But there was another snub. The hero comes Satchel Paige signed with the Crawfords in 1932 been called the “Black Babe Ruth” and Ruth the home to acclaim. A dinner was held in his honor,at after six years of playing for semi-pro and pro “White Josh Gibson.” the fancy Waldorf Astoria Hotel. But he was forced teams. In 1934 the team played in an exhibition Monte Irvin once said, "I played with Willie Mays to ride a freight elevator to the ballroom. game with the Major League’s St. Louis Cardinals. and against Hank Aaron, They were tremendous “Awards become corroded; friends gather no He struck out 13 of 18 batters, winning against star players, but they were no Josh Gibson. You saw him dust.” pitcher Dizzy Dean. On his 42nd birthday in 1948 hit, and you took your hat off.” A “gentlemen’s The film “Race,” starring Stephan James, is in Paige made history when he signed up with the agreement” kept him out of the majors. It’s said that theaters around the country. Cleveland Indians and helped clinch the pennant. He Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bill Benswanger actually These men were not only among the greatest athplayed with the St. Louis Browns from 1951-53. At signed Gibson to a Major League contract in 1943 letes of all time, but what strikes me is their spiritual age 59, he pitched three shutout innings with the that was vetoed by Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the strength in overcoming the prevailing racism at a Kansas City Athletics. In 1971 He became the first first Commissioner of Baseball, serving from 1920 time when lynchings were commonplace. The suNegro League player to be inducted into the Nation- until his death in 1944. perstars continue to be a model for all of us as we al Baseball Hall of Fame. “A homer a day will boost my pay.” “When you struggle; to overcome hatred not by hating but “My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball get hungry enough, you find yourself speaking through loving protest in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luaway from the bat.” “Age is a question of mind over Spanish pretty well.” [while playing in Puerto Rico] ther King. He offered a compelling vision of hope. matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” An opera “The Summer King – The Josh Gibson That’s very hard as we watch on TV the pummeling Story” plays at the Beneof a young black woman holding a sign, “Black dum April 29 & May 2, 5 Lives Matter” at a rally for Donald Trump as he Every Monday at 9 pm during April & 7. shouted “Get her out!” while the crowd cheered. MARK DIXON'S TV REPORT ON CLIMATE There couldn’t be a better time to remember and Jesse Owens – the Film honor Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jesse Owens CHANGE SUMMIT In 1936 the grandson of as true heroes. Airs Within City Limits a slave and son of a shareCOMCAST Channel 21 & VERIZON FIOS Channel 47 cropper traveled to Berlin to compete in the summer Molly Rush is a TMC Board member and member Progressive PGH Notebook TV Series Olympics, meant to show- of The NewPeople Editorial Collective. case Adolf Hitler’s Third PCTV21 Public Access Tv Reich. He invited the first Filmmaker Mark Dixon three gold medalists to his private box. Then two http://markatcop21.wordpress.com black athletes came on the scene. In the fourth event, 6 - NEWPEOPLE
April 2016
Reforming Prison Practices Prison Justice – Steps Forward? Due to the hard work of those in prison - as well as those formerly incarcerated and general public advocates - steps have occurred recently to correct some of the injustices of our prison system. It is significant that the injustices of solitary confinement and our sentencing laws are being recognized. Our hard work is having an impact. A Justice Department report released in January highlighted the barbaric use of solitary confinement. The paper, entitled the “Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing,” provided recommendations that have been adopted by President Obama. Banning the use of solitary confinement for juveniles and for minor infractions are among the changes. The President is also calling for more treatment for those who are mentally ill as well as recommending that those in solitary are given more time outside their cells in Federal prisons. It is hoped that these recommendations will spread to states. In 2012, the Supreme Court banned life without parole for juveniles in this country. While this was great news, it was not retroactive, leaving many who were incarcerated as juveniles still with no hope of ever getting out of prison. Recently, however, the Supreme Court voted to make this ban retroactive. This is great news for the 500 people we have in our PA prisons who were incarcerated as juveniles. Still, in order for each one of them to be released, they will have to go through a lengthy process involving
the courts, the Parole Board and the Department of Corrections. The procedures make room for crime victims to express their anger, grief and concerns before any release happens. In 2015 the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act was approved by the Senate Judicial Commission by a bipartisan vote of 15-5. This act, if it becomes law, would significantly impact the amount of time people with nonviolent drug offenses are incarcerated, something that the majority of people in this country support. This does not go nearly far enough. Not surprisingly, Republicans are in the process of watering down the bill. It is going nowhere for now. However, the fact that the bill has even gotten this far opens up possibilities and we should all be calling on our representatives to get a law passed. It is vital that we form an alliance with those in prison, those formerly incarcerated and their families, to advocate for changes. How we incarcerate people needs to be examined. In addition, support is needed for those who have already been caught up in the system. This spring, a number of events in Pittsburgh will give people a chance to educate themselves and to explore ways to work on bringing much-needed change.
horrors of solitary confinement. Julie Steele Allen is both the playwright and the actor. The play is taken from letters that Mariposa wrote to Allen from solitary. Jondhi Harrell; On Apr il 5th at 7pm at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, Jondhi Harrell, Director of The Center for Returning Citizens will speak about: “Do Black Lives Matter: The Impact of Mass Incarceration on Individuals and the Community.” Jondhi himself was incarcerated. He not only speaks from experience about our corrupt system but also how we can advocate for change. International Conference on Solitary Confinement: Apr il 15th and 16th The Univer sity of Pittsburgh School of Law will be holding an international conference on solitary confinement. This event will be interdisciplinary and include experts from around the world. Free and open to the public. For more information, go to: law.pitt.edu/events Scilla Wahrhaftig is a PA organizer for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and the PA Network Against Torture.
Mariposa and the Saint: On Apr il 2nd at 7 pm at Repair the World, 6022 Broad St, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. This is a one-person play expressing the
Resentencing Juveniles At 10:30 AM, January 25, 2016 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Montgomery v Louisiana, that no juvenile could be sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life without parole, regardless of the date of the offense. This vacates Pennsylvania’s decision in Comm. v. Cunningham that juveniles, sentenced before June 26, 2012, could be confined under a mandatory life without parole. The Montgomery ruling is that, “Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288, set forth a framework for the retroactive application of a new constitutional rule to convictions that were final when the new rule was announced. It recognized that courts must give retroactive effect to new watershed procedural rules and to substantive rules of constitutional law. Substantive constitutional rules include ‘rules forbidding criminal punishment of certain primary conduct’ and ‘rules prohibiting a certain category of punishment for a class of defendants because of their status or offense.’” Pennsylvania currently has 524 juveniles serving life without parole. That’s twice the number of the next state, Louisiana, which has 210. At the September 22, 2008 hearings, Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R -Montgomery) reported that 69% of the juveniles currently serving life sentences never held a weapon, never confronted a victim, and may not even
By Scilla Wahrhaftig
By Rev. Dr. Roger L. Thomas
have known that a crime had been committed. The 2012 hearings made similar findings. This means that at least 69% of the people serving juvenile life without parole were convicted under the Felony Homicide Rule. “Felony murder is the legal doctrine that all parties involved in the commission of a felony in which a person is killed are held accountable for that death, regardless of how the death occurred or whether it was intentional.” The SR 304 Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (2014), published Juvenile Delinquency and Dependency: Juvenile Act Revisions and Review of Juvenile Life Without Parole, (July 2015). http:// bit.ly/1UKuljZ Their report recommended (p 40 ff) that each element of an offense should be separately proven as to each defendant. An alternative has been proposed, in HB 892 (2015), that juvenile accomplices should be eligible for a re-sentencing hearing after the trial. These alternatives are currently in front of Pennsylvanians. The District Attorneys Association met on February 4, 2016 and determined that Montgomery v Louisiana would best be implemented by the sentencing court. Neither the Board of Pardons, nor the Board of Probation and Parole, are designed to do what the case mandates. Several counties have already implemented the decision.
Interview with Chris Ivey Cont’d
In addition, the Governor appointed the Pennsylvania Committee for the Analysis and Reform of Our Criminal System. His charge was: “What I want is a complete study of our criminal process to determine whether there are defects in the system.” The Committee functions as a Non-Governmental Organization introducing legislation and raising awareness across our Commonwealth. Resentencing Juveniles held its 2016 Annual Conference at the Pitt Law School Monday, March 14. Its focus was the use of the felony homicide rule in juvenile sentencing. Several papers were submitted and will be published in the 2016 Final Report. Speakers included: Tiffany Sizemore-Thompson, Duquesne Law School; Chaz P. Arnett, University of Pittsburgh School of Law; and Brenda Emerick, Global Kindness Revolution. Over 30 juveniles and their families provided typed or handwritten letters as part of the 2008 Judiciary Committee Hearing. Letters such as these, explaining how the juvenile came to be sentenced to Juvenile Life Without Parole, are considered part of the Conference material. Rev. Dr. Roger L. Thomas is on the Chair of the Pennsylvania Committee for the Analysis & Reform of Our Criminal System.
By Nijah Glenn
local culture from being destroyed? It's easy to stop it; it's the intention. Everyone is engaging people to a certain point, but the developers are not really involved. It should not have taken this long. Gentrification doesn't always have to be a What impact do you think being displaced/ bad thing; it's just the people making changes don't neglected has on children, seeing this wealth built always care. Some of them are selfish. That's what around them that they cannot partake in? pisses me off. They're so wrapped up in image; they The people making the changes don't care, of Do you think gentrification parallels other incan always sweep it [the negative] away until it's too course, because it's not their kids and the kids don't late to act. stances of unfairness in communities? look like them, period. They didn't give a damn Yeah, you can see it easily. I think about how about the kids in [New Orleans’] Ninth Ward who Friendship, like a decade ago, had a public school Nijah Glenn is a third year biology major, a TMC were out of school for months. Developers were intern, and a member of The NewPeople Editorial and when it became a Montessori school, they Collective. moved those kids to Fort Pitt. And then, they closed talking about building the city, but not the Ninth the school. I think about Google’s proposal for free Ward. After the hurricane, they thought about how Come engage with Chris Ivey on gentriwireless at East Liberty Gardens--it'll be for the next they could take advantage of it. Outside of teachers fication and displacement in your comand counsellors, people don't want to deal with peopeople who move into the area, once they build up ple. They care about how much they can get out of Larimer around Google. munity on the First Friday Unblurred it. I remember this one developer talking about his Gallery Crawl in May! What benefits, if any, have displaced people relegacy. When your legacy is built upon closing ceived? small black businesses and renting properties at The people who were displaced were promised $2000 a month, you know they know what they're Friday, May 6th housing, but developers didn't really keep track of doing and they don't care. 6:00—10:00 PM the people being displaced. Recently they've made Thomas Merton Center an effort, but it has to be for affordable housing. You With the way these developments are going, can have people who now have to pay $1200, $1300 to we stop gentrification in this area? Can we stop their thoughts and concerns. Also, at these community meetings, a lot of people are working and much of the community is not in attendance. I think developers have learned lessons about how to do it better through trial and error but, you know, they all know what they're doing.
stay in the area they're from. Ultimately, the community doesn't benefit. Everybody wants to play god, and it hurts other people.
April 2016
NEWPEOPLE - 7
Economic Justice Day of Action “People who work get up; they might not wear a suit and briefcase, but they deserve to get paid a good wage.” Darnell Jones, Member of Pittsburghers for Public Transit
On April 14th, working class people from across Pittsburgh are coming together for a day of action to call for an equitable, livable city for all. Workers from across industries are joining hands to demand that all workers earn $15 an hour and have the right to form a union! It's time to reclaim our city! Join us in the streets! April 14 3:30 pm Forbes & Bigelow
“Las luchas obreras no tienen fronteras,” workers’ struggles have no borders. “El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido,” the people united will never be defeated.” Brenda Sólkez, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
While workers across the country are making incredible gains to lift their wages and standards, Pittsburgh's largest employers and anchor institutions still pay tens of thousands of workers too little to support themselves and their families. Instead of working with employees to make Pittsburgh truly livable, they oppose workers efforts to form their unions and find a path out of poverty. From unions to environmental and racial justice organizations, the faith community to the student community, we are building an interconnected movement. Because sharing in our struggles means our whole community benefits from our wins. A living wage and a voice at work are at the core of building a just and equitable city. On April 14th, our community is saying we've had enough. We are reclaiming our city! Sponsored By: SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania Hospital Workers Rising Fight For 15 PAUfcw Local 23 Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pittsburgh 32BJ SEIU Pennsylvania UNITE HERE! Action United One Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club The Women and Girls Foundation Working America Women's Law Project United Steelworkers (USW) Fight Back Pittsburgh Thomas Merton CenterPittsburghers for Public Transit USAS #31 Adjunct Faculty AssociationAFT - American Federation of Teachers
“The University of Pittsburgh doesn't exist in a vacuum. We're part of a community that is all struggling together. Coming together to support one another creates a sense of belonging. This movement needs solidarity to win” Lauren Klingman, Student University of Pittsburgh, USAS Local #31
8 - NEWPEOPLE
April 2016
“I believe everyone has a right to work and to work for prevailing wages and benefits. I stand and fight for all the people who don’t have a voice” -Lamar Miller, US Security University of Pittsburgh, SEIU 32BJ
“Nobody should struggle supporting themselves, their families and their dependents. It's not sustainable if people can't make a decent living and feel protected in their workplace.” Luke Niebler, Adjunct Faculty CCAC & Point Park University, American Federation of Teachers
April 14th
$15 means a better lifestyle. . .My kids would be able to live comfortably and I'd be able to sleep better at night. For the work we do, we deserve more money. Everyone is going through the same struggle and it's time to make a change. Terrance Pickens, McDonald’s Worker, Fight For 15 “The fight for workers’ rights is just as important as the fight for climate justice. It is a crucial piece to ensuring we have healthy communities. Even if we have a healthy climate, people also need to have jobs that can support their families and are treated fairly.”Wage stagnation is a real problem for blue-collar families and I believe that any American worker has the right to a familysustaining wage. It's high time that low-wage employers stopped depending on the American middle class' tax dollars to sustain their employees.” -
Veronica Coptis, PA Sierra Club Chapter Chair
Matthew Thomas, Wheelhouse Cook Rivers Casino, UNITE HERE Local 57
“I'm fighting for better wages not only for myself, but for other fast food workers. I couldn't financially support my son with his medical problems and he was taken from me. I don't want other moms struggling to go through that. They have to work 3-4 jobs just to get by.”Lena Germany with Mayor Peduto,McDonald’s Fight for 15
April 2016
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McGinty & Fetterman Primary Election Preview: US Senate On April 26, 2016, Pennsylvanians will go to the polls to choose primary candidates, not just for President, but for US Senate as well. In this edition the NewPeople profiles the four Democratic candidates for US Senate. The Republican incumbent, Senator Pat Toomey, is running unopposed. Profiles written by Jim McCarville and Joyce Rothermel, members of the NewPeople editorial collective.
PA Democratic Candidate for US Senate: Katie McGinty Kathleen Alana (Katie) McGinty is former State Secretary of Environmental Protection. She served as Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf prior to announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate. McGinty was born in Philadelphia and is the ninth of ten children. She graduated from St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls in Northeast Philadelphia. She got a Bachelor’s in Science degree in chemistry from St. Joseph’s University and has a J.D. from Columbia Law School. An advisor to Vice President Al Gore, she also became an environmental advisor to President Bill Clinton. Later, she served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in the Cabinet of Governor Ed Rendell. McGinty served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Strategic Growth at Weston Solutions, Inc., an environmental redevelopment and specialty construction firm. She left that position to devote herself full -time to an unsuccessful run for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014. She had joined the company in October 2010 and led Weston Solutions Inc.’s brownfield redevelopment, clean energy and water businesses. She also chaired the Board’s Investment Committee. Additionally, McGinty was an Operating Partner of Element Partners, a clean-technology investment firm. She served on the board of directors at NRG Energy, Inc., a leading wholesale power company, and Iberdrola USA, a gas and electric utility. She was a member of two shale gas advisory boards, one established by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and one created by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. McGinty also served as a Director on the Board of the World Resources Institute, a global nonprofit organization focused on sustainability, and as Secretary of the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Saint Joseph’s University. On April 12, 2013, McGinty announced she would be a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014. She competed unsuccessfully in the Primary with U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord, and eventual generalelection winner Tom Wolf, who appointed her his Chief of Staff. She served in that capacity from January 2015 until July 2015. On August 4, 2015 she officially announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2016. She has been endorsed by Emily's List, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. If chosen in the primary and elected in November, McGinty would be the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania.
Candidate McGinty is a wind-and solar-power advocate who accepts the natural-gas industry when taxed and regulated. She states: “I view environmental challenges as economic opportunities.” “I get my Irish up,” says McGinty, “when I get worked up about an issue, from the national minimum wage (too low) to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which, among other concerns, doesn’t protect U.S. patents overseas for the past five years.” McGinty is married to Dr. Karl Hausker, a climate analyst. They have three daughters and live in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Partial Summary of Positions on Selected Social and Economic Issues: •Abortion is a woman’s unrestricted right.
•Supportive of same-sex marriage. •In favor of expanding Medicaid and embraces the Affordable Care Act. •Opposes the privatization of Social Security and further reductions in public pension benefits. •Opposes vouchers for school choice. •Supports a moratorium on the death penalty. •Scored 100% on Cease Fire PA survey. •Supports higher taxes on the wealthy.
•Supports making it easier for people to participate in elections.
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April 2016
PA Democratic Candidate for US Senate: John Fetterman For John Fetterman “This Senate race is all about the war on social inequality,” he told WESA-FM. The tattooed, 40year-old Mayor of Braddock, PA, is physically imposing at 6’8” tall and weighing in at 320 pounds. He is also a graduate from Harvard University (Master of Public Policy). Fetterman wants to make this a campaign all about PA’s forgotten communities, like Braddock, Monessen, McKeesport and Chester, “our potential Flint, Michigans”. As he told CNN.com, “A three-minute drive down Penn [Avenue] doesn’t just put you in a different community. You travel to a different galaxy.” He speaks from a unique, grassroots experience that few in national politics have. “I am not a typical politician,” he jokes, “I don’t even look like a typical person.” Fetterman first came to the Pittsburgh area in 2001 with AmeriCorps, helping local youths earn their GED’s. After four years, he ran against Braddock’s incumbent mayor in 2005, winning by a single vote. In addition to being the part-time mayor, Fetterman also directs an Out-Of-School-Youth program and founded the 501 (c)(3), “Braddock Redux.” He was re-elected in 2009. As Mayor, he initiated youth and art programs, a community center, and the development of the town's mostly ruined buildings and poor economy. He attracted investments from Levi Strauss and a film by Sundance Documentaries. Fetterman has attracted many young artists to the town through low rent and by starting various art exhibitions. He also started a two-acre organic urban farm worked by Braddock teenagers. His Brazilian-born wife, Gisele, operates The Free Store in Braddock. The Free Store, based on donations, offers free clothes, free bikes and even free food. “It’s a a Bernie Sanders Fantasyland,” said CNN.online. Fetterman has endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination and Martin O’Malley, the former presidential candidate, has endorsed Fetterman. On the issues, he supports a $15 living wage, legalized marijuana, and compassionate immigration reform. He is pro-choice. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade proposal, which he fears will result in more lost jobs. He owns guns but supports “sciencebased” gun laws. He supports a moratorium on fracking, “until we can get a severance tax and strictest environmental regulations in the country.” In 2010, he was arrested and released after he refused to leave a protest regarding UPMC’s closure of its Braddock Hospital. He knows that he is not running the best-funded campaign and that he may be a long shot, but, from his Twitter account you can get the idea of what his values are all about. “I decided in my mid-twenties, that I wanted to spend my career fighting inequality rather than making myself comfortable… I wouldn’t have this beautiful family if my wife hadn’t come to this country, albeit ‘illegally’ at the time… Too often the color of your skin determines your access to clean air. ... [and] ... There isn’t a crisis in education if you live in the right zip codes,” he tweets. His wife, Gisele, the person who runs The Free Store, defends the value of immigrants in her tweets, “We paid taxes and my mother cleaned homes for 12+ hours a day to give me a better life.”
Sestak & Vodvarka PA Democratic Candidate for US Senate: Joe Sestak Joe Sestak is the highest-ranking military official ever elected to the U.S. Congress, having represented suburban Philadelphia. But don’t automatically put him in the war hawk category. A three-star admiral, he served 31 years in the United States Navy, including a series of key command positions as well as on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff. Early in George W. Bush’s presidency, he was “administratively reassigned,” reportedly after clashing with Secretary Rumsfeld. His first run for Congress, he says, “was motivated by his concern for making a system of ‘healthcare for all’ comparable to the care his cancer-stricken daughter received. He won a seat in a mostly Republican district, and was re-elected in that district by 20 points.
PA Democratic Candidate for US Senate: Joe Vodvarka Joe Vodvarka at 72 is the head of a small family-owened manufacturing firm. Running for Senate on the platform of antifree trade, he is promoting the imposition of tariffs on manufactured imports as a means of forcing American manufacturers to relocate in the States and bring the jobs back home. Joe Vodvarka vows to return the Democratic Party to its "working man's party" roots.
In 2010 he ran for US Senate against the Democratic leadership that favored Arlen Specter (with leadership supporting Specter’s switch from Republican to Democrat). He beat Specter on his own, but narrowly lost the final election (49%/51%) to Republican Pat Toomey.
Joe Vodvarka’s patriotism is expressed by his belief that America is the most powerful force for good on earth. He supports the individual right to keep and bear arms. He also wants to make English the national language and build a wall on our southern border to prevent illegal immigration.
Speaking recently to a group at the University of Pittsburgh, he emphasized the warning in Eisenhower’s notes against the undue influence of the “congressional -military-industrial complex,” not just the usually cited “military-industrial complex.” He likened the warning to the Iraq invasion as a “tragic misadventure for which we are still paying the price.”
Joe Vodvarka ran for Senate in 2010 but was disqualified after a challenge to his nominating papers. He ran again in 2012 against Senator Casey and lost by 60%. His papers are again being challenged by candidate Sestak.
In this election, he defines four key issues as critical: diplomacy, economic security, climate change and smarter military investments. Sestak co-signed, with thirty-five other retired admirals and generals, a letter endorsing the proposed 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which he calls “the most important deal since the end of the cold war.” He favors a two-state Palestinian solution and favors working diplomatically with Russia to reduce hostilities in Syria and to jointly target ISIS. He wants to shut down funding for the proposed new land-based missile deployments in eastern Europe, specifically aimed to threaten Russia, and replace them with worldwide available submarine deployments.
Not a lot of independent analysis is available on Vodvarka. He has never held public office and his webpage leads with the headline “The Democratic underdog the media doesn’t want you to hear about.” For more information you can check him out at: http:// www.joevodvarka.com.http://www.joevodvarka.com/ images/joev.jpg
On the environment, he has 100% ratings from both the Sierra Club and PennFuture and a 96% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters. Sestak favors a moratorium on fracking and calls “climate change the #1 strategic livable issue of our time.” He says he was “disappointed that the Paris climate conference did not go far enough to include ’mandatory requirements.’” His campaign website, joesestak.com, touts his efforts in the House to help pass the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the 2007 Minimum Wage Increase, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act. He also voted to improve Social Security benefits and for Medicare solvency: to reduce student loan interest rates; to increase funding for veterans with PTSD, tax incentives for alternative energy, childhood education and homeland security; all of which he contends the incumbent opposed and helped kill. He says he favors a “single payer” healthcare system, but as the “ideal.” According to Wikipedia, Sestak has received the following endorsements or taken the following political positions. Ratings: * 100% rating from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence * “F” from the National Rifle Association * 100% from NARAL Pro-Choice America
He also supports/supported: * Reinstatement of the federal ban on assault weapons
* State determination on medical marijuana regulation * The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (relating to the degree of wiretapping) * The original Employee Free Choice Act (which also included card check.)
While he originally campaigned to end the war in Iraq, once in office in 2007, Sestak supported Congressional efforts to re-deploy forces and provide war supplemental funding to give adequate protection and equipment for the armed forces. While he supported the Afghan surge and drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, he also supported the President’s gradual drawdown of troops from Iraq. In Congress, Sestak co-chaired the Cancer Caucus and was a member of the Autism Caucus, Diabetes Caucus, 21st Century Health Care Caucus, Congressional Mental Health Caucus, Nursing Caucus, and Cystic Fibrosis Caucus.
April 2016
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How Wise is Conventional Wisdom? Economists Dispute Single Payer’s Affordability By Theresa Chalich, R.N.
Presidential candidate U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders unabashedly proposes a “Medicare For All” single-payer system in his campaign platform, a publicly funded and privately delivered comprehensive healthcare coverage program for all. The attacks about its affordability have been relentless. Economists, even liberal ones, are screaming, at least it seems to me, that our country cannot afford to cover every American citizen. They call it “fantasy” and “magical thinking.” They ask, “Where will the money come from?” “Will taxes have to be increased?” Economist Paul Krugman, in a Pittsburgh PostGazette Op-Ed, February 20th, called the entire Sanders platform, including “Medicare For All,” as “Voodoo from the Left” and said “Let’s leave magical thinking to the Republicans.” Can you imagine such economists, so concerned about our nation’s deficits and debts, making the same arguments about defense and military spending? It can make a head spin. A counter argument was written by Drs. Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein in the Phila-
delphia Inquirer on February 5th. They estimated that Americans already pay $2.1 trillion in taxes to fund Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs and the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services. They write, according to the Department, that the taxpayer share of US healthcare is already at 45% of the cost. Excluded from that figure are the federal coverage for public employees (including members of Congress) and tax subsidies for private employer-paid plans that benefit mainly well-off families. As Woolhandler and Himmelstein point out, when you take into account all of the above mentioned programs, the public already pays for about 2/3rds of the nation’s total healthcare bill. In a February 14th Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article (“UMass economist sees rosy picture in Sanders economics”), University of Massachusetts at Amherst professors studied the same platform, which Krugman called too costly. Professor Gerald Friedman compiled the analysis and concluded that the platform (which also includes infrastructure repairs, free public college tuition and an increase in the
Clinton Beats the Drums of War Hillary Clinton has beaten the drums of war throughout her political career. In so doing, she confirms the argument that there is no fundamental difference between most members of the two parties, especially when it comes to military interventions. Both as senator and secretary of state she has shown her proclivity for military threats and interventions, ignoring facts on the ground, siding with dictators over popular movements and advocating raining death and destruction upon helpless civilian populations. Let’s look at some examples: Iraq: In 1998, she defended her husband’s bombing of Iraq, arguing that palace grounds had weapons labs and stockpiles. Neither of which was true. In 2003 Clinton ignored arms control specialists, former United Nations weapons inspectors, investigative journalists, academics, independent strategic analysts, members of her own Party and others, claiming that Iraq possessed chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. She insisted that Hussein (who, she knew, lacked delivery capability), could launch an attack against the U.S. To further whip up
minimum wage by 2020), is money well spent. Friedman also provided an economic analysis of a Pennsylvania single payer system. He reported that such a PA health plan would extend coverage to the 11% of residents without insurance and would improve coverage for those with inadequate coverage. It would cover approximately 96% of total healthcare spending and save over $17 billion or $1,000 + per resident. We at HealthCare 4 All PA, take this all very seriously. Even with the Affordable Care Act, there remain 29 million uninsured and many others who don’t seek medical care due to high deductibles and co-pays. Therefore we must continue to organize our efforts for a universal, comprehensive plan for all. Theresa Chalich is an active member of the southwest chapter of HealthCare 4 All PA. She has been an advocate and organizer for the single payer system for decades.
By Linda J. Nordquist
support for Bush’s invasion, she advanced a ridiculous claim that Hussein’s secularist regime had close ties to the jihadist Al-Qaeda. She defended her vote for the Iraq war until her presidential candidacy in 2008, when she flipped from it being the “right vote” to “regretting” her vote because it was a “mistake.” That is disingenuous. Dismissing arguments against an invasion proffered in staff meetings with experts, she cast a calculated vote. Afghanistan: In 2009, Clinton agreed with Obama’s escalation of the war but sided with the generals advocating for more troops than Obama or Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended. She opposed Obama’s deadline for withdrawal, arguing that troops should remain longer. Iran: In 2007, despite ALL contrary expert opinion, Clinton claimed that Iran had a nuclear weapons program and brazenly threatened unilateral military force against Iran in response. Her biases were obvious: a pass for Israel, Pakistan and India, which developed nuclear weapons and never signed the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty, while maintaining a hawkish stance (“all options are on the table”) towards Iran, which is a signer to the NPT. She vowed to “obliterate” Iran should it attack Israel with its NONEXISTENT nuclear weapons; going further, she refused to rule out a U.S. nuclear first strike. With abundant hypocrisy, Clinton rails against Iran’s authoritarian theocratic regime, which backs extremist Islamist groups, yet overlooks U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, all authoritarian theocratic regimes which back extremist Islamist groups.
Bahrain, Syria, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan, Palestine and others rose up spontaneously against dictatorial rule, human rights violations, economic decline, political corruption, income disparity, and more. You might think that here, at last, was something the U.S. could sink its teeth into – more democracy! Au contraire. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, representing the U.S. government, took the following positions: Tunisia: Faced with high unemployment, runaway inflation, corruption, increased poverty and limited human rights, Clinton’s solutions were for a “more open” economy. One month later protesters booted out President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Egypt: While millions throughout Egypt demonstrated, marched, and occupied public squares demanding an end to Mubarak and the police state, Clinton, disagreeing with Obama’s call that Mubarak step down, tried to keep Mubarak and his henchmen in power. Others: Clinton had counter-revolutionary responses in Bahrain (supporting the brutal monarchy), Yemen (siding with generals against the masses), and Morocco (supporting their repressive occupation of Western Sahara).
Trying regime change with “unfriendly” dictators. Libya: Clinton aggressively pushed to oust Qadafi and supported arming the rebels with no thought as to what might follow. A massive cache of U.S. arms fell into the hands of the militias, who were organized along the fault lines of tribal allegiances. Civil war ensued. A U.S. ambassador was killed. The bloody chaos was a consequence of Clinton’s mindless push for regime change. Syria: Republicans John McCain and Lindsay Graham welcomed the support of General Petraeus and Hillary Clinton in their quest to convince Obama to arm the rebels against Basheer Assad. Obama chose airstrikes instead. She would have thrown in more force on the side of the rebels and blames Obama for his reticence, saying it gave rise to ISIL. Clinton has frequently arrived at wrong conclusions, advocated for dangerous schemes and lent a hand in destabilizing sovereign states. These policies caused massive suffering and death — 500,000 in Siding with “friendly” Iraq alone. This prompts two questions: Secretary dictators during Arab Clinton, are you habitually incompetent or, like your Spring colleagues in both parties, do you strategically lie to In December 2010, the Ar- the American people in service of a bi-partisan govab Spring began unfurling ernment that leads the charge for militarism around its freedom banner. Popu- the globe? lar uprisings challenged Linda J Nordquist is a writer, photographer, activvicious dictatorships ist, and clinical social worker. propped up by the U.S., England and France for almost a century. Students, unionists, the unemployed and disaffected in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen,
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April 2016
Consequences of Militarization Sexual Abuse by Military Recruiters a Significant Problem By Isha Madan
Most people have heard the statistics on sexual abuse within the military – multiple major news sources, such as ABC and PBS, have reported that a female soldier is more likely to be assaulted by a fellow soldier than killed by an enemy combatant. However, sex crimes are not restricted to those already in the military. Increasingly, students interested in enlistment and new recruits find themselves becoming targets. There were at least a hundred confirmed instances of sexual abuse at the hands of recruiters in 2005 alone, according to an eight-year chronological report by the “Learning not Recruiting” organization. In many cases recruiters receive light sentences (one recruiter guilty of raping a minor received only four months). There is secrecy surrounding these crimes, and when questioned, The Marine Corps Recruiting Command at Quantico, Va., did not give exact figures. However, a Marine spokesman said the number of recruiters who are found guilty each year of sexual assault or nonconsensual sex was in “the single digits.” Stonewalling does not negate the fact that military sexual abuse is neither a recent phenomenon, nor is it likely to fade away easily. Eighty cases of sexual abuse were found within a six-month study during 2005, across all branches of the military and in all regions of the United States. Sexual abuse at the hands of recruiters was also found to be on the rise, increasing from 400 cases in 2004 to 630 cases in 2005. Several cases of sexual misconduct involved instigating romantic relationships, and some were initiated by women.
While the Defense Department has taken measures to mitigate recruiter sexual abuse, there continues to be a problem. Recruiters continually commit sex crimes, even in recent years. Oftentimes, predators will be repeat offenders, and have more than one victim. In the summer of 2015, a military recruiter named Jose Nieves Jr. was accused of sexual misconduct by ten different female students. After his arrest, seven more came forward, saying he had made inappropriate sexual contact with them. Nine of these girls were underage, the youngest being only fifteen. Many of these girls had been students preparing to enlist, or had expressed interest in the military. Nieves’s case is not isolated. Also in the summer of 2015, a 16-yearold girl came forward saying she had been sexually involved with a 36-year-old military recruiter. The recruiter, a man named Jonathan Crouch, confessed he was guilty. While Nieves and Crouch were both held accountable, this is not always the case. A study by the AP found that the military prosecutes only 1 in 20 soldiers accused of sexual abuse within their ranks, and it is even easier to hide misconduct or assault against a minor, particularly a student who may feel obligated to keep quiet due to their respect for, fear of, or dependence on the military. This same study also discovered that civilian and military prosecutions were rare, despite sexual abuse and misconduct permeating much of military recruitment activity. Accountability does not necessarily ease the victim’s trauma either. In 2006, an 18-year-old raped by a
military recruiter recounted, “This should never be allowed to happen. The recruiter had all the power. He had the uniform. He had my future. I trusted him." While there are many cases of sexual abuse across various career fields, in the case of the military there can be particular difficulty reporting. Students may be intimidated by the difference in age and status between themselves and their abusers. There has also been an instance where a recruiter allegedly told a 17-year-old girl that she must be sexually involved with him in order to be recruited, indicating that sexually abusive recruiters may use their position to their advantage. For the student who plans on enlisting to alleviate financial struggles, it is even more difficult to report and to refuse these requests, as they may feel a sense of dependency on their recruiters. There is often a difference in size and physical strength as well. All of these factors combine to put students at risk when they consider enlisting, and while most of these students were young and female, boys were not exempt from becoming victims. Military recruiters must be seen in a more critical light, for the sake of students who have already been victimized, and to prevent victimizations in the future.
Isha Madan is a history and political science student at the University of Pittsburgh.
Atomization of the Middle East: The Long-term Policy By Michael Drohan
Commenting on the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Justin Raimondo, editor of A ntiwar.com, declared, “The actual purpose was to blow the country to smithereens: to atomize it, and crush it, so that it would never rise again”. He continues: “When we invaded and occupied Iraq, we didn’t just militarily defeat Iraq’s armed forces – we dismantled their army, and their police force, along with all the other institutions that held the country together. The educational system was destroyed, and not reconstituted. The infrastructure was pulverized, and never restored. Even the physical hallmarks of a civilized society – roads, bridges, electrical plants, water facilities, museums, schools – were bombed out of existence or else left to fall into disrepair. Along with that, the spiritual and psychological infrastructure that enables a society to function – the bonds of
trust, allegiance, and custom – was dissolved, leaving Iraqis to fend for themselves in a war of all against all.” As Iraq falls apart into three sectarian states, it is becoming more and more evident that this was the policy all along. It did not happen just because Paul Bremer was a fumbler who overstepped his mandate to begin the atomization process in 2003. As Michel Chossudovsky, president of the Centre for Research on Globalization, in Montreal, points out, the division of Iraq along sectarian-ethnic lines had been on the drawing board of the Pentagon for more than ten years. But why, we might, ask was such a policy devised and who actually devised it? To answer that we have to go back to the 1990s and the laying out of such a strategy for the entire Middle East by the neocons and their Israeli counterparts. In 1996 the Jerusalem-based Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies produced a document entitled a “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”. The leader of the group that wrote the document was Richard Perle, the chairman of the Defense Policy Board of the Pentagon until 2003. The paper set out a plan by which Israel would “shape its strategic environment,” beginning with the removal of Saddam Hussein, installing a Hashemite monarchy once more in Baghdad. With Saddam out of the way, the next part of the strategic policy was that Turkey and Jordan would form an axis along with Israel to weaken and “roll back” Syria. The next part of the plan was to wean away the Shia minority in Lebanon from Syria and Iran and reconnect it with the Shias of Iraq. A second seminal element in the strategic thinking behind the atomizing process was a paper generated by The Project for a New American Century entitled “Rebuilding America’s Defenses”. The principal architects of this think-tank were Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, David Wormser and his wife Meyrav. Many of these
individuals were also part of the Clean Break strategizing group and all went on to be part of the Bush presidency. In this capacity they became the boosters and architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Just as with the Clean Break document, the strategy outlined by the Project for a New American Century’s seminal paper was the installation of puppets in the countries of the region as a Plan A but then moving on to a Plan B if that failed. The latter plan was the subdivision of the Arab states into smaller, more controllable entities that were hostile to one another. In regard to Libya, the Plan B option of atomization has now come into the open. There is open talk of dividing the country into three separate protectorates of Tripolitania, Cyrenica and Fezzan. One might argue that NATO and US architects of the war to oust Colonel Gaddafi had merely regime change in mind. However, it is highly unlikely that the architects of the war did not know the tenuous nature of the national structure in Libya that Gaddafi had held together for decades. In Syria, a similar plan B seems to be in the works; as Secretary of State John Kerry recently stated, it may be “too late to keep Syria as a whole, if we wait much longer”. Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institute articulated this policy when he said “a future Syria could be a confederation of several sectors: one largely Alawite, another Kurdish, a third, primarily Druse, a fourth made up of Sunni Muslims and then a central zone of intermixed groups in the country’s main population belt from Damascus to Aleppo.” Finally, the ultimate objective in the Yemen with the US and UK proxy war being prosecuted by the Saudis seems likely to be the atomization of that country. Divide and rule has been the guiding principle of all colonial regimes in history. Consequently, such a cold-blooded plan to smash all existing Arab countries to smithereens is not so far-fetched. When the Ottoman control of Arab countries was squashed, Britain and France in the Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the area into meaningless states to smash Arab unity. This history, however, has to be concealed from the US public in the pretense of our promotion of democracy. [Ed. note: On March 17 the Associated Press reported that Syrian Kurds were preparing to declare a federal region in northern Syria.]
Michael Drohan is a co-chair of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Merton Center. April 2016
NEWPEOPLE - 13
Saving Money Not Lives Flintsylvania By Martha R. Conley
I sat in a federal courtroom in Scranton, Pennsylvania for three days last December listening to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) attempt to justify its failure to treat Mumia Abu-Jamal and the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people (their numbers) in the prison system who have Hepatitis C. They admitted to treating only five Inmates for a disease which can be fatal if left untreated. Mumia Abu-Jamal almost died in early 2015 from what turned out to be complications of Hepatitis C. His attempts to be treated in the prison infirmary went nowhere until he collapsed into unconsciousness, and it was discovered that his blood sugar level was almost 600. If not for the national and international support for his status as an innocent political prisoner framed by the Philadelphia political establishment, he would probably be dead by now. One wonders how many inmates have died in Pennsylvania Prisons as the result of the capitalist obsession with privatizing everything in sight and leaving the unfortunate victims of mass incarceration at the mercy of a forprofit system. Prison Health Services and Corizon Health, Inc. merged in 2011 to form the largest privately held provider of healthcare to the nation’s prison population. The corporation has come under increasing criticism and scrutiny and has lost contracts in Minnesota, New York, Florida, Maine, Tennessee and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, among others for abysmal health care. Corizon provides medical services to inmates in Pennsylvania state prisons. The ACLU National Prison Project has criticized Corizon stating: “When you combine the profit motive with limited oversight and an unpopular, politically powerless group like prisoners, it’s a recipe for bad outcomes.” The parties disagreed at the hearing over when
treatment for Hepatitis C is necessary. The Commonwealth wants to wait until the inmate has cirrhosis of the liver and/or esophageal varices (hemorrhaging of the throat) before offering the new medications that have a 90-95% cure rate. This rather short-sighted approach is astounding when you consider that treatment at that point will undoubtedly be far more costly than providing the treatment at an earlier stage…not to mention the unnecessary torture experienced by the inmate when leaving the cure to the final stages of the disease. It sounds “cruel and unusual“ to me. The pharmaceutical companies are at fault too. They charge $1000.00 per pill. Thus a 12-week treatment costs about $85,000. However, the Commonwealth reportedly spent approximately $140,000 for Abu-Jamal’s one week hospital stay. It is obvious that the Commonwealth will save money in the long run by treating Hepatitis C early in the disease process to avoid more expensive complications later. Also, In view of the numbers involved, Pennsylvania should be able to negotiate a deal with the pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost. Gilead Sciences, which produces the medication, negotiated a 99% discount with Egypt so that the treatment costs only $900.00 per patient. In Egypt, according to The New Y ork Times, 50% of adult men suffer from Hepatitis C. In a social democracy, caring for the 50,000 people serving sentences in Pennsylvania might be seen as an opportunity to improve the public health through treatment while incarcerated that they might not be able to receive on the outside. After all, most of the 10,000 people testing positive for hepatitis C will be leaving the prison system and undoubtedly spreading the disease, if untreated, to their associates. But in our capitalist democracy the focus is on saving money by withholding treatment, not the pub-
lic good. According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the simple definition of the word government is: “the group of people who control and make decisions for a country, state, etc.” An obsolete definition for the word government in the same dictionary is “moral conduct or behavior”. Obsolete it is. Incredibly, the DOC counsel was caught attempting to put false testimony into evidence. The Commonwealth’s witness, Dr. Noel, repudiated a paragraph of a document that had his signature on it, which stated that the measure of the progression of the disease was viral load. The DOC’s argument was that Abu-Jamal’s viral load was not high enough to justify treatment. Dr. Noel further testified that he instructed that the paragraph in question be struck. The counsel for the DOC attempted to claim that its inclusion was a “clerical” error; however, Dr. Noel made it clear that he had objected to the paragraph three times. What is worse, a Federal Magistrate apparently relied on the paragraph in denying an earlier temporary injunction. In Flint, Michigan the decision to take corrosive water from the Flint River rather than glacial Lake Huron was driven by money, not morals. The change in water source, according to Democracy Now, was intended to save 5 million dollars, while the fix will cost 1.5 billion dollars. Flint’s babies were sacrificed on the altar of money. In the Pennsylvania Prison System the administration is consigning thousands of prisoners to the torture of a chronic disease with irreversible liver damage in a wrongheaded approach to saving money. Martha R. Conley is an attorney and Co-Chair of Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Pittsburgh.
Indigenous Activist Berta Cáceres Is Assassinated in Honduras By Joyce Rothermel
Last month, Berta Caceres was shot and killed in her hometown of La Esperanza, Intibuca in Honduras. She was one of the leading indigenous activists in her country and had spent her life fighting in defense of indigenous rights, especially for land and natural resources. Ms. Caceres grew up during the period of violence throughout Central America in the 1980’s. Her mother, a midwife and social activist, cared for refugees from El Salvador and taught her children the value of standing up for disenfranchised people. Ms. Caceres was a student activist and in 1993 cofounded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) to take on the growing threats posed to several communities by illegal logging, to fight for territorial rights, and to improve the livelihoods of the people living in them. Ms. Caceres was serving as the General Coordinator of COPINH when she was assassinated. Ms. Caceres and COPINH had been involved in several land struggles in western Honduras. In February, violence and repression towards Ms. Caceres, COPINH and the communities they support escalat-
ed. Since the 2009 military coup that was carried out by graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas, the people of Honduras have witnessed enormous growth in environmentally destructive megaprojects that displaced indigenous communities. The government approved hundreds of dam projects around the country, privatizing rivers and lands, and uprooting communities. Repression of social movements and targeted assassinations increased. Honduras, which has the highest murder rate in the world, has been reported to have had over 10,000 human rights violations by state security forces, who for the most part have impunity. Most murders go unpunished. The Associated Press has often exposed Honduran policy and death squads. Yet U.S. military training and aid for the Honduran security forces continues. Human rights organizations around the Berta Caceres. Photo courtesy of SOA Watch world are demanding an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the assassination of Berta Caceres. School of the Americas Watch.) Berta Caceres. PRESENTE. Joyce Rothermel is a member of the SW PA School (Information for this article came from the of the Americas Watch.
200 Sugar Maples Lie Dead in Eminent Domain Case
By Wanda Guthrie
Should your children be watching this? Photo By Tom Jefferson 14 - NEWPEOPLE
April 2016
A federal judge ruled in favor of Williams Partners in an eminent domain case against the Holleran-Zeffer family of Susquehanna County, who operate a maple syrup business on a property that has been the family’s homestead since the 1950s. The ruling specifically gave Williams the go-ahead to cut down 200 of the trees the family relies on for its business to make way for the proposed Constitution Pipeline. Heavily-armed US Marshals accompanied
Williams’ tree cutting crew to intimidate the peaceful demonstrators who had been standing with the family for weeks, holding signs saying things like “Sap Lines, Not Pipelines” and “No Eminent Domain for Corporate Gain”. It was a grotesque and terrifying move. Wanda Guthrie is a member of the Environmental Justice Committee and Steering Committee of Pennsylvanians Against Fracking.
Boss Relic’s Demise Corruption Vanquished in the Roman Curia Now it Can Be Told - The Story Behind the Story of Crime and Evil Vanquished in the Roman Curia (Episode 3) The opulent digs of the spindly Monsignore Gravilvoce Baldoni on the Via della Conciliazione blazoned with unaccustomed light and festiveness, as the powerful clerical head of the Relics and Canonization Dicastery (Department) of the Curia lounged on his chaise, a small snifter of Galliano liqueur in his hand. He was awaiting a special guest, the wealthy Americano playboy and philanthropist from Gotham City, Bruce Wayne. Little did Baldoni know he was being set up in a scam as worthy as any he himself devised over the years as an entrenched Vatican Curial bureaucrat. Bruce Wayne was, in reality, Ricardo Goldenson (aka Reuben) one of the trio with The Bat-Priest (aka Fr. Franco Bergoglio) and The Moth (aka Umberto Falena) pledged to eradicate crime, evil and badness in the Roman Curia. With the inside information provided Falena, journalist extraordinaire for the Giornale Vatican, of the lucrative relic-selling operation within the Vatican City walls, the BatPriest had enough info to hoist Baldoni with his own petard. Fr. Franco, in disguise as an elderly financial broker from the Venezia Stock Exchange, was the"sponsore" of a wealthy Americano, Bruce Wayne, seeking a special relic - (not just any run of the mill-saintly relic, but the piece de resistance of relics, a piece of THE TRUE CROSS!). He made contact with Monsignore Baldoni, the go-to man necessary to personally fill such a request. That night Fr. Franco arranged to personally escort "Wayne" to bring the two together at Baldoni's apartment for the negotiation. The Monsignore, no
stranger to such clandestine dealings, was anxious to size up the Americano to see just how many USD he could squeeze out of the "mark" this time. For his fortune was made on the "big" stuff mainly, with little more than chump change on the "gratuities" offered for relics of "ordinary" saints With his gold cuff links, Rolex watch and expensive Italian silk suit, Wayne impressed Baldoni as an A-one prime sheep ready for the shearing. After lengthy palavering over a a fancy spread of cheeses and wine, Baldoni whispered his offer: $50,000; of course, in addition to the goldcasement. The relic would be authenticated by a 4th century document recounting the discovery of the beam of the true cross by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. The "gratuity" was to cover the cost of preservation, authentication and the ongoing holy work of the Dicastery, as the oily Monsignore smarmily explained. Bruce Wayne (Reuben in disguise), in halting Italian, heartily accepted as he fawningly knelt and kissed Baldoni's ring in gratitude. What a fine piece of acting, thought the BatPriest, as he stood by snickering internally. The exchange was to occur two days hence. Baldoni did not realize that the entire meeting was secretly audio and video-taped by the secret Bat -camera and Bat- mic surreptitiously hidden in Wayne's briefcase. He also was unaware of the dose of morphic-alum- precosomine (MAP) the BatPriest slipped into his cup of espresso as they toasted their successful negotiation. This drug would shortly render the Monsignore hallucinatorily somnolent for 12 hours,enough time for phase two of the plan to yield fruit. The special Bat-potion given the king of relic spuriosity kicked in, as the Bat-Priest and Reuben re -entered Baldoni's opulent apartment at midnight. "Joe the Jun" (aka Giuseppe Schiaffini) provided them with a secret underground entry point and they
APP to Host Open House The Association of Pittsburgh Priests (APP) cordially invites friends and members and newcomers to an Open House on Saturday April 23rd from 5 to 7 PM at the Kearns Spirituality Center in Allison Park. The mission of the APP, rooted in the Gospel and the Spirit of Vatican II, is to carry out ministries of justice and renewal, in the Church and the world, as well as within ourselves. Women and men, lay and ordained, are invited. This wine and cheese gathering is an opportunity for the APP to thank its supporters, to connect new members with old, to acknowledge the Association’s 50 years of keeping the spirit of
Vatican II alive, and to introduce new people to this vibrant organization where so many have found a sense of community. The APP had a strategic role in the creation of the Thomas Merton Center and hope many TMC members can attend this free event. Please RSVP to assocpghpriests@gmail.com for planning purposes. Put “Social RSVP” in the email heading. Bring your memories! The Kearns Spirituality Center is located at 9000 Babcock Blvd., Allison Park, 15101. Phone: 412.366.1124.
Meet With and Join Black & White Reunion By Kenneth Miller
“Power concedes nothing without a demand,” was the theme of the 18th Annual Summit Against Racism on the Saturday after Martin Luther King Day. How did that go? Help us evaluate and make plans for the Jonny Gammage Scholarship. Please attend the Black and White Reunion meeting on Wednesday April 20 at 6:30 pm on the second floor of Long Hall, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Let’s make great decisions together by remembering everything we learned and everyone we met at the 18th Annual Summit Against Racism. We care about every detail of your experi-
ence at the 18th Annual Summit Against Racism AND we want you to be a member of the Black and White Reunion. Cannot make it? That is okay! Send us a letter. Black & White Reunion P. O. Box 4783, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 Give us a call. 412-444-8436 Use our website. www.SUMMITAGAINSTRACI SM.org The first awardee of our Jonny Gammage FELLOWSHIP was the Alliance of Police Accountability. Congratulations!
Kenneth Miller is a member of the Merton Center and distributor of the NewPeople
By: Robert Jedrzejewski
set to work. First, they discovered the apartment's secret workshop where Baldoni's lackeys manufactured the fake relics and confiscated samples, especially of the class A-one variety "fugazies" that brought in the big bucks, e.g. pieces of the clothing worn by St. Joseph, the BVM and the apostles. bone fragments of Joan of Arc etc. etc. Next, they videocammed the opulence of the rooms where the wealthy cleric lavishly entertained rich relic-seekers - including the grand four-poster bed with its canopy and silk sheets, even while he slept. Before departing, Reuben copied all of his financial documents for review. Twenty-four hours of intense work in the BatCellar produced astounding results. Using the Reliqual-Polygraphic-Sensorator (RPS) attachment to the Bat-scroptic praxometer, the Bat-Priest discovered the real make-up of all the relic forgeries. For example, the sliver of wood of the True Cross was a chip from an old shillelagh that hung over the Monsignore's mantel etc., etc. All the scientific data was compiled and added to Reuben's audit of Baldoni's finances and given over to The Moth (aka Umberto Falena) for final disposition. The next day's Giornale Vaticano revealed the complete sordid story (with pictures) of the "Disaster at the Dicastery" and Msgr. Gravilvoce Baldoni's reign was at an end. Within hours he recieved a registered letter from the Posta Vaticano re-assigning him as Master of Ceremonies (i.e. altar boy) to Cardinal Richeloni Albatrosso in Sierra Leone. (Next: Cardinal Grosso Izzalotto goes down grossly.) Robert Jedrzejewski is a retired college instructor of philosophy, theology and literature.
Bread for the World Workshop and 2016 Lobby Day By Joyce Rothermel
The SW PA Bread for the World Team is holding its 2016 regional workshop on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at Christ United Methodist Church, 44 Highland Road in Bethel Park. The Workshop begins at 9 AM with a session on the theme of the 2016 Annual Bread for the World Offering of Letters and will be followed by a box lunch. (The cost of the box lunch is $8 when requested in pre-workshop registration.) The workshop will continue with an optional afternoon session on the topic of immigration and its relationship to domestic and international hunger and how to get involved. Barbara Bower, a Pittsburgh immigration attorney, will lead the session scheduled to conclude at 2:30 PM. To find out more about the workshop and the SW PA Bread for the World Team, call Jeanna-Mar Simmons at 412-835 -6621 x109. Throughout April and May lobby visits will be scheduled in the local offices of our U.S. Senators and Representatives to seek their
support on funding for international child and maternal nutrition programs. The SW PA Bread for the World efforts will go to Washington, D.C. on June 7, when we will participate in the Annual National Bread Lobby Day. There we plan to meet with our U.S. Legislators and their staffs, along with our Bread Colleagues from Pennsylvania and around the country in a united push for funding for these important and effective programs that can be successful in reducing malnutrition among the world’s most vulnerable populations. To get involved with the regional efforts of Bread for the World, including possible participation in the 2016 lobbying meetings, please contact me at 412-780-5118 or by email at rothermeljoyce@gmail.com Joyce Rothermel is Co-Chair of the SW PA Bread for the World Team.
PICC is hosting our annual Immigrant & tion status * Driver's license bill. A proposal to allow all resiRefugee Advocacy Day on Monday, dents of April 11th, 2016. This event will bring together Pennsylvania to obtain a driver's license, regardless of immigrant and refugee communities, advocates and allies for a short advocacy training in the morning and visits to legislators in the afternoon. Our advocacy priorities for visits this year will be: * Educating legislators about the contributions of immigrant and refugee communities to Pennsylvania * PA Dream Act. A proposal to provide tuition equity and access to financial aid for all students, regardless of immigra-
immigration status * Raising the minimum wage * Fair and adequate funding for public schools
Please Register Today!<http://goo.gl/forms/ MH4M5f8q1W> Depending on interest and registration numbers, PICC will be organizing limited transportation to Harrisburg. Register Today!
April 2016
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Next month, supporters of the School of the America’s Watch (SOAW) will gather in Washington, DC, April 14-18 for the annual Spring Days of Action. A delegation is forming in Pittsburgh and you can join! The days include advocacy training, lobbying, direction action, a concert, and more including the next step in the SOA Watch campaign to pressure Vice President Biden for an Executive Order to close the SOA.
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April 2016
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Regular Meetings
Mariposa and the Saint– 7:00 pm– Repair the World, 6022 Broad St
Sundays: Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First three Sundays of the month at TMC, 46pm Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com
Please consider participating in the upcoming Spring Days of Action. To find out more about those planning to go to D.C. from the Pittsburgh area, contact Michael Drohan from the SW PA School of the Americas Watch at 412-8182131 or by emailing him at drohanmichael@yahoo.com.
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Pack the Court For Dallas Six– 9:00 am-
Do Black Lives Matter? The Impact of Mass Incarceration on Individuals and the Cimmunity– 7:00 pm– Pitt Law School Alcoa Room
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19th Annual NorthHills Interfaith Gathering - 3-5pm– The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2210 Reis Run Rd
Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day Bus Trip to Harrisburg– register here: http://goo.gl/ forms/ MH4M5f8q1W
Equal Pay Rally– 12 Noon– Market Square
Strong Women of Faith 2016 Annual Interfaith Women's Conference— 35PM– Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, 4100 Bigelow
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1712 New York Save Revolt begins
Wednesdays:
1968 Oakland police murder Black Panther Bobby Hutton
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#BlackHomesM atter Poetry Slam for Fair Housing- 6:30– 9:30 pm- Kelly Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Avenue
Red Cup Project – 11 am— William Pitt Union
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Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p.m. Write letters for prisoners’ rights at the Thomas Merton Center Darfur Coalition Meeting 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Meeting Room C Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill 412-784-0256 Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) 1st Wednesdays, 7-8pm, First Unitarian Church, Ellsworth & Morewood Avenues, Shadyside Pittsburghers for Public Transit 2nd Wednesday, 7pm, 1 Smithfield St., lower level
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International Conference on Fight For $15 Solitary Global Day of Confinement,Action– 3:30— 9:00 am - 5:00 Forbes & pm- Pitt Law Bigelow School
International Conference on Solitary Confinement— 9:00 am– 5:00 pm- Pitt Law School
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Thursdays:
International Socialist Organization Every Thursday, 7:30-9:30 pm at the Thomas Merton Center Global Pittsburgh Happy Hour 1st Thursday, 5:30 to 8 pm, Roland's Seafood Grill, 1904 Penn Ave, Strip District Green Party Meeting 1st Thursday, 7 to 9 pm, 2121 Murray, 2nd floor, Squirrel Hill Black Political Empowerment Project 2nd Thursday, 6 pm: Planning Council Meeting, Hill House, Conference Room B
Co-opoly “Untournament”6-8 PM- Repair the World 6022 Broad Street
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"21st Century Islam in Europe: Refugees, States, and Societies"- 3-5 pm- Kearns Spirituality Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd, McCandless
1912 West Virginia coal miners strike, defend themselves against National Guard
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Fridays:
The Battle of Homestead Commemoratio n– 1:00– 3:00 pm– Pump House, 880 East Waterfront Drive Munhall
Unblurred Gallery Crawl 1st Friday after 6 pm, Penn Avenue Arts District, 4800-5500 Penn Ave., Friendship and Garfield 15224 Hill District Consensus Group 2nd Friday, 10 am — 12 pm, Elsie Hillman Auditorium, Kaufmann Center 1825 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 People of Prisoners in Need of Support 3rd Friday, 7:00pm New Hope Methodist Church, 114 W. North Ave, Pittsburgh 15212
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Project to End Human Trafficking 2nd Sat., Carlow University, Antonian Room #502 Fight for Lifers West 3rd Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 pm, Thomas Merton Center
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Luncheon and Forum on the Problems of Sudan and South Sudan– 2 -5 pm—East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116 S Highland Ave
2015 Riot begins in Baltimore after Freddie Gray dies from injuries suffered in police custody
1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant melts down, spreading radiation globally
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Mondays: SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 6:30 —8 pm Squirrel Hill Library Contact: bmason@gmail.com Association of Pittsburgh Priests 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm, Prince of Peace Rectory 162 South 15th, Southside, Pgh. PA 15203 Amnesty International #39 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm First Unitarian Church, Morewood Ave. 15219
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30 Affordable Chic Fashion Show– 11 am– 2 pm– East Liberty Presbyterian Church May Day Eve Celebration– 8:00 pm—12:30 AMBulgarianMacedonian National Educational and Cultural Center 449 -451 West Eighth
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