NewPeople July/August Issue

Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center

PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 45 No. 7 July/August 2015

A Climate for Change: Multi Faith and Inspirited Conversation

By Wanda Guthrie and Makenzie O’Connor

On June 18, Pope Francis released an encyclical on the environment that has brought much needed global attention and a focus on linking climate and social justice. The Thomas Merton Center has been preparing for it.

An early leaked document quotes the Pontiff as saying, “Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it.” He writes, “Numerous scientific studies indicate that the greater part of the global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases … given off above all because of human activity.”

Encyclicals or letters are sent by the Pope most usually to Catholics. But the urgency of this message is without precedent and is presented not only to Catholics but to be received all around the world in all languages. It is a challenge to us all to consider all Creation as a unified community with a common goal.

The Pope has been informed not only by tradition and prayer but also the research and recommendations found in “Climate Change and the Common Good: A Statement of the Problem and the Demand for Transformative Solutions,” which was released in April of this year and is a collaboration between the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a scientific academy of the Vatican, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of related understanding of the best practices. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences is an academy of the Vatican that promotes the study and progress of the social sciences, primarily eco-

nomics, sociology, law and political science. It offers the Catholic Church the elements it can use in the development of its social doctrine. They are called together to reflect on social doctrine and apply this to contemporary society.

The Thomas Merton Center, along with GreenFaith, PennEnvironment, and Pittsburgh 350, is sponsoring a conversation on July 2 at 7pm, at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. The event is entitled “Climate for Change: Interfaith Conversation on Pope Francis’ Encyclical”. Panelists will address global and local challenges posed by the encyclical, as the encyclical raises difficult quesAll are welcome to be a part of this conversations about climate change, our relationship to crea- tion.

Continued on page 5 . . . tion, and our responsibility for care of the earth.

"The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits and we still have not solved the problem of poverty."

Quote from Pope Francis’ Encyclical

In this issue… pg. 3 Rep. Barbara Lee’s Stellar Record Pg. 4 Trade Deals For Corporations pg. 9 Transit Restored to Communities pg. 13 Harambee Ujima Arts Festival

70th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

By Jo Schlesinger

Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace (RHIP) is commemorating the upcoming 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with both annual and new events.

On the eve of the Nagasaki bombing, August 8, RHIP, in conjunction with Global Zero, Bike Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh, will present Bike Around the Bomb. This 20k ride will raise awareness of a nuclear bomb blast radius in addition to taking advantage of many of the city’s newly formed bike lanes and paths. The family-friendly ride is scheduled to start at 9:30am with a short rally. Check website for details: www.bikearoundthebomb.org.

For the past nine years RHIP has been recognized

by Pittsburgh City Council regarding our ongoing advocacy and commitment towards nuclear disarmament, including the risks of nuclear power. Through Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, we will again be issued a proc-

lamation in coordination with the Mayor's Office. In 2013, Pittsburgh joined Mayors for Peace as one of 204 US cities. Mayors for Peace, whose motto “Cities Are Not Targets,” seeks to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world by 2020. The Veterans for Peace Hiroshima/ Nagaskai Legacy Exhibit will be on display for two weeks in the lobby of the City-County Building. These large posters document the nuclear devastation in Japan with graphic photographs, poems, and statistics and include a journal inviting visitors to respond.

Visit www.rememberinghiroshima.org to see our latest accomplishments, to get information about these upcoming events and more. We welcome your involvement!

“You have a better chance of hitting the powerball 7 days in a row than getting me to vote for fast-track” -Congressman Mike Doyle

For more on TPP and Fast-Track see page 4

Jo Schlesinger is a member of Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace and the western PA community organizer of the Coalition for Peace Action The Thomas Merton Center works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice.

TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world.

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July/August 2015

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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.

TMC Projects

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(TMC projects follow TMC guidelines and receive financial and ongoing resources and support from the Thomas Merton Center.)

(Affiliates are independent partner organizations who support the nonviolent peace and justice mission of TMC. - Articles may not necessarily represent the views of Affiliates)

Anti-War Committee info@pittsburghendthewar.org www.pittsburghendthewar.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 Environmental Justice Committee

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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 Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance 412-512-1709

Pittsburgh Campaign for Democracy NOW! 412-422-5377, sleator@cs.cmu.edu www.pcdn.org Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org

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.

To Submit Articles, Photos, or Poems: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit.

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

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Table of Contents

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Page 1  A Climate For Change: Multifaith and Inspirited Conversation 70th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki TPP & Fast-Track quote from Congressman  Mike Doyle Page3 Barbara Lee Speaks for TMC and Me Representative Barbara Lee and Cuba  Page 4 News Flash: Obama to Democratic Base “Drop Dead” The Noose of the Few Tightens Around the  Necks of the Many Page 5 South China Sea Dispute: Has China Crossed  the Line?

From the Ashes of NPT Could Come the Rise of Nuclear Abolition A Climate For A Change cont’d 2 - NEWPEOPLE

July/August 2015

Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org - www.amnestypgh.org Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750 B.a.finch@att.net Battle of Homestead Foundation

412-848-3079

The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org The Black Political Empowerment Project Tim Stevens 412-758-7898 CeaseFire PA www.ceasefirepa.org—info@ceasefirepa.org Citizens for Social Responsibility of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, evolve@atlanticbb.net Global Solutions Pittsburgh 412-471-7852 dan@globalsolutionspgh.org www.globalsolutionspgh.org North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition 412-369-3961 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 Palestine Solidarity Committee info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org Raging Grannies 412-963-7163 eva.havlicsek@gmail.com www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com

Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com SWPA Bread for the World Joyce Rothermel 412-780-5118 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org Veterans for Peace kevinbharless@yahoo.com 252-646-4810 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net

Stop Sexual Abuse in the Military 412-361-3022 hildebrew@aol.com

To Submit an Event to the TMC Calendar: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/calendar/submit-event

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Abolitionist Law Center 412-654-9070 abolitionistlawcenter.org

Page 6  Turn the Radio On Ever Deeper in the Big Muddy Sandy Merton 100: Living the Legacy  Page 7 Let’s Get Angry Bread for the World Lobby Day Brings Food Security Issues to Congress Page 8  Dignity for Everyone Stay Tuned For Pump House Events Fight For Lifers Receives Grant Page 9  Long Walk for Public Transit Makes In-Roads Building a Network of Cooperatives Page 10 TMC Transition Board Statement  Meet the Thomas Merton Center Interns: A Dedicated and Diverse Group Honoring Edith Bell Picnic Pictures 

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

Page 11 Unblurred: First Friday Gallery Crawl People Voting Their Tax Money Uses Page 12 GOP Dogs for Corporate Gold Association of Pittsburgh Priests’ 2015 Speaker Series Ya No Puede Poem Page 13 At Mt. Sinai Charleston May Day In Cuba Page 14 Anti-War Committee Host Art Exhibit Harambee Ujima Festival Merton Center Hosts Maryknoll Sister Janice Page15 July Calendar In Memory of Lucy Spruill Page16 August Calendat

Merton Award Winner Barbara Lee Speaks for TMC and Me

By Lisa Valanti

On November 9th, the Thomas Merton Center will give its highest award to California House Representative Barbara Jean Lee. The TMC award is often a ‘lifetime achievement award’ for those individuals and organizations that stand out, and too often stand alone, in their courageous efforts to speak ‘truth to power‘, stop wars, promote human and environmental rights, and advance social justice, the shared values on which the TMC was founded.

An elected official shouldn’t qualify for the TMC highest award for simply honestly representing their constituents, and doing the job mandated for members of Congress, but the majority of Congress fails miserably in that task with too few exceptions.

In 1959, before President Dwight Eisenhower left office, he delivered a prophetic warning: that democracy and public welfare were dangerously threatened by the rise of the “military-industrial complex.” Originally he had planned his warning about the “military-industrial-congressional” complex, but dropped the ‘congressional’ part because he thought it too radical a message to be accepted by a U.S. public snookered by the perpetual gravy train of monies that ties the U.S. economy to the business of war. For the majority of the U.S. public, the military is an honorable profession, to which we sacrifice our sons and daughters for the greater good, precisely because it is only supposed to be a last resort when all other options have failed. But for the arms industry and all its component private contractors, war is its everyday bread & butter (with a cherry on top!)

On September 14th, 2001, just three days after 9/11, with the whole world reeling in shock and grief, Rep. Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the mad rush for retaliation and vengeance, which became law in the “authorization of use of force against terrorists” bill, which we now understand was a vote for unending war. She stood alone against the ‘military-industrial congressional complex’- the house vote 420-1 to authorize endless war

(the senate was unanimous.) Not one other elected official expressed concerns about opening up the Pandora’s box of war and putting U.S. troops in harm’s way.

Now, 14 plus years later, with many thousands dead, with an expanding ‘theater,’ with drones and renditions, and no end in sight to these wars, Rep. Lee has again accomplished something astounding; she has added an amendment to the Defense Spending Bill, which states: “ Congress has the constitutional duty to debate and declare whether or not to authorize the military for or against ISIL.” Her amendment was narrowly adopted 29-22. WOW! In theory, Rep. Lee has just forced a debate on continued military adventurism in the Middle East! As Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA.) stated in support of her bill: “Congress is the poster child of cowardice.

If the cowardly Congress can go home to their families at night, then our troops deserve the same privilege.”

So Barbara Lee is holding the Congress’s ‘feet to the fire’ and perhaps she will succeed; her persistence and tenacity will at long last allow for a discussion of the ‘elephants’ in the room, namely, why and when military force should be authorized. She may not prevail; Congress has so far avoided its responsibility, but she is fighting the good fight.

Another theme of recent headlines on which Barbara Lee has shown exemplary leadership is the issue of U.S.-Cuba policy and freedom of travel for U.S. citizens. As the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, she and many of her colleagues have been pioneers in working to normalize U.S.-Cuba relations. Oakland, California, like Pittsburgh, created a sister city with Santiago de Cuba over 15 years ago. Now Governor of California, then Mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown, went to Santiago de Cuba and signed the sister city agreement. The U.S.-Cuba Sister Cities Association, (founded in Pittsburgh) facilitated the agreement and official signing ceremony. For the past 15 years, Barbara Lee has worked

intimately with her constituents to build a mutually beneficial relationship with the City of Santiago de Cuba, and to have a delegation go every year to maintain the goodwill and friendship that official relationship has built.

On a personal note, recently Rep. Barbara Lee, surprised me a with a “Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition” award commemorating the Oakland-Santiago de Cuba’s Sister City Partnership’s 15th anniversary at a beautiful ceremony at Oakland’s City Hall. The award reads: “In recognition of your more than 26 years of work to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba.

Your leadership and dedication to this cause has proved fruitful in developing positive relations between the two nations.” I was surprised and humbled by the unexpected honor, but her constituents were not. They said of her: “Barbara knows it takes many hands to make a movement, and she doesn’t forget all the little people doing the heavy lifting making a better world.” I look forward to the TMC dinner award ceremony, when I can say to Barbara Lee, “Back at you for everything you do on so many fronts!

Among her many commitments Barbara Lee is also co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, co-chair of the HIV/AIDS Caucus, Chair of the Out of Poverty Caucus, and LGBT Equality Caucus. She is also a noted champion against the death penalty, and supports the creation of the Department of Peace. For so many reasons she has earned world respect and the TMC award!

Lisa Valanti is President of the U.S.-Cuba Sister Cities Association and VP of the PittsburghMatanzas Sister Cities Partnership. Contact Pittsburgh CUBA Coalition.

Congresswoman Barabara Lee Receives 2015 Merton Award Save the Date!

November 9, 2015 6-8pm Sheraton Station Square For more information call the Thomas Merton Center 412-361-3022

Representative Barbara Lee and Cuba

By Makenzie O'Connor

The Thomas Merton Center looks forward to recognizing this year's Merton Awardee, Rep. Barbara Lee, Congresswoman from California, at the Thomas Merton Award Dinner at the Sheraton Station Square on Monday, November 9. Barbara Lee was chosen for this award because she embodies the spirit of the TMC in her work for international peace, social justice, and civil and human rights.

This is especially apparent in her work to end the Cuban Embargo.

Barbara Lee made her first trip to the National Conference of Black Lawyers in Cuba in 1977, where she witnessed the distress caused by the embargo. This sparked her desire to end the U.S. ban on exports to Cuba. Lee has since traveled to Cuba 20 more times to work on this effort, and her dedi-

cation as well as ongoing time commitment is highly commendable. She makes connections with and relates to the people suffering from the embargo, and she uses her experiences in Cuba to humanize the issue for others.

Though the embargo is still in place, Lee has been successful in strengthening ties between the US and Cuba and is partially responsible for the removal of Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terror List. Lee was also recognized for her efforts to return 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba in 2000. Elian’s mother died in their attempt to travel to the United States, but Elian survived and was found off the coast of Florida in an inner tube.

After much debate on whether the young boy should stay in the US or return to Cuba, Lee once

again humanized the issue by visiting Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez Quintana, as well as Elian’s grandmothers, and was successful in facilitating Elian’s return home.

Barbara Lee’s efforts in Cuba represent just a fraction of her good work. To learn more about her work in peace and social justice as well as why she was selected to receive this year’s Thomas Merton Award, look in the next issue of The NewPeople. If you would like to help in the planning of the Nov. 9th award dinner, please contact the Merton Center at 412-361-3022.

Makenzie O'Connor is a summer intern at the Thomas Merton Center. She attends Allegheny College.

July/August 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 3

Secretive Trade Deals News Flash: Obama to Democratic Base “Drop Dead”

By Jo Tavener

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. HERE WE GO AGAIN! What was at stake in the House on June 18th was a roll call vote that would identify in bold relief a Republican anti-worker stance by voting against Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a policy in place that helped some workers whose jobs were lost because of U.S. trade agreements -at the very moment that presidential campaigns were picking up steam against the backdrop of growing populism on both the right and the progressive left.

After consultations with the White House, John Boehner called for a floor vote on a stand-alone Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), enabling Republicans to avoid the optics of voting against TAA while supporting TPA. Some background is necessary here.

Both Tea Party Republicans and most House Democrats have been against TPA and TPP. The dirty little secret, however, is that most Republicans hate TAA. Republicans also hate the Export-Import Bank, founded by FDR, as an “independent, selfsustaining agency with an 80-year record of supporting U.S. jobs by financing the export of American goods and services.” It was only by Senate Democrats demanding that the bank bill get a floor vote that they allowed TPA to finally come to the floor.

The Senate had sent the House two bills that were linked. One was about fast track authority (TPA) and the other was about workers (TAA). The President approved, saying that he would only sign TPA if TAA was on-board. House Republicans faced a dilemma: vote for TAA to get TPA and subsequently, TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). Such a vote would split the GOP in two. Going against precedent, Republicans called

for a vote on a stand-alone TPA and sent it back to the Senate for its deliberation.

The move appeared to be an act of desperation. It turned out otherwise. President Obama was willing to enrage the base of the Democratic Party as well as its Congressional leadership by accepting to de-link any consideration of workers (TAA) in the face of the upcoming job killing trade bill (TPP) ushered in via fast-track authority. Obama has probably spent what was left of his political capital to collude with Republican leadership on the procedural vote to bring the House stand-alone bill to the Senate floor. Republicans, supported by 13 Democrats won with a vote of 60-37, thereby blocking the possibility of a filibuster and enabling a vote of a simple majority of 51 votes to pass TPA. This, more than the Affordable Care Act, has become his legacy. Much of Obamacare will be undermined by the off-shore tribunals that Senator Warren warned us about. The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clause enables companies to sue countries whose policies threaten their future profits, making a mockery of the legislative constitutional power of Congress.

It is not clear what Congressional Democrats can do now that fast-track is about to come to the President’s desk without the accompanying TAA. When Obama signs the bill into law, his betrayal of those who fervently voted for him will be complete. There is still, however, one more stumbling block to overcome -- the amendment regarding human trafficking that would deny fast-track perks to any country with a stage 3 rating, namely Malaysia. Obama called this amendment a potential deal breaker.

Senate Democrats opposed to TPA and TPP are working with the House to sustain the amend-

ment. If Progressives and Tea Party dissidents do not prevail, there are other trade bills coming down the line that will be passed under fast-track and affect 85% of the global economy and round out the new world order. If you haven’t heard of TPIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) between the EU and the U.S. or TSIA (the Trade in Services Agreement), just leaked in part by Wikileaks, you better get cracking. They are being negotiated right now but are hidden from the light of day by secrecy and attention focused on TPP. This is all being done to maintain the status quo by surrounding the BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China -- who, along with South Africa, have established a development bank as an “alternative to [the] existing US-dominated World Bank and International MonetaryFund.”(Wikipedia) You will hear military brass and the DOD, as well as the State Department, use the China Boogeyman to frighten us with images of ‘Commie’ World Control once China surpasses the U.S. as the largest economy.

President Eisenhower identified fascism as the corporate capture of the state. What is this fight against TPP, TPA, TIPP and TSIA but a fight against Western Corporate world governance -- a powerful form of fascism we have yet to experience. Only five TPP chapters deal with trade. Other leaked chapters attest to trade protection for Big Pharma, Entertainment Moguls and Fossil Fuel Energy Goliaths. Are we willing to go blindly into a future of corporate fascism and climate disaster without massive resistance? I hope not.

Jo Tavener is a member of the NewPeople Collective.

The Noose of The Few Tightens Around The Necks of The Many

By Linda Nordquist

Corporate and political beavers are frenetically gnawing away at the laws of our nation and our democratic rights. Yet another top-secret trade deal, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), is being negotiated. It is heralded and pushed by the Obama Administration, the Republican Party, and a significant number of Democrats. The EU (28 countries) and 23 other countries are involved. Brazil, Russia, India and China (i.e., BRIC nations) are excluded.

TiSA is an accompaniment to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (see June NewPeople), which cover trade in goods. TiSA would remove barriers to trade in services: banking and financial, health care, private education, air and maritime transport, telecommunications, e-commerce, legal, accounting, insurance, energy distribution and much more. It will encompass 80% of the U.S. economy as 4 out of 5 U.S. jobs are in the service sector.

TiSA—have you heard of it? Probably not. And for good reason. Since 2013, TiSA, the largest trade agreement yet, has been negotiated in secrecy. The first page states that the final agreement (in force or not) must remain classified for five years. Furthermore, the draft “must be protected from unauthorized disclosure…stored in a locked or secured building, room, or container.” Once again, an uninformed Congress must wait (all the while courted by their corporate buddies from financial, insurance, information technology, and other sectors) for the unveiling in order to vote up or down without debate.

The president of the Communication Workers of America, Larry Cohen, said, “This is as big a blow to our rights and freedom as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and in both cases our government’s secrecy is the key enabler.”

WikiLeaks to the rescue!

WikiLeaks has released 17 key TiSA documents plus 11 complete chapters under negotiation. Without this data dump, we would never know what is being planned for us.

4 - NEWPEOPLE

July/August 2015

The TiSA legalese text has been decoded by WikiLeaks and made understandable. Here are some examples of what the corporate-nations want: •Under the guise of opening service sectors to competition, it would limit all regulations (national, provincial or local), freeze present regulations (“standstill clause”) and stop future regulations “for professional licensing and qualifications or technical standards.” This would prohibit governments, for example, from “regulating staff-to-patient ratios in hospitals, banning fracking or tightening safety controls on airlines.”

• “No restrictions…placed on foreign investment—corporations could control entire sectors.”

Foreign corporations must be on an equal footing with domestic and not face different standards that could limit their profitability.

•State-owned services (e.g. postal service) would be “broken up or forced into competition with foreign service providers…to improve the availability and diversity of services.”

•Countries may be “barred from trying to control where their citizens’ personal data is held or whether it’s accessible from outside the country”; e.g. imagine your personal banking, health care, business data no longer held in privacy by U.S. entities but shipped to another TiSA country with lower privacy standards for processing.

•The financial services section also has a “standstill” clause, freezing current regulations and disallowing new ones, “which, given the unpredictability of future [economic] crises, could leave governments helpless to stop a new and dangerous financial innovation.”

•It would weaken and invalidate significant parts of the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulations that went into effect following the 2008 financial collapse.

The extra-judicial international tribunals, (Investor-State Dispute Settlement— ISDS) will enforce these new laws, rendering multi-million dollar, non-appealable judgments on behalf of corporations against what used to be sovereign nation states.

The concept of “globalization” now destroys the rights of independent nations as national laws become subservient to international trade agreements favoring corporate profits.

What are international corporations after? The drive for profits is relentless. The world is getting smaller, more countries want their slices of the pie.

Isolating BRIC nations (i.e., strengthening the U.S. position against large, developing economies) is part of the intent of these trade agreements. A mad scramble is taking place on the corporate world stage, causing attacks on the living standards of working people, privatizing public entities, deregulating protections, destroying the environment, seeking inroads into each other’s economies—all in the search for profits.

As of this writing, House Democrats have clobbered their own baby: Trade Adjustment Assistance, which provides Federal assistance to workers who lose their jobs because of trade deals. The TAA was to ease the pain of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The need for such assistance is evidence enough that these trade deals permanently displace workers.

The Democrats said TAA wasn’t enough money.

They’re peeved that President Obama has scarcely visited with them for six years. They wanted to slow the march towards granting “fast-track authority.” In reality? They were feeling enormous pressure from their constituents (trade unions, workers, environmentalists, African-Americans, Latinos, young people) who oppose these trade deals.

This is a momentary defeat for the politics of corporate greed. They’ll be back. TiSA is waiting in the wings, as is the TTIP and the now resurrected TPP. Without an equally relentless political party of our mobilized base (workers, farmers and others), our ability to stand up to these robber barons and their political cronies is hog-tied.

Linda Nordquist is a writer, photographer, and licensed clinical social worker.

Struggling To Prevent Conflict South China Sea Dispute: Has China Crossed the Line?

By Felicia Chia

Largely uninhabited islands have recently drawn international attention, as they are part of a recent territorial dispute in the South China Sea. The Paracels and the Spratlys are two island chains that have recently been claimed in whole or in part by a number of countries. These disputes have been ongoing for a few decades. The Chinese seized the Paracels island chain from Vietnam in 1974. More recently, in May 2014, the introduction of a Chinese oil rig in the waters near the disputed Paracels islands led to collisions between Vietnamese and Chinese ships.

According to The W all Street Journal, Malaysia has generally taken a low-key approach in South China Sea disputes, in contrast to that of the Philippines and Vietnam, which have both railed against perceived Chinese expansionism in disputed areas.

The three Southeast Asian countries claim parts of the sea, as do Brunei, Taiwan and China. Unfortu-

nately, the smaller and poorer nations are unable to put up a fight for the seas they once had access to.

For example, for many Filipinos, their livelihoods have been personally affected by these disputed claims. Threatened by gunmen in Chinese speedboats or Chinese water cannons, fishermen no longer have access to rich fishing grounds in the disputed territorial areas.

The South China Sea territorial dispute is an important issue that has drawn international attention due to the implications that China’s actions have on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Beyond that, it seems that there is a geostrategic confrontation between China and the United States, or at least that is how it has been viewed by the Chinese. The U.S. presence in the area also raises concerns about the future of U.S. interests in Southeast Asia.

Currently, the management of tensions in the South China Sea is still ongoing, with the hope of resolving the conflict peacefully. Unfortunately, it seems as though China will continue to claim the majority of the disputed territory, and to assert more pressure in the region. While some countries would like the United States to counter the perceived greater Chinese assertiveness, some countries want to see less U.S. involvement over this issue. Hopefully, these nations will be able to resolve these disputes through the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Community and improved ASEANChina relations.

Felicia Chia is a summer intern at the Thomas Merton Center. She majors in Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.

From the Ashes of NPT Could Come the Rise of Nuclear Abolition

By Michael Drohan

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) fifth review meeting at the UN from April 28 to May 22 ended on a very depressing note. The essential compact of the NPT was that the non-nuclear nations of the world agreed to not acquire nuclear weapons, while the nuclear nations committed themselves to work in a timely fashion to rid themselves of their nuclear arsenals. All this was expressed in Article 6 of the NPT treaty, which came into effect in 1970.

The reality, however, is that the nuclear nations did not keep their end of the pact and seemed determined to keep nuclear weapons as the centerpiece of their security apparatus while making small gestures in the direction of abolition. As an expression of their displeasure with the behavior of the nuclear states, the non-nuclear states convened three international meetings in 2013 and 2014 to study the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. Out of these meetings came the ‘Austrian Pledge,’ whereby these nations committed themselves to demand a convention banning the possession and/or use of nuclear weapons, thus filling the legal gap in the banning of weapons of mass destruction. This is the context in which the review conference took place at the UN in April/May. During the review meeting, the nuclear states, particularly the US delegation, resented any implications that they were not living up to their end of the bargain in the treaty. They pointed to the reduction in nuclear arsenals, especially to the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) and other treaties between the US and the Russian Federation.

They omitted the plans of the US and other coun-

tries to modernize their arsenals; in the US case their plans to spend $1 trillion in modernizing over the next ten years. It became obvious during the deliberations that the nuclear states had no intention of getting rid of their nuclear weapons, despite all appeals and arguments from the non-nuclear states. In particular, the nuclear states argued that the Humanitarian Consequences Conferences wanted to abolish the non-proliferation framework for working towards nuclear abolition. This was seen by the nonnuclear nations as further evidence that the NPT framework was not going to lead to a ban on nuclear weapons.

The final draft document drawn up during the conference made the proposal that there be a meeting in 2016 to establish a Middle-East nuclear free zone. This seemed a very rational proposal given all the concern about Iran’s nuclear programs, and the allegations by the US and Israel in particular, that Iran was working towards acquiring a nuclear weapon. The reaction on the part of the US, Canada and France to this proposal was rejection and fury. They asserted that the NPT states’ parties could not decide on such a conference without the agreement of Israel, which is not a party to the NPT treaty. This reaction exposed the hypocrisy of the US and of the other nuclear states in regard to nuclear weapons in the Middle East. What they were in effect saying is that Israel must have a monopoly of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, with no other state, including Iran, having such a right. This stance of the US and other nuclear powers also made it clearer that the NPT as a forum had come to a dead end.

While the outcome of the review conference was depressing, nevertheless it lent clarity to the abolition movement. Clearly, the movement to have a legal ban on the possession of nuclear weapons in the form of an international convention or treaty has now to mobilize in other forums. At the end of the review conference, 107 parties to the treaty had signed onto the Humanitarian Pledge, previously known as the Austrian Pledge, calling for an international convention to ban possession of nuclear weapons. This was an extremely positive outcome showing that the majority of nations want a ban on nuclear weapons possession. One possibility among others, going forward, is to bring the proposal of a nuclear ban to the General Assembly of the United Nations. In the General Assembly, unlike in the Security Council, a veto by the US or other nuclear states would not inhibit the passage of such a resolution or treaty. This is but one of the possibilities for achieving the ultimate aim of abolition.

In conclusion, the nations that facilitated the three Humanitarian Consequences conferences will now have to go back to the drawing board on assessing the possibilities for a ban treaty. There are precedents for such a treaty in the land mines, biological and chemical weapons treaties. But what seems certain is that the NPT forum is a dead end in the process.

Michael Drohan is a member of the board of the Merton Center and Co-Chair of the Editorial Collective.

A Climate for Change: Multifaith and Inspirited Conversation Continued from page 1

“A Climate Change: Greening our Faith,” is an ecumenical study series also sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center. It will be held in the Parish Hall of the Church of the Redeemer. The schedule for the entire series: Thursdays, July 9, 23rd, August 6th and 20th, Sept. 3rd and 17th, Oct. 1st and 15th, from 7-9 pm, in the Parish Hall of Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Avenue, Squirrel Hill.

The Thursday, July 9th event will be a multimedia presentation by Dr. Randall Wiesenmayer entitled “Making Peace with the Planet: Biocentrism.”

Participants are asked to purchase a book by Patricia Tull, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

The book, “Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible, and the Ecological Crisis”, can be reserved and

purchased by contacting environment@thomasmertoncenter or from an online bookseller. Wanda Guthrie of Church of the Redeemer, Claudia Detwiler of Community House Presbyterian, and Dr. Randall Wiesenmayer of 1st United Methodist will be discussion leaders.

Wanda Guthrie is a 2015 GreenFaith Fellow and chairs the Environmental Justice Committee of the Thomas Merton Center. Makenzie O'Connor is a student at Allegheny College and serving as a Summer Intern at the Merton Center.

July/August 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 5

Peace and Justice Communities Turn the Radio On

By Bette McDevitt

Set your radio dials to the Union Edge, folks, a locally produced national program appealing to progressives and maybe even moderates. On a recent morning, Communications Director Brittany Sheets and host Charles Showalter told me how they are able to pull off this small miracle; putting information about labor, working families, and progressive politics on the air for 3 to 4 hours a day, nationwide, five days a week, noon to 3 p.m. on 770 AM. and 97.5 FM. “We’re on during drive time, up against Pintek on KDKA,” Charles said, “and we’re taking people away from him.” From 3 to 4, a local program is offered entitled “We Are Pittsburgh.” The Merton Center has a monthly ½ hour show in that time slot, and on the day I visited the station, John Haer interviewed Michael Drohan on the topic of Nuclear Proliferation. The interview was recorded to be broadcast at a later date.

Before John and Michael did their interview, Charles and Brittany told me how their day goes.

“We talk to people across the country, labor reporters, and union presidents,” said Charles. “We have a cadre of people that are friends of the station that we can call up at a moment’s notice, to come on the program. Dan Duncan of the Maritime Trades, AFLCIO comes on all the time. He is one of the union people negotiating the TPP. ” “Politico, Mother Jones, Think Progress, Huffington Post and Media Matters are some of our sources,” said Brittany. “We do the Tinfoil Hat Awards, every Friday, with Media Matters Associate Research Director Emily Arrowood, a wrap-up of the craziest stories of the week.” A recent award went to Fox News for their widespread shaming of

the poor.

“We do working family issues, which is a little different from organized labor. For example,” said Charles, “the Fight for Fifteen started out with 20 people walking out of a McDonalds’s in New York.

Last time they did it, it was a thousand people across the United States. These younger folks came to the realization, ‘Hey, this is what unions have been doing for years,’ and they reached out to the unions, and got some advice from SEIU.” “We’ve seen these young organizers blossom,” said Brittany. “They were like deer in the headlights; now when they come in, they’re like ‘Hey what’s up, how you doing?’ ” Charlie McCollester and Rosemary Trump are on the program every Tuesday, talking about labor issues, in the broadest sense of the term.

“We, Brittany and I and Executive Producer Angela Baughman, are partners in the corporation and we’re the producers. Charles said. “Stations don’t pay us for the program. We get money from donations, advertisers, unrestricted grants from unions, and people buy time, like the Merton Center does.

The unions come on, when they have an issue, but they get no preferential treatment.”

Segments of the program are picked up by 26 stations across the country, and they can be used at later times as well. Brittany explained how that is done. “We hit the record button when we start the program at noon, and it goes on the internet. There are two or three trade websites that these other radio stations can access.. They can pull what they want, in half hour segments, and we accompany it with a write up.”

“We can reach a million listeners a week, and we

Ever Deeper in the Big Sandy During the Vietnam War in 1967, Pete Seeger captured the situation with his song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” which described the war as moving ever deeper into a quagmire of mud while the leader/the “big fool said to move on”. The current situation in the Middle East, and US involvement in so many countries and fronts, has reverberations of Vietnam. On June 10, President Obama announced that the US was going to establish a new base in Anbar Province, sending 450 new advisers to the Iraqi Army as they battle ISIS. This is in addition to the 3,000 advisers already on the ground. In Iraq, the US is supplying air bombing support to the Iraqi troops and Shiite militia, and to the Free Syrian Army in Syria. Yet despite this, the Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL) is making amazing advances in capturing land in both countries. What kind of insanity would say that with 3,450 advisers one could achieve anything better than what happened in 10 years of occupation with 150,000 boots on the ground?

On June 9, 2014 ISIS captured the northern city of Mosul in Iraq, followed by the fall of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, a month ago. On May 21, 2015 ISIS took control of the prize city of Palmyra in Syria. And now there are fears that it will take

are doing that,” said Charles. “I am a firm believer that labor needs to talk to those not yet organized.”

Charles began the program eight years ago, with a one hour program. He is a United States Air Force combat veteran and has worked for the Departments of The Air Force, Justice, Defense and Homeland Security. He was President of the National Homeland Security Council, the union for employees of the Department of Homeland Security.

Charles and Brittany met while working nights at a local K-Mart, and Charles told Brittany about his radio program. Here’s how Brittany tells the story: “I had to do a job shadow for a high school project.

So my Dad took off the day to take me out to where the station was then, in North Versailles. I thought it was really cool. I got on the show, talked a little bit, and used the recording as part of my senior project. I went to Penn State Main Campus and majored in telecommunications. I interned at the station for two summers, and came on full time when I graduated. I have learned so much….” Brittany and Angela, both co-hosts on the Friday program, are proud members of IBEW, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The station is located at 814 California Avenue, a building that belongs to the National Letter Carriers Union.

You can listen on the radio on the stations mentioned above, or through the Internet, at www.theunionedge.com.

Bette McDevitt is a member of the Editorial Collective.

By Michael Drohan

hold of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city. There seems to be little doubt that ISIS is a formidable fighting force and it seems unlikely that the US air bombing and intelligence support will have any effect in stemming their advance. Despite their brutality and adherence to an extremist form of Islam, they seem to have wide appeal to the Sunni populations of Iraq (20%) and Syria (60%). US policy in the region is a muddle of contradictions which have contributed to the situation and prevent a rational solution. The principal obsession of the US in the region has been the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranians have never been forgiven for their overthrow of the Shah of Iran, an ever loyal supporter of the US and Europe in the region and who delivered the oil resources for a song. The US supported Saddam Hussein and Iraq in their decade-long war with Iran in the 1980s but were unable to destroy or defeat them. Then came the Saddam Hussein obsession in the 1990s, overriding the Iranian one, which has resulted ironically in putting the Shiites, who are allies of Iran, in power. The Sunnis, who dominated government and the army of Iraq, were unceremoniously kicked out of office by the US as it occupied Iraq, thus setting the framework for the emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq and eventually the Islamic State

of Iraq. One could say that this is an unintended consequence of imperial blundering which has little understanding or care for the cultural forces that undergird societies in that part of the world.

Then to the disaster and tragedy of Syria. Syria has been ruled by the secular Baathist Party and the dictatorial Assad family for a generation. This would have posed little problem to the US establishment were it not for the fact that they were allies of Iran. By proxy this made them anathema and on the overthrow list. In 2011 the Arab Spring reached Syria, with widespread peaceful protests against the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al Assad and his Baathist Party. An interesting historical footnote is how and why the peaceful protest in Syria did not remain non-violent as it did throughout in Egypt. In Egypt the US did not support the uprising, whereas in Syria it did wholeheartedly. The US Ambassador in Syria at the time, Robert Ford, openly supported the protestors and visited their groups.

Michael Drohan is a member of the board of TMC and of the Editorial Collective

Over 500 Attend International Merton Society Meeting Sr Mary Clare Donnelly (Merton Center staff) and Carol Gonzalez (Merton Centennial Festival Pgh Planning Committee) were blessed to attend “Merton 100: Living the Legacy,” The Fourteenth General Meeting of The International Thomas Merton Society at Bellarmine University, Louisville, Kentucky, June 4 -7, 2015.

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July/August 2015

Encouraging, inspiring presence of more than fifty Daggy Scholars. Daggy Scholarships enable young people (under 30) to participate in the ITMS conference. If you would like to assist in funding the ITMS Daggy Scholarships: ITMS, Bellarmine Univ, 2001 Newburg Rd, Louisville, KY 40205.

Rowan Williams (Cambridge, England)--Anglican bishop, poet and theologian—was Friday evening plenary speaker on “Words, War, and Silence: Thomas Merton for the 21st Century.” The former Archbishop of Canterbury (2002 to 2012), pictured here with Carol Gonzalez.

Women and Children First Let’s Get Angry “She’s Pretty When She’s Angry” is an emotional and comprehensive documentary on the many facets of the Women’s Rights Movement in the 60s and 70s recently shown by Pittsburgh Filmmakers at the Regent Square and Harris theaters. Leaving the theater, viewers felt inspired, but ultimately concerned. The documentary concluded with women in Texas today fighting anti-abortion legislation. It appears as though the many strides those women made in the 60s and 70s are slowly and systematically being revoked. Government regulations on what a woman can and cannot do with her own body are becoming stricter and the autonomy of a woman over her own body is once again becoming a dream to fight for.

Since 2015, fifteen states have introduced Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs), which have the potential to discriminate against women in the form of restricting their access to health care.

Pharmacists would be allowed to deny women birth control prescriptions; emergency rooms would be allowed to deny access to emergency contraception in cases of rape; and in vitro fertilization (IVF) could be denied to gay couples. According to the Women’s Law Project, women across the U.S. are being fired for using birth control, for using IVF to get pregnant, and for having sex out of wedlock. In February, the ACLU represented Jennifer Maudlin, an Ohio woman, who was fired from the Christian organization Inside Out for having premarital sex

By Marni Fritz

and becoming pregnant out-of-wedlock. RFRAs are being used by employers to control the personal lives of women outside of the work place. With the help of the ACLU, Maudlin was able to reach a settlement with the organization and Inside Out changed their employment policy.

As of 2015 state legislators introduced 332 provisions to restrict access to safe and legal abortions.

On May 13, 2015 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill banning abortion at 20 weeks. The Supreme Court has previously determined that life viability begins at 22-24 weeks. The bill is not expected to pass once it reaches the Senate but this is significant for the campaign against a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her own personal health. States such as North Carolina are going as far as refusing to teach abortion procedures to doctors even in one of the country’s most prestigious OB-GYN training programs at the University of North Carolina.

Currently in Pennsylvania a woman must receive state-directed counseling discouraging women from getting an abortion, with a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before the procedure. This interference by the government on a topic that should solely involve a woman and her physician is blatantly undermining both the woman’s decision and her physician. Due to Act 122, which requires abortion facilities be on par with outpatient surgical facilities in the state of PA, five abortion facilities closed in

Pittsburgh from 2012-2013. Only two facilities remain.

If a woman in PA is on a federal Health Plan such as the Affordable Care Act, or she is on a public employee health plan, she can only receive assistance for abortions in cases of rape, incest or if the woman’s life is at risk. These factors are problematic due to the reality that many cases of rape or incest go unreported due to various social factors. A woman, in theory, can purchase a rider in order to access abortion, but these riders do not yet exist. Restrictions such as these predominantly affect lowincome and minority women who can’t afford to pay for the expensive procedure out of pocket, adding to systematic oppression against the lower class in this country.

The future is bleak. If anything can be taken from “She’s Pretty When She’s Angry,” it’s that women need to organize, mobilize, take to the streets and get angry. We need to support organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center here in Pittsburgh, and stand with them. We need to show our government that we will not sit idly by and have the rights we and our mothers worked so hard for taken away from us.

Marni Fritz is a member of The New People Collective.

Bread for the World Lobby Day Brings Food Security Issues to Congress

By Joyce Rothermel

This year’s agenda for the Bread for the World Lobby Day, June 9, 2015 was very focused. We had three messages for our U.S. Legislators: 1) Support legislation, like the Summer Meals Act of 2015 (H.R. 1728 and S. 613), that closes the gap and connects hungry children with the meals they need over the summer months. Out of every seven low-income children who get a free or reduced-price lunch, only about half also get breakfast, and only one also gets summer meals. Because of this gap, low-income children are more at risk of hunger during the summer. This Act would strengthen and expand access to the Summer Food Service Program. These identical bills would make it easier for summer meal sites to operate, provide more funding for transportation grants, and streamline program administration. Summer EBT (debit cards) pilots, which provided additional resources for families to purchase groceries, have also proven effective in increasing access to meals and reducing child food insecurity during the summer months.

This is only one bill in this year’s efforts to reauthorize and improve the Child Nutrition Programs this year; 2) Cosponsor and pass the Global Food Security Act (GFSA) (H.R. 1567 and S. 1252), making permanent the U.S. food and nutrition security program, Feed the Future. Feed the Future has achieved impressive results, helping more than seven million small-scale farmers increase crop production and providing nutritious food to more than 12.5 million children in 2013 alone. The GFSA would provide a first ever comprehensive U.S. strategy to fight hunger and malnutrition, promote nutrition among pregnant women and newborns, and prioritize women smallholder farmers. GFSA has broad, bipartisan support. President George W. Bush initiated major components of Feed the Future, and President Obama launched it. The Bill was introduced by and has cosponsors from both parties.

3)Prevent cuts to programs that invest in children in the U.S. and around the world. Pass a budget deal that addresses sequestration. Adequately funding programs like WIC (Women Infants and

Children Program), Head Start, and Feed the Future is a smart investment for children in the U.S. and around the world. These programs lead to better developmental, health, and educational outcomes later in life. Sequestration will cut non-defense appropriated programs, such as WIC, Head Start, Feed the Future, and other important nutrition interventions by $37 billion each year through 2021.

Four of us from the SW PA Bread Team joined eighteen other Bread members from across Pennsylvania in visits to the offices of Senator Robert Casey and Senator Pat Toomey. Pennsylvania has the distinction of being the only state in the U.S. that has one Senator with a 100% voting record with Bread issues and one that has a 0% record.

The visits with the staff members of our two U.S. Senators were very different. Senator Casey is a primary cosponsor of the Global Food Security Act in the Senate and a cosponsor of the Summer Meals Act of 2015 (S. 613). Our message to Staffer Liz Hermsen was one of thanks for Casey’s ongoing leadership in addressing food security at home and abroad. Casey is an active member of the Hunger Caucus in the Senate. In our visit with Toomey staffer, Tyler Minnich, we sought co-sponsorships on both Senate bills. We believe that both bills will strengthen our national security, which Toomey is very concerned about. We asked for a response from Toomey’s office in the coming weeks.

Later in the day, we broke up to visit in the offices of Representatives Mike Doyle and Tim Murphy. Representative Doyle and his staff member Hannah Malvin met with us. Doyle is a member of the House Hunger Caucus and usually votes with Bread for the World. He promised to consider becoming a cosponsor to both House bills and is a strong voice in the efforts to end sequestration, with its across the board cuts to discretionary programs such as the WIC Program. Sam Hattrup in Rep. Murphy’s office was very receptive to the messages he heard from us and will discuss them with Rep. Murphy and get back to us. In his own district, Rep. Murphy has been helpful with transportation issues of the Summer Food Service Program and

PA Bread Members with Senator Bob Casey in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC on June 9, 2015.

understands the barriers to participation that exist, especially in rural areas.

In all the offices, we left letters written by members of Christian congregations in Pittsburgh in support of the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Programs. Similar letters will continue to be written in other Christian Churches in Pittsburgh and across the U.S. until Congress takes action on reauthorizing these critically important Child Nutrition Programs (School Lunch, School Breakfast, WIC, After School and Child Care Feeding Program, and the Summer Food Service Program.

More than 1 in 5 children in the U.S. and in PA live at risk of hunger. These programs make a difference!

Please consider joining the SW Bread Team.

Our next meeting is on Wed., July 8 at 10 AM in the office of Christian Associates at the corner of 37th and Butler Streets in Lawrenceville (the second floor of the former St. Augustine School). You are welcome!

Joyce Rothermel is co-convener of the SW PA Bread for the World Team.

July/August 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 7

Declaring For Human Rights Dignity For Everyone

By Bette McDevitt

On June 6, an audience at the Pump House learned a little history and heard a call for justice at a panel discussion sponsored by the Battle of Homestead Foundation, entitled Human Rights in the African-American Community—Dignity for Everyone.

Jackie Smith, Co-organizer of the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, who facilitated the presentations, suggested that we think together on how to make principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a reality. “That means starting with the experience of those who are most denied those human rights.” The rights under discussion this night included the right to a living wage, the right to live in decent housing, and the right to equal protection under the law.

Fight for Fifteen activist Chr istor ia Hughes, who works in the dietary department of Presbyterian Hospital, is the main breadwinner for a threegeneration family. “On the low wage most African American workers get here in Pittsburgh, $7.25 an hour, we are not making enough to live on,” she said. “Some of us have to have food stamps. We are the ones sweeping, mopping the floors, serving the patients, but we’re not respected. We are forced to live in deteriorated housing, where you are afraid to walk. Streets become our babysitters, because we have to have two jobs. I live in subsidized housing – I’m not proud of it. Nobody wants to be on welfare.

All of us want to live a better life. I just want to take care of my family.”

Emma Lucas-Darby, Citizen Police Review Board member, told us that the Board was formed in 1997 in response to demand from the citizens following the Jonny Gammage tragedy. “The Board is made up of seven volunteers, five appointed by city council, and two mayoral appointees. We are independent, and our main responsibility is to look at police misconduct. Any citizen can bring a complaint to the board, and when it is filed, we have to investigate it. We have subpoena power, and have four investigators- two are former police officerswho gather information. Cases can take six months to a year.” Public hearings and mediation may be

part of the process, and records of all complaints are kept by the board.

“The investigators recommend an action, and the board will vote on it. We then make a recommendation to the police, and they must respond to it within 30 days.” (The recommendations are non binding, according to the bylaws: “The Mayor and the Chief of Police shall retain full and ultimate authority to set disciplinary policies and take other lawful actions they deem appropriate relative to the Police Bureau.”)

“We have good cooperation with Chief Cameron McLay. We have sent three recommendations to him; he has not accepted every one, but his response has been timely in each case”.

Carl Redwood set the stage for his remarks with history. “How we control the land where we live is the real issue. About that fort where the two rivers join, it was to control the land, and see what they could steal. Over time, those folks who came from somewhere else ended up owning all the stuff that belonged to the people who lived there before.

They got it backed up through the government; so they could take someone’s stuff, and justify it legally.

“There were black people living here at that time, who worked outside the fort. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, they moved up to the hill, and it was called Little Haiti, Arthursville, and Minersville. Later, people of all nationalities lived in the Hill District.

Everyone was working class and came here to work in the mills.

“The Hill District was the center of the black community for all of Western Pennsylvania, until the 1950’s, when 60,000 people lived in the Hill. By 1970, it was down to 28,000. Eight thousand black people were displaced to build the Civic Arena and the parking lots.

“Public policy shaped where people went; and a huge amount of money was pumped into home ownership for middle class whites in the suburbs, and to create public housing in restricted areas for black families.

Median income figures given by Carl Redwood: Allegheny County median income is $66000 Pittsburgh median income is $44000.

Black Pittsburgh median income is $22000.

Hill District median income is $18000.

“The present crisis of affordable housing came about through a reversal of policy. The current city administration sees its job as raising the median income of middle class people, which is not a bad thing to do.

“The Fight for Fifteen is one way to do that, but another way is to get rid of poor people and bring in rich people. Right now, 8000 high end units are being built in Bakery Square, in the Busway area in East Liberty, between the stadiums on the North shore, on the South side by Station Square. None of these developments have units allotted for affordable housing and many public housing projects were torn down, and not replaced with affordable units.

Black people moved to low rent areas like Rankin, Homestead, Clairton.

“We have to demand that affordable housing be included in the developments, particularly those that receive public subsidies. In the development by the arena, we want 30% of the units to be affordable housing.”

“Housing is a right that we have to fight for, and reverse the policy forcing black people to the suburbs. We need to provide affordable housing within the city.”

Bette McDevitt is a member of the Editorial Collective.

Stay Tuned For More Pump House Events “From NAFTA: The Trans-Pacific Partnership: The Global Corporate Attack on Jobs, the Environment and Labor Rights,” JULY 11, 1:30 pm, USW Int’l. V-P Thomas M. Conway, Pump House, 880 Waterfront Dr. ,Munhall “Mother Jones, America’s Most Dangerous Woman” & “Unveiling the Scars” 2 documentaries, JULY 30, 7:30 pm, Pump House, 880 Waterfront Dr. ,Munhall “The Environment and Organized Labor: Where is There Common Ground?” AUGUST 22, 1:30 pm, Pump House, 880 WaterfrontDr.,Munhall “The Power of One Voice: a 50-year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson” AUGUST 27, documentar y 7:30 pm, Patricia De Marco leads a discussion, Pump House, 880 Waterfront Dr. ,Munhall

Fight For Lifers Receives Grant RESIST, Inc., a national progressive foundation located in Somerville, Massachusetts, has awarded Fight For Lifers West a grant of $3,000.00 to help us advocate for more humane and effective laws for prisoners serving life sentences in Pennsylvania. Anyone wishing to contact Fight For Lifers West regarding this exciting work, please write to President Donna Hill at P.O. Box 455, Meadowlands, PA 15347 or call at 412-361-3022.

RESIST began in 1967 in support of draft resistance and in opposition to the Vietnam War. As the funder of first resort for hundreds of organizations, RESIST’s small but timely grants and loans are made to grassroots groups engaged in activist organizing and educational work for social change.

RESIST defines organizing as collective action to challenge the status quo, demand changes in policy and practice, and educate communities about root causes and just solutions. RESIST recognizes that there are a variety of stages and strategies that lead to community organizing. Therefore, they support strategies that build community, encourage collaborations with other organizations, increase skills and/ or access to resources, and produce leadership from 8 - NEWPEOPLE

July/August 2015

By Donna Hill

the constituency most directly affected. In 2013, RESIST gave more money to more grassroots groups than they ever have before and we are proud to be

By Donna Hill one of those groups.

“Each year, RESIST funds groups like Fight For Lifers West, because our mission is to support people who take a stand about the issues that matter today, whether it’s to resist corporate globalization, promote a woman’s right to choose, or develop activist leaders and they believe it’s especially important to help grassroots organizations that might be too small or too local—or too radical—for mainstream foundations.”

If anyone wishes to contact RESIST about a grant or to refer someone they think may be eligible for a grant, here is their contact information: "On the road again, Philly." Working for lifers' rights and RESIST, Inc.; 259 Elm St.; Somerville, MA 02144; 617-623-5110; yafreisy@resistinc.org Personal Note: RESIST’s fabulous staff are professional, experienced and go out of their way to furnish whatever you may need. They provide that “human” touch and that is so appreciated.

lives. End Death by Incarceration!

Photo taken by Donna Hill

Donna Hill is the President of Fight For Lifers West.

Local Organizing Bears Fruit Long Walk for Public Transit Makes In-roads

By Jonah McAllister-Erickson and Mike Harms

Imagine waking up everyday and walking two miles, over roads with no sidewalks, just to catch the bus. That is the reality for many residents of Baldwin, Moon Crest and Groveton since the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC) cut 15% of its service, eliminated 29 routes, laid off 180 workers, and closed the Harmar Garage.

The good news is that in September the situation will change. The problem and the victory are part of a long struggle against drastic cuts in public transit and a threat of statewide defunding of public transit systems throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To avoid a 35% cut in 2012, bus drivers and mechanics, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 85, signed a concessionary contract sacrificing some 60 million dollars for the PAAC over the life of the contract.

Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) was formed to reverse this situation. Working closely with the ATU, as well as commuters and communities, and as part of a statewide coalition, PPT helped stop the cuts. With the passage of the Transportation Bill, Act 89, funding was assured to prevent further cuts. But then some of the damage that had already been done to communities like Baldwin and Groveton had to be repaired. After more than a year of organizing and agitating, the 44 Knoxville will now serve Baldwin, and the 20 Kennedy with be extended to restore service to Groveton. The expansion in service will add 39 new bus drivers and five maintenance workers jobs.

This will have a real effect on people’s lives.

Darnell Jones of Groveton notes that “people will be able to find jobs and get to the supermarket.” Terry Breisinger, a visually impaired Baldwin resident, says “the bus is my lifeline” and with restored service,“I’ll be able to take my family to sporting events or shopping for Christmas presents without having to rely on anybody else”.

The Baldwin campaign started when more than

30 volunteers, including PPT members and ATU volunteers, surveyed over 500 community members documenting feelings and needs in the Baldwin community. Less than a month later, 80 people attended a community meeting, launching the Buses for Baldwin campaign.

Aiming to get more community members involved, the Buses for Baldwin Campaign initiated a letter writing effort and attended the Baldwin Community Day. Quickly, 1500 signatures were collected, demanding service be restored to Baldwin, and 40 letters were sent to the PAAC Board. In September, over 100 people participated in the “Walk for Transit,” a march half the distance many people have to walk to catch the bus. Many community members have called and written, and 25 residents met with elected officials to express the need for public transit in their community. Further community involvement included testimony by 40 residents at PAAC Board meetings, and by 12 residents at the Allegheny County Council.

As the Campaign got attention, a veteran ATU driver, indignant over hardships faced by abandoned riders from her discontinued bus route, connected people from Moon Crest and Groveton with PPT to help organize to restore service in their communities. A steering committee circulated a petition and urged residents to contact the PAAC and testify at their monthly board meetings.

The community involvement was impressive.

Bob Ieraci from the Buses for Baldwin Steering Committee said “even if it was just five people meeting with the Port Authority we had a lot of people behind us. The number of people we had to make phone calls, going to meetings down at the Port Authority, sending e-mails and so on, made it a TOTAL resident win. If it wasn’t for them, this would have never occurred.” Karen Smith, a senior Baldwin resident said “the Buses for Baldwin Steering Committee is proud of all the residents who gave their time

and energy to help the Port Authority understand the importance of public transit in our community”.

According to Terry Breisinger, “the most important aspect of the campaign was the support of PPT and guidance they were able to provide. We knew what we wanted, but didn’t always know how to get it. The guidance and hard work of Molly Nichols and the PPT volunteers kept us going at crucial points in the campaign when we weren’t sure where to go.”

The role bus drivers played in the campaign was also crucial. From the beginning, ATU members demonstrated concern for and solidarity with the communities that had been left in transit deserts after the cuts. Several members attended the community meetings, offering information and advice, as residents deliberated over how best to struggle for restoration of bus services. Not only did the ATU provide crucial support in reaching out to the community, as Terry Breisinger said, “they were able to talk to the community about how the PAAC works and help the campaign focus on suggesting routes that would make sense”.

The victory resulted from transit riders, workers, and community members coming together to demand the transit service they need and deserve and show that mobilizing riders and drivers for increased service can make a real difference.

Jonah McAllister-Erickson is a member of PPT and a Board member of the Thomas Merton Center. Mike Harms is a member of PPT and Recording Secretary of ATU Local 85. Both Mike and Jonah are members of the co-coordinating committee of PPT.

Building a Network of Cooperatives in Pittsburgh

By Gabriel McMorland

How can we help grow cooperatives in Pittsburgh? On May 20th, 42 people gathered for the first in a series of events bringing together Pittsburghers starting, growing, or supporting our local co-ops.

The high energy crowd included long established co -ops such as the East End Food Co-op and the Ujamaa Collective, and an exciting array of newer projects including permaculture, bicycle repair, and a radical sex shop. The Thomas Merton Center’s New Economy Campaign will host more events in this series throughout the Summer and Fall.

Cooperatives can help build a more equitable city, whether we’re talking about worker owned businesses, community-owned housing, or buying

clubs bringing groceries into a food desert. Co-ops take many forms, but they’re always owned and democratically managed by their members. This model gives power to the major stakeholders, such as residents living in a housing co-op, workers in a worker-owned business, or consumers pooling money to buy food at wholesale rates. Check out the list of Pittsburgh’s local co-ops compiled by the people at cooperatepgh.org.

Many cities now have networks bringing together people from established and startup co-ops.

Co-op networks offer strong support in Philadelphia, PA, Madison, WI, New York City, and other cities across the country. Together, co-ops exchange valu-

able advice drawn from their own experience, and also educate local governments and financial institutions about the importance of the co-op model.

The New Economy Campaign wants to meet everyone in the Pittsburgh region who is starting a co-op, part of a co-op, or can lend skills to a co-op.

To find out about future events or get involved with planning, contact Gabe McMorland at Gabriel@thomasmertoncenter.org.

Gabriel McMorland is the head organizer for the New Economy Campaign at the Thomas Merton Center.

FIGHT TYRANNY

Support developing a peaceful, just and democratic world by contributing to the Merton Center’s Molly Rush Legacy Fund now or in the future. All donations, no matter how modest, are greatly appreciated. Complete, clip, and mail this form to: Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224.

In Honor/Memory of:___________________________________________________ Merton Center’s Molly Rush Legacy Fund Donation/Pledge: $__________________ Name(s)______________________________________________________________ Organization (if any):___________________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________________________________

City:_________________________State:__________Zip Code:________________ Email:______________________________________________________________ July/August 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 9

Merton Center News TMC in Transition The Merton Center Board of Directors has announced its plan for transitional staffing at the Merton Center as it seeks to hire a new Managing Director. Operations Manager, Marcia Snowden has generously agreed to serve as Interim Managing Director during the job search while she continues her current assignment of recruiting, supervising and evaluating TMC interns. Marcia is usually at the

From the TMC Board of Directors

Center Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. She will be assisted by Marni Fritz, who has been hired as temporary Administrative Assistant. Marni will oversee the publication of The NewPeople, the weekly eblast, and much of the IT work of the Center. She will be at the Center Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Continuing their work at the Center is Roslyn Maholland, Finance Director

and Project Liaison, and Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly and Meagan McGill as Staff Support.

The new TMC Annex has been opened at 5119 Penn Avenue. Several projects are now working out of the Annex. Stop by to see our new addition to the Center office and meeting space.

Meet the Thomas Merton Center Interns: A Dedicated and Diverse Group

By Makenzie O'Connor

With the third year of the Thomas Merton Center Internship Program underway, the Center is gearing up for a summer of advocacy and leadership in social justice. The fact that the center has attracted such an outstanding group of socially conscious and peace-focused students is a welcomed breath of fresh air. Merton Center Interim Managing Director Marcia Snowden says that the purpose of the internship program is to provide a meaningful and educational experience to students who have a desire to learn about and become active in peace and social justice issues that affect individuals on a local, national, and global level. Because of the breadth of these issues, the interns choose to work on one or two of the following issue-focused committees: Environmental, Anti-War, New Economy, or Human Rights. Interns also have the opportunity to focus on non-profit administration, where they learn about how the Merton Center functions and operates as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Once each intern has an area of focus, they are assigned a mentor who guides them in projects on which the committee is working. The interns are then given the freedom to grow and develop based on their passions! The relationship between the students and the Merton Center is a collaborative one in which each benefits from the other’s experience, strengths, and skills. In the past, the interns have been able to accomplish an abundance of great work, and this summer will be no exception. Director Snowden is particularly amazed at the dedication of these interns, as she says that many of them are working other jobs just so they can participate in the Merton Center internship program, which is an unpaid internship. One intern, Nadia Pacheco Amaro, is working both at a restaurant and in the Political Science department at the University of Pittsburgh in addition to her internship at the Merton Center.

Nadia is a Political Science Major at The University of Pittsburgh, where she is also a board member of the Campus Women’s Organization, a women’s rights group that works on a variety of social justice issues. She came across the Merton Center website and was amazed at the many social justice projects the Center has. Nadia said, “I can get on board with

about any issue. That’s actually been a problem of ultimate goal in life is to have my own non-profit mine. I’ve been trying to figure out where I want to focus because there are so many issues you can work on, and there are so many ways you can attack those issues that it becomes overwhelming to just think about which one you’re going to choose. You can’t do everything.” By working at the Merton Center, Nadia hopes to gain a better understanding of non-profit work and see just how it is possible to tackle so many issues.

Another Pitt student, Haein Shin, heard about the Merton Center from a friend and now works on the administrative end of the non-profit. One of Haein’s tasks is to send out the TMC Eblast that informs people weekly about the many social justice and peace events going on in Pittsburgh. She was drawn to the Merton Center because, Happily packing membership letters. Pictured left to right are before college, she wasn’t exposed to Intern Felicia Chia, Intern Anna Josephson, Intern Haein Shin, many of the problems going on in soci- and Office Assistant Marni Fritz. ety, and she wanted to learn more and Photo Credit: Makenzie O’Connor to get involved. Many of her friends are still unaware of these issues. Shin stated, working with child advocacy. I want to have a center “Sometimes I would get upset that they (her friends) for abused and neglected children. I’m exploring weren’t aware of these kinds of things that are so non-profits to see how they work and to see what important and affect us as individuals and as a great- issues I might have in the future when I have my er community. I wanted to do something. I wanted to own.” Kalei has a lot hands on experience in the educate myself.” field of social justice and is currently working on the Becoming more educated is also a goal of intern Merton Center website as well as The NewPeople Lilly Herwitt. Still in high school, Lilly came to the newspaper to continue broadening her experiences.

Merton Center eager to learn, “I thought if I could The Merton Center is happy to have these and inform myself, I could educate people who don’t several more interns this summer because there is a know about it [social justice] or want to know more great need for community engagement at all ages about it.” The Merton Center is delighted to have and walks of life. The Merton Center along with this students interested in peace and social justice work dedicated and diverse group of interns, have a great at such a young age and is excited that they are tak- summer ahead of them. ing their own initiative to learn more.

Senior at Ohio University Kalei Edenfield hopes Makenzie O’Connor is a Global Health student at to have her own non-profit someday and is happy to Allegheny College interning at the Merton Center have this internship to learn more about the adminis- for the summer. trative side of the Merton Center. Kalei says, “My

Celebrating Edith Bell Over the past three years, membership at the Thomas Merton Center has nearly tripled! In 2014, we reached a membership level of 650 members. This year, our goal is 1,000 members. As you can see, from the thermometer , we are at about 400 members. Help us reach our goal of 1,000– become a member today!

As a member, you receive a monthly subscription to The NewPeople and a weekly E-Blast containing activist happenings in Pittsburgh and in the surrounding areas.

We have student and low-income rates!

Fill out the form on the back below our

August calendar today or visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org 10 - NEWPEOPLE

July/August 2015

On Sunday, May 17, 2015, the Thomas Merton Center honored Edith Bell for her lifetime commitment to peace and social justice.

Top Left: Edith Bell Top Right: Guests celebrating Edith Bell Bottom: Raging Gr annies Photos taken by Marni Fritz

Activist Voices Unblurred: First Friday Crawl on Penn Ave.

By Marni Fritz

On Friday, June 5th the Thomas Merton Center opened its doors for the Penn Ave Unblurred Gallery Crawl which takes place on the first Friday of every month. Working with some of our projects as well as the Big Idea Bookstore, the International Socialist Organization, and Steer Queer, a table was set up outside of the Center on the sidewalk. The Anti-War/Anti-Drone Committee held a Penny Poll, asking those who walked by to allocate their tax dollars (represented by pennies) to various areas of government spending. It came as no surprise that military allocations came in dead last, regardless of the reality of our country’s bloated military budget. The Big Idea Bookstore and Steer Queer shared zines highlighting LGBTQ authors and themes of social activism. CatCall412 was also represented with a wonderful display of jewelry for sale.

Inside the Merton Center we housed a wonderfully successful interactive poetry event. Partici-

pants were prompted to take up to five previously printed words at random and were then asked to build a poem around those five words using an oldfashioned type-writer. The only three constricting elements of the poem were: a maximum five-line length, need to use the words selected, and incorporating the poem into one of four themes: gender/ sexuality, economic justice, environmental justice and anti-war/peace. Over 30 participants wrote poems evenly distributed across the four themes, which are currently still donning the walls of the Merton Center (See photo below).

The New Economy Campaign had a petition and some information outside of the building, connecting with over thirty people on the issue of divesting from fossil fuels in Pittsburgh. Many constructive conversations were had and the community showed great enthusiasm for what the Merton Center was doing, many of them hearing of the TMC for

the first time.

The success of this event has inspired the Center to continue taking part in the First Friday events on a monthly basis. In August, TMC plans to house a photography exhibit by Catherine McWilliams, a New-York-based photographer who covers the issues of the female-college experience. This show is a deeply personal experience tackling issues ranging from the most fun memories to the more intense experiences of women on college campuses. This September, Friends of the Harmed will hold their launch party for the second volume of Shalefield Stories, a chilling compilation of first-hand accounts of the impact fracking has on local families and residents.

Stay Tuned!

Marni Fritz is a member of the NewPeople Editorial Collective

HOLD THE DATE! JULY 30, 2015 JOIN WITH US TO CELEBRATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF MEDICARE The official 50th anniversary date of Medicare 12 NOON MARCH AND RALLY UPMC TO HIGHMARK Begin at 12 NOON at UPMC and march to HighMark for a short rally with a few speakers The need to publicize the negative role of the "private for profit" insurance industry in our healthcare delivery system, its current role in promoting the privatization and destruction of medicare and the necessity of single payer as the solution to the health care mess.

These are critical themes, it's our role to publicize and promote them and necessary to build public support and strengthen the single payer movement.

Sponsored by: (list in formation) Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare HealthCare for ALL PA National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 84 To endorse, get involved or for questions: Ed Grystar 412-215-4141 egrystar@aol.com

People Voting Their Tax Money Uses

By Michael Drohan

On the evening of June 5, 2015, in the context of the “Unblurred” celebration that takes place on the first Friday of each month on Penn Ave in Garfield, two members of the Economic Justice Committee of the Merton Center took a poll on how a sample of citizens would allocate their discretionary tax dollars if they had the option. During the course of the evening, seventy people participated in the exercise. The results are tabulated in the table below.

In the accompanying column we provide the actual percentages that the Government spends on those categories. A casual look at the results and the contrast between the two allocations is nothing short of astounding.

Before analyzing the results, however, a few caveats are necessary. First off, a sample of seventy people cannot be used as a statistical proof of how overall taxpayers would allocate their tax money. It is a sample and nothing more. Secondly, in the exercise we did, some categories of government allocations were omitted for simplicity. The principal categories that we omitted were Government, Energy, Science and Labor. For these four categories, the government spends cumulatively 17.5%. A third caveat is that in the exercise, the participants could only allocate to any given category a minimum of 10% since we gave to each one ten pennies representing their tax money. Once again, convenience was the reason for simplifying the exercise in this way.

Taking all these caveats into account, the contrast between where people would allocate their taxes to the government and how the government allocates them is highly revealing. No doubt the biggest contrast is in military spending allocations. It certainly bears serious thought that the participants would only allocate 2% of their tax money to military operations, whereas the government spends almost three fifths(57%) to that purpose. Is it that the participants underestimate the importance of the country’s security or that they estimate that our military spending has little to do with national defense and is rather an offensive operation? Food for thought. Another remarkable outcome of the exercise is the allocation by participants to education26% compared with the government’s 6%. Health and mass transit allocation contrasts are equally remarkable.

Spending Category Military Spending Veterans’ Benefits Education Housing Health Mass Transit Food

People’s Vote 2% 8% 26% 13% 21% 13% 17%

In conclusion, the exercise seems to reveal a chasm between the will of the people and the will of the government in establishing spending priorities. It poses the really challenging question as to whether our government entities and representatives are in effect governing on behalf of their own interests rather than that of the people. Put another way, it is perhaps nearer to the truth to say that the government is ruling on behalf of and for those who financed their campaigns for office. For with the Citizens United and McCutcheon Supreme Court decisions, our government has become the government of the Koch brothers and their likes across the nation.

Michael Drohan is a member of the board of the Merton Center and Co-Chair of the Editorial Collective

Government Allocation of Tax Money 57% 5.5% 6% 6% 5% 2% 1% July/August 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 11

From the Community Ya No Puede

By Mike Schneider

A scuttling sound like plaster crumbling from the lath that lines the walls — The rats again, but don’t screw in the bulb.

Burnt out, and who can afford the black market? says Conejo, the rabbit, head of the household where I lie awake, head drumming with last night’s talk, tongues silvery with La Plata, cheap white rum we sip from coffee mugs. The traffic goes one way, he says, and it’s not my way.

Lumber, 200 cordobas a board!

The caged green parakeet, parajito half bald, squeaks a sickly chirp.

Three years ago it was five. I’m a carpenter.

Ya no puede, he says, eyes blazed to black and laughing madly — I can’t do it. * Damn that crazy rooster in the courtyard.

El gallo loco. Might as well be scraping on my ear, the way he crows each morning, before the halo of first light.

Sunday dinner, Mauricio calls him.

Son-in-law who lives with us.

My age. He raises roosters — in the afternoon heat, pushes them at each other, goads them until they kick and peck and their spurs draw blood that spatters the dust.

If he runs he’s no fighter. I wring his neck and boil him. Sunday dinner.

Association of Pittsburgh Priests’ 2015 Speakers Series

By Joyce Rothermel

It is with great anticipation that we announce this year’s speaker’s series planned by the Association of Pittsburgh Priests (APP). Because of the positive response from previous years, we have decided to increase the series from three speakers to four this year. We invite you to put them on your calendar and attend all four and invite others who are interested to join you. This year’s series is dedicated to the memory of Barbara Kraft.

1. Wednesday, August 12 with Joshua McElwee, Vatican Cor r espondent for the National Catholic Reporter. He is a graduate of Catholic University and the winner of numerous awards. His title is, “What Can We Expect of the Synod on the Family?” “The challenges to family life around the world led Pope Francis to call a Synod, a special world wide meeting of Catholic Bishops. The focus of the current Synod, which began last fall and continues through this fall, accentuates the complexities of promoting and supporting family life in the 21st Century. Two questions that McElwee will address are: “Will the bishops find common ground on these important issues and can Church tradition evolve as a living tradition?”

2. Tuesday, September 1 with Roy Bourgeois on “The Struggle for Justice and Equality”. Bourgeois will share his personal faith journey from Vietnam to Maryknoll and priesthood, to ministry with the poor in Bolivia. Returning to the U.S., Roy became an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. In 1990 he founded the School of the America’s Watch for which he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2012 he spoke publicly in favor of ordination of women to the Catholic priesthood, which led to his expulsion from Maryknoll and the priesthood. Bourgeois has spoken in Pittsburgh several times with the most recent visit sponsored by the PA Call to Action Chapter. It recognized him for his continuous prophetic witness to Gospel values.

3. Wednesday, October 7 with Dr. Daniel Scheid, fr om the Duquesne Univer sity Theology Department, will speak on: “Laudato Sii (Be Praised): On the Care of Our Common Home”, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment.

Scheid will explore various themes of Pope Francis’ 12 - NEWPEOPLE

July/August 2015

Joshua McElwee

* In the kitchen, Gloria nurses a small fire to save wood — warm scent of smoke, fresh tortillas she rolled yesterday.

The parasites, says Conejo, eat her from inside.

Mother of my children. We have new clinics with no medicine. What can I do? Life is hell. Cathedral bells ring and ring again. Six a.m. mass.

A sad-eyed dog shuffles to the doorway begging food. Gloria snaps her fingers.

He slinks away, a well trained stray.

How many kicks in the ribs does it take? * Still, the morning is beautiful.

Elotes, elotes, ears of sweet corn in a basket on her head, a woman calls from the street. Oh father in heaven hear my prayer. Conejo kneels at his cot in the small room we share.

This day bless and protect my family.

He mutters into his beads. A few weeks and you fly away, he says. We’ll still be here.

I lift myself and stumble to the tin stall in the courtyard, where a trickle of cold water splashes my back as I look up at the wakening sky, still rosy and blue in streaks, and gray, sprinkled with faint stars.

groundbreaking encyclical. Drawing on his namesake, St. Francis, Pope Francis underscores that care for the Earth, “our common home”, is not marginal to the Christian vocation, but central. In Providence, God’s plan indicates an “integral ecology” Esteli, Nicaragua, September 1984 that calls all to be protectors of creation and of each person. Scheid will also high"Ya No Puede" was first published in Main Street Rag, light the main themes and propose direcFall 2006. It is reprinted with the author's permission. tions for future development of Catholic ecological teaching.

Mike Schneider began writing in the 1970s when he pub4. Thursday, November 12 with St. lished an anti-war “underground” newspaper at an air Joseph Sister Kathy Sherman fr om La force base in Ohio. His writing for the Thomas Merton Grange, Illinois. She is a musicianCenter’s New People received a 2003-04 Creative Artists composer, a gifted singer, liturgist and DiStipend in Arts Commentary from the Pennsylvania rector of Spiritual Formation. Her talk is Council on the Arts. His poems appear in many journals, entitled: “Love Cannot be Silenced: Our including Chautauqua, Notre Dame Review, New Ohio Message and Our Mission”. Our world/ Review and Poetry. He published a chapbook, Rooster , planet is crying out for healing, hope and and received the 2012 Editors Award in Poetry from communion. The evening will invite reflec- Florida Review. tion on the gift and challenge of incarnating the Love of God at this moment in history. As disci- Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd. in Allison Park, behind the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Divine Proviples, in community, we give witness to the Gospel dence, from 7 – 9 PM. To RSVP, call by proclaiming to the world that “love cannot be 412.366.1124 or contact kearns@cdpsisters.org. silenced.” Her talk will include Scripture, story, The fee is $20. per talk; or $65.for the series. and original music by Sherma. She began writing music and lyrics in 1966 and has published at least For further information, contact John Oesterle @ fourteen CD’s. One song, Language of the Heart, addresses the images of families affected by the Vi- 412-232-7512. etnam War and reaches across boundaries to recJoyce Rothermel chairs the Church Renewal Comoncile and interconnect divisions.

All the talks will be held at Kearns Spirituality mittee of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests

Our Reader’s Voices At Mount Sinai

By Philip Terman

I was born at Mount Sinai.

No, not the one in the desert Peninsula, near the city of St. Catherine, surrounded by all those peaks, the one made of volcanics and feldspar granite, that was covered in smoke because the Lord descended in fire, but the one in Cleveland, Ohio, not far from the Hough, where the riots

the border of it until the rams-horn sounded its long blast, lest we be put to death, the one where it is written no matter where we were born, we were all present and accounted for, and a voice spoke its commandments, complete with instruction manual, on how to live our lives— not that one—the one, instead, where, a few blocks away, neighbors gathered in the heat and the police

of 1966 broke out. Not the Sinai exasperated the tensions and Joyce Arnett, the one who saw the burning bush climbed and on the third day was lost in a thick cloud, 26 and black, mother of three, called out from her window for permission and there was thunder and lightening to check on her children and she was shot and a trumpet blast—no, not the mountain dead— that quaked and everyone present trembled, that’s the one. Not where time stopped but that other one, beside where the owner and space folded into itself. No, not then, of the Seventy-Niner’s Bar displayed a sign not there. But rather: in the hospital that said: “No Water for Niggers,” on 105th Street. In that city that was burning. and patrolled the sidewalk with a shotgun.

Not to be confused with where we were told Philip Terman is a poet who teaches at Clarion to beware of going up or touching

University and co-directs Chautauqua Writers' Festival. His poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Poetry Magazine.

May Day in Cuba: A Massive Celebration of Workers' Power

by Taylor Goel

During the first week of May, I had the honor of visiting Cuba as part of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five delegation. During our stay, in addition to attending the May Day rally in Havana to march in solidarity with the Cuban revolution, we also talked to many Cuban workers, youth organizers and senior revolutionary leaders,and listened to their experiences and their opinions on the recent developments in Cuba and the rest of the world. Deepening our understanding of the Cuban revolution, we increased our determination to keep fighting to defend it and to end the U.S. blockade.

We then had the amazing experience of the May Day march in Havana, which had as the main theme: “Unity in the construction of socialism.”

From the early hours of the morning, people of all ages filled the streets, an incredibly festive atmosphere, a sea of flags, banners, signs, posters of Fidel, Raul, Che, Chavez, Maduro, a crowd , a million strong, celebrating the victory of the socialist revolution.

The march was also marked with an additional sense of jubilation and excitement as the people had another huge reason to celebrate: the victory of the struggle for the return of the Cuban Five heroes. The Cuban Five were unjustly imprisoned in the United States for 16 years for trying to stop U.S.-supported terrorist attacks on their country.

The Cuban Five and their families led the march as they were cheered by the hundreds of thousands.

After over an hour of marching, as we passed by the tribunal overlooking the giant Plaza, we saluted President Raúl Castro and President Nicolás Maduro, standing side by side, a testament to the strong bond between the people of Cuba and Venezuela.

A million people marching and yet, no police in riot gear, no tear gas, no pepper-spray. The few police we saw were helping direct the people and a few others were marching with the people, celebrating May Day! Imagine that.

Walking back to our hotel after this amazing event, my mind wandered off back to the U.S., the recent images from Baltimore, the Black people being brutalized by the police as they were rising up in rightful rage and rebellion against the racist

police terror.

In the light of these two events, May Day in Cuba and the Baltimore uprising in the U.S., let us try to understand the role played by the police in a socialist state such as Cuba, which seems so different from that played by the police in a capitalist country like the U.S. In both states, the simple assertion that the police exist to serve and to protect the interests of the ruling class in power stays the same. The variable in that assertion, however is which class is in power.

In the U.S., the capitalist class is in power, a minority whose wealth is founded on the exploitation of the majority, namely the working class.

Whenever poor and working people take to the streets against any form of oppression at the hands of the ruling class, the police repress them with brutal violence, as in Ferguson or Baltimore. Ultimately, there is no other way to maintain the unjust rule of a minority over a majority other than brute force. For U.S. capitalism, with its roots in genocide and slavery, racism has always been an indispensable tool for the capitalist class to normalize the genocide of millions of indigenous people and the enslavement of millions of Africans. Yesterday’s genocide and slavery is today’s police terror and mass incarceration and racism is still at work to justify all that oppression and injustice in the eyes of the white working people.

In Cuba, on the other hand, the working class is in power, in control of a centrally planned, rational socialist economy, prioritizing the needs of the whole society which is also free of racism. Everyone has access to health care, education, housing, and a job and the police there exist to protect and serve the interest of the workers, the students, the elderly, in essence the whole society.

We need to realize that the struggle for a society where the working people no longer suffer at the hands of the police is integrally connected to the revolutionary struggle to bring the working class to

Charleston

By Erin Malloy

Before last week, for me Charleston, S.C. was mostly a city that I visited on my honeymoon years ago. Its beauty was undeniable, the food was great; every white person dressed in pastels and nearly everyone who served us was black. And of course, the Spoleto Festival had arrived a couple of years before, so clearly it was cultured.

Then there was that awful murder by a cop several weeks ago.

And now I am struggling to find a way to deal with the mass murders. I am too embarrassed to make some claim on this tragedy. I am a white non-theist, so I have at least one thing in common with the murderer. I am a woman, which tilts me closer to the six females who were killed. I have found that it is getting harder to negotiate this event as time goes on rather than easier. People box out their positions calling Roof a terrorist, madman, racist, psychopath.

He most certainly was a racist. That is the most central point.

The extraordinary grace shown by his victims' survivors yesterday actually has contributed to my unease. The essential beauty of their forgiveness robs me of my right to hate and uncouples hate from any legitimate action, at least for me as a white woman.

This has provoked a challenge for how to then react.

Silence seems a decent option when the air is filled.

Stupid, defensive talk vies with wise and thoughtful words by people who know the phenomenon of racial hatred in a real way. Banal calls for understanding and empathy fill in the rest of the discussion.

I know this in my core: too many are comfortable in their easy bigotry. This young man spewed his racism freely before he shot up that church and it raised no alarms. He lived in a world where this was not considered aberrant. How many of us engage with people who express bigotry in phrases that might be cloaked in less offensive language? Prejudice is deft at finding new ways to communicate despicable ideas -- it is one of its greatest tools for perpetuating its ugly intentions.

My only right to comment on this is the American humanity that I share with both the killer and the killed. We should all focus on what differentiates and aligns us with both sides of this event. No one wants to see themselves in Dylann Roof, but he is a son of our nation and thus ours. I have more difficulty seeing myself as one the prayerful dead and I cannot lay claim to the glory of their relatives' view of redemption. All of this has left me lost and miserable.

Erin Malloy is a non-profit executive, former elected official. She has recently returned to her native Pittsburgh after spending many years in the Metro New York area where she raised her three children.

View of May Day March. Photo Credit: Taelor Goel.

power, for a society free of all forms of oppression, racism and exploitation as in Cuba.

With that in mind and as a revolutionary in the revolutionary struggle to bring the workin gclass to power, for a society free of all forms of oppression, racism and exploitation, as in Cuba.

With that in mind and as a revolutionary in the U.S., I call to mind the words of one the greatest revolutionaries, Ernesto “Che” Guevara: “I envy you. You North Americans are very lucky. You are fighting the most important fight of all – you live in the belly of the beast.”

Taylor Goel is a member of the Pittsburgh branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (pslweb.org).

July/August 2015

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Upcoming Events Anti-War Committee to Host Insightful Art Exhibit

By Reena Naik

This fall, the Anti-War Committee of the Thomas Merton Center plans to feature an art exhibit exploring themes relating to the detrimental effects of war. The location of the exhibit is yet to be announced.. The theme of this exhibit includes showcasing the perils of U.S. wars abroad and domestic wars (such as policy brutality and the militarization of the police). This will allow for viewers to gain a strong sense of the negative impacts of wars both abroad and in our own country. It will also display pieces reflecting the people’s struggle to end the wars. Since the Anti-War Committee focuses on revealing the destruction, dangers, and cost of wars,

this exhibit serves a very important purpose in our At the Thomas Merton Center, we believe through art we can communicate an important mescommunity. sage. In this case, the Anti-War Committee hopes to The Committee is requesting that local artists display an important message on the dangers of ensubmit their work to this exhibit. In doing so, they gaging in war. We hope to see many of our memwill receive publicity and promotion from the Anti- bers and NewPeople readers there to view a wide War Committee. The deadline for submission is still range of artwork! Please contact the Committee for undetermined. The Committee hopes for a large au- more information about the exhibit at 412-361dience turnout and many submissions. Artists are 3022. more than welcome to submit original pieces such as paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures, etc. Reena Naik is a summer intern at the Merton CenThe idea is to be as creative as possible in display- ter working with the Anti-War and the Environmental Justice Committees. ing the anti-war theme.

Harambee Ujima Black Arts and Culture Festival

By Elizabeth Furiga

In 1968 Pittsburgh held its first Black Arts and Culture Festival. Now known as the Harambee Ujima festival, the event has been held on and off for 47 years. According to the director and founder of Diversity Footprint, George Hogan, the event was one of the first large festivals held by the Pittsburgh community.

The festival will take place in Homewood on Kelly Street between Homewood Ave and Lang Ave from July 18th-19th.

There will be plenty of activities and performances to keep attendees busy. As in previous years, the festival will host a children’s village with activities to engage the youth. As an arts festival, there will be a gallery and craft vendors as well as trade and business vendors. The organizers hope to have spoken word, hip-hop and rap performers. There will also be a rap contest. Specific bands and musicians are still being finalized and will be announced at a later date.

Hogan called the festival a community sponsored art project. “Without the community supports, there would be no festival,” he said. This year the Heinz Foundation is one of the largest supporters of Harambee Ujima. Other community organizations like Operation Better Block, Homewood YMCA, and Renaissance 21 will sponsor specific activities and events.

This year the major goal for Harambee Ujima, according to Hogan, is to get the children more involved with the festival because they’ve never really experienced the festival’s past. The message he says, “is about asking the children to take true leadership. We [the community] have to start creating an environment where the children can lead. [We must] give them the opportunity to discuss wellness and economic justice.”

Harambee Ujima is a project of the Diversity Footprint, which is sponsored by the Thomas Mer-

ton Center. Both are considered economic justice projects. “Harambee Ujima uses the arts as a catalyst to solve the economic injustice [within the black community],” Hogan said. The organization seeks to terraform the African American

community and build a free trade center through the arts.

Elizabeth Furiga is an intern at the Thomas Meron Center

Merton Center Hosts Maryknoll Sister Janice McLaughlin

By Joyce Rothermel

All are invited to a potluck supper with Pittsburgh native Sr. Janice McLaughlin on Tuesday, July 28 from 6 – 8:30 PM at the Thomas Merton Center. Sr. Janice completed her six-year term as president of the Maryknoll Sisters in 2014 and is visiting her family and friends in Pittsburgh before returning to her ministry abroad. She hopes to share with us, “What I learned in the past six years of travel about society and church and the issues that concern them both.” Or in the words of an African proverb: “Can we carry an elephant?”

During the years before her leadership role in Maryknoll, Sr. Janice spent many years as a missioner in Africa. Often, during her home visits, Sr. Janice would visit the Merton Center, where people would gather to learn from her first hand reports. Of particular memory was her visit after her imprisonment and expulsion from Rhodesia. After that occasion, Sr. Janice returned to the new nation of Zimbabwe, where she took a leadership role in the opening of schools and fulfilling some of the hopes held by those who struggled to free their nation from colonial rule.

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July/August 2015

Now, we once again have the opportunity to hear Sr. Janice’s first hand report of her world travels as Maryknoll president and what she is planning for the next chapter of her life of witness and service.

Janice is also the author of several books. Her most recent, Ostriches, Dung Beetles and Other Spiritual Masters, combines lessons from nature with her mission experience on the African continent. Illustrated by two African artists, the book contains relevant scripture quotes, questions for reflection and suggestions for action. Ideal for daily meditation, it is published by Orbis Books and sells for $12. We will have copies of the book available for purchase and for signing.

Please invite others who may be interested; come with your special dish to share; and enjoy the upcoming Merton Center potluck supper with Sr. Janice McLaughlin. For more information, call the Merton Center at 412-361-3022.

Joyce Rothermel serves as Chair of the Membership Committee of the Thomas Merton Center.

Maryknoll Sister Janice McLaughlin

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

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1415 Jan Hus, German Bohemian reformer, burned at the stake

In 1892, a steelworkers' strike in Homestead, PA a day-long battle between strikers & Pinkerton agents resulted in ten deaths and dozens of people wounded

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In 1865, the Salvation Army was founded by William and Catherine Booth

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Harambee Ujima Black Arts Festival

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Thursday

Friday

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Climate For Change: A Multifaith & Inspirited Conversation on Pope Francis' Encyclical7:00 PM9:00PM— 5700 Forbes Ave.

1982 Mumia Abu Jamal convicted of shooting a cop and sentenced to death

Independence Day!

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Americans with Disabilities Act Anniversary 1965– MLK leads protests in Chicago against segregation

Regular Meetings

1971– American Indian Movement occupies Mt. Rushmroe

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9

10

Meeting of SW PA Bread for the World 10am Christian Associates, Lawrenceville

A Climate For Change, Greening our Faith First Session— 7:00PM 9:00PM— 5700 Forbes Ave.

Art Exhibit: Rights of Passage: Where Politicians Have Failed 6:00PM — 5821 Baum Blvd.

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From NAFTA: The TransPacific Partnership: The Global Corporate Attack on Jobs, the Environment, & 1971– First meeting Labor Rights880 E. of National Waterfront Dr. Women’s Political Caucus

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15

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Bastille Day– In 1789, the French people stormed the Bastille, marking the beginning of the French Revolution

1917– 50,000 lumberjacks strike for 8hour day

Global Challenges & Local Impacts: Modern Organized Crime— 6:30PM 8:30PM—801 N. Negley Ave.

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1877– Rail workers burn yards, drive troops from city after cops slay 26 strikers in Pittsburgh

1978– three killed during prisoner rebellion at Pontiac state prison, IL

A Climate For Change, Greening our Faith Second Session— 7:00PM 9:00PM—5700 Forbes Ave.

Film Screening: The Blue Kite8:00PM10:20PM—330 Sampsonia Way

1898 Occupation Day, commemorates the landing of U.S. troops in Puerto Rico

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Potluck Supper with Sr. Janice McLaughlin 6:00PM8:30PM — 5129 Penn Ave.

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Rights of Passage, Memory of Palestine Exhibit End— 5821 Baum Blvd.

50th Anniversary of Medicare March & Rally– 12 PM—UPMC Downtown

18 Harambee Ujima Black Arts Festival– Kelly St. between N. Homewood & N. Lang Ave. A New Kind of Fallout— EcoOpera World Premiere 7:30PM— 286 Main St.

Shared Border, Shared Dreams 1967– Start of 7- Exhibit End— day riot in Detroit 414 Grant St.

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Sundays: Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First three Sundays of the month at TMC, 46pm Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com Anti-War and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition 3rd Sunday at 11:30 am at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224

Mondays:

1968– Police kill 7 in standoff with black nationalists in Cleveland

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July 2015

Saturday

SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 7:30 —9 pm 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

Wednesdays: Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p.m. Write letters for prisoners’ 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:

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

Fridays: 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

Saturdays:

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Project to End Human Trafficking 2nd Sat., Carlow University, Antonian Room #502 Fight for Lifers West 3rd Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 pm, Thomas Merton Center

Mother Jones, America’s Most Dangerous Woman” & “Unveiling the Scars- 7:30PM9:30PM—880 E. Waterfront Dr.

In Memory of Lucy Spruill The struggle for human rights for people with disabilities has made great strides here in southwestern Pennsylvania in no small part due to the life time investment of Lucy Spruill who passed away last month. Born with spina bifida and from her wheelchair, Lucy’s courage and determination to make the world a better place for people with disabilities were her on-going tools and witness. Lucy’s passion for social justice began in the civil rights movement decades ago. Over the years, she served with the Women, Infants, and Children Program, directed the Roselia Center for women and children, made significant contributions to improve public transit and the Access transportation program, coordinated the American with Disabilities Act for the City of Pittsburgh, and was the director of public policy and community relations at CLASS (formerly United Cerebral Palsy) when she retired this past February. Lucy was fierce in her commitment for freedom, dignity, and inclusion for all people. She was especially proud of her two children, their partners, and her six grandchildren. The Merton Center gives KUDOS for the life of Lucy Spruill.

ON TV every Monday at 9 PM during July COMCAST Ch 21 & VERIZON Ch 47 (Pgh city limits) "JEREMY SCAHILL address to the 2014 TMC Banquet" Internet go to YouTube.com/ richfishpgh

July/August 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 15

August 2015 Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sundays:

1 Black & White Reunion’s 5th Annual BBQ Against Police Brutality— 1 PM - 4 PM— Overlook Shelter at Schenley Park

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5

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1877– 60 striking miners wounded by police in Scranton, PA

1931– Riots follow 60,000 strong march vs. new eviction laws in Chicago

1919– 15,000 Silk Workers begin strike in New Jersey for 44-hour work week

1992– 100,000 march in South Africa for multi -racial rule

A Climate For Change, Greening our Faith Fifth Session 7- 9:00PM— 5700 Forbes Ave.

First Friday Unblurred Gallery Crawl Featuring Photographer Catherine McWilliams 6:30-9pm 5119 Penn Ave

“Bike Around The Bomb” 20k ride 9:30am (see front page for more details)

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1984 Two Plowshares activists damage a Trident 1945 - US drops submarine 2nd atomic bomb guidance system, MI "Fat Man" on International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

Kearns Spirituality Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd, Allison Park PA

Japan, destroys part of Nagasaki

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1910—Women strikers break police lines, demolish NY factory after it opens in defiance of strike

In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified guaranteeing women’s suffrage

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1992– Rosebud Denovo killed by police in UC Berkeley Chancellor’s mansion

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Marcus Garvey: Look For Me in the Whirlwind Screening—2 PM - 5PM— 7101 Hamilton Ave.

Association of Pittsburgh Priests Speaker Series featuring Joshua McElwee 7-9pm

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A Climate For Change, Greening our Faith Fourth Session— 7:00PM 9:00PM— 5700 Forbes Ave.

Film Screening: Persepolis—8 PM - 10 PM— 330 Sampsonia Way

The Environment and Organized Labor: Where is There Common Ground?— 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM— 880 E. Waterfront Dr.

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The Power of One Voice: A 50 Year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson—7:30 PM - 9:30 PM—880 E. Waterfront Dr.

In 1913, Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in the Netherlands which is often known today as the “international seat of law”

VegFest!

11am- 5pm

Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First three Sundays of the month at TMC, 46pm Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com Anti-War and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition 3rd Sunday at 11:30 am at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224

Mondays: SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 7:30 —9 pm 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

Wednesdays: Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p.m. Write letters for prisoners’ 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:

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

Fridays:

Allegheny Commons Park East- North Side East Ohio and Cedar, East Park. For vegans and veg-curious!

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Regular Meetings

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

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

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In 1967, Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court

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

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

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

Select your membership level: 16 - NEWPEOPLE

July/August 2015

____$15 Low Income Membership ____$15 Youth / Student Membership ____$25 Introductory / Lapsed Membership ____$50 Individual Membership ____$100 Family Membership ____$500+ Cornerstone Sustainer Membership ____Donation $____________________________ Or Become an Organizational Member:

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Mail to TMC, 5129 Penn Ave. Pgh. PA 15224 Call (412) 361-3022 for more information.