February new people 2015

Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center

PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 45 No. 2 February 2015

Valentines from the Thomas Merton Center by the TMC Editorial Collective For Valentines Day, and every day, some of our elected officials deserve a bouquet. Those who broke our hearts or tore away at them will get No Valentines.

A bouquet for Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay, who, standing up for all people, tweeted “It's time for courageous conversations about implicit bias, race and gender at work and in our communities.”

Sunflowers for Mayor Peduto because he hasn’t done anything yet to embarrass or harm our city, and he put in some real bike lanes.

Roses for Congressman Mike Doyle and Senator Bob Casey, for their consistent support on behalf of food security.

Orchids for Senator Elizabeth Warren who, commenting on the Omnibus Bill’s provision allowing risky investments to be bundled into other investments, said “There’s a lot of talk coming from Citigroup about how the Dodd-Frank Act isn’t

perfect. So let me say this to anyone who is listening at Citi: I agree with you. Dodd-Frank isn’t perfect. It should have broken you into pieces.”

Beautiful wildflowers for Governor Andrew Cuomo, who signed a bill preventing fracking in New York State.

No Valentines for County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who allowed fracking at the Pittsburgh International Airport site, and at a county park, Deer Lakes Park.

For President Obama- we want to fortify him- with whatever it takesto veto the XL Pipeline, but we can’t give him any flowers or candy because he continues the wars in the Middle East that lead only to death and ruin, both here and there.

At the end of our meetings, after serious concentration, we break loose and have some fun, roasting and toasting our elected representatives.

Looking Ahead for Labor

Martin Luther King Day Rally Demands an End to Racist Wars at Home and Abroad (See page 5) Photo by Diane McMahon

In this issue…

“Bread and Brews in Braddock” pg. #4 “New Civil Rights Movement” - pg. #5 “U.S.—Cuba Relations” - pg. #6 & 14 “Police Chief Knows What’s Up”- pg. #10

By Charlie McCollester The year ahead for the labor movement will present many challenges. The Republican takeover of both the U.S. Congress and Pennsylvania Legislature threatens a series of attacks on workers’ living standards and on union organizations. In addition, anti-union organizations seem poised to begin localized right-to-work campaigns targeting municipalities. On the international level, the Trans Pacific Partnership “free trade” legislation aims to strengthen corporate control over the global economy and undermine both labor and environmental rights.

In Pittsburgh, however, there is some cause for optimism as labor is deeply engaged in a number of sustained and aggressive organizing campaigns. The largest effort, by Pittsburgh United, collaborating with SEIU, has been an attempt to better the lives of UPMC’s non-professional staff. The past year’s campaign, using the seasoned skills of Barney Oursler, have involved mass demonstrations of thousands of people with scores of arrests of people who participated civil disobedience. The

union and Pittsburgh United are committed to a sustained effort and have felt encouraged by the National Labor Relations Board’s upholding of 130 violations of federal labor law. Job site actions about respiratory reactions to new chemical cleaner for janitors have engaged UPMC workers in a number of UPMC locations.

And its head , Jeffrey Romoff, has been the object of enormous public anger for their high-handed war on Highmark Insurance that seemed to end with a whimper not the catastrophic bang that was intended.

A seeming surrender (or was it?) on its charging the area’s largest insurance carrier out-of-network rates has deeply confused and further alienated the public. The coming year promises an ongoing attack from many directions on the nonprofit status of the state’s largest employer. The fiscal health of the City of Pittsburgh remains an ongoing hostage to UPMC’s untaxed but enormous property holdings. The

recent 60 Minutes program featuring Steven Brill’s interview with Romoff overlooking the city from his top of the triangle offices demonstrated both his arrogance and indifference toward the citizens down below.

The spring promises to see a renewed offensive on behalf of fast food workers and their demand for $15 an hour. SEIU sees this fight as a piece with the UPMC struggle highlighting the increasing desperation of low-wage workers. The total failure of Obamacare to impose restraints on healthcare costs has revealed the increasing burden of the system on the backs of ordinary workers. UPMC’s refusal to contribute a fair share toward governmental services means that the local tax burden weighs more and more heavily on small business and workers.

The Hotel and Restaurant Union is pushing ahead with its organizing efforts at the Three Rivers Casino in an alliance with Operating Engineers Local 95, Teamsters and USW under Steel City Workers Council umbrella.

They are not filing, with the NLRB, for an election, but rather, in the style described in Staughton Lynd’s new book. They are following the model of a union, sending delegations to talk to management covering a range of issues. These actions have won some departmental raises, removed unjust disciplinary notices, reined in certain abusive managers, and achieved somewhat fairer scheduling procedures. Their central target going forward is a draconian attendance policy that is driving high turnover.

Unlike other casinos which impose attendance points for thirty or sixty days, a minute late at the Casino makes a point on one’s record for a year despite being neighbors to two stadiums and their resulting traffic They are also part of a coordinated national campaign against the owner, who is a friend of Rahm Emanuel and funder to Obama and owns three casinos in Illinois, Philadelphia and (continued on page 4)

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.

PERMIT NO. 458

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.

PITTSBURGH, PA

PAID

THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE. PITTSBURGH, PA 15224

February 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 1

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Office Phone: 412-361-3022 — Fax: 412-361-0540 Website: www.thomasmertoncenter.org

The New People Editorial Collective Paola Corso, Neil Cosgrove, Ginny Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Bette McDevitt, Diane McMahon, Anupama Pain, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush, Jo Tavener, & Scilla Wahrhaftig.

TMC Staff, Volunteers & Interns Managing Director: Diane McMahon, PhD, CFRE Operations Manager: Marcia Snowden Finance Director / Project Liaison: Roslyn Maholland Support Staff: Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly, Meagan McGill Office Volunteers: Pat Bibro, Kathy Cunningham, Judy Starr, Monique Dietz, Jon Mulig, Lois Goldstein, Joyce Rothermel New People Coordinators: Savas Kalafatides, Hannah Tomio, Diane McMahon East End Community Thrift Store Managers: Shirley Gleditsch, Shawna Hammond, & Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly Thomas Merton Center Interns: Johanna Baublitz-Smith, Marni Fritz, Brother Christoper Johnson, Meagan McGill, Yolaine Michaud, Quinn Thomas, Hannah Tomio, Savas Kalafatides

2015 TMC Board of Directors Thom Baggerman, Ed Brett, Theresa Chalich, Rob Conroy, Kathy Cunningham, Art Donsky, Michael Drohan, Mark Dixon, Patrick Fenton, Mary Jo Guercio (President), Wanda Guthrie, Anupama Jain, Ken Joseph, Anne Kuhn, Chris Mason, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush (co-founder), Tyrone Scales, 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.

Thrifty needs volunteers and shoppers to serve the community! We are mission driven volunteers who look to build love and community by serving others in times of need.

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.

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Table of Contents Page 1 Valentines from the Thomas Merton Center Looking Ahead for Labor Page 2 See Above Page 3 2015 Festival of Merton Page 4 Bread and Brews in Braddock Co-op to Compost to Crops Looking Ahead for Labor (cont’d) Page 5 The New Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Day March Photos Page 6 U.S.—Cuba: A Paved Road to Hell Photos from State Fracking Rally Page 7 Conference Takes Initiative Regarding Abolition of Nuclear Weapons 2 - NEWPEOPLE February 2015

TMC Projects

TMC Affiliates

(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 info@pittsburghendthewar.org www.pittsburghendthewar.org

Abolitionist Law Center 412-654-9070 abolitionistlawcenter.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 East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010, shawnapgh@aol.com Economic Justice Committee drohanmichael@yahoo.com

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

Environmental Justice Committee

environmentaljustice@thomasmertoncenter.org

Fight for Lifers West

fightforliferswest@yahoo.com

www.fightforliferswestinc.com 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

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 www.northhillscoalition.com 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 North People for Peace 412-367-0383 pnpp@verizon.net www.NorthPgh.org

Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance 412-512-1709

Pittsburgh Campaign for Democracy NOW! 412-422-5377, sleator@cs.cmu.edu www.pcdn.org

Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org Raging Grannies 412-963-7163 eva.havlicsek@gmail.com

Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org

www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com

Pittsburghers for Public Transit 412-216-9659 info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org

SWPA Bread for the World Donna Hansen 412-812-1553

Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook 412-363-7472 tvnotebook@gmail.com 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 Stop Sexual Abuse in the Military 412-361-3022 hildebrew@aol.com Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group 724-837-0540 lfpochet@verizon.net Who’s Your Brother?

412-328-2301 support@whosyourbrother.com

Anti-Drone Coalition’s Push for Anti-Drone Resolution by Pgh. City Council

Bringing Youth Voices to Grant Street Page 8 The Path to Accountability: Israel Reacts as Palestine Joins the ICC The Clash of Barbarisms and Charlie Hebdo Page 9 PA has the Country’s 6th Most Unfair Tax System New Poverty Estimates for PA Counties and School Districts Lets Grow Worker Owned Co-ops in Pittsburgh Page 10 Pittsburgh Chief of Police Held a Sign.

That’s WHAT’S UP?! Doing History from the Bottom UP Page 11 While Our Post Office Drifts,

Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com

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: TMC supports these organizations missions.

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

Congress Fiddles Our Post Office Offers Real Value, and Could Offer More Page 12 The Danger of Sam Hazo Page 13 A Book Review: The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton My Breakfast with Brother Louis Thomas Merton Center Sets 2015 Membership Goals Page 14 Paths to Peace: Lessons from Thomas Merton Cuba Wins!

Page 15 Their Generous Spirit Lives On Caring Page 16 February 2015 Activist Calendar

The Festival is Unfolding The Thomas Merton Center founders chose Thomas Merton (1915-1968) as their namesake in 1972 in honor of his life’s commitment and impact on promoting the goal of peace and social justice. This year a collaboration of peace and justice advocates and faith-based communities will celebrate Merton’s 100th Birthday with a diverse set of enriching events.

Thomas Merton, a Trappist Monk, writer, poet, artist, photographer, and contemplative, continues to inspire Merton Center members, and people all over the world, through his spiritual writings and life witness to peace and justice.

We hope you will consider attending one or more of the Merton Festival events listed below. Except for the Thomas Merton Centersponsored April 20th reception, all events will be free and open to the public. More information and updates to this information will be available at: http://thomasmertoncenter.org/merton-100th.

April 16 (Thursday): A special showing of the documentary “We Are All immigrants” produced by the PATH to Justice Committee of the Tri-Diocesan Sisters Leadership Conference. The film will be shown at the Kearns Spirituality Center located at 9000 Babcock Boulevard, Allison Park, PA 15101 at 7 PM. April 19 (Sunday): “Praying with Merton: Awakening to Action” Adult Forum with Carol Gonzalez at Calvary Episcopal Church, Shadyside, 315 Shady Avenue, Pgh., PA 15206 at 10 AM. April 19 (Sunday): “Thomas Merton and Rabbi Abraham Herschel” a panel discussion led by Rabbi Art Donsky, Sr. Georgine Scarpino, and Karen Hochberg of the Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition. The program will be held at Tree of Life Synagogue, 5898 Wilkins Avenue, Pgh., PA 15217 at 3 PM. April 20 (Monday): A Thomas Merton Center led program and reception features Jim Forest, internationally known Thomas Merton biographer and activist. He will speak on “Thomas Merton’s Advice to Peacemakers” This culminating event willl be held at the Sheraton Inn Station Square on the Southside . The reception is at 6 PM. $40 includes a buffet. Group rates and program ad opportunities are available.

April 22 (Wednesday): A forum presentation focused on the “Centennial Celebration of the Birth of Thomas Merton” led by Drs. Maureen Crossen, Jack Alverson, and Linda Maydak, at Carlow University in the A.J. Palumbo Hall located 3305 Fifth Ave, Pgh. PA 15213 at 7 PM. April 23 (Thursday): “Excerpts from a Biographical Film on Merton’s Life” with discussion by Molly Rush, Fr. Jack O’Malley, Fr. Jay Geisler and others at the Pump House located at 880 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120 at 7:30 PM. April 24 (Friday): “Thomas Merton's Legacies in the Twenty-First Century for the Church and Beyond” featuring Fr. Eugene (Gene) Lauer, Rabbi Art Donsky, Dr. Kevin Mongrain and Fr. Sebastian Madathummuriyil. The program will be held at the Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center in Duquesne's Gumberg Library at 7 PM. April 25 (Saturday): "Thomas Merton and Martin Luther King: Two paths of non-violent solidarity for peace and justice." A discussion led by Charlie McCollester, with representatives from: The African American Church, Catholic Social Teaching, Protestant Social Gospel, and Jewish Prophetic traditions at the Pump House located at 880 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120 at 1:30 PM. April 26 (Sunday): “Waking from a Dream of Separateness: Thomas Merton on Interfaith Dialogue” with author Dr. Bonnie Bowman Thurston and the Association of Pittsburgh Priests at 9000 Babcock Boulevard, Allison Park, PA 1510 at 2 PM. April 26 (Sunday): “Walking the Path to Peace With Thomas Merton” Forum and discussion led by Diane McMahon at First Unitarian Church in Shadyside. in the Schweitzer Room, 605 Morewood Ave, Pgh. PA 15213 at 9:30 AM.

THOMAS MERTON SPEAKERS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION OR EVENT Please mark your calendars now and let us know if you have other events to suggest. We also have speakers, Thomas Merton books, and DVD’s available for groups who are interested in learning more about Thomas Merton.

It is our hope that by the end of 2015 more people will be able to answer the question: “Who Is Thomas Merton?” and will consider membership in the Thomas Merton Center. To become a member today, visit this link: http://thomasmertoncenter.org/join-donate. For more information call (412) 361-3022 or email McMahonD@thomasmertoncenter.org

ADDITIONAL CENTENNIAL ACTIVITIES BEING HELD IN 2015 “Merton 100: Living the Legacy” The International Thomas Merton Society Conference, June 4-7, 2015 at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. The conference brochure is available at http://merton.org/2015/Brochure100.pdf.

“Planting New Seeds for Contemplation: Cultivating Our Spiritual Journeys with Pedro Arrupe and Thomas Merton” at Villa Maria Community Center, Villa Maria, PA led by Natalie Terry and James Menkhaus, July 31 to August 2. Attendees will look at the lives of these two spiritual masters’ and how their lives invite participants to become: people committed to love, faith, and justice. Cost is $175 and includes the program, lodging, meals from pizza supper on Friday to lunch on Sunday. Registration is due by July 22 and can be made on line at www.vmesc.org or by calling 724-964-8886.

Please mark your calendars now and let us know if you have any other ideas to suggest.

We have speakers, books, and DVDs on Merton that are available to groups who are interested in learning more about Thomas Merton throughout all of 2015. It is our hope that at the end of 2015 more people will be able to answer the question: “Who Is Thomas Merton?” and many more will become new members of the Thomas Merton Center.

“Thomas Merton: A Trustworthy Guide on the Path to God” at Villa Maria Community Center, Villa Maria, PA led by James Finley, author of “Merton’s Palace of Nowhere” from October 29 to November 1. The opening night presentation “Turning to Thomas Merton as Our Guide in Contemplative Living” at 7 PM. $15 for the talk alone. Full retreat cost is $395. Registration due by October 15, 2015 processed online at www.vmesc.org or call 724-964-8886.

February 2015

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Grassroots Activism Bread and Brews in Braddock

by Bette McDevitt On a recent “Culinary Tour of the Rust Belt,” sponsored by Pittsburgh Tours and More, we made some stops in Braddock, first at the Brew Gentlemen Beer Company, an unusual name for two young CMU grads, Matt Katase and Asa Foster who pulled this off with “beer, sweat and tears,” as they like to say. “In 2013,” said Matt, “we had 52 cents in our bank account and an investment plan that we thought was never going to work.” They are creating a new craft beer every two weeks, offering around 13 beers at a time. Food trucks come on a regular basis to provide accompaniment for the beer. Matt and Asa live in Braddock, work in Braddock, and love the community.

A few blocks down the main street, Braddock Avenue, we met Shauna Kearns, pulling warm bread from an outdoor brick oven. Shauna, who came from Toronto for the Food Studies Masters Degree program at Chatham University, was accustomed to using a community-owned wood-fired brick oven and found one in Braddock. It was small, but workable. She sold enough bread at the Braddock Farm Gardens, across the street, to build a larger oven. “It was important to me that the money comes from the community, the people who would use the new oven,” said Shauna The labor was done by workers at The Trade Institute, a program based in Wilkinsburg, offering training in masonry to recently released prisoners, under the tutelage of master mason Stephen Shelton. The dome was built

by Vermont masons who specialize in brick ovens.

After we sampled the fresh baked bread, we knew why the brick oven is

4 - NEWPEOPLE

maybe the best idea in Braddock, or anywhere else “There is no grocery store in Braddock, so to localize bread production would be tremendous,” said Shauna. “Also, it becomes a space where people gather, and eat together.

You can put any kind of food to bake in there. If it is fired once a week, it will not drop below 300 degrees, so if we have one commercial bake day, people can come on all the other days to bake.”

And they will have a commercial bake day, very soon, with the opening of the new restaurant, owned by one of Pittsburgh’s finest chefs, Kevin Sousa.

The restaurant is in a former auto dealership and will keep the name, Superior Motors. Funding for this venture came not from a bank, but from a Kickstarter Campaign, with donors who knew Sousa’s reputation.

Sousa will employ and house interns from the area, and offer the fine dining for which he is known, as well as affordable meals. He’ll be getting the bread from the brick oven, right next door, and his produce from Braddock Farms, where ten acres of organic vegetables grow on reclaimed urban land, in the shadow of the Edgar Thomson Works, one of four remaining US Steel facilities in the area. Braddock Farms is a project of Pittsburgh Grows, a nonprofit dedicated to community involvement in growing organic food.

And for the perfect ending…Shauna now lives around the corner which will make the early morning bakes a little bit easier.

Bette McDevitt is a member of the TMC Editorial Collective, and the Raging Grannies.

February 2015

Co-op to Compost to Crops

seen. Tubs of food scraps, bread, and disposal paper products are collected, mixed with wood chips and then turned weekly to add air and help with the decaying process.

Some of this compost goes to the volunteers who help with the work; some is sold to groups and individuals, and some of it goes to Braddock Farm to enrich the soil for

by Scilla Wahrhaftig vegetable growing. Eventually the new restaurant in Braddock will Three times a week a dedicated purchase the vegetables from group of volunteers collects tubs of Braddock farm to make wonderful leftovers from the East End Food Co organic meals.

-op and turns them into wonderful This is a wonderful example of rich compost. ways our waste can go to work in Steel City Soils’ vision is to our urban setting and a great way to recover wasted materials and use teach people about the art of them to grow food in our urban composting. http://steelcitysoils.com. gardens and farms. A small area next to Braddock Farms has been set Scilla Wahrhaftig is a member of aside for this experiment and piles of the New People editorial collective. nicely maturing compost can be

Looking Ahead for Labor (continued from page 1) here.

The United Steelworkers are continuing an aggressive campaign targeting adjunct faculty. They are in contract negotiations with Point Park University after a successful organizing effort. They are making important advances at Robert Morris University and may soon file for an election. In January, the NLRB ruled that adjuncts at Xavier and Manhattan Colleges have the right to organize since Catholic universities and colleges are basically educational institutions, not agents of religious proselytizing (as Catholic primary schools are). The religious exemption only applies to employees not directly effectuating the religious purpose of the institution. This decision is only now being widely analyzed, but apparently the Duquesne University case is still pending.

The Post-Gazette has been reporting about the high number of

deaths at the county jail. Merton Center activist and union organizer Sister Barb Finch says that conditions are very bad because of staffing cuts.

Where there were 4-5 doctors under the former management, there is now only one. The work process is in disarray with medical records staff cut more than in half. Management deals with problems punitively and actively tries to divide new and experienced employees. Nurses need primary assignments so they can rationally organize their daily work. They look to the County Executive for involvement.

So, the long and short of it is: there are many challenges ahead!

Charlie McCollester is the founder of The Battle of Homestead Foundation and a member of the Thomas Merton Center.

March Against Racist Wars The New Civil Rights Movement It’s no surprise that Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe’s December 30th comments on Michael Brown and Eric Garner went viral. Much the same happened during Martin Luther King’s era: white Alabama clergymen calling King and other demonstrators “outsiders” for participating in desegregation protests in Birmingham. According to Rowe, “looters and arsonists run amok, and Black America suffers the association.”My intention isn’t to pick on Mr. Rowe, but to point out another complicated way racism exists in this country and to use him as an example of how mainstream media is failing to see the Black Lives Matter protests as part of a larger, dynamic civil rights movement.

The police have always protected the interests of the power-elite, as does the law. The Black Lives Matter movement has been brewing for some time now due to the mass incarceration of blacks and the Police State that exists in many black communities across the United States.

The Civil Rights era that we’re all familiar with began, as history textbooks would say, after Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954.

Others say it was sparked by the brutal slaying of a 14-year old black boy, Emmett Till, for allegedly whistling at a white woman in 1955.

Movements don’t just begin out of nowhere, or all of a sudden, but often

people reach a breaking point where they are willing to risk emotional and bodily harm to make their lives better. The slaying of Emmett Till may have been the breaking point.

Still, there is always a context in which an event sparks a movement.

For example, the NAACP spent years building a court case to challenge the legal segregation of schools. In 1952, the Legal Council of Negro Leadership organized a successful boycott of Mississippi gas stations that refused to provide bathrooms for blacks.

Movements take many forms and employ many tactics to reach their goals. King was the proclaimed leader of the non-violent movement, holding the most legitimacy in our country. But Robert F. Williams, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party, by advocating violent retaliation, scared their oppressors, and opened up space for non-violent demonstrators to protest under safer conditions.

The partial success of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Immigration and National Services Act, and the Fair Housing Act—and I say partial because these Acts don’t go far enough—owe a tremendous debt to more radical activists found within, alongside, and outside of King and company’s movement.

In our current struggle for civil rights, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Akai

By Joshua Zelesnick

Gurley, Ramarley Graham, and Trayvon Martin are the sparks igniting a national Movement against police brutality, police targeting of black communities, and mass incarceration of black men. We can identify the false jailing of the Central Park 5, the vicious beating of Rodney King, the disputed imprisonment of Mumia Abu Jamal and the late Troy Davis, the gratuitous murder of Amadou Diallo, the brutal sodomization of Abner Louima with a broken broomstick, and the execution-style murder of Oscar Grant in Oakland, CA as incidents heating water towards the boil we’re experiencing now.

Movements are imperfect, as are activist leaders from the multitude of involved advocacy groups. Some will be moderate, some conservative, some radical, and yes, some very radical. Often a particular group and leaders end up taking control in some way—like King and Malcolm X did—and if and when this happens— the establishment (the ruling elite) will feel endangered, threatened, and compromised. This is what frightened elites during the Occupy Wall Street protests. They wanted to stop them before the protestors got hyper-organized. Yet, that movement will also return, much stronger and linked to the Black Lives Matter movement, Climate Change, and Healthcare.

What the new social media hysteria of the day, including Mr. Rowe’s letter, seems to miss is the larger movement that is emerging.

There is a mental code in this county that black lives don’t matter as much, ingrained through our nation’s undemocratic, racist, homophobic, patriarchal, and Christian-whitewealthy-privileging history. Recent protests are the foundation (continued from previous foundations) of a new civil rights movement—as perfect and imperfect as it is—that we should all welcome because people—and especially young people—are standing up for themselves and taking back their dignity.

Black people, as a whole, are still oppressed, and a few black people proclaiming that their people aren’t oppressed shouldn’t obscure that oppression. No, injustice has occurred and is continuing to occur. To say protesting—both the “acceptable” (non-violent) and especially the “unacceptable” (violent) kind—is wreaking havoc and shouldn’t be occurring speaks to a shortsightedness arising from class and white privilege that cannot fathom that what we have right now is a Movement.

Joshua Zelesnick is a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh. Courtesy of Counterpunch

Martin Luther King Day Rally Photos “End Racist Wars At Home And Abroad” This photo by Suhail Shafi

This photo by Diane McMahon

This photo by Joyce Rothermel

Photos by Maranie Rae (unless otherwise noted)

Maranierae.com

Photos by Dianne McMahon February 2015

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Counter-Revolution U.S.- Cuba: The Road to Hell is Paved With ’Good’ Intentions On December 17th President Obama made a surprise announcement of his intention to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. He credited Pope Francis and the Canadian Government for secretly assisting this baby step towards the resumption of diplomatic relations.

The verbal craftsmanship of the announcement was fascinating. True, diplomatic channels must be established as an official mechanism of bilateral communication before any tangible policy change can be addressed, but the actual policy of the last 56 years to overthrow the government of Cuba (regime change) and subjugating Cuba to U.S. ‘interests’ not only remain in place, but were embraced by Obama in using the euphemistic terms of support for ‘civil society’ ‘human rights’ and ‘democracy’ promotion. In fact, just since his announcement over 11 million U.S. taxpayer dollars have been allocated for such programs aimed at building a nascent capitalist class, also allowing non-governmental monies from Miami to flow to private individuals rather than cooperative institutions, giving them advantages in establishing a business class.

Basically, Obama has announced a shift in tactics, not objectives. The U.S. still plans, by inserting an influx of monies and resources to its regime-change toolbox, to work within Cuba to build a contra (counter-revolutionary) movement to restore Cuba to the capitalist fold.

As for U.S. rhetorical and hypocritical interest in ‘human rights,’ since U.S. policy has been intentionally implemented to cause

suffering to the Cuban people, it must be mentioned that the greatest ‘human rights’ violation in Cuba is the Guantanamo prison, where after 13 years there are still 127 people who have never been charged with any crime, who endured rendition and torture, and still await redress.

The closure of Guantanamo was the first order President Obama signed.

That seems a cautionary tale for optimists who would like to believe this is a ‘thaw’ of some sort in U.S.Cuba relations.

There is one undisputed, extraordinary concession the U.S. made to Cuba: the release of the remaining three ‘Cuban Five’ who were unjustly imprisoned for trying to

families after 15 years was truly an emotional moment for all those who worked so conscientiously toward their release. Of course, the U.S. focused on the humanitarian release of USAID contractor, Alan Gross, also a good thing.

The architectures of U.S.- Cuba policies are extremely complex; a petrified quagmire of 54 years of layers and layers of bills aimed to ante up the suffering of the Cuban people and destroy their economy until they cried “Uncle Sam!”. Technically, it can only be changed by an act of congress, a place where good intentions go to die. Now that gerrymandering has congress under Republican control, it is unlikely to allocate resources to open an embassy, or approve an ambassador.

Still, first level talks are scheduled to resume as we go to press.

The U.S. has imposed extra -territorial laws on Cuba for over a 100 years like The Monroe Doctrine.

When Cuba declared its independence from the U.S. in 1959 the post-colonial ‘blockade’ stop murder and terrorism occurring in was put in place. It is the longest, Cuba by U.S. based Cuban-American harshest extra-territorial blockade ever counter-revolutionaries and their placed against any nation. mercenary proxies.

The international community has Seeing the Five reunited with their long insisted that the United States

Tuesday, February 24, 4:00 PM

University of Pittsburgh Law School Alcoa Room, Second Floor

US/CUBA Relations: Cooperation, Contention, Counter-Revolution?

Forum and Discussion Jules Lobel, Lisa Valanti, Sheila Velez Marinez and Jim Ferlo

Pennsylvanians Against Fracking Rally and March at the State Capital!

Photos by Joe Guthrie

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February 2015

By Lisa Valanti

follow its obligations under international law and stop enforcing the embargo against Cuba, a clear contravention of the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. Last October, the United Nations General Assembly, for the 23rd straight year, voted overwhelmingly for the end to the “economic, commercial and financial embargo.” Although the U.S. government ignores the U.N., (U.S. exceptionalism) under the U.S. Constitution, treaties such as the United Nations Charter are to be considered the “supreme law of the land.”

It is frustrating to not have the room to go into any real depth about all that is involved and what it would take to make any genuine progress towards re -engaging Cuba. Just understand that even with full diplomatic relations, the U.S has such relations with many other countries it is in profound conflict with.

Please feel free to email me with any questions, and the TMC will be co -sponsoring several forums on this topic in the near future. Probably the most important change with real meaning that could occur is if the U.S. State Department removes Cuba from the list of ‘States that Sponsor Terrorism.’ Being on that list allows all the provisions of anti-terrorism after 9/11 to be applied to Cuba, and its supporters.

Donations are being accepted for the trip. Please send them to Lisa Valanti at 1415 Amanda Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15210. You can call Lisa at 412.303.1247 or email LisaCubaSi@aol.com Lisa Valanti is the co-founder of the Pittsburgh CUBA Coalition, The Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister City Partnership, US-Cuba Sister Cities

Briget Shields, Doug Shields, Elizabeth Donahoe and Abraham Lincoln make their voices heard at the Pennsylvanians Against Fracking Rally that occurred in Harrisburg on January 20th.

Paths to Peace Conference Takes Initiative Regarding Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

By Michael Drohan

preferential treatment, so to speak, given to nuclear weapons. Why, they At the Imperial asked, should nuclear weapons be Hofburg Palace in viewed as somehow more “necessary”, Vienna the third “legitimate” or “justifiable” than other international WMDs. “Is it because of a belief in conference on the their value as a deterrent?” they asked.

Humanitarian “Then why has this deterrent failed to Consequences of prevent conflicts breaking out in the Use and various regions in which the parties Possession of directly or indirectly involved have nuclear weapons took place from Dec nuclear weapons in their arsenals?”

8 to 9, 2014. This was the third such Possession or use of chemical and conference, the first being in Oslo, biological weapons has been declared Norway in 2013 and the second in illegal with no reservations but the Nayarit, Mexico in February 2014. The same has not happened for nuclear significance of these conferences in the weapons, while the effects of their use urgent quest to abolish nuclear are incalculably more catastrophic than weapons cannot be overestimated. As I those of chemical and biological stated in an earlier article in the weapons.

NewPeople, the Humanitarian Nuclear deterrence, the Consequences of Nuclear Weapons conventional justification for the initiative was taken by non-nuclear possession of nuclear weapons, had a states out of the realization that the very bad reception at the Humanitarian nuclear states, or “nuclear weapon Consequences Conference. club,” left to their own devices, will Participants asserted that instead of never abolish nuclear weapons. nuclear deterrence bringing stability History teaches us this simple lesson. and peace it fostered insecurity and The nuclear club has grown from five instability. A handful of states to nine members, possessing among represented did assert that nuclear them approximately 16,200 weapons, weapons provided some “security each having a destructive power benefit”. Yet, despite the consistent several times that of the bombs and overwhelming objections to the dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. concept and practice of nuclear One of the most important deterrence, society at large has failed questions raised in Vienna was the (il) to pass laws prohibiting nuclear legitimacy of the possession or use of weapons and setting a framework for nuclear weapons. Some states, such as their elimination, as it has done with Ireland, repeatedly questioned the biological and chemical weapons. The distinction among weapons of mass reason for this, it was more or less destruction( WMD) and the agreed, is not due to any magical value

that nuclear weapons have and other weapons of mass destruction do not have but to the naked exercise of political and economic power of those states possessing nuclear weapons.

One of the major speakers at the Humanitarian Consequences Conference was the Japanese philosopher, Dr. Nabuo Hayashi. He drew a parallel between the shift in our way of thinking about torture and the necessary shift in our way of looking at nuclear weapons. In regard to torture, he asserted that most people and nations now agree that torture is a moral wrong in itself and that under no circumstances do outcome-based claims ever justify it. This argument refutes the position of people like Dick Cheney who assert that “torture worked” and helped capture would-be criminals. Humanity, Hayashi asserted, has to make a similar moral judgment on nuclear weapons. Their possession or use is morally wrong in itself, no matter what ends one may propose to justify their possession. A rather interesting coincidence is that the US Senate report on CIA torture was released on the same day that Dr. Hayashi made his presentation to the Conference. The quasi-universal sentiments of horror at the revelations of the torture report, even in the US, may indicate that a moral revolution, and societal revulsion to nuclear weapons, is in the offing. One can only hope.

The Humanitarian Consequences Conference has wrested the initiative for the abolition of nuclear weapons

away from the nuclear states. This initiative is guided no doubt by the conviction that the nuclear states will never deliver on their promises to abolish nuclear weapons. It also is probably inspired by the initiative to ban land mines earlier taken by the non -users of land mines.

Overall, the Vienna Conference can be deemed a great success: 158 governments attended and a nuclear ban treaty was endorsed by 44 countries, the Pope, the International Red Cross and Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN. Austria, the host country, pledged to continue its work to negotiate a test ban treaty.

It was also a kind of victory that the US attended the Conference after having been absent from the two previous ones. However, its attendance was a two edged sword in the efforts towards abolition both now and in the foreseeable future.

From Vienna it is now on to New York at the UN, where the quinquennial review of the NonProliferation Treaty will take place in April 2015. The non-nuclear weapons states which pioneered the Vienna Conference can be expected to have a high profile at this Conference in pushing the envelope on abolition above all on the basis of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, the legality anomaly and the bankruptcy of deterrence. From Pittsburgh, we will try to have a good representation from which a campaign at all levels for abolition can be initiated.

Michael Drohan is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Merton Center.

Bringing Youth Voices Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition's Push for AntiDrone Resolution by Pgh. City Council By Charles Pierson to Grant Street By Jeff Martin TMC’s Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition (ADWC) has drafted an anti-drone resolution which we are asking Pittsburgh City Council to enact.

On January 15, a delegation from ADWC met with Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle (District 6). Councilman Lavelle may be willing to introduce ADWC’s anti-drone resolution. ADWC will continue to work with him on this.

Eventually, we want to contact all the members of Pittsburgh City Council.

We need your help. Each member of Council should be approached by at least one or more of his or her own constituents. If any of the following is your member of Council and you are willing to approach him/her, please contact ADWC through the contact person indicated below. Councilwoman Darlene Harris – District 1 Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith – District 2 City Council President Bruce Krauss – District Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak – District 4 Councilman Corey O’Connor – District 5 Councilwoman Deb Gross - District 7 Councilman Daniel Gilman – District 8 Councilman Ricky V. Burgess – District 9

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We have drafted a letter which we are sending to City Council members which explains ADWC’s anti-drone resolution. We are looking for people to send the letter to their Council rep, then phone their rep’s office and make an appointment. A representative(s) from ADWC will accompany you on your meeting with your Council representative.

So far, eight US cities have passed anti-drone resolutions. ADWC’s resolution calls on City Council to declare Pittsburgh a No Drone Zone. The resolution also presents findings on the numbers of innocent victims in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, and the Philippines who have lost their lives to unmanned US killer drones. A copy of the resolution appears on ADWC’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Pghadwc.

We have a good chance of getting this resolution passed, but we can’t do it without you. Charles Pierson is a member of the Pittsburgh Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition. Please contact at Chapierson@yahoo.com or (412) 3650519. The Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition meets at the Thomas Merton Center the third Sunday of each month at 1:00 PM. We are actively seeking additional members.

topics such as police brutality and institutionalized racism during our meetings to When citizens feel like they’re participating in rallies and marches, not included in decision-making, our members have always they wonder why they should maintained PghSAC’s core values bother participating civically and of valuing intersectionality, internal making their voices heard? That’s and external empowerment, and the conundrum facing the youth of authenticity.

Pittsburgh.

On October 28th, 2014, the Acknowledging the distance PghSAC met with Mayor Bill between the grandiose halls of the Peduto and several members of his City-County Building and young staff to introduce the coalition to people throughout the city, several his administration. The students social justice oriented non-profits and the Mayor discussed, among with youth groups have come other things, police-youth relations, together to launch an innovative increasing youth unemployment in new vehicle for socially driven the city, and the importance of young people to engage with direct youth input. After the elected officials and community meeting, the Mayor asked us to groups on pressing issues. meet with his staff quarterly to AFSC PA, Three Rivers provide input to the city concerning Community Foundation, and policies affecting young people.

Pittsburgh CARES are the founding This is just the beginning for the members of the Pittsburgh Student PghSAC and I believe these kids’ Activist Coalition (PghSAC), potential is limitless. With plans to focusing on addressing youth issues expand in the near future, the and promoting social justice PghSAC is looking for more throughout the city. With two students who believe in social representatives from each justice and can echo the voices of organization’s youth group, several the city’s youth. public and private high schools, as Jeff Martin is the Human Rights well as a variety of neighborhoods, and Youth Coalition Liaison for are represented. the American Friends Service As one of the facilitators of Committee PA State Program PghSAC, I have been consistently (AFSC PA) and one of the amazed by the maturity and facilitators for the Pittsburgh intelligence of these young men Student Activist Coalition. and women. From discussing heavy February 2015

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International Concerns The Path to Accountability: Israel Reacts as Palestine Joins the ICC Is there any end in sight to the shameful disregard of international law on the part of Israel? The answer is no. They have decided to punish the Palestinians for the ‘crime’ of joining the International Criminal Court, one of the most respected institutions in the world. One of the more ironic aspects of Israel’s vindictive response is its deep involvement in the court’s establishment. As Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man, of +972 Mag, points out, “not long before Israel joined the ranks of the U.S. and Sudan in ‘unsigning’ the statute, it was one of its chief proponents and architects.”

After failing to get the votes needed to force a US veto on setting a date for the end of the Occupation, the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed the Rome Statute admitting them to the jurisdiction of the ICC. If Abbas had waited two days until the countries on the Security Council were replaced by a group of new countries much more favorable to Palestinian interests, he would have put the US in the untenable position of having to veto a resolution which would have ended the Occupation. How could the US ever again oversee a peace process promising a Palestinian state?

Israel obviously has no desire to be

examined under the microscope of the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Such charges would threaten the Israeli narrative of itself as victim in a neighborhood of bullies and the idea that the IDF is the most “moral army in the world”. Once the ICC avalanche begins there is no telling what will be swept up in its path. Israel’s pressure to stop the PA from going forward will be relentless. And the US will do all we can to prevent the ICC from charging Israelis with anything. Our own unindicted war criminals may be next.

Abbas has threatened to sign the Rome Statute for years, and now suddenly has. Was this a giant bluff on the part of Abbas? Probably. He can ill afford to bring Israel before the ICC. Not only do Abbas and the PA elite face their own war crime charges, but Israeli and US pressure could delay the process for years, rendering this new tactic an impotent one which would then leave the PA hopelessly adrift, opening the door wide for the dissolution of the PA entirely.

However, the unexpected wave of support this move has garnered within the Palestinian street and in the Arab community was unexpected. But it is

The Clash of Barbarisms and Charlie Hebdo

tempered by the distrust of Abbas throughout the West Bank. Yet, many believe that there finally seems to be a path to accountability and the end of impunity for Israel’s actions. Israel is well aware of this support, but can do nothing but react with its usual punitive policies.

Will the PA, with so little credibility left among its own people, collapse under the weight of the pressure from Tel Aviv and Washington? Will Israel risk replacing the PA on the West Bank, managing security, finances, and all other parts of keeping the inmates tamed as the PA has been so successful in doing for decades? If the PA does collapse, they will have no choice. But this is the last thing they want. If this happens, they become the emperor without any clothes. It would become impossible to deny the Apartheid State Israel has become. Israel would have no place left to hide.

Despite the PA’s uncanny ability to hold on to power, there is resistance brewing throughout the West Bank, and Abbas is struggling to survive. He is in his eighties, has betrayed his own people for too long, is in no position to lead a popular struggle, his unity government with Hamas is a failure, and when he is gone, the PA probably

Creative Commons

By Michael Drohan

The killing of the producers of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, on Jan 7, 2015 and the subsequent killing of two policemen also in Paris were violent crimes that deserve all the condemnation that they have received. In the aftermath of these crimes, however, we have seen several unsavory attempts to point the finger at Islam and Muslims, giving rise to a new tide of Islamophobia and giving ammunition to xenophobic right-wing groups in France and elsewhere in Europe and North America. What is often absent in these rushes to judgment and blanket condemnation of entire cultures and ethnicities is an attempt to give a context for understanding such outbreaks of extreme violence.

Gilbert Achcar, a Lebanese political scientist and a Professor at the School of African and American Studies, University of London, lays out the global context for understanding this phenomenon as the clash of barbarisms. He speaks of the greater barbarism committed by the US and Europe with the wars beginning after 911 in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen and now Syria. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people have lost their lives in these invasions; several more millions have been rendered refugees and their countries laid waste and racked by violence. In response to these orgasms of violence there is what Achcar calls the barbarism of the weak or the lesser barbarism by elements in the invaded country or by people in sympathy with the invaded. Such seems to be the case in the crime of the two brothers Sherif and Said Kouachi, sons of Algerian immigrants to France. From what we know of the background of these two young men, it seems that they were intensely affected by the reports of torture and destruction in Iraq. A secondary influence on them was their upbringing as sons of poor discriminated against Muslims in France.

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Apparently, they had assisted in sending young French Muslims to fight against the US occupation in Iraq and later actually fought themselves in Syria against Bashar al Assad. Without this context, it is scarcely possible to understand the violent action of these young men.

Another element in the context of this violent outburst is the social, cultural, economic and political condition of Muslims in France and other European countries. In France there are 5 million Muslims in a population of over 60 million. This Muslim population is largely from France’s former colonies in North and Western Africa and many of them live in rather deprived conditions in the slums of French cities. They also experience a good quotient of Islamophobia in the overall culture. Both the global context of a Western jihad on Muslim countries and the local context of economic and cultural deprivation can be expected to produce a small number of extremely angry and violent expressions of the rage. The discourse around the brutal murder of the French satirists has largely focused on freedom of speech and the satirists are painted as heroes of free speech fighting religious and cultural fundamentalists. When the focus of a satirical group, however, becomes a poor, marginalized and already discriminated against minority the claim of heroism in the cause of free speech becomes somewhat thin. For years, it would seem that Charlie Hebdo focused its satire on the Muslim religion and symbols principally as they provide an easy target. It is one thing to

By Kenneth Boas

will fall apart. This is the main reason he has gone to The Hague, and why he insists he will return to the UN with another proposal to end the Occupation. He has nowhere else to turn. He is unable to accept that a new kind of struggle must be waged, one for equal civil rights in a single state (Cook).

We are faced with a new dynamic in Palestine/Israel. All efforts to realize peace through partition have failed. The deadlock is deepening, and the ethnic cleansing directed against the Palestinians is increasing. Yet the BDS movement is taking hold and criticism of Israel will not be silenced. There is hope. As Ali Abunimah says in his book, One Country, “how can we justify refusing to explore other ideas? Let us now turn to a different vision, one of peace based on reconciliation and universal human rights.” It is time to see this land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River as a single democratic homeland for all who live there.

Ken Boas is Chair of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, USA. More about the organization is available online at icahdusa.org

direct satire against Stephane Charbon- powerful social and cultural groups where nier, editor of the French satirical one may claim courage magazine Charlie and heroism; it is Hebdo, was among another, however, when four cartoonists it is directed against killed in the Paris massacre which left weak, marginalized and 12 people dead in poor sectors of society, total. whether they are ethnic, religious or racial.

One of the most distasteful aspects of the reaction to the Charlie Hebdo atrocity is the criminalization of all Muslims and to seek passages from the Koran which supposedly condone violence against heathens. Sean Hannity stands out as one of the chief offenders in this direction. The contrast between the treatment of the case of Anders Breivik, the Norwegian murderer and Baruch Goldstein in Israel has been pointed out by many commentaries. In August 2012 Breivik carried out the murder of 69 young people in a youth camp as he railed against socialists, feminists and Muslims. Nobody, however, pointed to Breivik as a Christian and demanded that all Christians explain how their beliefs came to energize the murderer Breivik. Similarly, it is pointed out that the murder of 39 Palestinian Muslims in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein did not give rise to the demand that all Jews explain the phenomenon as an expression of Judaism. There is an obvious disjuncture between criminal acts committed by Muslim individuals and those of other beliefs or religions. Until Western society comes clean on its Islamophobia and tries to understand and respect Islamic culture and accept Muslims as full and equal citizens, we can, unfortunately, expect more outbursts of outrage and violence.

Michael Drohan is a member of the editorial collective and the Thomas Merton Center Board.

Economic Transformation Pennsylvania has the Country’s 6th Most Unfair State & Local Tax System By Molly Rush ...Then there are the Corporations.

Between 2013 and May 2014 there was a slight increase in personal income and sales tax receipts, but corporate taxes declined 21.8%, below 2008 levels.

According to state Department of Revenue statistics, over 70% of corporations that filed paid zero Corporate Net Income Taxes in 2008; and 12% paid $1,000 or less (about as much income tax as a family earning $33,000).

The Delaware loophole allows thousands of corporations to avoid state taxes by creating shell companies housed in file drawers in tax-haven Delaware, which costs the state $500,000,000 in tax revenue.

Meanwhile, adjoining states have done away with the loophole.

A Republican proposal that

supposedly closes the loophole has just passed the House Finance Committee.

But Rep. Phyllis Mundy, a Democratic member, voted “no” on the proposal, characterizing it as "little more than an enormous tax cut for the largest richest corporations in Pennsylvania at the expense of small business and average citizens."

Mundy, who just retired, had her own bill to effectively close the Delaware loophole by requiring corporations to file Corporate Net Income Taxes (CNIT) as a single company.

Most people seem resigned to the growing wealth and income inequality.

“You can’t change the system” is what I hear from many. True, if you sit on your hands.

But we don’t give up, do we? And there are some hopeful signs. Governor Tom Wolf has stated he is against the

“The Merton Center is the linchpin that holds together all the movements for social change in our community.

That is terribly important.” Delsa White (member)

New Poverty Estimates are Out for By Paul Ricci Pennsylvania Counties and School Districts The Census Bureau has released its 2013 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) for all states, counties, and school districts in the US. Results for Pennsylvania show that median income (the median is the value that appears in the middle of incomes when they are ranked from highest to lowest) has steadily increased since 2010 after decreasing from 2008 to 2010. A different pattern emerges for poverty estimates for the state. It shows a steady increase in poverty levels from 2008 to 2011, with a leveling off for 2011 to Table 1 The Ten School Districts with the Highest Child Poverty Rates in PA Name

Estimate

Clairton City School District

47.9

Duquesne City School Dictrict

46.0

Sto-Rox School District

44.7

Wilkinsburg Borough School District

43.2

Reading School District

43.1

Greater Johnstown School District

40.7

York City School District

39.8

Harrisburg City School District

39.1

Allentown City School District

38.6

Erie City School District

38.5

Table 2 The Five School Districts with the Lowest Child Poverty Rates in PA Name

Estimate

North Allegheny School District

3.5

Council Rock School District

3.5

Upper Saint Clair School District

3.2

Unionville – Chadds Ford School District

3.2

Bryn Athyn School District

1.7

2013.

If we look at the Allegheny County estimates, a different pattern emerges for each school district. Like the state, median income increased for Allegheny County from 2009-2013.

Poverty estimates increased from 2010 to 2013, with the earlier years relatively equal.

County school districts with the highest child poverty rates (ages 5-17) are listed in Table 1. The top four districts in poverty rates are in the Pittsburgh Area and the fifth highest is the Reading district.

The Sixth is the Johnstown School District. All of the top five have estimates above 40%. Two of the five districts with the lowest child poverty rates are in Allegheny County, Upper St. Clair and Northern Allegheny.

Paul Ricci is a statistician blogger for Healthcare for All PA and CSI without Dead Bodies

As you begin to prepare your 2014 state tax form consider the following: •A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economy Policy finds that Pennsylvania has the sixth most unfair tax system in the U.S.

Delaware loophole. And •The poorest non-elderly families pay 12% of overall facing a huge income in state and local taxes while the richest 1% pay deficit from the just 4.2%. previous administration, •The next 60% of taxpayers whose annual income is under he’ll have to do $95,000 pay between 9.3 and 10.8 percent. more than •The poorest 20%, with an average income of $11,600, propose changes, pay 5.8% in sales and excise taxes; the richest 1%, whose given the average income is $1,241,600, pay 0.6%.

Republican control of the Legislature..

That’s where we come in. Change act; petition; write letters-to-the-editor; must really come from the bottom up. post on social networks; join with Most people don’t realize the extent other groups active in tax fairness; of the problem. With tax day ahead, attend vigils and rallies. Get creative! when people are paying more And be persistent. attention, it’s the perfect time to speak out.

Molly Rush is the co-founder of the There are so many ways to do this.

Thomas Merton Center, a member of Talk to friends; write, call or meet with the board and editorial collective. your legislators; urge the Governor to

Let’s Grow Worker Owned Co-ops in Pittsburgh By Gabe McMorland This week, the Garfield neighborhood grocery store shuttered its doors after the ALDI global corporation bought up the entire chain of Bottom Dollar food stores.

Bottom Dollar opened in the Summer of 2014 as Garfield’s first neighborhood grocery store in twenty five years. Now, this deal between two global corporations has residents and city officials scrambling to bring another grocery store to the neighborhood. Clearly, we can’t rely on profit-maximizing global corporations to keep good jobs and resources in our communities.

Pittsburgh needs more worker owned cooperatives. Garfield wouldn’t face this urgent scenario if the neighborhood grocery was originally opened as a worker-owned cooperative – a store owned by the workers with a mission that includes the needs of their community.

Worker co-ops keep profits circulating locally and put decisions in the hands of workers who live here in our city. Worker co-ops create quality jobs with deep local roots.

Worker co-ops exist in many sectors beyond the well-known organic food stores of San Francisco and Brooklyn. In 2012, Chicago workers reopened the New Era Windows factory as a co-op after the plant was shut down in 2008. The Cincinnati Union Co-op Initiative helped launch a worker owned bakery, urban farm, and solar installation company. Worker co-ops offer a better path to people employed in lower-wage sectors with frequent labor violations, such as restaurants or house cleaning services.

How can we grow a network of worker owned cooperatives in Pittsburgh? The New Economy

Campaign of the Thomas Merton Center works towards three main goals supporting worker co-ops.

First, we want to raise broad public awareness about the possibilities and benefits of worker co-ops. We’d also like to connect aspiring workerowners with resources to help them build a worker co-op. We’re not experts, but supporting others will help us learn. Finally, we can push for our city’s economic development organizations to support worker coops as part of their strategy for building a strong local economy.

Just like any business, worker coops benefit from a strong support network of financing, strategic advice, and connections to other businesses. Economic development organizations from the Mayor’s Office to neighborhood associations should support worker co-ops as a key part of their economic development strategy. We can look to other cities for inspiration, and to our own regional history of worker ownership for lessons learned.

Join the New Economy Campaign in supporting worker coops in Pittsburgh. Contact Gabriel@thomasmertoncenter.org to get involved or sign-up for email updates at www.newgpgh.wordpress.com.

Gabe McMorland is a community organizer for the New Economy Campaign at the Thomas Merton Center.

February 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 9

Local Activists Pittsburgh Chief of Police Held a Sign. That’s WHAT’S UP?!

Editorial submitted by WHAT'S UP?! Pittsburgh

while a guest on Bill O'Reilly, who attempted to overOn New Year’s Eve, dramatize the Police Chief McLay was one action and it's of many who committed to potential #endwhitesilence by “consequences.” consenting to be All in all, there photographed by WHAT’S was a lot of UP?! holding signs that activity and both declared resolutions to work positive and against racism. The photo of negative responses the Chief has stirred up a after this action controversy with the taken by the new Fraternal Order of Police. chief of police in Pittsburgh, a city It sparked dialogue from different known for having a long history of perspectives on Facebook and Twitter racism and segregation. and, to some extent, in the local media.

WHAT’S UP?! believes that racism But it also made national and and white supremacy will not be international news, with reports from dismantled until we start telling the The Guardian in the UK and al truth about it. Especially white people.

Jazeera. Chief McLay also appeared in And especially white people in power. a thought-provoking segment on Katie That is why we chose the phrase Couric, where he spoke more about #endwhitesilence. implicit bias and how he plans to It took courage for McLay to break rebuild relationships between the the silence and challenge a police police department and local culture that refuses to acknowledge communities. And Mayor Bill Peduto that racial bias affects policing. White explained the Chief's positive action people have important work to do in

Doing History from the Bottom UP attended Harvard and Columbia but was always restless in the academic setting. He and Alice lived for years in an agricultural community in Georgia where Staughton milked a lot of cows.

Threatened with a dishonorable discharge from the army because of his politics, he fought and won an honorable discharge and GI Bill benefits. He taught at Spelman College in Atlanta, along with his friend Howard Zinn, where one of his students was Alice Walker. He was a founder of the Students for a Democratic Society and organized the Mississippi Freedom Schools in the summer of 1964; he wrote the manifesto We are not at war! with Tom Hayden, a founding document of After two years in Europe and the struggle against the Vietnam War. Africa, Charlie McCollester and his Staughton was refused tenure at Yale, wife Linda arrived in Pittsburgh in but Trustees intervened, and students 1973 and not long after, Staughton and responded by occupying buildings.

Alice Lynd settled in Youngstown, This effectively ended what would both events being milestones in labor have been a brilliant academic career, history. More history was made when but only stimulated Staughton and both couples were present at a Alice to do research and engage in the gathering to celebrate the publishing of labor movement.

Staughton’s most recent book, Doing Photo by Charlie McCollester History from the Bottom Up, at the Letter Carriers Union Hall on the North Side.

After some wonderful music by Mike Stout, dedicated to the Lynds, Charlie brought the past and present together, speaking about the Lynds. Parts of his remarks follow: “Staughton’s parents, Helen and Robert Lynd, coauthors of the classic Middletown, a Study in American They moved to Youngstown and Culture were renowned sociologists became deeply involved in the legal and political progressives. Staughton and political resistance to the collapse 10 - NEWPEOPLE

February 2015

examining and challenging racism, and while racial justice is about the desire for all people to live without violence, we must uphold first and foremost the words and desires of people most affected. Black lives matter, brown lives matter, indigenous lives matter, working class lives matter.

This is national news because it comes amidst mass protests against the killings of black people by white police officers. These efforts are born of the fierce leadership of Black youth across the country who are literally fighting for their right to live. In this context, it is remarkable that McLay held that sign committing to challenge racism at his workplace. It is momentous that Mayor Peduto continues to support him. Most of all, it is alarming that the Fraternal Order of Police saw this sign as a threat when police are literally getting away with murder. This is why WHAT’S UP?! is focused on addressing racism among white people, including ourselves.

For all of us, holding a sign can only be the beginning.

Challenging racism in the

workplace is not exclusive to the Pittsburgh police. We are challenging all police forces. We’re not talking about one restaurant, school, hospital, courthouse, city council, or government position; we are challenging racism in all of these spaces and institutions. It’s not about one white person; it’s about all white people fighting racism in ourselves and our communities.

The efforts of WHAT’S UP?! would not be possible without the encouragement, love and guidance by our allies of color, who fight for racial justice every day, not by choice, but because their lives depend on it.

If you would like to speak to someone about issues of race, and explore how you can help in Pittsburgh, please try contacting one of the amazing groups led by people of color in Pittsburgh who are doing profound and important work.

Some include: 1Hood, Alliance for Police Accountability, New Voices Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh for Justice, Justice for Leon, South Asian American Perspectives on Yoga, and We Change Pittsburgh.

By Charlie McCollester, preface by Bette McDevitt of steelmaking in Youngstown. When the mills closed and economic necessity drove people from their homes, the Lynds stayed on, organizing resistance and promoting solidarity. They both became lawyers, which gave them needed skills to protect retirees’ benefits, represent workers exposed to toxic chemicals, and monitor the growth of the prisonindustrial complex that replaced steel in Youngstown. Alice began her massive work on behalf of the prison population of Ohio, while Staughton produced a play on a major prison rebellion at Lucasville, engaging in a struggle for the rebellion’s leaders' lives that continues. He has written dozens of books and important articles and this new book, which demonstrates the critical importance of worker selforganization from below, with or without a contract.

It was in the 1980s that the ‘three musketeers,’ Staughton, myself and Mike Stout began a working relationship based on the assertion that communities and workers have a right to have a say in the operation of their workplaces and also, when capital moves away, a right to a voice in the ultimate disposition of facilities that supported tens of thousands of jobs and generations of workers and their families.

We took part in the occupation of the U.S. Steel building in November 1979 in Pittsburgh and the headquarters of U.S. Steel’s Ohio works in January 1980.

In Pittsburgh, we organized a public entity from below, The Steel Valley Authority, uniting eight communities to use eminent domain on abandoned corporate property. We fought a series of plant closing struggles, J&L, Mesta, Union Switch & Signal, Homestead, and especially the Dorothy Six blast furnace struggle at Duquesne. We dreamed of ‘socialism in one county,’ promoted a community-worker owned mill – South Side Steel (with its brand new 350-ton capacity electric furnace).

Now, the Cheesecake Factory occupies the site of the former booming mill.

We honor Staughton’s life of accompaniment with workers, the poor, and the imprisoned. While Alice’s non-judgmental listening is rooted in her Quaker beliefs, Staughton might be described as an agnostic with Catholic tendencies. It seemed appropriate that these two long distance runners celebrated their 60th anniversary at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Youngstown. One of their heroes is the martyred Oscar Romero, who articulated the ideal of accompaniment with the poor in El Salvador.

Bill Serrin used to say that he hated to hear Staughton and Alice speak because it left him feeling that he wasn’t doing enough with his life. My hope is that we all leave here with the same feeling – that we all can do more to combat racism and exploitation and advance peace, justice and solidarity in our beloved city and the world. “ (The Big Idea Bookshop has several of Lynd's books, but the new one is available from Haymarket Books, www.haymarketbooks.org) Charlie McCollester is the founder of The Battle of Homestead foundation and a member of the Thomas Merton Center.

The Value of the Post Office While Our Post Office Drifts, Congress Fiddles To our Congress the United States Postal Service (USPS) is something like the weather—a target of constant complaints but not something that inspires a desire to act. The realization that the atmospheric conditions triggering the postal storm have been created by Congress itself makes this unproductive attitude doubly ironic.

Members of Congress complain about the closing of 141 mailprocessing plants since 2012, with another 82, in 37 states, scheduled for closure in 2015. They complain about the consolidation or reduction of more than 22,000 city delivery routes since 2007, including 802 in 2014 alone, something the USPS Board of Governors brag about in their December report to Congress. They complain about changes in service standards, effective January 5, which mean the loss of overnight delivery, even of first-class mail, from one address to another in the same municipality. They complain about the threatened loss of Saturday delivery.

The common narrative in news stories is that a steady drop in mail volume since 2006, due to e-mail, texting, skyping and other digital media, is the main reason for the postal service cutbacks. Such stories ignore another significant 2006 event which created what Ralph Nader has termed a “manufactured financial crisis,” the passing by a lame-duck Republican Congress of the Postal Accountability

and Enhancement Act. This law put the USPS in an enormous hole by requiring that it fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years by setting aside more than $5 billion a year through 2016 (in addition to funding its current retiree health benefits). This legally binding mandate is “something that no other government or private corporation is required to do,” argues Nader.

Without this burden, and overpayments the Post Office’s Inspector General says have been made into the federal employee pension funds, the USPS would actually be making money right now, and wouldn’t be forced to make cuts that threaten its status as one of the best postal services in the world, delivering mail efficiently and quickly at low rates across a huge country with many lightly populated and inaccessible locations.

A House bill with 185 sponsors and a similar Senate bill with 31 sponsors would remove the aforementioned prefunding obligation and allow for the expansion of shipping operations. The House bill has some Republican sponsors, but the party’s leadership has so far not allowed it to come up for a vote, a situation that is likely to be duplicated in the now Republicancontrolled Senate.

The neglect and clueless impositions do not come entirely from one side of the aisle. The Postal

Reorganization Act of 1971 created the modern Post Office, establishing an 11 -member Board of Governors. Nine of these members are to be appointed by the President, with five of those allowably belonging to the president’s own party. Once appointed, the nine are to name a Postmaster General, and then the ten-member board selects the Deputy Postmaster General as its eleventh member.

In recent years, unfortunately, Congress has ignored both the intent and the function of the governing board, thus increasing the likelihood our postal service will continue to drift through the usual cuts in facilities and services rather than display muchneeded creativity and innovation.

Right now the board consists of five members—short of a quorum—three Bush appointees, the Postmaster General (who will retire in February and be replaced by an already named successor) and the deputy postmaster.

All three Bush appointees are Republicans, while three Obama appointees, after six years of his presidency, still await confirmation by the Senate.

Since the Senate Democrats decided in late 2013 to neutralize Republican obstructionist tactics by allowing confirmation of presidential appointees via a simple-majority vote, the focus has been on getting nominated judges into the federal courts. The Democratic Senate leadership obviously assigns a

By Neil Cosgrove

much lower priority to the postal service, since not even the urgency of their lame-duck status moved them in December to hold confirmation votes for USPS board nominees Steven Crawford, nominated in February, 2012; David Bennett, nominated in April, 2013; and Victoria Kennedy (Ted’s widow), nominated in February, 2014. It’s hard to imagine that the new Republican majority will be more motivated to bring the USPS board up to capacity.

The U.S. Constitution, particularly Article I, Section 8, states Congress is directly responsible for the nation’s postal service, a responsibility that august body now neglects apart from feckless whining. Nevertheless, the USPS remains a vital part of our economy for both private citizens and business interests, offering services that firms like UPS and FedEx would only perform at much higher rates, such as delivery of first-class mail and to out-of-the-way communities. So far, the postal unions are the entities that have most consistently urged action, and their influence with Republican members of Congress appears negligible. Only the hue-and-cry of constituents directly affected by cuts in facilities and services might make a difference.

Neil Cosgrove is a member of the NewPeople Editorial Collective.

Our Post Office Offers Real Value, and Could Offer More

By Neil Cosgrove

Given all the complaints leveled at the United States Postal Service (USPS), and its Congressionallyinduced financial struggles of the past eight years, it is natural to wonder just how our post office service compares to those of other countries, and to privately-owned package delivery companies like United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx. Around three years ago Oxford Strategic Consulting based in Britain ranked the USPS first among all the G20 countries’ postal services, pointing out that our mail carriers were better at using their resources than any of the others. One-year productivity was particularly impressive—268,894 letters and 2,633 parcels delivered per carrier, while handling 40 percent of the mail volume for the entire world. Evidence from other sources, including more recent studies, suggests the Oxford study was neither a fluke nor noticeably biased.

While first-class mail volume has been steadily dropping since its peak in 2001 (36.5% in the period from 2001-13), package volume has been just as steadily rising, by over 500 million pieces in the two-year period between 2012 and 2014. Package delivery would seem to be in the large private companies’ wheelhouse, but a

recently published study by Consumer Reports, looking at results from the 2013 holiday season, ranked the USPS above both UPS and FedEx in convenience and reliability, and equal with UPS in cost.

Part of the Postal Service’s advantage comes from its responsibility to deliver mail and packages for the same base charge to every location in the United States, no matter how remote or lightly populated. The private carriers can and will charge more to make up the costs of delivering packages to such locations.

Despite small increases in the rate for first-class mail, when inflation is

the 3-cent rate in 1932 was worth 52 underbanked household has an annual cents in 2014 dollars, and the 13-cent income of only $25,500,” notes The rate in 1975 was worth 58 cents in Economist, “yet spends around 9.5% 2014 dollars. of that on fees and interest charged by Because the postal service has these banking substitutes.” The offices in every corner of the country it Inspector General also points out that stands ready to offer services that may 59% of all post offices are in so-called be unavailable to otherwise “bank deserts,” meaning locations with underserved citizens. For example, the one bank branch or none. Two Obama USPS Inspector General has proposed appointees to the USPS Board of that the postal service offer basic Governors, Victoria Kennedy and banking services, such as savings Stephen Crawford, support postal accounts, debit cards, and small-dollar banking but still await Senate loans which would serve as confirmation. alternatives to the exorbitant payday Adding services like basic banking lending now common. There is could also halt the steady drain of precedent for such a move. Between good, middle-class jobs from the post 1911 and 1967 the Postal Savings office. The number of USPS career System permitted as many as employees has dropped around 40% four million Americans to since 2001, when there were 775,903, deposit cash at 2 percent to the 2014 figure of 488,300. interest. The program was Meanwhile, the number of casual and discontinued in 1967 because part-time employees has risen over the banks were offering better 29,000 in the last two years. This drop interest back then. But the can be attributed to congressional Inspector General’s study mandates (see other article) but clearly demonstrated that American not to inept or inefficient postal banks have abandoned lowworkers. If our political leaders income communities, closing recognized and enhanced the value of branches and funding payday our postal service, rather than run it lenders instead. A 2012 report into the ground, we would have a noby the Federal Deposit cost economic stimulus. The post Insurance Corporation found office hasn’t received a taxpayer that over one-quarter of subsidy since 1982.

American households (nearly 68 taken into consideration the current 49- million people) had limited or no Neil Cosgrove is a member of the cent rate is remarkably cheap access to financial services, and are NewPeople Editorial Collective. compared to other postal services and forced to use check-cashers and even to previous rates. For example, payday lenders instead. “The average February 2015 NEWPEOPLE - 11

Activist Artists The Danger of Sam Hazo

Children and/or Corporations

by Mike Aquilina

by Robin Clarke

Sam Hazo is a dangerous man.

I have this on no less an authority than Plato. As the philosopher designed the perfect totalitarian state, he said that poets would have to be banished. They’re a danger to the state, he said, because they excite the people’s passions and speak to them of matters of the spirit, which can’t be measured anyway (Republic, Book X).

No poet has so identified himself with Pittsburgh as Samuel Hazo. He founded the International Poetry Forum and directed it for decades.

He taught poetry at Duquesne University for almost a half-century.

He served for a decade as Pennsylvania’s poet laureate.

His accomplishments and honors fill pages. Yet a longtime colleague of his once told me: “Sam could have achieved more, but he was incapable of lying.”

Hazo’s latest accomplishment is the drama “Tell It to the Marines: A Play for the Time at Hand.” In it he portrays the effects of war on an Irish Catholic family, the Killeens, whose sons have traditionally signed on to be U.S. Marines. Two

Killeens are enlisted in our current war; and the play is as much about the conflicts waged at home, within the family, as about the combat they’ve seen in Iraq.

The playwright is himself a Marine Corps veteran, having served seven years in the fifties and left as a captain. He wrote the poem engraved in stone at the State of Pennsylvania’s memorial to those who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Hazo has, however, been an outspoken critic of the way the nation is waging war today. At eighty-six years old, he still finds himself incapable of speaking an untruth — or remaining silent.

Says one of the main characters in "Tell It to the Marines": "You’re never too old or too young when it comes to matters of conscience.

Conscience has no birthdays."

Sam Hazo is, no doubt, just the sort of danger Plato feared for his totalitarian state. He’s a poet; and for us Pittsburghers he’s our poet.

Mike Aquilina is the author of many books.

Children are Corporations too, there's no end to them, like light in Norway near the solstice there's no ruling Nietzsche Children &/or Corporations Bacchanalian infants understanding nothing about suffering Bacchanalian Corporations at their apex do not apologize infants qua infants do not ask permission do not think to stop doing whatever it is they are doing except some children like you and me have been damaged some Children know about consequences some Children are haunted by consequences like a cry turned inward only an infant would blow up the last mountain Robin Clarke teaches English at the University of Pittsburgh. Her poems are published widely and her book "Lines the Quarry” was the winner of the Omnidawn 1st/2nd Poetry Book Prize.

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Thomas Merton Book Review: The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton: A New Look at the Spiritual Inspiration of His Life, Thought, and Writing

By Joyce Rothermel What do St. Francis of Assisi, the most popular saint in Christian history, and Thomas Merton, the most popular spiritual writer of the 20th century, have in common? You will find the answer to this question and to how together they can inspire a new generation in this new and insightful book by Fr. Daniel Horan, an expert on the spirituality of Thomas Merton.

As a young man, Merton became interested in St. Francis, the Franciscan order and the Franciscan intellectual tradition. In the discernment of his own path to God, Merton prayed to St. Francis: “…and because of the immensity of your burning and immaculate and humble love of Jesus…I know you will pray to him for me that I may be granted whatever I pray that may bring me to him in love and humility.” (Prayer of Thomas Merton Sept. 6, 1941) Francis continued to influence Merton’s life, thought, and writing until his death in 1968. Fr. Horan’s book demonstrates this influence from biological, theological, spiritual and social viewpoints.

Not long after Merton discovered his vocation to the priesthood, he applied for entrance into a Franciscan Order. He was not admitted, but while teaching at St. Bonaventure College in 1941, Merton became a secular Franciscan of the Third Order of St. Francis. Later that year, Merton entered monastic life at the Trappist Monastery in Gethsemane. There his life, thought, and writing continued to be informed by the Franciscan sources he loved. Two years before his death, Merton wrote, “I will always feel that I am still in some secret way a son of St. Francis. There is no saint in the Church whom I admire more than St. Francis.” Fr. Horan says in his introduction, “What Francis was for Merton, Merton can become for us.”

In Fr. Horan’s successful four-part organization, he begins with overviews of the lives and contexts of Francis and Merton. Part two is a fresh, detailed examination of events in Merton’s early life, including his conversion and vocation to the priesthood. An exploration of three areas of faith and spirituality from the Franciscan tradition that influenced Merton follows: the true self, the incarnation (footprints of God), and creation (paradise consciousness). Finally, Fr. Horan shares with his readers the ways Franciscan tradition helped shape

Merton’s view on the Christian’s vocation as prophet and peacemaker, a tenant of Christian living for all people.

Fr. Horan’s research reveals some key similarities between Francis and Merton. Both men experienced a faith conversion as young men, experienced early popularity, and then were relatively young when they died. Both recognized God present in the world, lived an openness to men and women of other faith traditions, had a concern for social justice, and made peacemaking and nonviolence priorities. Their lives, writings, and legacies contained striking similarities.

I was delighted by this counsel from Fr. Horan, “What better way to celebrate his one hundredth birthday than to commit ourselves to following more closely the prophetic call that all Christians have received on the day of our Baptism? Just as Merton ultimately gained that spiritual clarity through prayer and scripture that opened his eyes to God’s vision, may we too continually strive to see the world as it really is and become the much-needed prophets in our own day.”

As the Merton Center continues its mission, we are well reminded of Merton’s words, “Christians must become active in every possible way, mobilizing all their resources for the fight against war. First of all there is much to be studied, much to be learned. Peace is to be preached, nonviolence to be explained as a practical method, and not left to be mocked as an outlet for crackpots who want to make a show of themselves.

Prayer and sacrifice must be used as the most effective spiritual weapons in the war against war, and like all weapons they must be used with deliberate aim: not just with a vague aspiration for peace and security, but against violence and against war. This implies that we are also willing to sacrifice and restrain our own instinct for and aggressiveness in our relations with other people. We may never succeed in this campaign but whether we succeed or not the duty is evident.

It is the great Christian task of our time.” Indeed, the task for all of us!

(Copies of this book are available at the Merton Center for $16.95. To schedule a speaker and/or a showing of the life of Thomas Merton, call the Merton Center at 412-361-3022.)

Joyce Rothermel serves on the Thomas Merton 100th Festival Planning Committee and Chairs the Membership Committee.

My Breakfast With Brother Louis

By John Rodger My winter of discontent came in the year of 1962-63. Because I could not believe that the civilized world was going to self-destruct during what was later touted as one of the great glories of the Kennedy presidency (later referred to as "the Cuban missile crisis”) and--perhaps more importantly--the admixture of native chauvinism and upper class hauteur that caused the faculty and students of Harvard to join in as joyously as if they were "doughboys" going off to the Great War, I left Harvard Law School for a long trip which passed through Manhattan, my native West Virginia (my parents hadn't told anyone I was a drop out), Miami Beach, and ending in the Vieux Carre for Mardi Gras.

There I was confronted with the prospect of trying to hitchhike through Mexico or going home to Mama. There wasn't much of a choice since the Kerouacian mystery of the "road" was long gone. It was a rough hitch up though the Delta and on to Tennessee. Somewhere en route I remembered Seven-Storey Mountain and that Thomas Merton was ensconced somewhere in Kentucky.

A day or two later I was in Bardstown in the center part of the state and advising the man who greeted me that I was a fan of Merton and wondered if I might meet him and/or spend the night. It was past the evening meal but I was taken to the kitchen and given some cheese and bread. Then I was escorted to a small cell (there's no other word) where I tossed and turned until dawn.

This clearly convinced me that I had

no monkish vocation.

There was a soft rap on my door and I was invited to matins and later a breakfast meal. Afterwards, a man--I presume the abbot or some other functionary--asked me if I wanted to meet Brother Louis. I agreed, thinking that they might be trying to recruit me. An unprepossessing man came in and sat down with me. He gently asked about me and what brought me to Gethsemane. I told him about SevenStorey Mountain and he laughed. "I wrote that book," he said evenly. I could not have been more shocked if I had been one of the travelers on the road to Emmaus!

From then on we talked about literature. I remember him telling me that he liked Henry Miller, whose Tropic books had been banned in the U.S. until a few years before. He was quite conversant on literature and current events. (He agreed with me that the Cuban missile crisis had been a terrible thing and we were fortunate to escape nuclear war over what was really domestic U.S. politics. Most commentators today agree with this assessment.)

Merton left as quietly as he appeared and I was escorted to the door a few minutes later. As I walked down towards the highway, my head was swirling. Did I really meet Thomas Merton? Who can I tell? Who will believe me? Or is it as Edgar Allen Poe wrote "Is all we see or seem but a dream within a dream?"

Rodger did return to Harvard Law School-being at that time in the words of Associate Dean Louie Toepfer "the first person to ever leave the school for non-academic reasons and want to return”--and is now retired after 47 years of practise in West Virginia. Pax tecum, hjr

Thomas Merton Center Sets 2015 Membership Goals

By Joyce Rothermel Over the past three years, the membership of the Merton Center has more than doubled. For 2015 we have set a goal of 1000 new and renewing members. We know we cannot do this alone. All of us are needed.

First, all 2014 members are requested to renew your membership as soon as possible. The first two months of each year are set for member renewals. Second, we are offering special membership fee this year for new and lapsed members: $25. The $15 rate is still available for students and people with low incomes. We ask all of our members to reach out to someone who is no longer a member or who never has been a member. Lastly, you can consider a gift membership for someone whom you want to introduce to the Center. You can also use this introductory rate for them. A specific focus this year is to increase the number of younger members of the Center. More and more of our members are considering the opportunity of becoming a Cornerstone Sustainer. These members pledge to make a gift of

$500 or more for the entire year. As the title suggests, the Cornerstone Sustainers are the bedrock for financial support of the Center providing close to 25% of our annual budget. Gifts are made in one sum, twice a year, quarterly, or monthly.

Whichever fits your family budget.

Another membership goal for 2015 is to increase the number of our members who donate monthly to the Center. Our aim is for 75 of TMC members to become, “Monthly Peacemakers” by regularly donating by check through your bank or via credit card. Set this up with your bank or credit card company, to be sent monthly to the Center until you ask them to discontinue it.

We are confident about achieving these aggressive goals as we work to expand a consciousness about who Thomas Merton is in this 100th anniversary year of his birth. If you would like to join the TMC Membership Committee, please contact me at 412-780-5118 or via email to rothermeljoyce@gmail.com Let’s make this year one with record growth in membership and participation in the Thomas Merton Center!

February 2015

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Walking Towards Just-Us

Paths to Peace: Lessons from Thomas Merton Thomas Merton, a.k.a. Fr. Louis, followed his humble and righteous path towards creating a more peaceful and just world. His writings and actions provide us with a way that we can work toward peace in our own lives.

Thomas Merton, born on January 31, 1915, 100 years ago, is the namesake of the Thomas Merton Center. Merton’s message of hope and peace exemplified what the founders of the Center were working to achieve, hence the naming of our nonprofit.

Today, Merton’s message continues to energize our important mission of building a more peaceful and just world.

From April 16th to the 26th the Thomas Merton Center will help facilitate a variety of educational events, with the support of many different faith leaders, to celebrate Merton on his 100th anniversary.

The wide range of activities include film showings, prayer services, meditation circles, talks on environmental justice and peace, and an award reception at the South Side Sheraton Hotel in Pittsburgh on April 20th. There we will hear Jim Forest, a friend and biographer of Merton, speak about his advice to peacemakers. We

Cuba Wins!

By Linda J Nordquist

hope to see you there!.

As a writer, Thomas Merton felt connected to those who were dedicating their lives to pursuing paths of peace and social justice. During his lifetime he was experiencing the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King’s Freedom Marches, the Watts Riots, and the impact of environmental degradation on the planet. Perhaps most importantly, he understood how systemic these problems were, with the inherent impacts of uncontrolled capitalism.

Early in his life, Merton felt called

by God to witness and work against war. He embraced the problem of war at the most fundamental level, by reflecting on the way that we treat each other. He wrote: “If there is war because nobody trusts anybody, this is in part because I myself am defensive, suspicious, untrusting, and intent on making other people conform themselves to my particular brand of death wish.” (Thomas Merton, Contemplation in A World of Action) Here, Merton holds himself personally accountable for creating the state of war that exists within, and without. We are all susceptible to acting in our own self-interest, creating an environment of and fueling the dis “ease” and the

culture of war itself.

To counteract this negativity, Merton advises that we embrace a culture of peace by creating stable communities around us that are grounded in service, love and trust.

Interestingly, Merton believed that monastic living and the simple act of living peacefully together offer the world an ethical and nonviolent model, which counters dehumanization. In fact he suggested that the utopian lifestyle of communism, or the act of living in community and service to each other, works successfully in the monastic setting. He asked that we all hold ourselves personally responsible to look for creating peace within our own hearts, and with the people whom we relate to, by striving for love and trust in our relationships. In so doing he gave us a template to follow.

Merton said, “It does not much matter where we are or whom we live with. What matters is our ability to devote ourselves to prayer, enjoy a certain amount of silence, poverty, and solitude, work with our hands, read and study the things of God, and above all else love one another as Christ has loved us.” (Book of Jonas, Thomas Merton) Finally, an important message to

those who work in the peace and justice community from Merton was that true and sustainable communities should work to adopt virtues of mutual patience and mutual submission, similar to what the Sisters have accomplished at the Benedictine monastery in Bakerstown, PA. Too often, as activists, we react without taking the time needed to reflect, meditate, and pray before we act in a way that promotes nonviolence and peace for all. Working in the peace and justice field, if I were to suggest a template for you to follow, I would ask that you think about establishing a C.L.E.A.R. path, based on what Merton has told us. C.L.E.A.R. being an acronym for: Contemplation, Love, Engagement, Action and Reflection.

Take time to focus on each of these concepts, and then work to build a more peaceful and just world.

This path is not static and linear. It is a circular process that we must continually cycle through to sustain stable and positive relationships with each other.

fencing team. Ablaze, it crashed into the sea killing all onboard. In 1996, three bombs exploded in Havana hotels, killing an Italian-Canadian businessman. In 2009, Alan Gross, recently released, entered Cuba and distributed high-tech equipment for purposes of installing a secret highspeed internet network.

agreed, approving a resolution accusing the U.S. of causing over $1.126 trillion in damages as a result of over 50 years of trade sanctions.

Only two countries voted against: The U.S. and Israel.

Recently declassified documents expose a long history of U.S. clandestine negotiations with the Cuban leadership. Fidel Castro has approached every president since Eisenhower with offers to normalize relations.

The U.S., for its part, has engaged in negotiations with the Cuban leadership on such topics as counter-hijacking agreements, migration, Angola, Central America, counternarcotics, counterterrorism cooperation and more. The fly in the ointment, however, has always been the issue of normalizing relations. Overtures were made by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Ford and Obama, always with the condition that Cuba compromise its foreign policy of materially or militarily aiding liberation movements (e.g., Angola, Grenada) or its domestic policy or its political organization.

The Cuban revolutionary government has never been willing to make such compromises. With all that they have weathered these past 54 years, it is unlikely Cuba will do so now. So, what is motivating this U.S reversal? It might be that the voracious need for new markets trumps all.

Perhaps the U.S. corporate government noticed that Russia is strengthening economic ties with Cuba: mining nickel, drilling for oil off Cuban shores, poised to enter Cuba

with internet and telephone technology, offering credit, and shipping humanitarian goods.

Or maybe they realized that the U.S. has lost friends and money in Latin America because of their standalone aggression towards Cuba; e.g., China’s trade is up 1200% in Latin America, while the U.S. is down 11%. Many U.S. corporations are clamoring for access to Cuban markets. Perhaps they will influence their Congressional puppets to vote to end the embargo.

Perhaps the U.S. government senses weakness because of the aging Cuban leadership. But Cuba is not Venezuela, which had hardly a minute to gather itself and so little time to train another generation. After 50 years, Cuba has trained a second and third generation of leaders that can step into the shoes of their aging colleagues.

What concerns many who have supported Cuba all these years is that classes will again develop in Cuba and an abundance of material items will lure Cubans away from their socialist path. We are all aware that classes, luxury items and boatloads of Floridian cash can be insidious temptations. But I’m betting on the Cuban leadership to keep this ship afloat, and the Cuban people to opt for free medical care over bigger television sets.

For more than half a century U.S. attempts to destabilize, destroy, and overthrow the Cuban government never ceased—and the Cuban government never faltered.

Celebrate! The Cuban revolution has won a great victory.

The turnabout was stunning. In September Obama extended the embargo of Cuba for another year.

Ninety days later, he announced that 54 years of hostile attempts to bring about regime change Creative Commons were a miserable failure.

No amount of poison pens, poison pills, sniper rifles, toxic cigars, CIA plans of lacing a snorkel with tuberculosis and smearing a wet suit with a toxic fungus could uproot the Cuban revolution.

It would have been the stuff of the hilariously bumbling Inspector Clouseau, except that within months of the revolution, right after the word “nationalization” was translated from Spanish to In concert with attempts to English, the CIA began arming overthrow the Cuban regime, a guerrillas inside Cuba, followed by succession of U.S. governments plans for an outright invasion. The Bay clamped an increasingly suffocating of Pigs mercenary assault ended 72economic embargo on Cuba that began hours after it began in a humiliating by prohibiting arms, moved on to defeat at the hands of Cuban armed Cuban exports and imports from U.S. forces. companies, and, in a grand overreach Increasingly angered by its failures that only an Empire’s mentality can in what should have been a slam dunk conjure, included non-U.S. companies against a tiny island, the CIA followed that do business with Cuba, threatening up with paramilitary attacks by dozens them with legal action, sanctions and of counter-revolutionary organizations barring their company leadership from with names like Omega-7, Alpha-66 entry into the U.S. This forced and Commandos F-4, all trained on US international companies, including soil and armed by the CIA. The global banking institutions, to turn relentless campaign spanned decades away from Cuba or risk losing the and is responsible for killing more than biggest market in the world. It cost the 3,400 Cubans and wounding 2,000. In U.S. an estimated $65 billion in lost 1976 bombs planted by a CIA business. operative brought down a Cuban Compared with the cost to Cuba this airliner carrying the youthful Cuban is a pittance. At the U.N., 188 nations 14 - NEWPEOPLE

By Diane McMahon

February 2015

Diane McMahon is the Managing Director of the Thomas Merton Center.

Linda J Nordquist is a writer, photographer, lapsed psychotherapist, and activist.

Thomas Merton Center Their Generous Spirit Lives On One day in 2011, an old friend called.

You know, Ginny, he began, we’re not as active as we were in our younger years. ( I didn’t like the start of this conversation.)

However , he continued, now we have something else of value -- regular jobs with decent, steady pay. That means we can donate bigger bucks to the movements . And the Thomas Merton Center is in grave need of a large, reliable, annual chunk of income so that activists can spend more time on activism and less time on crisis fundraising. What do you say?

Well, my partner, Jan Neffke, and I certainly fit that description. And so, Paul Leblanc recruited Jan and I to be among the first Cornerstone Sustainers—a household that gives $500 or more annually to the Center . Since I was 18, I’ve spent considerable time raising money for social justice organizations. I know firsthand the importance of an HQ, staff, supplies and equipment. Of course, back in the day, a 22 year-old staff member for an anti-Vietnam war or prochoice organization could bunk up with friends and live on $60 a week. Supplies were mimeo paper and stencils.

Equipment amounted to a dial phone, a Gestetner, a manual typewriter and white out.

Caring

Technology sure changed over 45 years, but basic movement needs haven’t.

I’m lucky to work closely with TMC volunteers, staff and interns. I see how these dedicated, capable people have professionalized many tasks while maintaining openness and passion for the many projects that call the Center home.

My mother and father, Virginia and Bill, were ardent supporters of peace, human rights and environmental justice.

They were huge fans of Howard Zinn, William Sloane Coffin, Ivan Illich, the Berrigans and Molly Rush. My parents donated generously to a wide variety of activist groups and charities. They responded to the TMC whenever they received an appeal.

My mother started college in her ‘50’s, majoring in Latin American Studies. She explained to me how important Liberation Theology was to revolutionary movements. Being an atheist, I took this with a grain of salt—until at the Thomas Merton Center I met Catholics inspired by their faith to do good works. After the Sandinista revolution, my parents traveled to Nicaragua, where my mother broke her foot and received attentive care from their struggling universal health care system.

She and I traveled together to Cuba in 1982. While in his eighties, my father

Oakland Giant Eagle, and they both cook, with the aid of “Mike,” as he calls the microwave. “We put together an excellent Christmas dinner,” he said.

They could use a hand once a while, he admitted.

“Mary occasionally needs a ride to the hospital.” And Jonathon would really like to have some help creating a website, through Word Press, for his poetry. “I’m glad that I have something that I really want to do, and am very interested in,” he said. He has a collection of

By Bette McDevitt about 100 poems which he wants to share on a website.

Jonathon and Mary Robison have been long time He has lots to write about. In the conversation, he members of the Merton mentioned the political Center and the wider peace history of his family, and justice community.

Nothing was too far away or including a Hollywood too challenging for Jonathon writer who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. to get to, in his motorized If you can help out with wheel chair. A few years ago, I saw him getting ready one of those two things, occasional rides for Mary, or for an all-nighter, on a helping Jonathon set up a sidewalk in Oakland for website- or just want to say some protest- I can’t recall hello- call him at 412 683 which one - and just to amuse ourselves and pass the 0237. Their address is 154 N. Bellefield, Apt. 66. time, he sang most of the As we wound down our songs that came from the conversation, and reflected Spanish Civil War. that we’ve all been around We see him less these the block a few times, he days. He is taking care of recalled a Hebrew prayer, Mary, who is putting up a called Sheheḥeyanu.

Here’s strong fight against cancer. what it says: “Blessed are “Mary is a triple threat musician…piano, viola, and You, LORD our God, King of the universe, who has kept violin,” said Jonathon, ‘but us alive, sustained us, and she can’t play up to her enabled us to reach this standards now.” That’s the season." closest Jonathon came to negativity in a recent Bette McDevitt is a member conversation. of the editorial collective.

He is able to do the grocery shopping, at the

By Ginny Hildebrand leafleted in a mall for a New Jersey ACLU test case insisting that malls are part of the “public square” where free speech is protected.

My mother died in 2009. As my father lost his ability to walk and small strokes robbed him of much of his speech, I would try to keep him alert with tales of Pittsburgh activism. I’d squeeze his Mom and Dad

I knew he was counting on me.

I didn’t know how much, until I read his will in 2011. He did not leave significant funds to social justice organizations. Clearly, he firstly wanted to provide for his son and two daughters, who would never reach his tax bracket.

Dad was counting on me to use what I needed and put the rest to work.

And so, every year I make an extra Cornerstone Sustainer contribution from my mother and father knowing they’d do it if alive. And , in my will, there’s a donation to the Center – part of the Molly Rush Legacy Fund. It’s enormously important to me that their generous spirits live on. And it’s fundamental to this child they raised that after I die, I can in a small way continue to contribute to the noble struggles for a humane world and flourishing planet. I believe that the Thomas Merton Center can continue to be a unique meeting ground for these struggles and could become even more important in the future.

My legacy donation is not huge, but as with all activist work, when many combine our resources and energy, we make a difference. I am honored to be among others giving to the Molly Rush Legacy Fund. I am so very happy to be able to do this for and with my beloved parents. Please, join us if you can.

hands, look deep into his blue eyes and promise that I would always carry on his and Mom’s work — with a little more of a Ginny Hildebrand is a member of the leftwing bent. I knew he understood me. TMC Cornerstone Sustainers.

The Molly Rush Legacy Fund Committee is asking you to consider leaving a sum of money in your will to the Thomas Merton Center. If you do this, you will ensure that your hard work for justice and peace will continue after your death. Make the Merton Center your 2015 Valentine! To find out how to do this, and for more information, please call the Thomas Merton Center at 412.362.3022.

Honor Your Loved One On Valentines Day

By Judy Starr Loved ones keep our hearts warm and spirits bright!

Don't miss the opportunity to honor a loved one of yours while helping to promote the value and dignity of all human beings by donating to the Merton Center Legacy Fund. All donations, no matter how modest, are greatly appreciated. Complete, clip, and mail this form and your donation to: Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Thomas Merton Birthday Memorial Donation $____________________ Name(s): ___________________________________________________ Organization (if any):_________________________________________ Address:___________________________________________________ City:_____________________ State:________ Zip Code:____________ Home Phone:________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _________________________________________________ Email:______________________________________________________

February 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 15

February 2015 Sunday

Monday

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Tuesday

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Jazz at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, North Side 1:30-2:30pm

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2/11/1990 -Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years

“Tell It To The Marines” Play by Sam Hazo.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

7PM

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“Tell It To The Marines” Play by Sam Hazo.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Presidents Day Hall & Museum.

7PM

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Thursday

Rosa Parks born, 1913

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Wednesday

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NAACP was founded on 2/12/1909

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February 18, 1931. Toni Morrison was born.

Morrison went on to become the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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Friday

Saturday

Regular Meetings

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“Tell It To The Marines” Play by Sam Hazo. Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

7PM

“Tell It To The Marines” Play

by Sam Hazo.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

7PM

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Global Divest From Fossil Fuel Day —see below.

“Tell It To The Marines” Play by Sam Hazo.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

7PM

“Tell It To The Marines” Play

by Sam Hazo.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall 7 PM Valentine’s Day

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Fridays:

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World Sustainable Debi Thomas became the first Energy Day

“Cuba—Relations” Pitt School of Law Alcoa Room 4 pm (More information on page 6.)

Black American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics in the Calgary games in 1998.

GLOBAL DIVE$TMENT DAY—PGH

(Part of a national action organized by 350.org) Select your membership level: ____$15 Low Income/Youth/Student Membership

mailed to your home or sent to your email account.

You will also receive weekly e-blasts focusing on peace and justice events in Pittsburgh, and special invitations to membership activities. Now is the time to stand for peace and justice!

____$15 Youth / Student Membership ____$25 Introductory/Lapsed Membership ____$50 Individual Membership ____$100 Family Membership ____$500+ Cornerstone Sustainer Membership ____Donation $____________________________

***2015 Offer-Introductory or Lapsed membership available for $25 for the first year!

Or Become an Organizational Member:

16 - NEWPEOPLE

February 2015

Saturdays: 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 The Art of Corita Kent The Andy Warhol Museum, 117 Sandusky St., Pittsburgh, PA, 12:30-1:30 pm

Organized by: Pitt Student Divestment Campaign, Thomas Merton Center Environmental Justice Committee and New Economy Campaign, Earth Quaker Action Team.

Join online at www.thomasmertoncenter.org/ join-donate or fill out this form, cut out, and mail in.

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

All Month Long:

Friday, February 13th For more information contact: wanda.guthrie@gmail.com

Subscribe to The New People by becoming a member of the Thomas Merton Center today!

As a member, The New People newspaper will be

Wednesdays: Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p, Write letters for prisoner’s rights at the Thomas Merton Center Darfur Coalition Meeting 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, 2121 Murray Ave., 2nd Floor, 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

Thursdays:

TMC Green Burial Potluck hosted by the Environmental Justice Committee at TMC—6 pm Free! Bring food.

WEB Du Bois, American sociologist and Civil Rights Activist 1868-1963

Mondays: SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 7:30 —9 pm 2101 Murray Avenue, Squirrel Hill 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

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

Chinese New Year, Year of the Sheep

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Sundays:

Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First three Sundays of the month at TMC, 4-6pm Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com Anti-War and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition 3rd Sunday at 1:30 pm at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224

____$75 Organization (below 25 members) ____$125 Organization (above 25 members) ___ Check here if this is a gift membership.

Please note: If you were a financial contributor to the Thomas Merton Center in 2014, and you would like to claim your donation for tax purposes, please call (412) 361-3022 and let us know so that we can process an acknowledgement letter for you.

Please complete and return to TMC. Thank you!

Name(s):__________________________________ Organization (if any): ________________________________ Address:_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ City:_________________ State:______ Zip Code:__________ Home Phone:______________________________ Cell Phone: _______________________________ Email:____________________________________

Mail to TMC, 5129 Penn Ave. Pgh. PA 15224