Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center
PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 46 No. 6 June 2016
A Q&A with The Extraordinary Tim Stevens
Thomas Merton Center is presenting Tim Stevens with our New Person award this year on June 21st! The New Person Award recognizes local leaders of peace and social justice. Come celebrate the work of Tim Stevens.
By Nijah Glenn
How old were you when you first was. I ended up facilitating a connoticed inequity, and what inversation about the death of Dr. spired you to become an activist? King and was offered a fellowship at the Pitt Graduate School of PoliIt was 1967. I'd just graduated from tics and International Affairs right Pitt and I had an opportunity to on the spot, and attained my Maswork for Exxon in Washington ters in Urban Planning. DC. As a 22 year old of the Hill District, I had a brand new car, and What issues and longstanding I was treated to lunch everyday by inequities did you seek to address the company. I was about to be pro- in the beginning as an activist? moted to a salesman and get a company car in addition, and I decided Well the sad thing is, I don't think the issues have changed much. I that this wasn't what I should be was on a panel last week at CCAC doing. These were the early days to discuss labor disparities. I was of the Black Power movement; I studied political science with soci- the only African American. I said to ology as a minor. I was constantly the group, “One of the frustrations battling with myself, “Is this what I my people have is that when we should be doing?" I finally decided drive by a worksite, we count how many black people there are.” That sales was not where my heart
is one of those areas of sensitivity for African Americans: having more of us in trades. It's an ongoing reality that we are faced with. There are certain issues that continue to be present in the psyche of African Americans, like police brutality for instance. The killing of Tuesday, June 21st Jonny Gammage happened my first East Liberty Presbyterian Church year as President of the 6:00—8:30 NAACP. With the now legal director of the PA ACLU and others, we There will be food, a raffle and made the 1999 decree where the great company! Pittsburgh Police Department was Tickets $30 overseen by the Justice Department. After Jordan Miles, the Black PolitBuy Tickets, Ads and Sponsorships here: ical Empowerment Project (BPEP) http://timstevensnewperson.eventbrite.com/ walked kids from CAPA to city council in January 2010 to a 9:30 For more information on Sponsorships, Ads and press conference. Scholarships, please email Continued on Page 3… marnifritz@thomasmertoncenter.org.
In This Issue
Daniel Berrigan Memorial on Pages 8 & 9.
#DumpALEC Protest….
Page 4
Transgender Non-Discrimination Policy….
Page 7
Iran Emerging from Isolation….
Page 10
Grim Future For Graduates…
Page 12
Merton Center Broadens Our Commitment to an EcoJustice Mission By Wanda Guthrie
A Statement from the EcoJustice Working Group, an Activity of the Thomas Merton Center
our benchmark. We have promoted education and incentives that inspire the use of renewable energy. The Environmental Justice Committee is broadOur severely damaged and fragile eco-systems ening our commitment and refining our vision. cannot be healed without speaking clearly to our Our work over the last few years has been a misguided core assumptions about the nature of our conscious and intentional journey to express our relationship to that Creation. Our foundational asmission as originally perceived. sumptions cognitively and spiritually concluded that We have held, participated in, and encouraged confronting the climate crisis is central to our misactions in defense of life on Earth, and paid close sion. We have adopted a change of name and added attention to the ecological and health effects of the an additional agreement. We believe this broadens industrial growth society (fossil fuels, nuclear pow- and strengthens our commitment to care for all of er, weapons production, mining, food additives, fac- creation. tory farms, etc.). We have campaigned for laws to mitigate efEcoJustice fects of pollution, poverty, and loss of habitat, proWe believe EcoJustice more fully recognizes moting wise social and environmental legislation the unity and interdependence of all creation. We that would recognize the global common good as wish to be recognized as the EcoJustice Working
Group, (an activity of The Thomas Merton Center). The TMC has a wonderful history of acknowledging the value of human life through its advocacy for people who are oppressed. The concept of Eco Justice expands this tradition to advocacy for the protection of all of creation. All faith traditions speak to the intrinsic moral worth of all of creation. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, this is generally based on the love of the Creator for all of creation. Other traditions express this differently but all carry the recognition of a right relationship with the land and with all creatures. This right relationship carries the expectation that humans live gently on the land - living in ways which respect the earth and minimize disruption and abuse of the land. Faith traditions also speak to the social injustices Continued on page 14… 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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Thomas Merton Center
East End Community Thrift Store
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Tuesday—Friday: 10 am to 4 pm Saturday: Noon to 4 pm
Office Phone: 412-361-3022 — Fax: 412-361-0540 Website: www.thomasmertoncenter.org
The NewPeople Editorial Collective
Neil Cosgrove, Ginny Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Marni Fritz, Nijah Glenn, Erin Ludlow, Jim McCarville, Bette McDevitt, Thomas Mulholland, Miriam Reichman, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush, Jo Tavener, John Zingaro
TMC Staff, Volunteers & Interns
Executive Director: Antonio Lodico Finance Director / Project Liaison: Roslyn Maholland Administrative Assistant: Marni Fritz Support Staff: Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly, Meagan McGill Activist & Office Volunteers: Raphael Cardamone, Monique Dietz, Nancy Gippert, Nijah Glen, Lois Goldstein, Jordan Malloy, Meagan McGill, Joyce Rothermel, Judy Starr New People Coordinators: Marni Fritz & Tom Mulholland East End Community Thrift Store Managers: Shirley Gleditsch, Shawna Hammond, & Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly TMC Organizer/ Internship Coordinator: Gabriel McMorland
Thomas Merton Center Interns: Christina A. Castillo, Emily Fecile, Virginia Johnson, Roses Laughlin, Vivian Le, Rianna Lee, Julie Lin, Monii Peters, Ronald Read, Caelan Schick, Katherine Shuey, Joshua Sturman, Angelique Stolar-Hall, Angelica Walker
2016 TMC Board of Directors
Thom Baggerman, Ed Brett, Michelle Burton-Brown, Rob Conroy (President), Neil Cosgrove, Mark Dixon, Michael Drohan, Patrick Fenton, Mary Jo Guercio, Wanda Guthrie, anupama jain, Ken Joseph, Anne Kuhn, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Jim McCarville, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush (co-founder), Tyrone Scales, Evan Schindler, M. Shernell Smith.
TMC Projects
TMC Affiliates
(TMC projects follow TMC guidelines and receive financial and ongoing resources and support from the Thomas Merton Center.)
(Affiliates are independent partner organizations who support the nonviolent peace and justice mission of TMC. - Articles may not necessarily represent the views of Affiliates)
Anti-War Committee awc@thomasmertoncenter.org Book‘Em: Books to Prisoners Project bookempgh@gmail.com www.bookempgh.org East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010 shawnapgh@aol.com Fight for Lifers West fightforliferswest@gmail.com 412-607-1804 Fightforliferswest.org Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition Anne Wirth 412-716-9750 Harambee Ujima/Diversity Footprint Twitter @HomewoodNation Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up (prisoner support and advocacy) 412-802-8575, hrcfedup@gmail.com www.prisonerstories.blogspot.com Marcellus Shale Protest Group melpacker@aol.com 412-243-4545 marcellusprotest.org New Economy Campaign gabriel@thomasmertoncenter.com Pittsburgh 350 350pittsburgh@gmail.com World.350.org/pittsburgh Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance 412-512-1709
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.
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 NewPeople The New People is distributed each month to 3,000 people who belong to diverse organizations, businesses and groups. The deadline for all submissions is the 13th of the month for the following month’s issue.
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 soawpittsburgh@gmail.com Shalefield Stories (Friends of the Harmed) 412-422-0272 brigetshields@gmail.com
To Submit Articles, Photos, or Poems: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit. To Submit an Event to the TMC Calendar: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/calendar/submit-event To Advertise: Visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/ad Advertising prices range from $15 for a business card size to $250 for a full page. There is a 10% discount when purchasing 6 months of ad space at a time, and a 20% discount when purchasing a year of ad space at a time. An additional 10% discount is available for non-profit organizations and faith-based groups. For more information: Call 412-361-3022 or email newpeople@thomasmertoncenter.org.
Stop Sexual Abuse in the Military 412-361-3022 hildebrew@aol.com Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group 724-837-0540 lfpochet@verizon.net
Table of Contents
Page 1 Q & A With Extraordinary Tim Stevens Merton Center Broadens Our Commitment to an Eco Justice Mission Page 2 Q& With Tim Stevens Cont’d White Night: A First Friday Review Thank you Thank you! TMC To Receive Humanity Day Award Page 4 #DumpALEC City of Bridges, Not Walls Brail In Crisis: TMC Potluck in June Page 5 World Experts Convene in Pittsburgh to Promote Alternatives to Solitary Confinement Open Invitation to Join Fight for Lifers West Page 6 PA Campaign Fight to Guarantee Womens Health and Workplace Rights in State Legislature
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Welcome to Pinksburgh: Inside Planned Parenthood Power of Pink Conference Page 7 Pittsburgh Public Schools to Vote on Transgender Non-Discrimination Policy 2016 Circle of Faith– Dancing With Diversity The Road to Emmaus, PA Page 8 Daniel Berrigan Rest in Peace Some (Poem) Page 9 Catonsville Still Reverberates Around the World: Daniel Berrigan Presente Fr. Berrigan’s Influence Page 10 Iran Beckons! Come Learn and Invest Hiroshima, Imagining Peace Marks our Nu clear Legacy Bread for the World Updates: Good and Bad News
Abolitionist Law Center 412-654-9070 abolitionistlawcenter.org Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org - www.amnestypgh.org Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750 B.a.finch@att.net Battle of Homestead Foundation
412-848-3079
The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org The Black Political Empowerment Project Tim Stevens 412-758-7898 CeaseFire PA www.ceasefirepa.org—info@ceasefirepa.org Citizens for Social Responsibility of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, evolve@atlanticbb.net Global Solutions Pittsburgh 412-471-7852 dan@globalsolutionspgh.org www.globalsolutionspgh.org North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition 412-369-3961 email: info@arc.northpgh.org www.arc.northpgh.org PA United for Single-Payer Health Care www.healthcare4allPA.org www.PUSH-HC4allPa.blogspot.com 412-421-4242 Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi 412-761-4319 Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition 412-303-1247 lisacubasi@aol.com Pittsburgh BDS Coalition bdspittsburgh@gmail.com Pittsburgh North People for Peace 412-760-9390 info@pnpp.northpgh.org www.pnpp.northpgh.org Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org Raging Grannies 412-963-7163 eva.havlicsek@gmail.com www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com
Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com SWPA Bread for the World Joyce Rothermel 412-780-5118 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org Veterans for Peace kevinbharless@yahoo.com 252-646-4810 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net
TMC is a Member of Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network 412-621-9230 office@piin.org Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Martha Connelly 412-361-7872, osterdm@earthlink.net TMC supports these organizations’ missions.
Page 11 Sudan Forum Brings Activists Together Haiti Update and the Work of Partners in Progress Page 12 Lack of Higher Education Funding Results in Grim Future for Graduates Illinois, Kentucky Stiff Their College Stu dents Page 13 Culture Watch: Listen, liberal! A Review of Thomas Frank’s Latest Book In Memory of Michael Ratner Page 14 Merton Center Broadens Our Commitment to an EcoJustice Mission Cont’d “Occupied” a Norwegian TV Series Page 15 Do You Remember MOVE? Programs at the Pump House Breaking News from the Giornal Vaticano Episode 5
Merton Center News A Q&A with The Extraordinary Tim Stevens Cont’d By Nijah Glenn
We pledged four pieces of police legislation. We created a commitment from the city to codify all that was created out of the Consent Decree. I'm glad to see there is some movement with the Peduto administration in being consistent in calling for change.
People frequently say there are two Pittsburghs: one for white people and one for black people. That's why Corporate Equity (a project of B-PEP) encourages businesses to employ people of color (PoC). Part of the goal is simple: recruit, train, retain, promote, and mentor PoC.
I was very proud of Nancy Wilson covering my tune, "Sadness in My Eyeballs.” have combined my music and the movement in a BPEP 6 hour jazz marathon every Easter Monday for the last 8 years. We usually have over 60 artists perform and it’s become a major fundraiser. There's no other event where that many jazz musicians are seen in the same night in Pittsburgh. A song I normally do when I perform is "Everything Must Change;” that's when I tie my music in with social change. And I frequently sing "Over the Rainbow" about possibility in the midst of whatever.
Community is a large part of our development. What role do you play and what do you hope in Do you think the community you've served has terms of community development? progressed or regressed? Do you think it’s a mixture of both? I view part of my role as a community activist as having a responsibility to try and communicate to Unfortunately, I think the community was healthier people of color that we have to stay the course. We when I was growing up on Wylie Avenue. I run into must find a way around, above, under, or through people in my age bracket and they cannot name any- obstacles. We cannot accept ourselves as second one from their youth killed by violence at a young class citizens. Things can prevent us from moving age. It has become unfortunately common place for ahead, but they need not stop us from being who we young African Americans to experience death at a are. We must rise ourselves into possibility, who we young age and know young people in caskets. Anare who we can be. other issue that attacked our community, starting years ago, was drugs. When crack came into the Do you think your craft as a musician and community activism work together and what has community, it caused a situation we have not yet made you proud as a musician? recovered from. The employment issue is that our communities are not as healthy as they need to be.
White Night: A First Friday Review East Liberty native and East of Liberty Documentarian, Chris Ivey, hosted a bi-venued community discussion on the issue of gentrification and the lack of affordable housing in Pittsburgh. It was a Thomas Merton Center First Friday event orchestrated by Dana Dolney of Friends of the Harmed. In one building, clips of East of Liberty, Chris’ documentary which focuses on neighborhoods experiencing gentrification and its effects, was displayed. Across the street, Chris sat in a warm room filled with Garfield natives who shared their personal experiences of the increasing lack of affordable housing in the area caused by all the economic changes of the town. First Friday is known to many natives of Garfield as White Night. Surely anyone who has been to an art crawl on Penn Avenue on the first Friday of month can guess why. This phrase works to foretell the bigger issue being faced in this area and many liken it to gentrification. “I don’t know what gentrification exactly looks like or means, but I don’t like it.” – Yuppie who newly moved to my old neighborhood, Wilkinsburg. “Gentrification is the idea that people with money, the Gentry, come in and takeover a neighborhood, invest in buildings, spruce it up and recreate it for themselves. Well it starts with a few artists moving in and then there’s a café and then more timid people who want a little excitement start coming to the artist café. Then they think ‘Oh we could
Anne Frank said ‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' The work you've done is incredible; if you could sum up in a sentence what would you want people to take from it, what would it be? The work is not yet done. Nijah Glenn is a member of the NewPeople Editorial Collective. By Jordan Malloy
buy a little building and fix it up.’ Because they are timid, they have to sort of get rid of the element that’s there. So they have to get rid of the poor people to make it safe for themselves. So the 99 cents store goes away and all of a sudden there’s an Ann Taylor Loft and it’s a new place and the poor people are gone.” These quoted words are those of Dr. Mindy Fullilove, author of Root Shock and interviewed in East of Liberty. Chris focused the conversation on how diversifying the demographics, bringing in businesses, fiscally restructuring, and what is generally seen as improving a neighborhood can be an issue. With improvements to the neighborhood, the property rates rise, businesses in the neighborhoods have higher cost and value, and people are priced out. (As Biggie Smalls notes,“Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”) Many people in the room from Garfield discussed how improvements in an area should reach everyone who is there. An individual brought up the difficulties which are faced when trying to open a business specifically by minorities who were originally in neighborhoods being gentrified. Many in the room have seen this occur via community development centers which help the shiny, yuppie newcomers only to ignore those who must scrape to get by. Chris noted his visit to New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit and the onslaught of issues which were faced by minority homeowners there. As many who owned their property and land when Katrina hit
Thank You Thank You! volunteers were magnificent. Everything came together - the beautiful flowers and plants donated by Alex's Floral Shop, the jewelry for our models donated by Joy Miller, the makeup artist from Mirror, Mirror, The Affordable Chic Fashion Show was and the food and drinks donated a success thanks to these incredible by all. women! A special "thank Photo by Marni Fritz you" to the staff The 2016 Thrifty members of the Merton "Affordable Chic" lunch- Center who are so easy to eon and fashion show was work with. And our own a success. We cleared over Antonio Lodico was an $3600 for the Merton Cen- outstanding model! ter! Celebrate & Share, The models were (Bonnie DiCarlo and Joawesome, the food was Ann Forrester) were dedelicious, the music was lighted to coordinate this wonderful and, as usual the event, along with Thrifty's
By Bonnie DiCarlo
founder Shirley Gleditsch and Thrifty managers Shawna Hammond and Sister Mary Clare. Our goal was $5000 to underwrite the free vouchers that Thrifty gives to the women and children in our community. All non profits are invited to participate in Thrifty's voucher program. If you missed contributing to our April 30th event, please consider sending a contribution to the Merton Center. Remember to write "fashion show" in the memo. We can still reach the $5000 mark! Bonnie DiCarlo created Celebrate & Share with JoAnn Forrester and is an active member of the Thomas Merton Center.
had to leave all that they had, the government seized it, giving it to the highest bidder. The homeowners were given no representation; if they could not immediately afford to fix the damage to their property, they were thrown aside. Now that New Orleans has been rebuilt, new inhabitants moved in while few who owned land there have been able to return because of the cost: the pattern of gentrification. Gentrification is Manifest Destiny in a new form. People come in to explore a new area, and after realizing that they like the locale and culture, they take it over. Despite having good intentions, those who were in the area originally are displaced. Some local officials are making attempts to bring equity to this situation. Chris documented developments such as the Affordable Housing Task Force and new Section Eight rulings, which are seen as insufficient and unnecessary in the opinion of many. A question can be posed on the whole issue: can equality and social and economic diversity in an area be achieved while being profitable for all those involved and not a select few? The answer cannot be found in an office in city council, and it can’t be found in Bakery Square. It can only be found by listening to the people who are affected by it. Jordan Malloy is a Point Park University student and Fight for Lifers West member.
TMC To Receive Humanity Day Award Saturday, June 12th 6:00 PM Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, 4100 Bigelow Blvd Each Year during the month of Ramadan the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh celebrates Humanity Day by saluting the compassionate, hard working, and dedicated community organizations that are making a difference in the lives of others in the Pittsburgh Area. This is a time when ICP invites friends and neighbors of all faiths to share our Ramadan tradition while celebrating and honoring members of the Pittsburgh community who are helping to cultivate compassion and respect in their chosen altruistic professions. The Outreach Department selects 6 different organizations that we believe are making the biggest impact in the city and invite a representative of the organization to accept an Honoree Award. This year the following organizations and individuals have been chosen: Thomas Merton Center , Jewish Voices for Peace , Race and Reconciliation Dialogue Group , East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Jubilee Kitchen, Sr. Barbara Finch (TMC member). We at the Islamic Center greatly appreciate and recognize all that these organizations and individuals do in helping others in our community. We applaud their caring commitment and continuing support. As you see the many ways their service has benefited minorities and the under-served populations of Pittsburgh, we hope you'll remember thier efforts with great satisfaction and pride; and that the goodwill their efforts have generated is certain to be felt by their staff and neighbors in years to come.
RSVP https://humanityday.eventbrite.com June 2016
NEWPEOPLE - 3
Local Activism #DumpALEC
By Jordan Malloy
The afternoon of Friday May 6, 2016 Mellon Square Park was filled with protesters and activists taking a stand against selfish capitalist legislation brought on by A.L.E.C. The American Legislative Exchange Council, which brings together corporate lobbyists and state legislators from around the country to write model legislation that harms communities. Protestors flooded the ground floor of the Omni William Penn Hotel chanting outside the locked doors of the A.L.E.C. Conference room. The crowd included: •Overworked teachers, underfunded students. •Union members (A.L.E.C. plays a central role in the coordinated attack against unions.) •Food Service workers, who labor without their fair wages, respect, or benefits. •Verizon workers who serve a CEO who neglects customers and workers while making 200 times more than those who work for them. •Activists, who stand against the unregulated brutality of police officers in Pittsburgh. •Representatives, who stand against corperate tax dodgers and their legislators in Harrisburg. If there’s one point that this large gathering of people experiencing so many different issues has made clear, it’s the common denominator, the unjust inequality of the top 1%. NewPeople Collecive member, Russ Many see issues such as unemFedorka, protesting ALEC. Photo ployment, govby Bette McDevitt.
ernment assistance, violence, and mass incarceration as problems caused by people on a micro and independent scale. We as an American society are conditioned to believe that we all get what we deserve. We believe that if you work hard enough then you can be successful; this is the American dream. The pure sum of hardworking people at this action who had so little to show for their hard work, serves to disprove this notion. The American dream is only achievable by those on top. This dream is always close, but just out of tangible reach for those trying to climb up; it works as the proverbial dangling carrot. Those on top, the CEO’s and the legislators who are working with them, purposefully keep the lower class lower. This is the character of capitalism. It is effectively and quickly shrinking the middle class. Yet this fast paced reality is going completely ignored. It is about time that America changed its view on what causes our main problems. This is not a problem of individuals and their life choices on a micro level; it is a macro issue, with one common denominator. This truth is looked over by many with power; therefore, actions must be taken for people to see the reality of this faulty system. Rushing into the Heinz amphitheater as a large group of people, running in there with umbrellas which have messages that read, “Yinz are worse than Trump,” “ALEC= climate crime,” wrapping a room in caution tape, and spilling red glitter on the ground, loudly stating that this is a crime scene and A.L.E.C. is killing us, thusly ruining the dinner of A.L.E.C. legislators and corporate lobbyist on a Thursday night. A.L.E.C. members may be upset by Pittsburghers ruining their black tie affair. This pales in comparison to A.L.E.C. attacks on families and communities through legislation like “stand your ground”, which was pushed by A.L.E.C. and legally justified the murder of Treyvon Martin. These people work hand in hand. They’ve joined forces against the middle class. They advocate for private prisons, which gain capital off of the work of the incarcerated which is borderline slavery.
City of Bridges, Not Walls
Julia Johnson, and other activists, disrupt A.L.E.C. meeting on the night of Thursday, May 5th. Photo by Jordan Malloy.
These people take taxpayer money from public schools which need all that they can get and give it to private schools. Yet, as mentioned by Tom Crawford of the Communication Workers of America (CWA), they avoid paying taxes by relabeling their books to make it seem like they do not earn as much money as they do. These people create the issues faced by the other 99% from whom they profit. Take it from any of the speakers at the action on Friday: activist Brandy Fisher, President of the Alliance for Police Accountability; Representative Ed Gainey of East Liberty; Kai Pang of the Pitt chapter of United Students against Sweatshops; Tom Crawford, CWA Local 13000; Vice President, West Region, Nina EspositoVisgitis, President of PFT 400; and Fight for $15 worker. Or any in the crowd of hundreds against A.L.E.C. We must take a stand against those who have profited from our work. The American dream, the idea that if you work hard enough you can have anything, is false. AL.E.C. blames people for the problems they experience, make their problems worse by dismantling the social safety net, and expanding corporate welfare and privatization, as so many of us, work long hours and barely get by. We must denounce the unfulfilled American dream, demand more of our legislators, expose their greed, and dump ALEC. Jordan Malloy is a student at Point Park University.
By Gabriel McMorland
More than 100 Pittsburghers celebrated May Day by joining the March for Immigrant and Worker Rights through the South Hills neighborhoods of Beechview and Brookline, home to a growing number of Latino residents. The march began with a rally including speakers from the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and others. Marchers took to the streets with a tone of joyful solidarity, waving hellos to many smiling neighbors, and proudly chanting “Sí se puede” to drown out the racist shouts of a white bystander waving a Confederate flag along Brookline Boulevard. The march also passed Las Palmas taqueria, the target of racially motivated vandalism twice in the last year. The Thomas Merton Center was honored to actively support this May Day march. May Day has served as a worldwide day of action for international worker solidarity since the fierce labor struggles of the late 1800s United States. In recent years mayday marches in many US cities have focused on immigrant rights. How can we allow governments to violently impose borders between people, while corporate powers
build their own borderless world of free trade exploitation and tax havens? Solidarity has no borders. The Pittsburgh march specifically called for An end to detention and deportation of undocumented workers and their families An end to detention and deportation of women and children seeking asylum from the violence plaguing Central America Tuition equity for undocumented residents of Pennsylvania at state-sponsored colleges and universities Comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship The right of all workers in the U.S. to a minimum of $15/hour and a union The dignity and human rights of all people, regardless of their immigration status Gabriel McMorland is the Organizer and Intern Coordinator for the Thomas Merton Center.
Brazil in Crisis: Topic of TMC Potluck in June Brazil is facing perhaps its worst political crisis in over two decades as duly elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been impeached by the Senate on corruption charges. President Rousseff says this undemocratic action came from right-wing opposition. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called the impeachment of Rousseff a "coup d’état." The country is currently led by an interim, unelected president, Michael Temer. The Merton Center will hold a potluck supper and discussion on “The Current Crisis in Brazil” on Wed., June 15 at 6:30 - 8:30 PM at the Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue in Garfield. Please bring a dish to share. Briefing us on the situation and helping with the discussion will be Carolyn Kazdin, past USW Representative in Brazil, who has recently returned from a trip to Brazil and is currently USW staff for Strategic Campaigns; Dr. Michael Drohan, a retired political economy professor, who has done research in Brazil; and Haydee McCarville, a Pittsburgh resident from Brail who still has family living there RSVP’s are requested to 412-361-3022. 4 - NEWPEOPLE
June 2016
Photos of the May Day Parade on Sunday, May 1st. Photos by Bette McDevitt.
Tackling the Prison-Industrial Complex World Experts Convene in Pittsburgh to Promote Alternatives to Solitary Confinement By Jeff Cummings
Activists, experts, and correctional officials from around the world gathered April 15 and 16 at the University of Pittsburgh Law School at the invitation of law professor Jules Lobel for the International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Prolonged Solitary Confinement Conference. Lobel had been "the lead attorney in the landmark solitary confinement case, ASHKER V. GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, and is currently president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. In the United States, there is a growing criticism of the practice of locking up an estimated 80100,000 prisoners in small cells for more than 22 hours per day with little or no social contact, no physical contact visits with family or friends, and little or no group recreation or programming. While the U.S. undoubtedly holds more prisoners in solitary than any other country, it is nevertheless a fact that various forms of solitary confinement are routinely used in other prisons. According to several speakers, solitary confinement is not just used to punish disciplinary infractions, but for many different reasons. It is commonly used to prevent disruption by controlling prisoners deemed to be problematic, to address overcrowding, and as protection for vulnerable prisoners. The movement to end the use of solitary confinement has achieved international attention in part because of a series of hunger strikes orchestrated by prisoners in California's Pelican Bay State Prison Security Housing Unit. The most important experts to speak at the conference were undoubtedly the men and women who had endured solitary confinement firsthand. Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3 had been released from prison just last February after 44 years spent in solitary confinement. He and Robert King, the other surviving member of the Angola 3, were members of a panel of four ex-prisoners who all gave eloquent testimony regarding the permanent harm caused by the practice. The fifth member of the panel was Shandre Delaney, a local activist and leader of the Human Rights Coalition/Fed Up, who claimed that her son is currently being held in soli-
tary confinement in retaliation for reporting abuses by prison officials. Neuroscientists and public health officials also explained the growing body of scientific evidence that extended isolation causes permanent harm to the brain and to .Albert Woodfox, Robert King, Bret Grote, Jules Lobel Danny Murillo, Shandre Delaney, the physical Dolores Canales. Photo By Jeff Cummings and mental well-being of incarcerated persons. officials from across the country, some of whom Correctional officials from Norway and the have already been working to eliminate solitary conUnited Kingdom at the conference described sucfinement, others of whom are just exploring their cessful alternatives to solitary for the worst prison- options. Tours of European model prisons have been ers in the systems in their respective countries. Are conducted for American officials to see firsthand Hoidal, Governor (Warden) of Maximum Security how the alternatives can work. Representatives of Halden Prison in Norway, pointed out that in NorDepartments of Correction from Colorado, North way they have a maximum sentence for all prisoners Dakota, Florida, Rhode Island, Ohio, Mississippi of 21 years. Since they know that all their prisoners (former) and Washington State (former) were prewill one day be released into their communities, sent. No one from Pennsylvania's DOC attended. they take the mission of rehabilitation very seriousFor more information about how you can bely. The prison environment must be as similar to life come involved locally in the fight to end solitary, outside the prison as possible to facilitate successful contact HRC/Fed Up (412-802-8575) or The Abolireentry. A 2010 study demonstrates that they have a tionist Law Center(412-654-9070) or the Pennsylva20% recidivism rate for those who had been released nia Organizer for the National Religious Campaign for two years. Hoidal encouraged all the participants Against Torture (412-361-1581). to view the documentary film by Michael Moore entitled "Where to Invade Next" (2015) which fea- Jeff is a beginning social justice journalist. tures a segment about Halden Prison and the amaz- He works at Donor Services Group as a ing results of this alternative model of corrections. fundraiser for progressive non-profits. It was encouraging to hear from correctional
Open Invitation to Join Fight For Lifers West By Donna Hill
“Fight for Lifers West is dedicated to giving lifers and their loved ones hope. We will continue our efforts until they are given the justice and mercy that all human beings deserve.” Who is serving life in Pennsylvania? Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Sons, Daughters, Grandmothers, Grandfathers and Friends. Real human beings with feelings, who may or may not be guilty of the crime for which they were convicted. Many times people are convicted of the crime of homicide in the first or second degree because they lack the necessary resources to procure proper representation in a court of law. Many are coerced into taking plea bargains that carry a life sentence when faced with the threat of the death penalty. The new PA law for juvenile lifers just became retroactive in February, 2016 and hundreds of juveniles will go back to their counties for re-sentencing. This, by no means, will guarantee them a new or different sentence. If a person is found guilty of first or second degree murder (also known as the Felony Murder Rule), they are sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. There are over 5,000 lifers in PA prisons, and of those, over 500 were sentenced as juveniles. Many lifers are now over the age of 50 and most lifers die while incarcerated. At present, the commutation process, known as one way for a convicted lifer to be released, is ineffective as it is set up. This is almost impossible and has been for decades. We will be joining Let’s Get Free in presenting a new commutation platform on June 23 in Harrisburg to state lawmakers. Contact www.letsgetfree.info for more information. There is also what is called the Post- Conviction Relief Act, a type of appeal that can be submitted when a new law/ruling is handed down from the United States
Supreme Ct. and it applies to a lifer’s case. Or, a lifer can appeal if they can present new evidence in their case. But, this is flawed because they only have 60 days from the date of a new ruling or evidence to file their case and they are often hindered by limited access to the law library, lack of funds to file the appeal, not being lettered in the law and other obstacles. Lifers are not eligible for free legal representation. Almost all of these types of appeals end up being “time barred” and are dismissed. (97% of these PCRAs are time-barred). Elderly Lifers in PA: Statistics show that lifers that are aged 50 and above have less than a 0.01% recidivism risk. Not only are they at low risk to reoffend as violent offenders, this also holds true in any criminal category. The older a lifer gets while incarcerated, the less of a risk they pose and the more of a tax burden they become on society. Taxpayers spend 2-3 times more in taxes because many older lifers are stricken with common illnesses that most elderly people incur. This happens at even a higher rate because of the increased levels of stress they endure behind bars. They also fall prey to younger inmates who use extortion, while prison guards look the other way. Some of these older prisoners are in wheelchairs, on walkers, have oxygen tanks and are just waiting to die. Many try to take their own lives out of desperation. These elder lifers are many peoples’ mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. They should be allowed to be cared for at home, with their families. Parole eligibility for elderly lifers who have served at least 25 years or who have reached the age of 50+ should be considered by state law-makers. We need to contact our state senators and representatives and ask them to introduce or sponsor such legislation. There was a bill in the past, known as the
25/50 bill, which had much support, but was shot down after 9/11 and a tough line on crime. It is far overdue that we exercise compassion and forgiveness. Other states have laws with 20yrs. – life. Pennsylvania is one of only handful of states who does not have a minimum sentence for lifers. And, PA has the most incarcerated lifers in both the U.S.A. and the world. We believe that life without the possibility of parole violates the 8th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States: Cruel and Unusual Punishment. It is the “Other Death Penalty” and “Death By Incarceration”. Please join us and see how you can get involved to change the archaic and inhumane laws in Pennsylvania. Donna Hill is a member and former president of Fight For Lifers West
Fight For Lifers West meets every 1st and 3rd Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Thomas Merton Center Annex at 5119 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Contact us at our e-mail: fightforliferswest@gmail.com or call: 412-361-3022 (ask for Fight For Lifers West) for more information. Please get involved in this worthy cause. We hope to see or hear from you shortly. June 2016
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Reproductive Health & Women’s Rights PA Campaign Fights to Guarantee Women's Health and Workplace Rights in State Legislature By Rianna Lee
Did you know that, in Pennsylvania, a pregnant woman can legally be fired from her job for asking for a bottle of water or a stool? Even though women make up about half of the workforce, and women are the primary or sole breadwinners in 40% of American families, women still face unique obstacles in the workplace that inhibit their ability to provide for their families. The Women’s Law Project (WLP) is aiming to change that by advocating for the Pennsylvania Agenda for Women’s Health, a legislative package that will create healthier and happier families by changing the policy surrounding women’s health and workplace rights. In 2010 and 2011, a wave of anti-choice, antiwomen bills began flooding state legislatures in PA and across America. The Women’s Health Caucus (WHC) of the PA Legislature, a bi-partisan, prochoice group of lawmakers committed to promoting policy solutions to real problems faced by PA women and families, was tired of being pushed into a defensive position over reproductive rights. Women’s health and economic security at large were being virtually ignored, even though PA routinely scores very low across all key indicators in this area, according to Tara Murtha, Associate Director of Strategic Communications at the WLP. Lawmakers turned to the WLP for guidance and suggestions on getting their proposals turned into bills that can be passed through state legislature. The WLP, founded in Pennsylvania in 1974, has a lengthy track record of success in fighting for women’s rights through high-impact litigation, advocacy, and education. They fought to win three landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions on reproductive freedom, and their team of dedicated staff continues to
challenge sex discrimination, advance the rights of lesbian and gay parents, advocate on behalf of impoverished women, and champion the rights of sexual assault survivors. Their recent report, Through the Lens of Equality, “was actually the foundation of the PA Agenda for Women's Health. The shortcomings in the law that we identified in that report became the centerpiece of the Agenda: equal pay, pregnancy and nursing accommodations, sexual harassment, domestic violence protections,” according to Sue Frietsche, senior staff attorney at the WLP for more than 20 years. Thus, the Pennsylvania Agenda for Women’s Health was born. The PA Agenda for Women’s Health is a bold, pro-choice legislative package aimed at improving the status of women's health and economic security in Pennsylvania. The legislative package features provisions that would guarantee workplace accommodations for pregnant and nursing women, equal pay, a living minimum wage, and equal access to healthcare facilities, particularly reproductive health services. In addition, the legislation provides an outline for a Task Force on Women Veterans’ Health Care to study unique issues affecting women veterans; cell phone contract termination, lease termination, and/or lock changing for domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking victims; and provisions for policies and programs to end sexual assault and intimate partner violence on college campuses. Steered by the WLP, the PA Campaign for Women’s Health, a collaborative effort of over 50 local, state, and national organizations, has already worked to pass three bills in the Agenda. These three bills include protection against eviction for
domestic violence victims who call the police for help, a ban on publishing any photo or video identifying another person who is naked or engaging in a sexual act without that person’s consent, and an outline for a study regarding the “cliff effect”, where working parents’ increased income makes them ineligible for programs that allow them to work, such as child care assistance, transportation, food stamps, and free/reduced school lunches. While the Agenda has a long way to go before all of its provisions are signed into law in PA, Sue Frietsche has high hopes: “I have no doubt that the main bills in the Agenda will pass in a few years. The Agenda has already had a beneficial effect by framing women's health in feminist terms and in presenting a vision of what a more equitable society would look like.” Regarding the overall importance and status of women’s health, she also stated, “Women's status is unquestionably improving, and as we gain political power, we will also gain in all other measures of wellbeing.” To stay up-to-date on the latest regarding the PA Agenda for Women’s Health, or to learn more about the WLP, visit the Women’s Law Project website:www.womenslawproject.org. Rianna is a summer intern for the Thomas Merton Center and a senior at Duquesne University, studying international relations and sociology. She is interested in law and public policy surrounding gender and women's rights. In her spare time, you can catch her eating at Chipotle with her friends or playing with her two guinea pigs, Thor and Loki.
Welcome to Pinksburgh: Inside the Planned Parenthood Power of Pink Conference
By Emily Fecile
This past year has been difficult for Planned Parenthood. For many people, the first impression of one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers is tied to news headlines like “3 Are Dead in Colorado Springs Shootout at Planned Parenthood” and “Planned Parenthood Sells Intact Aborted Babies.” Though the organization is no stranger to attacks
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against its mission, these attempts to derail Planned Parenthood were some of the worst in its 100 year history. With the Colorado Springs clinic reopened and allegations of wrongdoing disproven, the nation was left to wonder – what’s next for Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood Federation of America, along with its affiliates nationwide, put together the Power of Pink (PoP) Conference. Held on May 12th-14th, 2016 in downtown Pittsburgh, PoP was the largest event of its kind that Planned Parenthood has ever hosted. With representatives from 49 states, PoP gathered more than 1,000 staffers, volunteers, and reproductive justice activists for a weekend of training and strategic planning. Most especially, PoP focused on Planned Parenthood’s efforts to proactively engage voters – in this election cycle and beyond – to elect representatives on both state and national levels who pledge to protect reproductive rights. Conference participants were able to engage in a discussion about Planned Parenthood’s policy agenda as well as their plan to hold elected officials accountable for promises made during the elections. Prior to the conference, Planned Parenthood determined its policy agenda through community forums. With the help of its members, Planned Parenthood devised a policy agenda dedicated to safe and legal abortion, equitable access to healthcare, and quality mandated sexual education. As each state houses its own unique political atmosphere, Planned Parenthood’s fight is different depending on geographic location. However, it is truly all about one thing: political power. As conference conversations pro-
gressed, attention was purposefully placed on Planned Parenthood’s attempts at inclusivity. Presenters and participants made concerted efforts to have everyone at the conference share their personal pronouns and be respectful of others’ pronouns. But despite the clear efforts that were made, remnants of gendered language Power of Pink Conference 5/12/2016. were obPhoto by Emily Fecile servable throughout the weekend. Calls to “brothers and sisters” and discussions of “women’s health” went unnoticed by staff as non-binary participants and trans folks with and without uteruses dismayed at thoughtless use of exclusionary language. Overall, PoP mostly centered on learning, sharing, and supporting one another. Newcomer volunteers were welcomed and celebrated alongside reproductive justice veterans. Being a grassroots organization, Planned Parenthood knew the importance of each and every volunteer in that space, and enabled all participants to have a voice in the proceedings. Despite any hiccups that the event allowed, it also provided hope for a more inclusive, equitable and healthy future. Emily Fecile is a Thomas Merton Center intern and English Literature student at the University of Pittsburgh.
Building Welcoming & Inclusive Communities Pittsburgh Public Schools to Vote on Transgender Non-Discrimination Policy By Angelica Walker
In the heat of a nationwide debate, the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board is set to vote on June 22nd on a new policy that would protect students across the district from discrimination based on their gender identity. If approved, the policy will go into effect starting next school year. Board member Moira Kaledia endorsed the policy at a recent school board meeting. According to Kaledia, “we [Pittsburgh Public Schools] believe that transgender and gender non-conforming students have the right to experience life as any other student would.” A draft of the policy available on the district website explains that transgender students would have the right to wear clothes and use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Teachers would be required to attend trainings on gender identity issues and bullying prevention, and address transgender students by their chosen names and pronouns. Because medical transition treatments are often unaffordable, unavailable, or unnecessary for minors, students will not be required to provide medical documentation of their status. In addition, the District will be unable to disclose a student’s transgender status to any third party, including the student’s parents. The controversial non-disclosure policy is designed to prevent parents from abusing or abandoning their children after the news gets out. Revealing a student’s transgender status to unapproving parents carries a myriad of risks, including homelessness; today, over 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Transgender teens also face high rates of de-
pression and suicide. More than 40% of transgender youth attempt suicide at least once before their 20th birthday, and that number jumps up to 60% for those denied access to bathrooms that match their gender identity. One school in the District, Brashear High School, has already had a similar transgender nondiscrimination policy in place for two years. The school’s Gender Sexuality Alliance, led by faculty advisor Devin Browne, has been campaigning to expand the policy district-wide throughout the year. Passionate students have attended public hearings and scheduled meetings with board members to have their voice heard. “When I came into office, Devin asked me to meet with his Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) students and to hear about what they were doing at Brashear first hand,” said Kaledia. “I was in awe of the passion that kids of all gender identities put forth and how important and life changing this was for some of the students.” Growing up is hard enough as it is, and growing up trans is even harder. The last thing we should be doing to kids is discriminating against them in the one place they’re supposed to be safe: their schools. By discriminating against transgender kids on an institutional level, we teach their peers that it’s okay to bully and harass them because of their status. According to GLSEN, 74% of transgender youth suffer from sexual harassment at school and 55% experience physical attacks. After being harassed, transgender students often develop a fear of school and suffer from other consequences including poor grades, truancy, dropout, and drug abuse. The Pittsburgh Public School District’s motto
is, “excellence for all.” If the school board truly believes this, enacting a policy that will help transgender students feel safe and succeed in school should be a no-brainer. For Kaledia at least, it is: “I am proud of this work and feel that it sends an important message in a time of such political turnew bathroom sign moil. We will not be TMC’s courtesy of Cat Conley. You the next North Caro- can find more on Etsy. Search lina. We will not CatCall412. stand for hate.” However, the policy remains controversial. Parents and students are encouraged to send letters of support to boardoffice@pghboe.net and attend the final public hearing on June 20th. The hearing will take place at 6pm in the Board of Education Building, located in Oakland next to the Cathedral of Learning. To testify during the meeting, speakers must sign up one week in advance at www.pps.k12.pa.us/Page/4043. Angelica Walker is an intern for The New People covering LGBTQ rights and criminal justice reform. She is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh studying social work, legal studies, writing, and political science.
2016 Circle of Faith - Dancing with Diversity This year the Circle of Faith, a public interfaith witness to welcome and include LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, invisible minorities, asexual, and allies) persons, their families and allies by varied faith communities has as its theme “Faith from Community: Dancing with Diversity.” It is hosted by those who believe God’s love is inclusive and that all are welcome into the “family circle” that their faith communities offer. The event will be celebrated on Sunday, June 5 from 2 – 3:30 PM in the tent at Schenley Plaza in Oakland. It is open to everyone and free of charge. People of all ages and spir-
itual communities are welcome. Wherever you are in life, you will be welcome The program begins with a prologue of drumming by friends and allies from the Pagan Community. Welcome and introductions will be done by Rev. Shanea Leonard of the Judah Fellowship. Diane "Emerald" Bronowicz Egelhoff, Senior Druid of Sassafrass, will offer the invocation. Speakers will include: Jennifer Frayer Griggs from Hot Metal Bridge Church, Nathan Carterette (musical prayer) from Church of the Redeemer, Shane Collins representing the Transgender Community, Jennifer Marie from Dignity Pittsburgh and Transgender Communi-
The Road to Emmaus, PA The Road to Emmaus is a great little Bible story. It’s about two disciples who meet a stranger on the road and share a meal. Slowly, they realize they had encountered Jesus, and he moved on. It is read in many Christian churches in the days between Easter and Pentecost, so it has special meaning for them. There is an Emmaus Community in Pittsburgh as well. They held an Open House in May. Like me, you might be surprised at whom you might meet there. For more than 25 years, Emmaus has been providing permanent homes, respite care and advocacy for adults with intellectual disabilities and autism. It is an ecumenical non-profit built on a vision of people with and without disabilities, staff and residents, living, working, celebrating, facing challenges, sharing their lives and helping each other grow. This formula seems to work. Not only does Emmaus provide quality services for its residents, it is a good place to be employed as well. In 2015 Emmaus received a “Top Workplace” award and “The Most Ethical Organization Award” from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a “Best Non-Profit to Work For” award from the national Non-Profit Times. In the Pittsburgh area, Emmaus operates ten residential homes. It also offers over 4,000 hours of community based support for people who live in their own place or with families who may need a companion to help them work on community-based goals. But, according to an Emmaus spokesperson,
By Joyce Rothermel
ty, James Johnson from New Monasticism and the Lindisfarne Community, and Dr. Ronald Peters from Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church. Gail Ransom from First Methodist Church will lead the Circle Dance. Many faith communities and organizations have joined the Circle of Faith in its four year history in Pittsburgh including the Thomas Merton Center. Joyce Rothermel is a member of St. James Catholic Church in Wilkinsburg.
By Jim McCarville
“it isn’t nearly enough.” “Who will care for my child?” The Emmaus Community Annual Report says every day more than 13,000 Pennsylvania parents of children with developmental disabilities anxiously ask themselves this question. Sadly, only 10% will get a reassuring answer. The Open Houses were an attempt to reach out to neighbors and the broader community to show how important this work is and how well it is getting done.
What can you do? MiRan Surh, Director of Community Relations for the Emmaus Community, was also at the second home, giving the residents a bit of a break. She also explained how NewPeople readers could help. Emmaus relies on the participation of board members, donors, volunteers and staff “to make sure that the homes are warm, welcoming, safe, secure, and ‘for life’.” And, “If people want to help, there are always ways,” she said. The Open House According to MiRan, “Volunteers can come At the first house, Espy House, I was greeted by alone to share their art, music, cooking, yoga and Denise who quickly introduced me to her housecraft talents. They can work in groups to plant flowmates, Gina and Amy and the house staff, Sara, ers, paint the residents’ homes, have small concerts Keiona and Jackie. I could tell that the staff was ea- or lead prayer services at Community Night. They ger to pitch in, but Denise and Gina had the program can help on holidays, fundraisers, holidays and speunder control. Amy showed me her needlework cial events like the 5K event, Pirates Night and the while the other two proudly showed me the kitchen, Golf Classic.” Volunteers can join the Young Prolaundry and leisure areas and how they divide up fessional Advisory Board – post college age through chores. Their pride was showing. 40ish, who are interested in helping to make EmIt was similar in the second, Jericho House. maus known to the broader community. They are the Kimberly was a bit shy, she had just woken up, but ambassadors to help with fundraising and awareness her smile made me know I was welcome. Sidria and campaigns, serve on committees and build relationSharay alternated floors to conduct my tour and ships. competed like sisters to show who could play the To schedule a tour or to learn more about Emmaus, piano best. They were excited to tell me about getplease call MiRan at 412-381-0277. ting their hair done for the upcoming Kentucky Derby Gala Fundraiser which Emmaus holds every year. Jim McCarville is a member of the TMC Board and of the Editorial Collective. I wish I could have visited more. June 2016
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In Memory of Daniel Berrigan DANIEL BERRIGAN Rest in Peace By Molly Rush
I got to know Fr. Daniel Berrigan at the retreat which proceeded our direct action at the General Electric plant in King of Prussia PA against their Mark 12 missiles. Designed to precisely target Soviet weapon silos before they could be launched meant that the U.S. had could strike first capacity. I had followed the dramatic 1968 action in Catonsville, MD where he, his brother Phil, and seven others were jailed for burning files used to draft young men to serve in Vietnam. His powerful statement was an inspiration to the millions who opposed that war: “Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house. We could not, so help us God, do otherwise. We say killing is disorder. Life and gentleness and community and unselfishness is the only order we recognize. For the sake of that order we risk our liberty, our good name. The time is past when good people can remain silent, when obedience can segregate people from public risk, when the poor can die without defense. We ask our fellow Christians to consider in their hearts a question that has tortured us, night and day, since the war began. How many must die before our voices are heard, how many must be tortured, dislocated, starved, maddened? How long must the world’s resources be raped in the service of legalized murder? When, at what point, will you say No to this war?” [from “Night Flight to Hanoi. James Carroll, writer and first recipient of the Thomas Merton Award, son of the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, wrote “Daniel Berrigan, My Dangerous Friend” in the May 3rd issue of the New Yorker, “…Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit poet, who died on Saturday at the age of ninety four, quickly came to embody for me a new ideal. He testified, in his expansive life, to language itself as an opening to transcendence….I met him briefly at a poetry reading [in 1965]…and was struck by his rare combination of earnestness and kindness.” Dan participated in countless protests over the years and spent a lot of time in jail. Health problems didn’t stop him despite, as he told friends, that he did not do well in prison. A wake service led by Fr. John Dear, was held Thursday May 5th at St. Francis Xavier in New York . Friends told stories about his sense of fun -“he was hilarious - his liking for a bit of scotch and how everything he said was poetic, but to the point. Early the next morning, a march from Mary House and around the Village in the pouring rain was led by a brass band, with banners and rousing peace songs. Mass began at 10 am in the beautiful, packed church with a welcome from the celebrant to everyone present and “to the FBI.” The service was a true celebration of “a man for the ages” as I think of him. Beautiful music, powerful prayers and stories that made Dan com alive. People rose 8 - NEWPEOPLE
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from theirs seats again and again to applaud. Liz McAlister, Dan’s late brother Phil’s intrepid wife, read the Catonsville statement with fervor urging us to follow Dan’s example. Three nieces and a nephew gave touching reflections and reminisces about their Uncle Dan. The reception was a celebration and a reunion with Liz, Dan’s niece Frida and nephew Jerry, Jim Wallis of Sojourners. I spoke with Bishop Tom Gumbleton, Ramsey Clark, Robert Ellsberg of Orbis Press, Rev. Bill Kellerman from Detroit and many others, including Plowshares 8’s Dean Hammer (yes, hammer!) and John Schuchardt. The other survivor of the eight, a repeat offender, Fr. Carl Kabat, couldn’t be there. Dan comes alive in a couple of excerpts from two 1991 letters he sent me: “…Pax Christi gave me a plaque for something or other & we had a grand gustatory free for all at NYU. They also circulated among the captives, having locked the doors, and hounded folks with raffle tickets. I was afraid for a while I was going to be the prize but no, it turned out to be a 25 cent round trip on the Staten Isl. Ferry… …We kept something going in NY during the hideous war. Kairos poured our blood at Riverside Research Center on Ash Wed., we each spelled out a letter, No Blood For Oil. Then together with the homeless, we carried caskets through Harlem, went into a busy intersection and laid down; the cops of course were not amused & rounded us up rather roughly since some of the young folk had chained themselves to the casket handles. Some fun.” And: Christmas Eve. “I bin on the road or better in the air. It seems like continually this fall. I guess I’m paying for my sins or something, airports and airplanes always remind me of purgatory or worse, which is to say, they’re efficient, rackety, crowded, mercenary, and welcome the kind of folks aloft who think they can take it all with them, bundles and tons of it.” Molly Rush is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Merton Center.
SOME By: Daniel Berrigan
Some stood up once and sat down. Some walked a mile and walked away. Some stood up twice then sat down. I’ve had it, they said Some walked two miles then walked away. It’s too much, they cried Some stood and stood and stood. They were taken for fools They were taken for being taken in. Some walked and walked and walked They walked the earth They walked the waters They walked the air. Why do you stand Why do you walk?
they were asked, and
Because of the children, they said, and Because of the heart, and Because of the bread. Because The cause Is the heart’s beat And the children born And the risen bread.
In Memory of Daniel Berrigan Catonsville Still Reverberates Around the World: Daniel Berrigan Presente By Michael Drohan
On May 17, 1968 Daniel Berrigan, Society of Jesus, along with eight other activists from the Catholic Worker Movement and activist Catholic clergy and laity entered the draft board offices in Catonsville, Maryland, took 378 draft files, brought them to the parking lot in wire baskets, dumped them out, poured napalm over them and set them on fire. This dramatic action shocked and shook the very foundations of US society. Protests against the Vietnam War were already building momentum but this act raised the ante and gave a new impetus to the anti-war movement. The symbolism of this act is scarcely reducible to words. It exposed the napalming of the peasants of Vietnam, men, women and children as never done before and contrasted it with the burning of paper with this same napalm but these papers were the command of the government to the youth of the US to join the napalming brigades in the poor country of Vietnam. In the Trial of the Catonsville 9, Dan Berrigan made the following statement: “Our apologies good friends for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house. We could not so help us God do otherwise. For we are sick at heart… Our hearts give us no rest for thinking of the Land of Burning Children….. We say: killing is disorder, life and gentleness and communi-
ty and unselfishness is the only order we recognize….How long must the world’s resources be raped in the service of legalized murder? When at what point will you say no to this war? We have chosen to say, with the gift of our liberty, if necessary our lives: the violence stops here, the death stops here, the suppression of the truth stops here, this war stops here…” The passing of Rev. Daniel Berrigan on April 30, 2016 and his funeral services on May 6, 2016 brought memories of this action and the many other protests and actions in which Dan took part flooding back to the members of the peace community in the US and around the world. At the funeral service, Dan’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth McAllister read once more Dan’s statement at the Catonsville trial. Just as in 1968, his words, life and action challenge us still. Despite his heroic efforts and that of all the other valiant peacemakers both here and throughout the world, the world is still torn with war and destruction. The US remains as Martin Luther King declared at the Riverside Church in 1968 “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world”. We have to carry on his legacy and complete the unfinished business that he so valiantly strove to accomplish. Dan made it abundantly clear in his life and witness that he did not believe he was a hero, indeed he did not believe in heroes. Rather he believed in enabling us all to be peacemakers and to contribute
to a just and peaceful world. Neither was he fixated on success or daunted by the lack of success. In a famous interview in 1981 with Chris Wallace (son of Mike Wallace) Dan said that “our consciences are not tethered to the other end of a TV tube”. He was responding to Wallace’s question as to whether Berrigan was upset by the fact that he seemed to have a less following than he did in the early days after the Catonsville action. As I reflect on the passing from this life of Dan Berrigan, some words of the Ballad of Joe Hill come flooding to mind. The first stanza of this ballad says: I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, Alive as you or me: Said I, but Joe you’re ten years dead; I never died said he. I never died said he. Wherever workers are fighting and struggling against injustice, Joe Hill is right there in their midst. I have the same feeling in regard to Dan Berrigan. He still lives on in all those whom he touched and inspired to say no to war, not in our name, never. Our best way to contribute to his remembrance will be to carry on the unfinished business of banishing war from the face of the earth. Michael Drohan is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Merton Center.
The Plowshares Eight
Fr. Berrigan's Influence By Joyce Rothermel
Vince Eirene, long time peace activist, graduated from Ohio State University in 1975. He had heard about the witness of Fr. Dan and Philip Berrigan. He decided to visit them at Jonah House, a faith based community organizing nonviolent resistance to war making. There he learned about resistance and the nuclear arms race. For decades following that visit, Vince was in and out of prison for resisting nuclear weapons. Vince found their ideas and way of living with profound simplicity very compelling. When he learned of the death of Fr. Dan Berrigan, Vince made plans to attend his funeral. He wanted to pay his respects. He went “to allow memories of Dan to heal the loss of his presence.” One of Vince’s memories was of one of the campaigns resisting nuclear weapons: Disarm or Dig Graves (our own) on Public Property. Vince remembers being accompanied by two others going to the home of then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Chevy Chase where they proceeded to dig graves. Dan supported them throughout the action to the court proceedings. Expecting far worse, they were imprisoned for 30 days. Vince also treasures the memories of the friendship he and his family had with Dan and Phil. They were generous and happy with Vince’s children demonstrating a great sense of humor. With over a thousand people gathered in the street after the funeral on a rainy, cold and gray day outside St. Francis Xavier Church in New York City last month, Vince stood there with them wanting to be there to remember who Dan was. Dan had shown them all a way to live. Joyce Rothermel serves on the Anti-War Committee of the Thomas Merton Center. June 2016
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Global Issues Iran Beckons! Come Learn and Invest Iran Beckons! Thanks to its recent nuclear treaty, Iran is tentatively emerging from decades of isolation and mutual mistrust. Tehran hotels already house tour groups from countries that never shared our alarm about the Axis of Evil. More than 250,000 visitors--“cultural tourists” from western countries, “medical tourists” seeking low cost surgery, and Shiite pilgrims-- visited Iran last year. Now foreign ministers and business executives are flocking to Tehran to sign trade agreements, and in the USA group tours to Iran are already sold out for the season. Iranians are fiercely proud of their history, and don’t like being mistaken for Arabs. They’re IndoEuropean, not Semitic, in origin, speaking a language (Farsi) derived from Sanskrit. The first Persian Empire was formed by Cyrus the Great in the sixth century BCE, more than a thousand years before the Arab conquest of the country. Despite its rich and complex history, Iran remained feudal, insular kingdom for a century and a half under the Qajar dynasty. Reza Shah Pahlavi, a military officer, seized control of the government in 1921. He set about modernizing Iran, establishing a civil service and police force, a modern banking system, and educational institutions. His son Mohammed Reza Pahlavi tried to carry on his father’s westernization plans, but an ill-conceived land reform program, personal extravagance and political repression made him increasingly unpopular. Exiled Shiite leader Ayatollah Khomeini portrayed him (accurately) as a puppet of the USA, and increasing popular unrest finally led to Iran’s 1978-9 revolution, spearheaded by a coalition of secular activists and Islamic radicals, driving out the Shah. Two weeks after the Shah’s departure Ayatollah Khomeni returned from exile to Tehran. Preaching a popular message of independence from secular and
corrupt western values, he established a theocracy, purging communists and other leftist groups. The tension between secular reformists and religious conservatives has been a constant ingredient in Iranian politics ever since. To Americans the US Den of Espionage (formerly known as the American Embassy) was the site of a shocking takeover by Islamist radicals during Iran’s revolution, leading to the capture of 61 American hostages and a humiliating failed rescue attempt. But to Iranians the Embassy was the the control center where the CIA engineered the coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 and installed the Shah in his place. Today it’s a museum featuring sensitive embassy documents, shredded but reconstituted. (Unfortunately it’s rarely open to the public.) For the last ten years of his life Ayatollah Khomeini and his family lived in a small apartment at the end of a narrow alley on the outskirts of Tehran. A sparsely furnished front room with a couch and a few photographs reflects his austerity; he was said to have no possessions when he died. Ironically his grandson’s recent bid for a seat in Parliament as a reform candidate was turned down by the Council of Guardians. During his time in office Iran’s notorious former President Ahmad Ahmadinejad, an engineer by training, modernized a highway system that now connects its major cities. Cars and buses glide into urban centers along landscaped medians and traffic circles adorned with fountains and modern sculpture. Hanging from streetlights are banners commemorating local martyrs from the eight year Iran-Iraq war, known as the “War of Holy Defense,” which claimed 500,000 lives on each side. Murals and billboards display side-by-side portraits of Ayatollah Khomei-
By Leila Richards
ni, with his usual scowl, and Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader, with a benign smile. Together they look like Bad Cop and Good Cop, but in fact Mr. Khamenei is another religious conservative, wary of President Hassan Rouhani’s recent market reforms and openness to the west. He retains the power to dismiss the president, or any elected official, at will. City streets are lined with modern boutiques and dozens of small private banks. Construction is booming; most construction workers come from the country’s five million legal and illegal Afghan immigrants. But Iran’s economy is plagued by high inflation, the worldwide drop in oil prices, and rampant corruption. Most newly-constructed apartments stand empty, while prospective tenants wait for months to get their loans approved. Iran also suffers from a brain drain; every year more than 150,000 young, educated Iranians leave to work in English-speaking countries. Today at least four million live abroad. When a typical headline of an English language newspaper in Tehran reads “Europe Pouring into Cement Iran Ties,” it’s hard to imagine the American business community accepting a re-imposition of trade sanctions, despite the threats of Republican lawmakers. Perhaps it’s time to admit that there’s something about our country’s longstanding antipathy to Iran, like our stance against Cuba, that resembled the vindictiveness of the spurned suitor, determined to ruin the prospects of his intended bride. Leila Richards is a retired physician living in Point Breeze. She recently returned from a two-week trip to Iran sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
Hiroshima, Imagining Peace Marks our Nuclear Legacy By Scilla Wahrhaftig and Ann Rosenthal
Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace marked the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear plants disaster through the exhibit “Strange Beauty: Autoradiography from Fukushima” by photojournalist Takashi Morizumi. The exhibition was held at the University Arts Gallery, University of Pittsburgh and featured 25 beautifully designed panels by Lisa Rasmussen. The panels highlight Morizumi’s images of abandoned everyday objects, such as a cap, soccer ball, plant, and shoe left behind in the wake of the disaster. The autoradiography process revealed the radiation contained in the objects, showing eerie points of light--a strange beauty (for details www.rememberinghiroshima.org). Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace will bring the exhibit to Biddle’s Escape, 401 Biddle Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15221, beginning June 2, through the end of the month.
Also, at Biddle’s Escape, The Nuclear-Free Blast on Thursday June 9, 7-9 pm will be an evening of poetry, music, and spoken word, to bring awareness to the ongoing threat of using nuclear power and nuclear weapons. It will also be a fundraiser to help with our ongoing work. Award winning musicians Ben Shannon and John Kono, as well as Jazz violinist Kei Rush, Sheila Carter Jones and The Pittsburgh Raging Grannies will be performing. A number of events are planned in August around the time of the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Our second annual “Bike Around the Bomb” bicycle-ride will be held on Saturday, August 6, embarking from Schenley Plaza at 9 am and will last approximately 4 hours. Bikers will ride about 14 miles around a predetermined route that represents the circumference of the most devastating destruction caused by the bomb
dropped on Hiroshima. A film showing (detail TBA) at the Melwood Theatre followed by Skyping with students in Kobe, Japan, on the evening of August 5 will mark our annual event, commemorating the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. For more information on our events in August and for a complete report on the exhibit (including photographs) see www.rememberinghiroshima.org/
Scilla Wahrhaftig is a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and of Remembering Hiroshima/Imagining Peace. Anne Rosenthal is an artist and a member of Remembering Hiroshima/Imagining Peace.
Bread for the World Updates: Good and Bad News By Roses Laughlin
Feed the Future is a program which serves to provide support for developing agricultural economies in 19 countries across the globe. The Global Food Security Act (GFSA) would put this into effect permanently and with more defined procedure. Bread for the World has been involved in gathering support for the GFSA and it has passed both the House and the Senate. Because of the discrepancy between the House bill (H.R. 1567) and the Senate bill (S. 1252), the final version still needs to be developed in a conference committee. The differences between the bills lead Bread to support the Senate bill over the House bill, although both would be a tremendous gain. The Senate bill includes the Emergency Food Security Program to authorize paths which would help with the timeliness of emergency response. The Senate bill also has a two-year authorization period, while the House bill has only a oneyear authorization period. 10 - NEWPEOPLE
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The current focus with regards to this Act is to contact House members to relay the benefits of the Senate version. Call the Capitol switchboard today at 202-224-3121. In contrast to the hopeful atmosphere inspired by the movement around the GFSA, there is negative momentum around the Child Nutrition Programs Reauthorization (CNPR). A continuing resolution would be better than the House’s proposed legislation (H.R. 5003), which reduces the number of children and quality of food in the program; reduction of the summer feeding program, as well as constructing administrative roadblocks for families applying to the program and to school districts applying for broad aid. It can be noted that the current bill has only one sponsor (not from PA) and does not appear to have wide support. Visits to the local offices of PA Senators and local Representatives to ask for their support of leg-
islation which promotes sustainable hunger solutions are now being scheduled. On Tuesday June 7, 2016, SW PA Bread for the World members will be traveling to Washington, D.C. for Lobby Day, which is an effort from Bread for the World nationally, to meet with PA legislators and promote the same legislation. A group will travel to Washington, D.C. on June 6 and stay overnight in order to attend this event. To get involved with the regional efforts of Bread for the World including possible participation in local lobbying meetings and/or to conduct an offering of letters with a group or congregation, contact Joyce Rothermel at 412-780-5118 or by email at rothermeljoyce@gmail.com. Roses Laughlin is an Intern with the SW PA Bread for the World Team.
Bringing the Global Local Sudan Forum Brings Activists Together On Sunday, April 24, 2016, over 60 local activists, as well as activist leaders from across the US, members of the Sudanese diaspora and a representative of the US Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, gathered to discuss the increasing violence in those countries and ways to stop it. The event was sponsored by the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition and the Peace Committee of East Liberty Presbyterian Church and held in the ELPC social hall. Signs in the hall bore the names of camps for those internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. It was preceded by a Sudanese lunch prepared by Kawthar Albe and fellow Pittsburghers from South Sudan. Dr. David Rosenberg, PDEC Coordinator, decried the deadly attacks on marginalized communities near Darfur, in the Nuba Mountains and eastern Sudan by the forces of Sudanese President Omar alBashir and the inter-tribal conflict. It is leading to massive displacement, deaths, and food insecurity in South Sudan. He noted that 64 members of Congress
have signed a letter urging the Obama administration to increase pressure on the Sudanese government to negotiate with its marginalized representatives. Congressional briefings on the situation are scheduled to begin soon. The first panel included Breanna Green, Senior Sudan Desk Officer in the Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan; Philip Tutu, the representative of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North in the U.S, who is from the Nuba Mountains area; Omer Ismail, a founder of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization and a senior advisor to the Enough Project, an anti-genocide policy advisory group; and Ibrahim Tahir, the founder and director of the Beja Cultural Organization, in the eastern region of Sudan. Ms. Green spoke of the slow progress in negotiations and national reconciliation priorities, including: (1) accommodation of the different cultures and (2) agreement to uphold democratic institutions, territorial integrity,national unity, and a timeline for implementation. Mr. Tutu lived through aerial bombardment by government troops during his visit to the Nuba Mountains in 20122013. He stayed with people who were hiding in caves and starving, unable to emerge to grow their own food. He emphasized the need for humanitarian aid for the civilians trapped in the area. Mr. Ismail described the Enough Project’s Satellite SenPhoto Credit: "Chelsey Engel Photography for Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency tinel program, which Coalition" tracks the movements
By Mary Dawn Edwards
of government troops and the destruction of civilian settlements. It also tracks illicit assets hidden by officials of the government of Sudan (and South Sudan). It is campaigning for targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for these illegal financial transactions. Mr. Tahir urged greater awareness of the situation in eastern Sudan, which is overshadowed by attention to Darfur and the Nuba Mountains, by the international community. The second panel was on South Sudan. It included Isaac Gang, a founding member of the Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan; Reuben Garang, also a founding member of the Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan; Margaret Oduho Atarri, a member of South Sudanese Women United; and Ms. Green. Mr. Gang and Mr. Garang, members of different tribes, said their Coalition works to put ethnic issues behind them, end hostilities, allow access for humanitarian aid and the formation of a democratic government of national unity. Ms. Atarri’s group, encouraging reconciliation among the warring groups, has sent 2000 copies of The Book of Forgiving (by Archbishop Desmond and Ms. Mpho Tutu) to South Sudanese and diaspora communities. Ms. Green spoke of the difficulty in implementing the August 2015 transitional government plan, including transparency, free and fair elections, and reconciliation. After the Forum, several activists visited the offices of U.S. Congressional Representative Mike Doyle and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto to discuss ways that government officials can advocate for the Sudanese people. PDEC welcomes new advocates. For further information, please contact Dr. David Rosenberg at jumphook@gmail.com or 412-892-8842. We also have a Facebook page. Mary Dawn Edwards is a member of Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition.
Haiti Update and the Work of Partners in Progress By Joyce Rothermel
Haiti does not make it into the news in the U.S. very often and usually it is at times of grave crisis. Most recently, we learned of the failed attempt by the Haitian people to elect a new president. On Feb. 7, Michel Martelly left office in the midst of an electoral crisis. Mr. Martelly had completed a five year term and through an agreement, steps were laid out to choose a provisional government to take his place. Hundreds of protesters had been in the streets demanding Mr. Martelly leave office at the end of his term even if no one had been elected to succeed him. Mr. Martelly, a former pop music star, was criticized for failing to hold elections during his five years in office and for surrounding himself with cronies, some of them criminals. Many thought of him as an autocrat who let Parliament expire during his time in office. In his defense, Mr. Martelly said he had “faced the impossible” when he “inherited pain and misery” five years ago, a year after a very severe earthquake killed hundreds of thousands of people and collapsed major areas of the capital and the areas around it.
Farmers in Deslandes, Haiti. Photo by Nik Kouzes
Haiti’s latest political crisis resulted from a presidential election held in October with 54 candidates and that critics said was riddled with fraud. Political operatives were able to vote multiple times, and the president’s handpicked successor came in first despite being a virtual unknown, leaving the 52 candidates who did not make the runoff vote to question the results. Mr. Martelly insisted that there had been no fraud and that the runoff should take place, urging voters to choose his candidate, Jovenel Moïse, a banana exporter. But a former government official who officially came in second, Jude Célestin, refused to participate in the runoff until a new electoral council was chosen and a thorough review of the first round was conducted. Under an accord reached in February, the prime minister would stay until an interim president was chosen by both chambers of Parliament. Once the interim president was in place, a consensus prime minister would be chosen, and a verification commission would review the October balloting. Mr. Martelly agreed to allow a member of an opposition party to be selected as interim president. The agreement stipulated that an election would be held by April 24, and a new president installed May 14. An interim government has been running the country since the last president's term ended in February. Elections did not take place on April 24. The election machinery is currently being assessed by the newly appointed electoral council headed by Leopold Berlanger. This delay meant that temporary President Jocelerme Privert would not hand over power to an elected successor by May 14, as had previously been agreed. Before completing the election review process, the election council is overseeing a second evaluation of the results of last October’s presidential elections to test the claims of fraud and decide which
candidates should take part in the upcoming election. Supporters of former president Michel Martelly and his favored candidate, Moise, have protested claiming Privert is dragging his feet so his allies can cling on to power. Street protesters demand the election be held as soon as possible. In the midst of the political realities on the ground in Haiti, over 1.5 million people are severely food insecure and often do not know where their next meals are coming from. Haiti’s countryside has been gripped with a three year drought. People look to the government to increase access to seed and fertilizer. Without it this number could double. In 2015, Haiti’s farmers lost over half of their crops due to the water shortage. One of the places hardest hit is the Artibonite with crop losses over 70%. It is there in Deslandes that Pittsburgh-based Partners in Progress is working with local farmers to improve their farming techniques and increase food security. Farmers there are working to share agricultural techniques which reduce vulnerability to drought by improving soil fertility and moisture retention. These farmers with the support of Partners in Progress will be training at least 100 more farmers from the seven villages which make up Deslandes. They need our financial help. I invite you to visit the new website of Partners in Progress: www.piphaiti.org to learn more and to make a secure donation on line in support of their work. It may seem like there is little we can do to impact the political situation in Haiti, but we can help to make a difference in the plight of the people of rural Haiti through our support of Partners in Progress. Joyce Rothermel serves as Vice-President on the board of Partners in Progress. June 2016
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Grim Future for Graduates Lack of Higher Education Funding Results in Grim Future for Graduates By Neil Cosgrove
For 37 years as a college professor—10 at a private two-year college and 27 at a public university primarily focused on teaching—I watched countless students throw their shoulders back and grin broadly while they marched across stages to receive diplomas, amidst the joyous yelps of family and friends in the audience. In both the institutions where I worked, students were commonly part of the first generation in their families to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees of any kind. A combination of affordable tuitions and adequate federal and state-funded direct-to-student assistance payments allowed many of those graduates to walk across the stage with a reasonable expectation they could begin their careers as part of America’s middle class. But times have changed, both regarding the kind of income graduates could expect and the way of life they could afford. “Over the last 15 years the average wage for someone holding [a bachelor’s degree] has declined by 10 percent,” Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, recently wrote, “and the net worth of those under 35 has gone down by nearly 70 percent since the early 1980s.” That latter figure can be at least partially attributed to rapidly rising tuition, less than adequate assistance payments, and a consequent significant rise in student debt, both before and upon graduation. And the rising tuition and subsequent debt can be attributed to the chronic underfunding of public higher education. The Pennsylvania legislature increased allocations for state-owned and state-related universities for the first time in eight years this past March, but the increase is so modest that it doesn’t come close to offsetting the cuts in funding since 2011. In response, university administrators are coming up with new ways to get the operational
funds they need, through further gouging the students. Universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), for instance, have been freed by their Board of Governors to charge students by the credit hour rather than a flat fulltime tuition, and to charge students more per credit for courses in certain programs, which might occur because they are in high demand or because administrators regard them as no longer aligned with the needs of employers and wish to discourage enrollment. The chancellor of PASSHE, Frank Brogan, recently called for a “strategic positioning effort,” which could include having certain programs only available at selected universities and thus requiring already strapped students to spend still more money, by forcing them to travel great distances from home in order to prepare for the career they aspire to. Inadequate funding of public higher education directly penalizes lower income students, the kinds of students public universities are meant to serve. However, university administrators are tempted at times to blame the students for their choices when addressing budget shortfalls. When Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) President Michael Driscoll announced in March that his institution would be charging every student per credit hour, rather than a flat tuition rate, he argued that this new policy would keep students from trying out and then dropping courses, which he called “wasteful.” Moreover, a flat tuition charge was “unfair” to parttime students, who were already charged by the credit hour. Rhetorical misdirection is a tempting strategy when the reality is, as the Pittsburgh PostGazette observed, that Driscoll’s decision “has the potential to boost by double digits, or beyond $1,100 a year, the tuition ‘sticker price’ for a siza-
ble number of IUP students.” Many students, as both parents and college administrators can attest, also have the annoying habit of selecting majors based on what excites them intellectually, or inspires their humanist impulses, rather than on what seems momentarily appropriate to the labor market, what Michael Roth calls “the just-in-time pursuit of merit badges for acquiring skills.” For years higher education has sought to accommodate incoherent corporate requests that schools wholly train people for the jobs they have on offer. I say “incoherent” because at the same time businesses express a need for students who can “translate” and not just “carry over” what they’ve learned in school to their specific operations. A recent report by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, on the future workforce needs of the Pittsburgh region, speaks of the “hybridization” of employment, in which workers must blend a variety of skills to be successful, rather than just qualify in a particular “skill set.” As underfunding for education worsens (see article below), our politicians are going to have to decide what is best for both our commonweal and our individual students. Will it be heavily indebted graduates trudging grimly across those graduation stages into a future of civic despair and economic obsolescence, underpaid and unable to afford a mortgage or a late-model car? Or will it be confident graduates who know how to think, communicate, adapt, and continue to learn, who can be proud of their achievements and fully anticipating more? Neil Cosgrove is co-chair of The NewPeople Editorial Collective and the Merton Center Board.
Illinois, Kentucky Stiff Their College Students While Pennsylvania legislators at least appear to acknowledge that government support for public higher education needs to increase, governors in two other states—Illinois and Kentucky—are approaching their states’ existing levels of higher education funding as either leverage for unrelated policy initiatives or as a piggy bank to be broken open to pay other bills. For nearly 10 months, Illinois’ Republican Governor Bruce Rauner fought with his legislature over a 2015-16 state budget, determined to force Democratic leaders to accept his demands that public employees’ bargaining rights and worker compensation rules be altered. (Some reports indicate that Rauner holds a particular grudge against the Chicago Teachers Union.) As a consequence of this stand-off, Illinois’ public universities and community colleges received no state funding from July 1, 2015 until the end of April, 2016, and students received no direct payments from the state for tuition assistance. The governor and the legislature finally settled on a compromise on April 25, releasing $356 million in funds for universities, $74 million for community colleges, and $170 million for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) that distributes scholarship money for low-income students. These figures sound like big money, but they fall well short of what college administrators thought last summer they would get. Chicago State University, a traditionally Black school with an enrollment of mostly minority and low-income students, received less than 60% of what was expected for the 2015-16 academic year. As a consequence, Chicago State had to shorten its Spring term by a week, eliminating Spring break, close numerous buildings during this summer, and lay off more than 300 non-instructional employees, thus saving about 40% in payroll costs. “I do expect there is a likelihood that not all faculty will be recalled,” the university’s president added. Western Illinois University has cut 30 faculty positions, and 147 positions overall, while making about 500 employees take furlough days and pay 12 - NEWPEOPLE
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By Neil Cosgrove
cuts during the Spring term. Northern Illinois has left 116 positions vacant, and Northeastern Illinois in Chicago eliminated 65 non -instructional positions. The state appropriation for higher education had already been cut $100 million in the last approved budget for 2014-15, and the first budget Rauner submitted for 2015-16, which never went into effect, would have cut the apPittsburgh college students march against the corporatized university at a rally earlier propriation anoth- this year. Photo By Neil Cosgrove er 20%. “Over the past five years [2010-14],” Eve Rips, of Young In- posed cut for 2016-17 and 2017-18 from 9% to vincible.org, wrote when Rauner was only in office 4.5%. about a month, “Illinois has quietly slashed higher What may be even more remarkable is the lack education funding spent directly on students by over of coverage in the Pittsburgh media of developments half a billion dollars.” in Illinois and Kentucky, given Pennsylvania’s own Meanwhile a legal battle has erupted in Kennearly nine-month budget stalemate and the disatucky between a Republican governor and a Demo- greements among Republicans and Democrats about cratic Attorney General over Governor Matt Bevin’s how to deal with pension shortfalls. We all need to attempt to divert $41 million of higher education grasp the importance of funding public higher edufunding (4.5%) already allocated in the state’s 2015- cation, and to place Pennsylvania’s budget struggles 16 budget from colleges and universities to pay in the context of political squabbles across the coundown public pension debt. Attorney General Andy try. Beshear immediately sued the governor, arguing that the executive did not have the authority to make Neil Cosgrove is co-chair of The NewPeople Edisuch cuts. torial Collective and of the Merton Center board. Following the not unexpected uproar, Bevin reached a compromise with university presidents to only cut 2% of the allocation and reduce his pro-
Challenging the Status Quo Culture Watch: Listen, Liberal! A review of Thomas Frank's Latest Book By Jo Tavener
In W hat’s The Matter with Kansas, Thomas Frank argued that ordinary farmers and blue collar workers voted against their interests, drawn to the Republican Party authoritarian populist rhetoric from Reagan to Bush. Two central themes of the American Imaginary deployed by the Republicans were that of the self-made man and the ongoing external threat to the nation and its values. The image of the self-made man arose in the 19th Century with the rise of capitalist industrialization. The entrepreneurial spirit of creating a business with nothing but imagination and grit infused the image of the self-made man, pulling himself up by his bootstraps with the belief that a God-fearing character is all that’s needed to make good on the American Dream. Men went west, the foundation of our everunfolding symbolic frontier, to find their fortune and search for gold. Still, the American Dream eluded most of them. How explain it? Ready-made is the second major thematic, that of foreign forces on our shores infiltrating, infecting and destroying the national will, character and values. The much noted American political paranoia arises from this attempt to explain why good folks remain poor, the good life forever beyond them. In Listen Liberal, another venture into current American cultural political myth-making, Frank uses the same thesis and analytic tools to dissect what is going on in the Democratic Party. As with the Republicans, the Democratic leadership deploys a populist rhetoric popular with the base while enacting policy that betrays its interests. With the Republicans the betrayal of its base came with the shift from Lincoln’s Republican Party to that of Gilded Age monopolists and the rise of corporate capitalism. With the Democrats the betrayal came later, in the past 35 years or so, as the Party leaders abandoned the FDR platform with its support and
protection of labor and the power of unions. In its place has risen, according to Frank, a new professional and managerial class (PMC) that deploys the populist rhetoric while following enthusiasms and policy initiatives that betray the base in favor of the top 10%, the professional elites in media, entertainment, academia and science. Frank identifies the major attributes of the New Professionals as forward thinking; believing in science, technology and creativity to innovate a better future, and betting on the “best and brightest” to solve the nation’s problems. While against bigotry in all its forms -- racism, sexism, ageism, immigrant and religious phobias -- it does not denounce and combat inequality. In fact, its entire reason for being is based on the necessity of professional elites in all walks of life to create the common good. Inequality in status, wealth and material goods is just the cost of progress. Who better to epitomize this new class than its most effective leader, former President Clinton. This is the story that Frank exposes: the rise of the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) that embodied the thinking of the New Professionals, the draw of Clintonian rhetorical populism and its subsequent betrayal, moving the Party to just right of center, the natural spawning ground for the PMC. Following in his footsteps, according to Frank, are both President Obama and candidate Hillary Clinton. He charts the continuation and growth of the PMC, making inroads into Wall Street and now in Silicon Valley. There are, of course, tensions between both the empire-building of the Nation State and the priorities of Wall Street ( see the 2008 economic collapse) and of Silicon Valley (see the conflict between privacy and national security). Still, measures can be found to work around such conflicting priorities. What counts is the continuing
progress of negotiated trade treaties, enabling the creative and innovative juices of corporate America to span the globe with its financial, technological, medical products. Following Frank’s logic, though Hillary Clinton has been forced to move to the left in her campaign rhetoric due to Bernie Sanders, what will probably remain if she becomes president is the emphasis on civil and human rights, dropping the measures Sanders would have taken to undercut the growth of inequality that continues. By so doing, Clinton’s legacy will include that of dividing the Democratic base, leaving youth to fend for itself, especially those who, for whatever reason, are unable to reach the new American Dream, that of joining a New Professional Class! I found Listen Liberal as disconcerting and revealing as W hat’s the Matter With Kansas. Both analyses are central to understanding current American politics. My only gripe is that Frank did not go far enough in exploring the rhetoric of renewal deployed by both political parties; that of the American Jeremiad, our Myth-infused rhetoric of crisis and redemption, espousing renewal by recovering our central values together and returning to the path of righteousness for the common good. The Obama Jeremiad: an obsession with consensus, shaped by post-industrial post-partisan fervor for entrepreneurial innovation of the “smart,” “creative” professional classes forging a new American Dream; abandoning the 19th Century self-made man to the backwater of global, corporate creation, with America still the exceptional nation, for the coming century. Jo Tavener is a member of The NewPeople Editorial Collective who writes on American culture.
In Memory of Michael Ratner By Joyce Rothermel
We stand in great respect for the life of Michael Ratner, a groundbreaking US human rights lawyer whose career helped and inspired so many. He died on May 14, 2016 from complications of cancer at age 72. He was one of America’s foremost human rights lawyers with many accomplishments to his credit. For over four decades, he defended, investigated and represented victims of human rights abuses across the globe. In the beginning of his legal career, he was absorbed by US civil rights issues, the US blockade of Cuba, and US covert wars in Central America. He served as special counsel to Haiti’s democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Mr. Ratner served as president of the Center for Constitutional Rights where he worked for 40 years. There under his leadership, the CCR brought the first case challenging the detention of the US government’s imprisonment of hundreds of Muslim men without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay. At the beginning it was a seemingly hopeless case which virtually all legal observers including Ratner thought could not be won in the courts. He and the CCR filed the case, in Ratner’s words “purely on principle,” because what the US was doing was wrong, unconstitutional and had to be challenged. But eventually Ratner and CCR prevailed in the Supreme Court and then Ratner led the effort to enlist hundreds of lawyers to represent the detainees.He
was a relentless voice for closing the detention camp there. Mr. Ratner’s career demonstrated that he was not afraid to lose in the courts, because he saw the political and public educational value of steadfastly fighting for justice, even where the courts were unsympathetic. Even when Mr. Ratner and the CCR lost in court, it publicly exposed the dark secrets of the perversion of justice by the CIA, the White House, the judiciary, the military and many private contractors. Mr. Ratner also helped found and served as chairman of the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights based in Berlin. Using the principle of universal jurisdiction in cases in France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland, they challenged US officials responsible for wars, torture, extraordinary rendition and extrajudicial killings by drones. They also sued the private military contractors whose employees were involved in abuse in Iraq. In recent years, Mr. Ratner was particularly moved by the violations of Palestinian human rights. He focused on the struggles on US campuses, where campaigns for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel led to legal action against activists. He became a driving force behind CCR becoming a founding partner in Palestine Legal, an organization that defends these activists.
In the past few years, Mr. Ratner is possibly best known for representing WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. He also offered great support to whistleblowers Chelsea Manning, Thomas Drake and Edward Snowden. Mr. Ratner got great satisfaction last year from the reopening of a US embassy in Cuba, declaring that he didn’t think he would ever see this in his lifetime. The world has received a great legacy from Mr. Ratner in the many human rights attorneys who continue to give voice to and stand with victims of abuse. One examples is the current president of CCR, our own Pittsburgh-based Jules Lobel. He learned much from Mr. Ratner and became involved with CCR because of him. Joyce Rothermel serves on the Membership Committee of the Thomas Merton Center.
June 2016
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Environmental Justice Merton Center Broadens Our Commitment to an EcoJustice Mission Cont’d By Wanda Guthrie
which result when the human community fails to live in a mutually respectful relationship with the land. We believe that global pollution, climate change, and global social injustice result from an historical human-centered approach to the created world. In such a human-centered approach, significant destruction of the land is accepted for meeting human wants.
et is not made of lifeless “resources,” nor should it be considered primarily as a source of energy for human needs. It is not capable of producing unlimited “energy” or absorbing an infinite amount of poison. It is the poor of the world that are bearing the brunt of environmental degradation in the forms of hunger, illness and displacement from their homes. Earth has entered a period of grave Our agreements: crisis. Many scientists agree that we are We understand the efforts of environ- living in the sixth great mass extinction. mental groups whose goals are regulation; This requires of humankind a new way of however, the support of the eco-justice living based on an understanding of the committee will be reserved for those proplanet as a whole. As Thomas Berry said, jects whose principles and goals reflect the we will go into the future as one communimoral imperative to defend the rights of ty–all life included–or we will not go at all. nature. We continue to recognize that the Wanda M Guthrie is the convener of the dominant economic model which has held EcoJustice Working Group, an activity of sway upon the Earth for the past five hun- the Thomas Merton Center. dred years is unsustainable. Our finite plan-
Pennsylvanians Against Fracking organized a rally for the citizens of Salem Township to express their anguish about the pipeline rupture and fire so huge that it caused a 30 ft crater and sent 26 year old James Baker to intensive care to recover from 3rd and 4th degree burns over 75% of his body. Seated in the foreground are his family.
Picture Previously Published in Orion Magazine
May 7: Pittsburgh 350 and Pittsburgh Action United joined Philadelphia activists in a Right to Breathe Action. Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery causes over twothirds of toxic releases in the whole city. Photos by Rainer Maria Rilke
“Occupied,” a Norwegian T.V. Series By James Hohman
The ten-part Norwegian television series, “Occupied”––which is now streaming on Netflix–– is compulsive binge-viewing. Set in the not-toodistant future, it is a work of speculative fiction that deals with important environmental, ecological and sociological issues. It is so vividly realistic that if you didn't know better at the outset, it could be confused with something going on in the present. Since the main players, so to speak, are not only Norway, Russia, Chechnya, and in fact the whole of the European Union and its contemporaneous counterparts, the feel of the opening episode is almost that of a documentary, and the viewer is thrust headlong into a political crisis in Scandinavia. Indeed, in the first episode we learn that the Prime Minister of Norway ––a Green Party member–– has unilaterally declared his country to a commitment to cease all production of fossil fuel energy development in favor of the renewable sources of solar and wind power as unilaterally plus a new technology called Thorium. This of course does not sit well with neighboring Russia who depends on energy resources provided by North Sea oil-drilling, and indeed the E.U. itself, who attempts to bring pressure to bear on the Norwegian regime, and this catalyst sets in motion a series of events that comprise the basic plot. Before we even get to know the various charac14 - NEWPEOPLE
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ters in this complex scenario, the Prime Minister is kidnapped by unknown masked individuals and whisked away in a helicopter with a member of his security detail pursuing the abductors. This in turn propels a series of twists and turns that are dizzying in effect. In addition to the security guard, whose wife is a judge, there then appears an investigative journalist whose wife is a restaurateur. And we soon learn that there are ramifications of some divided loyalties within the families of these various characters. This is what distinguishes it from the standard thriller despite the thriller aspects of the opening chapter. Initially, the identities of the kidnappers are not known. Are they Russians? Chechnyans? or what might be called nativist Norwegians who fall under the rubric of “Free Norway,” an almost secessionist group? At first, it seems that this might be a moot consideration because before long the Prime Minister is found unharmed. But the security guard, who is put through a series of cat and mouse maneuvers, suspects that it was all done to send a message. As the series proceeds in 45-minute segments the complexities of interplay are fully rendered, with excellent performances by a fine cast. We also learn that the E.U. is somewhat at a loss to do anything precipitous because they are unsure of what the Russian government is up to and, since the United States
has withdrawn from NATO, the European Union does not want to rattle the cage too much in the Baltic for fear that Russia actually will invade Norway, even if it is a “silk glove” invasion, which happens anyway, to bring more pressure to bear on the Green Party to abandon its abrupt decision on fossil fuel production. This series was suggested by an idea of Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbǿ, one of the creators of the filmed "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” trilogy. On a featured afternoon NPR show “Occupied” creators tried to reassure some viewers that Norway was not under invasion by Russia and that it was only a work of fiction that was meant to be thoughtprovoking. And as of yet, the Russian authorities have said that they would not overreact to the characterization of their being invaders.The end of the first season leaves just enough hints that a second season might be possible, but the producers say they will wait to see how well the other western markets, especially the U.S., will respond to season one. Jim Hohman is a board member of the Battle of Homestead Foundation and a retired graphic designer at the University of Pittsburgh.
Do You Remember MOVE?
By Jeff Cummings
I am writing this at 11:45 pm on May 13th, 2016, the 31st anniversary of the bombing of the MOVE Community by the Philadelphia Police Department. I can still remember seeing the smoke rising up over West Philadelphia that ominous day as Osage Avenue burned leaving 11 dead, 250 homeless. I remember all of us seminarians wide-eyed and anxious sitting glued for days to the television throughout the siege, compelled to try to understand what was going on only a few blocks away, mystified as to how this could be happening, knowing it was something important, having no clue what it meant. The news media to which we turned so desperately that week seemed at times to be no help at all. Then suddenly it was all over. Everything fell back into place. Life went on and, without being fully conscious of it, we all were relieved to forget about MOVE. Thirty years later, in February, 2015, I hear a name that brings MOVE back to mind, Pam Africa. I'm at the Summit Against Racism at the table for Justice For The Dallas 6, a group of six prisoners in Luzerne County, being punished for peaceful protest. A flyer announces that Pam Africa is coming to
Pittsburgh to raise money for the Dallas 6 and for Mumia Abu Jamal. The family name Africa is famous as that taken on by the followers of John Africa, the founder of the MOVE community. Instantly, I know that I must go to hear her speak. I must hear her story. I feel compelled to find out for myself what kind of person she is. I am so glad to have met Pam Africa in person. If you have never heard her speak, let me tell you, it is a unique experience. She did not speak about MOVE that day but about Mumia. Hearing her stirred me up, though, to investigate the facts about MOVE even more. It's been a year and I have learned a lot about this momentous event in our state's history. Don't ask me to give you a simple explanation of the facts complete with a list of saints and sinners. I don't have one. The story is complicated to say the least, messy, controversial, deeply disturbing. If you are a person who cares about restorative justice, racism, police brutality and alternative urban communities, however, you will not want to avoid this history. This year I had entirely forgotten that today was the day. I was at work, speaking on the phone to a gentleman from Philadelphia. As fundraisers, we
Programs at the Pump House
of the Academic Workers Association, discussing strategies and techniques, successes and challenges facing workers today. Other unions with strong organizing efforts are invited to join the discussion.
The Battle of Homestead Foundation (BHF) offers a summer lecture and film series, free and open to the public, at the Pump House, 880 East Waterfront Dr., Munhall, 15120. The BHF is a diverse organization of workers, educators, historians, union members and regular citizens which aims to preserve, interpret and promote a peoples history focused on the significance of the dramatic labor conflict at the Homestead Works in 1892. Saturday, June 11 – 1:30 pm - Panel - Building Strong and Vibrant Unions - The subject of this discussion will be organizing, engaging workers to maximize power, growing union membership and defending existing contracts. The panel features organizing directors from two Pittsburgh-based International unions--Carl Redwood, Gene Elk from United Electrical Workers, and a member
like to build rapport with the donors by saying something nice about their address whenever we can. Instinctively, I said, "Oh. You live on Osage Avenue, I see." He replied, "Yeah. Today is the anniversary. We don't like to talk about it." Of course. My fundraising call goes on without another word about the very troubling "MOVE incident." His response, so understandable, reminds me of my in-laws who lived through the Nazi occupation of Holland. "We don't like to talk about it." One must respect those boundaries. I do not mean to equate the two events, of course. That would be far too simplistic. I only intend to illustrate the need eye witnesses to historic events often feel to avoid speaking of them, to avoid recalling them. I'm lying in bed now. I look at Mumia's Facebook posting for the day. "Remember May 13, 1985. Free the MOVE 9!" I am so glad that I know what he is talking about, that I do remember that day, that I have the chance today to tell that story to others. Jeff Cummings is a beginner social justice journalist. He works as a professional fundraiser at Donor Services Group.
Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, will report on efforts to help workers win decent conditions and fundamental rights in Bangladesh’s garment factories and shipbreaking yards. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest exporter of garments after China. The ship breakThursday, June 16 - 7:30 pm Film - From the Ground ing yards hire young men and boys in extremely dangerUp: Building Pittsburgh (45 mins.) Amer ica’s oldest ous jobs to cut apart a large proportion of the world’s and most stable trade unions have sprung from the craft cargo ships. labor and skilled trade jobs essential to constructing our Thursday, July 28- 7:30 pm - Film (82 mins.) Ameribuildings, bridges, factories, and infrastructure such as transportation and utilities. In 1991, Charlie McCollester can Revolutionary - The Evolution of Grace Lee and Steffi Domike produced this fascinating documentary Boggs - Gr ace Lee Boggs was a Chinese-American phiabout Pittsburgh’s own building trades unions and mem- losopher, writer and activist in Detroit, whose vision of bers. Rediscover how these unionists are an essential part revolution will surprise you. Rooted for over 70 years in the African-American community and movement, Boggs of our city’s history and built environment. Rick discusses her lifetime of vital thinking and action traversOkraszewski will tell us about the Carpenters Union aping the major US social movements of the last century. prenticeship program and other representatives of the She challenges a new generation to throw off old assumptrades will comment. tions, think creatively and redefine revolution for your Saturday, July 16 – 1:30 pm - Barbara Briggs will time. Boggs died on Oct. 6, 2015 at the age of 100. deliver the Steelworkers annual 2016 Bernard Kleiman lecture: Struggle for Workers’ Rights in the Global Economy. Briggs, Associate Director of the Pittsburgh-based
BREAKING NEWS FROM THE GIORNALE VATICANO Now it Can Be Told - The Story Behind the Story (Episode 5)
By Robert Jedrzejewski
As far back as the Roman Republic, Trastevere, had a large foreign colony. Jews who came to Rome also settled here in the 2nd century BC. This historic section of Rome was also the birthplace of Fr. Franco Bergoglio (aka The Bat- Priest). Now he served there as the young pastor of Santa Maria parish. Through a complex genealogical web, Fr. Franco was actually the son of unwed parents, a mother who died giving him birth and a father named Paolo Sivori a devout Catholic. To protect the child from the "curse" of "illegitimus" assignation on his Baptismal certificate, the father changed his and the boy's last name to Bergoglio and registered him as a foundling. WHY BERGOGLIO? It turns out one of Paulo's great aunts, Regina Maria Sivori, was married to a Mario Jose Bergoglio, two generations and 6,000 miles removed in Argentina. SAFE, RIGHT? How was he to know Regina's and Mario's son Jorge, would not only become a Jesuit priest, but the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church!! The stars often align in unusual constellations. thus the star-crossed convergence of the two Bergoglios. And a third figure, with the "stellar" knowledge and the power to do evil to them both, came into view. He was the most entrenchedly influential cleric in all of the Roman Curia's Dicasteries (Departments), none other than Cardinal Ludovico Scrofulenza (called by many, but not to his face, "Big Louie"). As President of the Prefettura di Tutti Agenzie Immobiliari (The Head of all Vatican Real Estate), he had control not only of a lot of skeletons in the Vatican's closets, but the closets as well.
The Vatican's holdings ranged from commercial and residential properties to institutional buildings, "colonies" in London, Paris and Switzerland which turned out to have a market value of 3.7 BILLION euros, a figure the brilliant Reuben (aka Ricardo Goldenson) was able to document. He, together with The Bat-Priest and The Moth (aka the journalist Umberto Falena) with his secret Vatican inside contacts, were astounded at the mountainous amounts of euros being exchanged and the gigantic range of skullduggery "Big Louie" was involved in. Favorable rental of palatial properties to collaborators or friends, kickbacks on maintenance and renovation contracts, sloppy or non-existent assessments and tax records - the list of fraudulent maneuverings was boundless. The tables had to be turned. Relying on Cardinal Scrofulenza's gigantic ego as well as his lust for power, The Bat-Priest hatched a bold, but complicated plan. Thus came on the scene, Sir Reginald Faversham, Chief Documentarian and Prothonotary of Genealogy at the Greater London School of Heraldry. Posing as an intimate friend of "Big Louie's" real estate contact in London, Faversham, in reality Reuben (aka Ricardo Goldenson), agreed to do a genealogical study of the Scrofulenza family name - the result: the Scrofulenza ancestry was traced back to the Medici royal court and indicated power and prestige of princely proportions. All hogwash, of course, but sufficient for the puffed-up Cardinal to agree to pay a thousand euros for it. Faversham also agreed to do a search of the Bergoglio ancestry at Scrofulenza's request. And
would'ncha know it - he turned up a secret SCANDALOUS genealogical study of Jorge Bergoglio and his secret past. Arriving at the palatial Janiculum Hill apartamento of Scrofulenza, "Faversham" laid out the SPURIOUS documentary history of the Bergoglio clan. Ludovico Scrofulenza rubbed his hands in glee when he learned that Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the illegitimate son of a poor Jewish maid-servant, and was actually born in Trastevere. Shortly after his birth in 1936, the "family" re-located to Argentina with other Mussolini fascist sympathizers to establish a right-wing colony in Buenos Aires with likeminded Hitlerite adherents The documents were of unquestioned authenticity, Faversham convinced Scrofulenza into believing, and sufficient to bring down the Papacy of Pope Francis. Envisioning a new conclave of all the Cardinals of the Church, he, Ludovico Scrofulenza would be elected to the office of the next Bishop of Rome and the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Not only happy, "Big Louie" of the enormous ego, was eager to cough up the TEN THOUSAND euros, "Faversham" required for his laborious research. And they say you can't con a con-man!! (Next: After Reuben (aka Ricardo Goldenson) played his role to perfection - it was up to The BatPriest and The Moth to complete the deception and demonstrate that BOTH Bergoglios were LEGITIMATE.) June 2016
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Potluck Lunch with Eli McCarthy with discussion of the April conference in Rome on Nonviolence and Just Peace from 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM at the Thomas Merton Center. Mr. McCarthy, an adjunct professor of justice and peace studies at Georgetown University, was one of the organizers and participants in the conference. They produced a document calling on the Catholic Church to end the use and teaching of the "Just War Theory" and continuing to advocate for the abolition of war and nuclear weapons. All are welcome. Please bring a food or beverage item to share.
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Sundays: Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First three Sundays of the month at TMC, 46pm Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com
Mondays:
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SW PA Bread for World traveling to Washington, D.C. for Lobby Day
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“The Nuclear Blast”Poetry,mu sic, spoken word—7-9 pm– Biddles Escape, 401 Biddle Ave
11 Anti-War Potluck April conference in Rome on Nonviolence and Just Peace 11:301:30– Thomas Merton Center 5129 Penn Ave “Building Strong
Unions” 11-1:30– Pump House- 880 East Waterfront Dr., Munhall, 15120
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Humanity Day Awards- 6:00 PM—Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, 4100 Bigelow Blvd
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Final public hearing for transgender/nondiscrimination policy in Pittsburgh public schools 6:00PM—Board of Education Building, Oakland
NewPerson Award Honoring Tim Stevens– 6:00– East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116 S Highland Ave
June 2016 Regular Meetings
Remembering Hiroshima Exhibit– Biddle’s Escape 401 Biddle Ave– Will be up until the end of June
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“Faith From Community– Dancing With Diversity”- 2:003:30 PM– Tent at Schenley Plaza
Thursday
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Potluck on Crisis in Brazil– 6:30 PM– Thomas Merton Center 5129 Penn Ave
Film “From the Ground Up: Building Pittsburgh”- 7:30 PM– Pump House, 880 East Waterfront Dr. Munhall PA 15120
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SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 6:30 —8 pm Squirrel Hill Library Contact: bmason@gmail.com Association of Pittsburgh Priests 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm, Prince of Peace Rectory 162 South 15th, Southside, Pgh. PA 15203 Amnesty International #39 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm First Unitarian Church, Morewood Ave. 15219
Wednesdays: Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p.m. Write letters for prisoners’ rights at the Thomas Merton Center Darfur Coalition Meeting 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Meeting Room C Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill 412-784-0256 Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) 1st Wednesdays, 7-8pm, First Unitarian Church, Ellsworth & Morewood Avenues, Shadyside Pittsburghers for Public Transit 2nd Wednesday, 7pm, 1 Smithfield St., lower level
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
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Fight for Lifers West joins Let’s Get Free in Harrisburg, PA
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
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Project to End Human Trafficking 2nd Sat., Carlow University, Antonian Room #502 Fight for Lifers West 1st & 3rd Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 pm, Thomas Merton Center Anti-War and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition 4th Saturday at 11:00 am at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224
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