Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center
PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 46 No. 10 November 2016
Frida Berrigan: Continuing an Amazing Legacy By Michael Drohan
Frida grew up in Jonah House, Baltimore, which her parents, Phil Berrigan and Liz McAllister, ran and operated as a house of hospitality to home the homeless and work for peace and nonviolence. In 2014 Merton Awardee Jeremy Scahill told us during his visit that he dropped out of university in Wisconsin and found a home at Jonah House, where he #BringMartinHome. A Group of activists from the Thomas Merton Center projected this image onto the Federal Court House on Saturday, October “received his University education at the feet of Phil Ber15th. Read more on Page 14. Photo by Jenna Baron.
Don’t Sit Out The Election
rigan”. Frida, likewise, is not only the scion of this extraordinary witness against nuclear weapons, war and violence but the living continuation of this extraordinary house of peace. In her eulogy to her father who died in 2004, she observed that: “He is still very present to us... and the work we do (all of us), today and tomorrow and for the rest of our lives, will keep our Dad close to us...He is here with us every time a hammer
strikes on killing metal, transforming it from a tool of death to a productive, lifegiving, life-affirming implement. He is here with us every time a member of the church communicates the central message of the gospel (thou shalt not kill) and acts to oppose killing, rather than providing the church seal of approval on war.” In her blog and biography, Frida describes their frequent visits to the Pentagon Continued on page 3
In This Issue.. Organizing Pitt Faculty…
Page 6
By Jim McCarville
For voters thinking about sitting out this election, Tony Norman, columnist for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, had a clear direction on how to keep your conscience clear – don’t do it! “For white America, the failure to vote ‘the lesser of two evils’ is an unearned right.” That was the crux of Norman’s message delivered to 116 attendees at the Association of Pittsburgh Priests first Fall 2016 Speaker Series. The title of his talk was “Faith, Fear and Politics: How to Keep a Clear Conscience on Election Day.” To understand, let me walk you back, as Tony walked us back, about what it is that Black America won in the right to vote, and why no one, of any race, should ignore that victory. “Technically,” Tony said, “it was never illegal for blacks to vote, but ‘gatekeepers’ (in places where Whites might feel threatened by Black votes) managed to
Funding Affordable Housing… Page 8 impose poll taxes ranging from the merely annoying to the major life threatening. It was pretty Page 10 easy for the gatekeepers, except West Bank Destruction…. for the brief period of the postcivil war Reconstruction, to igFractivist Among the Frackers…. Page 14 nore the Constitution and even the 14th and 15th amendments. Reconstruction, however, eventually led to the KKK backlash and the codified ‘Jim Crow laws’. Still, Blacks continued to show up to register to vote, and to pay the price extracted, sometimes the ultimate price. “Why would the right to vote mean so much,” asked To- Frida Berrigan is a columnist for W aging Nonviolence and the author of It Runs in the ny, “when the lesser of two evils Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing into Rebellious Motherhood. was a choice almost between a Bull Connor and a George WalMonday, November 14 lace? And what does their persistence mean to us today?” Sheraton Station Square He went on to answer his 6:00 PM own questions. “They underTickets $65 stood that, however small the https://2016mertonaward.eventbrite.com individual impact of voting was, Scholarships, Sponsorships and Ads available in the long run, would be the 421 361 3022 Continued on page 9...
2016 Merton Award Honoring Frida Berrigan
Fight for Lifers West Essay Contest Winner murder. I cannot pretend that I am not affected by the devastation visited upon families and communities. However, a slow painful death by a lifetime of incarceration is not the solution. When someone commits a homicide by vehicle, in self-defense, or by any other means and receives a sentence of anyI will not ever trivialize or minimize the fact of thing less than life, are the effects on the victim’s family any less devastating? Is the loss not as deeply the loss of life, especially if the tragedy was due to Earlier this year, we put out a lifer essay contest. We did this so the general public could be enlightened on the issue of a life sentence, how it effects those incarcerated, their families, and their communities at large. This is the winner of the contest. Sheena King was sentenced to life in prison at 18.
By Sheena King
felt? My own actions have caused irreparable harm to many and that fact can never be denied. Shawn’s children grew up without a mother, as mine have. I absolutely deserved to be punished. With crime comes punishment, but a life sentence is beyond its usefulness, as it was established for the most heinous of crimes committed by depraved individuals. Continued on page 5... 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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Christina Castillo, Neil Cosgrove, Ginny Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Marni Fritz, Nijah Glenn, Tallon Kennedy, Jim McCarville, Bette McDevitt, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush, Jo Tavener Executive Director: Antonio Lodico Finance Director / Project Liaison: Roslyn Maholland Director of Communications: Marni Fritz Support Staff: Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly, Meagan McGill Activist & Office Volunteers: Raphael Cardamone, Christina Castillo, Monique Dietz, Nancy Gippert, Nijah Glenn, Lois Goldstein, Jordan Malloy, Meagan McGill, Joyce Rothermel, Judy Starr New People Coordinator: Marni Fritz East End Community Thrift Store Managers: Shirley Gleditsch, Shawna Hammond, & Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly TMC Organizer/ Internship Coordinator: Gabriel McMorland
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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, Jordan Malloy, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush (co-founder), Tyrone Scales, M. Shernell Smith.
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Shalefield Stories (Friends of the Harmed) 412-422-0272 brigetshields@gmail.com
Stop Sexual Assault in the Military 412-361-3022 hildebrew@aol.com
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group 724-837-0540 lfpochet@verizon.net
Western PA Student Organizing Network (WPSON) andrew.woomer@gmail.com
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Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org - www.amnestypgh.org Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750
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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
Page 7 SW PA School of the Americas Watch Joins Border Vigil Against US State Violence Page 8 Make Real Estate Developers Fund Affordable Housing With Trump, Goats “Wing;” People “Lose” Vote Allegheny Election Calendar Page 9 The Day After: A Rallying Cry for the PostElection Progressive Movement The Deplorable Values Trump Represents Don’t Sit Out the Election Page 10 Eyewitness to West Bank Destruction The Syrian Holocaust Page 11 Nuclear Weapons Trump Real Security Please Help Restore the Mural at Mai Lai Page 12 Murder Mystery: A Book Review
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
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Marcellus Shale Protest Group melpacker@aol.com 412-243-4545 marcellusprotest.org Pittsburgh 350 350pittsburgh@gmail.com World.350.org/Pittsburgh
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Page 1 Frida Berrigan: Continuing an Amazing Legacy Don’t Sit Out the Election Fight for Lifers West Essay Contest Winne Page 3 What Are the Projects of TMC and Why do We Have Them? Frida Berrigan: Continuing an Amazing Legacy Let’s Get Ready to Raffle! Thrifty’s Wish List Page 4 The Trouble With Alternative Education in PA New PA Budget for Food Security Page 5 Fight for Lifers West Essay Contest Winner Cont. TMC Board Elections and Updates Mark Dixon Photo In African American History Museum Page 6 Faculty Organizing at the University of Pgh: Why A Union and Why Now?
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Table of Contents
Anti-War Committee awc@thomasmertoncenter.org
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The East End Community Thrift (Thrifty) is an all volunteer-run thrift shop which provides quality, low-cost, used clothing and household goods to the surrounding community. Thrifty needs volunteers and shoppers! Please contact us at (412) 361-6010 and ask for Shirley or Shawna, or stop in at 5123 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Email shawnapgh@aol.com.
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Anti-War/Anti-Imperialism
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org
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Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com SWPA Bread for the World Joyce Rothermel 412-780-5118 rothermeljoyce@gmail.com United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org Veterans for Peace kevinbharless@yahoo.com 252-646-4810 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net
TMC is a Member of Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network 412-621-9230 office@piin.org Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Martha Conley 412-361-7872, osterdm@earthlink.net TMC supports these organizations’ missions.
Interview With Linda Nordquist Page 13 “One Man” Arrested at Duquesne Club Cooperative Principles: Democratic Member Control Page 14 Fractivist Among the Frackers Doctrine of Discovery Continues to Bring Injus tice to Native Americans Stop Deportation of Martin Esquivel-Hernandez Page 15 The Impact of Pope Francis According to Robert Mickens Let the Quarks Fall Where They May “The Children Are OK, Everyone is OK… But We Have Lost Everything
Merton Center News What Are the Projects of TMC and Why Do We Have Them? By Jim McCarville
One of the most important roles of The Thomas Merton Center (TMC) is to foster the formation of social change projects. Currently TMC sponsors 21 of these projects. What are they, who are the people behind them and how do they add value to the TMC? I wanted to learn more. Last month, TMC’s Project Committee, chaired by anu jain, provided an eye-opening opportunity to learn. Over half of the projects showed up. They ranged all the way from arts to anti-war, from antifracking to anti-discrimination, and from environmental justice, prisoner rights and immigration reform to divestment and Darfur. TMC Executive Director Tony Lodico, Staff project liaison Ros Maholland and anu coordinated the meeting. It taught me a lot, both about the Projects and about the Center. As anu put it, “For decades the Merton Center has been doing important peace and social justice work. One of the mechanisms by which it advocates for a fairer and more equal world is supporting Projects. “The people behind these Projects are passionate, dedicated, and just amazing,” said Mark Dixon, a TMC Board Member also attending the session. One of the most important roles the TMC plays is to allow the projects to come under the umbrella of TMC and share the 501c3 Non-Profit status of TMC,avoiding the cumbersome process of becoming their own charitable organization. Another role is for TMC to promote networking among the organizations. For both reasons, the summit was a success. Any group seeking to become a TMC project should contact staff liaison Ros Maholland. She can walk you through the process. You first fill out
an application available on our website, then the projects committee will follow up with the group and take the application to the TMC Board for approval. If approved, the group can enter into an Agreement that makes them a project of TMC. There is an administrative fee (between 10% and 15%) for funds over $1,000 brought in by projects each year. As Lodico explained, “the fee covers our administrative costs. In most cases, projects cost us more money than we recover. Our intent as fiscal sponsor is to help social justice groups and the justice movement in Pittsburgh. Admin fees allow us to continue to provide the services that these groups need.” Beyond the important tax exemption for donations and from sales taxes, other advantages are increased visibility and fundraising opportunities. Projects are listed on the TMC website and in the New People newspaper; and are included in regular reports to the TMC Board of Directors and membership. Projects are able to raise donations electronically through TMC’s PayPal, WePay and Square accounts. TMC also provides some support for advertising events and activities, assisting with third party grant applications, and bookkeeping. Projects may also get help from TMC interns, volunteers and staff assistance with media. In cooperation with TMC staff, projects may make use of TMC’s name on press releases and flyers; use of phone contacts and a TMC mailing address with a separate box for each project. Project access to TMC’s bulk mailing account and stationary
is also a great help. The projects may request space for meetings and use the computer and copying machine for designing and printing flyers, etc. There are, though, costs associated with printing. There are three absolute requirements for a project to become and remain a TMC project. First, it must acquaint itself with and abide by the applicable federal and state rules prohibiting lobbying, political activity and endorsements. Failure to do so endangers the 501c3 charitable organization status not only of that project but of the Center itself and every other project of the Center. Second, the project must respect our commitment to nonviolence. Finally, the goals and activities of the project must align with the mission and vision of TMC, in helping to make the world a more just and peaceful place. Projects have other obligations, such as participation in the Center and being accountable to TMC. TMC encourages Projects (and everyone reading this article) to shop at Thrifty, our volunteer-run thrift shop and to contribute articles to the New People newspaper and blog, at least once a year. TMC also requests that Projects take some responsibility to help distribute the NewPeople. More than once during the discussions, I could see the various Projects’ light bulbs go off and hear someone say “you know if you are doing ‘X’, we could help work with you to do ‘Y’. James McCarville is a member of the TMC Editorial Collective, Board of Directors and Strategic Planning Committee.
Frida Berrigan: Continuing an Amazing Legacy Cont’d By Michael Drohan
to protest the various wars the US was engaged in. They were there so frequently, they grew accustomed to calling it, “Uncle Pentagon.” The yearly anniversary at the beginning of August of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a core part of the ritual of the Berrigan household and the Jonah House community. Year after year the residents returned to the place which planned and executed war in far flung parts of the world. At that time, Frida says that they enjoyed a certain amount of freedom to protest at the “River Entrance,” spilling their blood on the marble walls of this house of death-dealing. She remembers vividly when she and her sister Kate, at the age of two, handed out leaflets condemning the war exploits of the Pentagon to the staff going to work. Since September 11, 2001, all that has changed utterly. Now such freedoms to protest the work of the Pentagon are strictly curtailed and access is almost impossible. After a life of protesting war and the weapons of war with her parents and uncle, Frida finds herself in a US which is more militarized and belligerent than even in her youth. In this past year President Obama has announced that the Pentagon is go-
Thrifty's Wish List for 2017 12 Strong Volunteers 11 With Good Backs 10 New Customers A Day 9 Voucher Sponsors($200) 8 Boxes of Floor Tiles 7 Boxes of Floor Tiles 6 Boxes of Floor Tiles 5 DAYS TO PUT THEM IN!!!!!!!! 4 New Clothes Racks 3 Industrial Clothes Hampers 2 More Customers A Day AND A BRAND NEW REGISTER COUNTER A special congratulations to Shirley Gleditsch, founder of Thrifty, for receiving this year’s Pioneer Award from the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation!
ing to spend $1 trillion on updating and modernizing the nuclear arsenal so as to make these deathdelivery instruments more nimble, effective and therefore more likely to be used. The US is involved either directly or through proxies in wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, the Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Pakistan. Just in the past week it was reported by The Intercept that the Pentagon is involved in establishing a drone base for the successor to the Predator drone in the city of Agadez, Niger. This drone is the MQ-9 Reaper, the most modern in the arsenal, and the base will cost $100 million. Agadez is in the middle of the desert in a poor country which could well do with one hundred million to provide food and health care to its inhabitants. Most recently the US and leaders of NATO summoned the leaders of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Benin and Cameroon to a conference in Paris where they declared total war on Boko Haram. In a word, the US is involved on a continental scale in warmaking in Africa, in addition to all its Middle East involvements. Frida Berrigan speaks of this as the “globalization” of war since September 11, 2001.
Despite the decades of protest, prison and witness of her parents, her uncle Dan and all the other valiant witnesses for peace, the warrior state has become more entrenched. There are other twists also in the situation. In the 1970s and 1980s many people had a sense of the immediate and present danger that nuclear weapons presented to humankind and showed their outrage in direct action. All the events that the Berrigan Brothers were involved in such as the Baltimore 4, the Catonsville 9, the Plowshares 8 and so on were symbolic of this societal revulsion to the war state. Today, however, it often seems that we have learned to live with the absurd. We need to be constantly reminded that nuclear weapons and the permanent war -making state are crazy and need to be halted in their tracks. Frida continues the witness of resistance of her incredible family in Jonah House and shows us the way. Her visit to us in Pittsburgh on November 14 will, hopefully, be a shot in the arm to our calling to resist the killing machine. Michael Drohan is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Merton Center
Let’s Get Ready to Raffle! On November 14, the Thomas Merton Center will be honoring Frida Berrigan with the Thomas Merton Award. Every year we hold a raffle at the event and this year we are doing things a little differently. In addition to the raffle we will also be holding a silent auction, so be sure to bring your check books and credit cards! Our raffle prizes include: a basket of assorted wine; a $75 gift certificate to Way Wellness Center Acupuncture and Massage; a basket of gift cards to your favorite restaurants including Franktuary, Apteka, and the Cheesecake Factory; handmade platter and pots courtesy of Don Fisher; a bike from Free Ride and a framed Corita print. For our silent auction we have wonderful prizes in store for you including a two-night stay at the Barnard House Bed & Breakfast in Emlenton PA; a farm share of fresh vegetables from Kretschmann Farm; a $250 gift certificate to Ton Pottery in Lawrenceville; a jazz & cul-
ture basket including tickets to local attractions such as the Pittsburgh Zoo and the Carnegie Museums; a home-made dinner for six; and more!
The Barnard House Bed & Breakfast in Emlenton PA. Don’t miss out on this wonderful, relaxing prize!
November 2016
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State Government Issues The Trouble With Alternative Education in Pennsylvania By Tallon Kennedy
In Pennsylvania, if a student requires disciplinary action, the student can be sent to an Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth program (AEDY). According to Pennsylvania’s Department of Education, the AEDY program “provides a combination of intense, individual academic instruction and behavior modification counseling in an alternative setting to assist students in returning successfully to their regular classroom.” On its face, this seems like a good system— as opposed to suspension or expulsion, a student can receive rehabilitation while still engaging with academics. However, there are deeply troubling issues with the implementation of this program— namely racist and ableist biases, abuses of the system, and a lack of evidence of results to justify taking a child out of the regular school environment. A 2010 report by the Education Law Center (ELC) uncovered some glaring problems with Pennsylvania’s AEDY program. First, there’s absolutely no recorded data suggesting that these programs are beneficial to students. The report indicates that there is no recorded data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) on whether or not AEDY students can score proficiently on state assessments. The PDE also provides no data on whether or not the students in the program improve academically or behaviorally upon returning to their schools. This is largely a result of the fact that PDE requires little accountability for these programs, and has established “no targets for student academic or behavioral progress.” Regardless of this lack of evidence on the AEDY program’s efficiency, over 30,000 students were in these programs in 2006, a number that has surely increased markedly as a result of the program’s growth in the last decade. The state has spent at least, conservatively, $380,000,000 of taxpayer money on the AEDY program. However, the
misuse of resources is only the first, and most benign, layer of the abysmal implementation of the alternative education program. It appears that the AEDY program may actually set back the progress of most students enrolled in it. The AEDY program was created to provide another option for students who have committed serious violations, such as bringing weapons and drugs to school. However, according to the ELC report, 40.3% of student placement in these programs has been based on disrespecting authority and behavioral misconduct, while only 19.3% of placements are based on the violent actions that the program was originally intended to address. The report presents cases in which students have been sent to AEDY for poking someone with a pen, hitting teachers on the arm, and even pushing away a security guard who grabbed the student’s recently sprained arm. Additionally, the report notes that 15.6% of students in the AEDY program are enrolled for absence issues: a problem that doesn’t necessarily suggest a behavioral issue, but rather could be indicative of family problems, mental health challenges, and so on. It appears that the majority of students in the AEDY programs aren’t the type of children targeted initially by this program, which is deeply problematic, seeing that AEDY programs are only required to provide 20 hours of academic instruction per week, as opposed to the normal 27.5 hours per week required of regular public schools. Additionally, it is possible that AEDY students are excluded from some parts of the educational curriculum that are available to regular students. About one-third of teachers in AEDY reported having fewer curriculum resources than regular classroom teachers. Given such a record. AEDY programs appear to set many students’ educational progress back significantly. This is greatly concerning, consider-
New PA Blueprint for Food Security In September, Governor Wolf unveiled his administrations food security plan, a blueprint for a Hunger-free Pennsylvania, and announced the receipt of a federal grant focusing on addressing hunger in children up to the age of five. Later that month an executive order established the Governor’s Food Security Partnership. It is comprised of the secretaries of the departments of Aging, Agriculture, Education, Health, Human Services, and Community and Economic Development. The partnership is responsible for promoting coordination, communication, and joint planning between government programs and entities in the private sector in providing nutrition and food assistance to Pennsylvanians. Estimates show that 1.7 million Pennsylvanians (13.8%) experience food insecurity. This past year, the Partnership has worked with public, charitable, and private leaders in food security to develop the goals and initiatives needed to create a hunger-free Pennsylvania.
BLUEPRINT GOALS BY 2020: 1. Every county and/or region in Pennsylvania will have a local food alliance to combat hunger in their local communities. 2. The Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) participation rate will increase from 90 percent to 98 percent or higher. 3. The number of children benefiting from free and reduced price meals during the school year (linked to nutrition programs in summer) will increase from 20 percent to 30 percent. 4. Sixty percent of students benefiting from free and reduced priced school meals will participate in school breakfast. This is an increase from 47 percent in 2014-15. 5. The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Farmers' Market Nutrition Program redemption rate will increase from 308,000 to 340,000 checks annually. 6. Double SNAP Bucks will be available at all highly accessible, high-need farmers' markets and additional SNAP recipients will have access to SNAP employment and training and SNAP education. 7. Pennsylvanians will A Peace & Social Justice Active Spiritual Com- have streamlined acto food security munity invites you to join us Sundays 10:30AM cess information and benefits. for waiting worship 8. The average number of people participating in WIC programs will increase from over 4836 Ellsworth Ave 245,000 to 260,000. Pittsburgh, PA 15213 9. Pennsylvania will Phone: (412) 683-2669 improve access to healthy, nutritious food.
The Religious Society of Friends (better known as QUAKERS)
www.quaker.orgpghpamm/ 4 - NEWPEOPLE
November 2016
ing the program wasn’t created with the intention of catering to most of the students currently in it— namely, those with behavioral and absence issues. Beyond that, a deeply frightening issue arises from the ELC report that suggests harsh, unsanctioned and most likely illegal measures of punishment: physical and verbal abuse and the use of restraints and “seclusion rooms.” It gets even worse when you consider that AEDY programs over-represent, and clearly target, minorities and disabled students. According to the ELC report, students of color make up 46.8% of the AEDY population, but only make up 21.2% of the public school population. Similarly, disabled students make up 37.5% of the AEDY population, but only 15.1% of the public school population. The PDE admits that the regular school setting “is the most appropriate environment for receiving an education,” and that AEDY should only be considered when “all other avenues have been exhausted.” However, it seems most students in the program are there for reasons they probably shouldn’t be, and as a result, many Pennsylvania students are being held back from educational progress, with people of color and disabled students being particularly affected. In a setting where racial biases already contribute to less available resources and harsher punishments for students of color, AEDY is a good idea in theory, but is very problematic in practice, and needs significant reformation and monitoring from the state. Tallon Kennedy is an intern journalist for The NewPeople. He is a poet and an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh studying writing, literature, and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies.
By Joyce Rothermel
The plan lays out the Administration’s goals of providing all Pennsylvanians with access to healthy, nutritious food, which will improve their well-being, health, and independence. Pennsylvania will leverage the strength of its community and business partners; federal, state, and local resources; and innovations in the charitable food network to set the table for a hunger-free Pennsylvania. While fulfilling the Blueprint will go a long way to achieving food security for all Pennsylvanians, to end hunger in Pennsylvania, its creators challenge all of us that it will take a commitment from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors of government to ensure the availability of a holistic array of interventions and supports to lift low-income families out of poverty, the root cause of hunger and food insecurity. The federal grant of $500,000 that Pennsylvania is receiving comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, to help improve retention of children in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, to fulfill its crucial role in ensuring young children up to age five have a foundation for nutritional success. For over 40 years, WIC has provided nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to other health and social services. The program serves lowincome pregnant women, breastfeeding and postpartum mothers, infants, and young children up to the age of five who are found to be nutritionally at risk. For more information about the hunger plan, visit www.dhs.pa.gov/ending-hunger. For more information on the WIC program, visitwww.health.pa.gov. To get more involved in the Pittsburgh area, contact Just Harvest at 412-4318960 or the SW PA Food Security Partnership at412 -460-3663. Joyce Rothermel is co-convener of the SW PA Bread for the World Team.
Fighting Against Inequities Fight for Lifers West Essay Contest Winner Cont’d By Sheena King
The child that I was at age 18 is certainly not the woman I’ve become at age 43. In my case, prison is no longer punitive and rehabilitative. It is quite simply a place where I am warehoused. I have no ability to give anything to a society that I have recklessly taken so much from. In my case, in no way does life without the possibility of parole serve any real purpose. It’s not an issue of fairness. PA should change the law because it would be sensible to do so. When you unceasingly try a thing and it doesn’t work, you must change your course of action instead of continuing archaic practices. Instituting the possibility of parole does not guarantee the safety of the public. It only provides an opportunity to represent myself, my crime, my life before and during my incarceration, as well as plans for reentry into society. Perhaps during the first 10-15 years of my incarceration, there were meaningful programs and classes for lifers at Muncy. I was able to take a hard, realistic look at my life, because I realized that I didn’t like who I was or what I had done. I knew that my childhood wasn’t a good one, and I needed something better for my children. I decided that although I couldn’t be there with them, I would become the mother they needed, the woman I desired; and someone they could still be proud of, despite my choices and actions that separated us. But I needed help. During those early years, Muncy did offer parenting courses. In those days, I didn’t believe in myself, and I was surprised when I excelled in and successfully completed vocational classes for business, building trades, and catering. I was able to attend and complete sessions, such as violence prevention, anger and stress management, assertiveness, self-esteem, thinking for a change, alcohol and other drugs, and to then teach the values I
learned to my peers. The House of Hope, which is the intensive impatience therapeutic community for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, changed my life. That experience meant so much to me. Because of its impact, I later returned to educate my peers and help them to heal. However, as you can imagine, after 24 years, I’ve not only completed my prescribed programming, but all voluntary programs as well. I also have well over 1800 hours of education, an associate's’ degree in religious studies, and certificates from Bucknell University. The educational policy states that after I’ve accomplished the required hours for vocational classes, I am not permitted to enroll in any class. So I sit, wait, hope, and pray that parole for lifers will one day become a reality and/or commutation will return to what it once was – an act of mercy, and not only for those who were minimally culpable during the commission of their crime. Commutation will never actually work in PA, because it is an arbitrary process subject to the whim of political climates. The numbers don’t lie! For too long, commutation boards and serving governors have viewed granting commutation as political suicide instead of an act of mercy. Families continue to suffer. That is just one consequence for the families of lifers. Another is the mounting cost to support their loved one and to maintain continuous contact through visits and phone calls. My family must drive from Philadelphia. But, the primary challenge is striving to remain hopeful in the face of hopelessness. Sheena M King is a woman in SCI Muncy who was given a life sentence at age 18.
TMC Board Elections and Updates By the time Merton Center members get their copy of the November issue of The NewPeople, they will probably have received their TMC board election ballot in the mail, along with a return envelope. We are deeply grateful to all who provide governance to the Merton Center through their service on the board. If you or someone you know is interested in serving on the board, please put their name on the ballot in the space provided before returning it. Ballots may be returned or obtained if you failed to receive one, and are a member, at the upcoming Thomas Merton Award Dinner on Monday, Nov. 14. All ballots are due by Thursday, Nov. 17. Over the summer, board member Evan Schindler (2016-18) resigned due to work commitments that prevented him from active service and serving out his term. Jordan Malloy was them appointed to the board at the September board meeting to complete Evan’s term (Sept. 2016 – 2018).
“Hashtags Are the New Protest Signs,” taken by Mark Dixon, Thomas Merton Center board member, was recently accepted into the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This photo is part of the exhibit paying tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement. Photo Credit: Mark Dixon, Blue Lens, LLC
Welcome, Jordan Malloy Jordan Malloy is a former TMC intern and is currently active with the TMC project, Fight for Lifers West, an incarceration rights group. She is a business management senior at Point Park University. Jordan grew up in Wilkinsburg with her parents and four siblings, where she experienced the reality of the institutional issues faced by communities that are most complained about in the nightly news. The undeniable realities of gentrification, geographical segregation, racist transportation policies, food deserts, school-to-prison pipelines, brutalization of black males, sexualization of black females, redlining, and general economic, social, intellectual, psychological, and physical inequities, are injustices she has seen and experienced since childhood. She cannot ignore these injustices and tries to act on them in intersectionality and in solidarity with movements representing those who are oppressed.
Every Monday at 9 PM during November " RE-RUN of 2015 TMC AWARD to BARBARA LEE " COMCAST 21 & VERIZON FIOS 47 Inside city limits Videographer/Editor Rich Fishkin Community Producer CSRhoten, Progressive Pgh Notebook TV Series, 412-363-7472
November 2016
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Campus Labor Struggles Faculty Organizing at the University of Pittsburgh: Why a Union, and Why Now? By anupama jain
There’s something in the air in Pittsburgh! From Robert Morris to Point Park, Steel City-area faculty are organizing to join the ranks of unionized labor. To some, this might be of little surprise: Pittsburgh, is a city with a rich history of labor organizing. At the same time, when one thinks of Pittsburgh labor history one might think of workers smelting steel or armed Pinkertons at the Homestead steel mills. This isn’t entirely off base: in fact, Pittsburgharea faculty are organizing with the help of the United Steel Workers, including the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. But why unionization, and why now? There are many reasons, but three important ones are: 1) labor contingency and uncertainty worsens learning conditions; 2) teachers and researchers need a stronger voice in negotiations with administration; and 3) academic freedom is an increasingly valuable commodity in an age of emerging social consciousness about inequality. Focused, appropriately compensated teachers can do their best work,but one class of teachers, adjuncts, teach on a pay-per-class
basis. Because the compensation for these classes is very low, adjuncts often teach at several different universities, and many must work other jobs. Moreover, these positions are renewed on an ad hoc basis, often with little lead time before classes start. One colleague of mine would teach two classes at Pitt a semester, a few more at Point Park, and also tend bar in the evening. The only job he could count on having come next semester was the gig tending bar. For many, teaching is a vocation chosen not for monetary benefit, but for the value of teaching itself. But running around town, barely making ends meet, is not a recipe for the best teaching. The unpredictability wears both on the teachers —who struggle to pay their bills—and students, who may be excited about particular instructors and their classes, only to scroll through the catalogue and see no hint of the instructors because they have not yet been renewed. For other, less-contingent faculty, increasing demands for service and research also eat into teaching time. Appropriately compensated faculty are more capable of directing time and effort into education. A second reason for a union is facilitating more equitable negotiations between teachers and universities. The cost of tuition at Pitt has skyrocketed in the last decade, with the in-state tuition at nearly $18,000 for the upcoming year, a roughly $7,000 increase over less than a decade. Declines in state support for the university are not matched by the tuition increases. In 2007 the university was projected to receive roughFaculty Strike Left: Students express support for faculty following a meeting with Slip- ly pery Rock University’s President (SRU). Above: Dr. Ben Schaevitz, Physics Professors $165,593,000 and President of SRU’s union local, explains contract issues to students during the faculfrom the state. ty’s recent strike which was resolved on the strikes third day. Photos by Neil Cosgrove
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Today the university receives $147,392,000 from the state. Even accounting for inflation, university revenues have grown in excess of these cuts. Salary rates, however, have stagnated., with many faculty receiving “raises” lower than the rate of inflation. Collective bargaining creates conditions for faculty to ensure that they are paid what they are worth, and that student tuition is going towards research and learning. A third reason is academic freedom. Academics have a long tradition of exploring ideas in the classroom, and in research, which may ruffle feathers or question norms. While academic freedom has always been valuable, this is increasingly true in a world where faculty strive to live up to their commitments to be ethical, provocative, and responsible thinkers. Good teaching sometimes involves asking hard questions, questions about issues like systemic violence and endemic racism. Such questions may provoke discomfort in students. At the same time, teaching evaluations are increasingly used as criteria for making hiring and retention decisions. When teachers ask difficult—but fair—questions about our world, they need to know that the university’s commitment to terms like “diversity” is more than an empty slogan that will be tossed aside at the first sign of student discomfort.. A union can help with all of these concerns. Unionized professors know they have a job—and eager students—waiting for them next semester. They know that if they put in the extra hours to help out students, this work will be recognized financially by the institution. They know that they can look forward to finally ending their time in barista limbo for the excitement of regular teaching. They can ask important, tough questions of students, and trust that someone will have their back. A student body taught by unionized professors knows that their money is going to those teaching them. A union will make the University of Pittsburgh a better place to learn, work, think, and live. anupama jain, PhD, is a diversity and inclusion expert, an educator, and a researcher who focuses on how people build community by sharing stories, promoting social justice, and cultivating empathy.
Healing Wounds, Transcending Borders
SW PA School of the Americas Watch Joins Border Vigil Against US State Violence Over a thousand activists from the U.S. and Mexico, including 15 of us from the SW PA School of the Americas Watch, a project of the Thomas Merton Center converged at the border wall on Saturday and Sunday, October 8 and 9, for a march and rally (Sat.) and a vigil (Sun.) to remember the victims of US state violence and celebrate our resistance against it. Gathered on both sides of the border, in Nogales, Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico, we commemorated those whose lives were lost to this violence by saying their names to bring their spirits and witness before us, and remembering that the victims of violence are still here with us; they are not forgotten, and we will continue the struggle to resist U.S. state violence in their name. On Friday evening before the events at the border, we joined hundreds of others for a vigil and rally at the Eloy Immigrant Detention Center in Eloy, AZ, where hundreds of people are held in very inhuman conditions awaiting possible deportation. Our Pittsburgh group witnessed with our Thomas Merton Center banner and a very large banner calling for support for
the release of Martin Esquivel from Pittsburgh, who is currently threatened with deportation. We invited all those who saw the banner to sign the online petition for his release and learn more about his situation by going to https:// keeptheesquivelfamilytogether.com A follow-up “report back� event is being planned. For more information on how to get involved, contact 412-3613022. Those attending with the Pittsburgh group were Christina Castillo, Julia Rippel, Alicia Quebral, Jeimy Sanchez-Ruiz, Caitlin Cocilova, Jenna Baron, Monica Ruiz, Brenda Portillo, Tania Carballo, Grace Muller, Antonia Domingo, Rahwa Solomon, Joyce Rothermel, Maria Duarte, and Russ Fedorka. Special thanks to all the generous donors who contributed to the SW PA SOA Watch to make our participation possible. T-shirts created by Christina Castillo and pictured in the top left photo are on sale for $20 at the Thomas Merton Center.
Photos by Grace Muller November 2016
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Repairing the Capital Community Disconnect Make Real Estate Developers Fund Affordable Housing By Neil Cosgrove
As Pittsburgh’s City Council considers creation of a $10 million-a-year Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to address the city’s need for over 17,000 homes affordable to low-income citizens, the Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh has predictably objected to the principal means by which money for the Trust Fund would be raised—a one percent increase in the realty transfer tax, raising it to five percent of the purchase cost. Also predictably, Charlene Haislip, newly elected president of the Association, hasn’t made a specific suggestion as to how the Trust money could be better raised. (The transfer tax increase, if tied into a purchaser’s mortgage, would only increase a monthly payment for a median-priced Pittsburgh home by $2.74, according to Brian O’Neill of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.) One way Ms. Haislip could help strapped clients, perhaps, would be to reduce a real estate agent’s sales commission from seven to six percent, thus ensuring the Housing Trust Fund wouldn’t increase a buyer’s or seller’s closing costs by as much as a penny. Another possibility, rather than reducing the incomes of hard-working agents, would be to fund such trusts through fairer taxes on the real estate developers, whose earnings are often taxed at a much lower rate than those of the struggling families looking to put a roof over their heads. Eliminating loopholes enjoyed by developers could fund the “more than 700” housing trust funds that Brian O’Neill says now exist in the US. Given recent revelations about how much income tax Donald Trump has managed to avoid paying for nearly forty years (see accompanying article), the take from all such developers should be more than adequate. Possibly the truest statement to be found in a Trump University textbook is this one: “The Declaration of Independence may tell us that all men are created
equal, but the government definitely favors us real estate investors.” Justin Miller of A merican Prospect has listed several kinds of deductions real estate developers can apply to their annual income, deductions that Robert McIntyre of Citizens for Tax Justice says commonly result in “a negative tax rate” for real estate professionals. To qualify for that designation, according to Miller, requires “spending 750 hours a year in real-estate businesses and rentals in which one materially participates.” Here’s the list: All interest paid on investments is currently deducted, thus creating a big incentive to finance an investment through debt, rather than the developer’s own money. Republicans in Congress have proposed limiting or eliminating such deductions. Developers can now claim depreciation of the values of their properties for anywhere from 27 to 40 years. The problem with this deduction is that real estate usually appreciates in value over time. Miller uses as an example Trump’s 2012 purchase of the Doral golf resort in Miami. Trump’s own money covered only 17% of the value at purchase. (The rest came from a big Deutsche Bank loan, on which Trump can deduct the interest.) Each year Trump can deduct $3.85 million in depreciation of the entire property, even though the resort’s value is increasing. One suggested reform is to revise depreciation schedules to mirror actual depreciation and to apply that depreciation only to the percentage of the property “financed with the developers own equity,” as Miller puts it. After years of deducting interest and “depreciation,” a developer can execute a “likekind exchange” in which proceeds from the sale of an old property are used to buy one more
profitable. The problem here is that developers often either test an undermanned Internal Revenue Service by not reporting profit from the sale, or reporting it as a long-term capital gain, at a 10% lower rate than should be charged for such a sale. Republican David Camp, former chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, wants to eliminate such exchanges, and President Obama wants to limit the deferrable amount to one million. Properly staffing the IRS would also help. Eliminating these tax breaks would result in billions upon billions of revenue pouring into the federal treasury. Given that the money would come from highly profitable real estate dealings, it seems only fair to use that money to subsidize affordable housing through the trust funds localities are forming all around the US. Such a policy would also make sure the cost of affordable housing isn’t coming from the pockets of local house buyers and sellers, or their agents. Unfortunately, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the real-estate industry devoted $95 million to federal lobbying in 2014, and put $162 million into the 2012 campaign, including $35 million towards congressional races. Would members of Congress dare buck such a lobby? Would a president like Donald Trump, who has promised to go after the “carried interest” loophole enjoyed by hedge fund managers, show such courage? Tellingly, his tax proposals make no mention of all the tax favors he has enjoyed. Neil Cosgrove is a member of The NewPeople Editorial Collective and the Merton Center Board.
With Trump, Goats "Win;" People "Lose" Though he would hate to admit it, the words that best describe Donald Trump’s avoidances of federal income tax are “ordinary” and “typical,” rather than “genius” and “smart.” As he himself asserts, every maneuver he has used in his tax returns is legal, employing the deductions in the federal law available to him and other real-estate developers. (See accompanying article.) One way he has been notably creative is through the implementation of “permanent conservation measures” on his golf courses. As The W all Street Journal has reported, Trump has obtained substantial deductions off his federal income tax by such actions as pledging not to build houses on one course and “having goats and hay production” on others. Through such maneuvers he received a “nearly $40 million federal income tax deduction” in 2005 for a New Jersey golf course, and obtained similar breaks for facilities in Florida, New York, and California. Trump’s campaign rightly points out that he “has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city and state taxes,” and so on. What his hired help fail to mention are the struggles government entities have often had to endure in order to extract a full and fair share of tax revenues from Trump. Trump’s companies have gained a well-earned reputation for employing two tax avoidance strategies that make it difficult for local and state governments to obtain what they are owed. One is to engage in hardball negotiations with municipalities and school districts in regards to the assessed valuation of particular properties. One Westchester County, New York golf course serves as a recent example. Trump listed the estimated value of the property as more than $50 million on his Federal Election Commission disclosure form, having paid $8 million for the 147 acres, according to ABC News, and then spending $45 million to build the course and a 75,000 square foot clubhouse. Nevertheless, Justin Miller of A merican Pro8 - NEWPEOPLE
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spect reports that early this year Trump claimed for property tax purposes that the course was worth $1.36 million. The Ossining, NY city assessor estimates the property value at $14.3 million. (Just before ABC News was about to report on the discrepancy in May, Trump bumped his estimated value up to $9 million. All part of the Art of the Deal, we’re guessing.) If Trump’s initial estimation had been accepted, his tax payment to the school district, town, village and county where the golf course is located would have dropped from $471,000 to $47,000, writes USA Today. Trump is also not above using political leverage to reduce his tax assessments. A Chicago Sun-Times investigation discovered that after his lawyers managed to have condo units, hotel rooms, and retail and parking areas in the 92-story Trump Tower taxed at different rates, Trump hired the head of Chicago’s City Council, Ed Burke, as his lawyer, who was then able to get the assessment for the ground floor lowered by 70%, resulting in a tax savings of over $14 million. The other tax avoidance strategy Trump employs is to either avoid paying tax bills for as long as possible, or to get bills lowered through non-stop litigation. “Trump’s companies have been engaged in battles over taxes almost every year from the late 1980s until as recently as March,” USA Today reported this past May. “At least three dozen times” the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has used courts to put liens on Trump’s properties in order to get overdue tax bills paid. His businesses sued the New York City Tax Commission 55 times from the 1990s to 2011 in attempts to get assessments lowered. The New York Times has estimated that, while building his New York
By Neil Cosgrove
City real-estate holdings, Trump received “nearly $900 million in tax breaks, grants, and subsidies.” Trump’s campaign inadvertently identifies the heart of the problem when they say their candidate “has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.” Apparently, “skilled businessmen” like Trump and his ilk feel no “fiduciary responsibility” towards the municipalities supplying the roads, bridges, schools, water and sewer facilities, and other infrastructure that allow them to do business in the first place. Trump personifies the disconnect between capital and community that has grown starkly obvious over the past decades. And in that way he remains depressingly “ordinary.” Neil Cosgrove is a member of The NewPeople editorial collective and of the Merton Center Board.
Moving Beyond the Election The Day After: a Rallying Cry for the Post-Election Progressive Movement By Beth Ussery
As this election cycle winds down, and as the campaign offices close shop, the incessant attack ads cease and we hunker down for another lame duck session, voters are undoubtedly feeling a sense of relief. The horror is over. We can pack up our yard signs, scrape the stickers off of our bumpers, and work on mending the familial rifts caused by overzealous Facebook politicking. Most of the electorate will spend the next three years in a self-induced political coma. This election, with all of its mudslinging, divisiveness and scandal, will go down as one of the nastiest and most contentious in history. Drop the balloons: we survived Decision 2016. But for myself and others who feel that the American people were the real losers this Election Day, the work to fix our broken political system must continue through November 9th and beyond. The Bernie Sanders movement mobilized an unprecedented number of progressive and millennial voters, and made political activism cool again. Suddenly it was okay to talk politics with your friends, or to go to a local bar and watch the debate instead of the game. It brought Progressivism into the mainstream spotlight, and sent the Establishment into crisis mode. No doubt about it: we made great strides. Our message of environmental, social and economic justice is well-represented in the Democratic Party Platform— by far the most progressive in the party’s history. However these gains didn’t come without consequence: the contentious primary race and the
DNC’s collusion with the Clinton campaign helped to widen the already-growing rift between the Establishment Liberals and the Progressive Left. When looking at the state of the movement post-Bernie, it’s glaringly apparent that not all Democrats are Progressive—and increasingly, not all Progressives are Democrats. In order to chart a path forward, we first have to accept the party divide that exists within our ranks. Our stance is simple: we don’t care which presidential candidate you voted for, but we need you to stay involved beyond Election Day. All too often we get caught up in the notion of purity when discussing politics. Our movement should always seek to foster inclusiveness, cooperation and the spirit of compromise—something that has been missing in this, the year of increasingly hostile rhetoric and scorched earth campaigning. In order for Progressivism to thrive, we must look beyond the Sturm und Drang of 2016 and focus on the core tenets which first united us. We need to build a coalition: one that spans all forms of Progressive activism and establishes a strong sense of solidarity among our ranks. We’re all in this together. Like Bernie said: “when you hurt, I hurt.” A movement is not built in one election cycle; it is not made or broken by the outcome of a single race. In order to put the power of the government back into the hands of the people, we need to work together, from the bottom-up. By focusing on building a Progressive grassroots network via community
engagement, outreach, and solidarity, we can ensure that we’ll never have to cast a ballot for the lesser of two evils again. I can tell you this: our biggest enemy over the next two years won’t be the Republicans or the Establishment Dems, but political apathy. We have to resist the urge to sleepwalk through the midterms, or to let complacency and disenfranchisement steal our chance to be heard. This is our shot to change the political landscape, to send a clear message to both Washington and Wall Street, and to choose candidates that we want to vote for, instead of ones we are only compelled to vote against. Bernie’s revolution lives on in all of us, but if we’re going to create a lasting movement we need everyone to get involved—starting now. The political elites are banking on the idea that we will fade away well before 2018. Let's prove them wrong. Volunteer for progressive causes, attend your local government meetings, and stay politically informed and active in your neighborhood—not just on social media. Together we can bring about great change, but only if we continue to stand united. On November 9th, the real work begins. So please, stay and fight with us. Beth Ussery is the founder of Burghers for Bernie, a co-chair of PA Labor for Bernie, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
The Deplorable Values Trump Represents A major subject in the presidential contest is wealth and income and how much each of the candidates supposedly has. For the Trump candidacy, in particular, his accumulation of wealth and his prowess regarding this process seems to be his principal claim to greatness. That and, of course, his ability to evade paying any taxes. For all his supposed prowess as a businessman his tax returns for 1995 reveal that he lost approximately $1 billion for that year, a time one might add, of general economic boom. Some feat for a genius businessman, one might say. The kicker in this story is that he then went on to use these colossal losses to evade paying any taxes for the next eighteen years. Behind this claim to competence, success and even virtue measured by the amount of wealth one has accumulated and its general acceptance by the media and the public is a disturbing picture of what is valued in our society and what supposedly constitutes a successful life. From a philosophical standpoint, it raises the question of the distinction between “being” and “having”. The quality of our lives is normally measured not by what we possess but by what we are. That is, what we are in our relationships and behavior gives our lives value, rather than anything we lay claim to. We can go further with this argument: in reality, claiming to possess or own things is a fiction. In fact some languages have no word for the
verb “to have”. The Gaelic language is a case in point. When one tries to express that “I have a book” in Gaelic all one says “there is a book to/with me.” The notion of having or possessing something is foreign, if not meaningless. In the Hebrew language, it is exactly the same. There is no word for “to have”. And so it is with many other languages. The American Native Peoples have a similar outlook and philosophy. For them the very notion of owning or possessing land was absurd. The earth is our mother and belongs to all, in their understanding. The claim of the European invaders to own the land made no sense to them. However, that did not deter the colonists from stealing the land from mother earth and its inhabitants. It would be comforting to believe that the philosophy that lies behind Trump’s preening and self-adulation is a mere aberration unique to a craven narcissist and egomaniac. The reality, however, would seem to be that a considerable proportion of the population accepts this distorted philosophy of human life and worth. Alas, it is all a piece with the enterprises through which Trump has creamed millions, if not billions, namely casinos. Casinos and lotteries are the Shangri-la temples of the poor and struggling. Their popularity is based on the fairy tale that they can elevate all people to Trump-like glory. The fact that casinos make billions of dollars and pay back only a tiny fraction of its
By Michael Drohan
gambling revenues seems to have little effect on the logic of its followers. From this perspective, one can perhaps get a glimpse of the phenomenon of so many people being enthusiastic about the Trump candidacy. What the people of the US have experienced during the presidential cycle this time round is a crass debasement of political discourse. It is no longer simply a question of who wins or loses at the polls, but the damage a campaign has inflicted on the society. It is unprecedented that a candidate for the highest office in the land would claim as a badge of honor his ability to contribute not a cent to the common purse. One need not stress that without the willingness to contribute to the common services, our society would be reduced to a jungle. Further, to make the boast of contributing nothing to the common good while wanting to take charge of the country defies all reason. Maybe Trump represents the apex of what capitalism is all about. If this be so, we have a lot of soul-searching to do if we are to avoid descending to utter barbarism. This author is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Merton Center
Don’t Sit Out The Election Cont’d By Jim McCarville
best way to overcome a wicked social system. It was never a fight for ‘just’ right now. But each vote was a witness to the moral bankruptcy of the times and the strong firm belief, that, in the long run, democracy would be redeemable. “It took a while for Black votes to make a difference, but even George Wallace himself became an ardent believer in the right for Blacks to vote and take part in governing. Quite a conversion,” Tony added. Bringing the vote topic up to date, he was critical of voter ID laws (a disguised poll tax); of Christian and Black preachers supporting Trump (they have either been bought off or want to preserve a Supreme Court to protect social issues the candidate has demonstrated no
personal interest in); and of Hillary Clinton (too trusting of generals and bankers). But, “not voting,” is the unforgivable sin of democracy. Men and women of color have died to preserve everybody’s right to vote. While you may not be excited about the choices, not voting is an unearned right,” he concluded. The next speaker in the series was Jame Schaefer, Ph. D, who spoke on October 27th on “Ecological Conversion, Developing Virtuous Communities,” at the Kearns Spirituality Center.
Jim McCarville is a member of the TMC Editorial Collective, Board of Directors and Strategic Planning Committee. November 2016
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Mistaken Middle East Policies Eyewitness to West Bank Destruction On August 29th I got home late only to be greeted with Facebook images of bulldozers, destroyed homes and, peeking out from among the rubble, spots of bright blue and the childlike drawing of a bird in flight. These scattered spots were what remained of a mural designed and painted by myself and children from the Palestinian village Umm al-Kheir. The mural was painted on Umm al-Kheir’s single cement building - the Community Center which housed the village’s kindergarten and shared computers. The Center and everything inside had been demolished that morning by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). How does such destruction help defend the state of Israel? I cannot answer this question. But I can offer some context. This July I traveled to the South Hebron Hills as part of a delegation with the Center for Jewish Non-Violence. We were a group of 40 Jews from all over the world committed to ending the Israeli Occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank by working in solidarity with Palestinian communities. One of these communities is Umm alKheir. Umm al-Kheir lies in a rural part of the West Bank. Under the Occupation, the IDF classifies the West Bank into three “areas”. The rural areas are classified as “Area C”; they are entirely under Israeli control (both Israeli military and political control). Area C includes roughly 60% of the West Bank and nearly all of the area’s natural resources - water, farmable land, and mineral resources. Palestinian villages in Area C do not have services like sewage, running water, or electricity. Because they are under Israeli authority it is illegal for the Palestinian Authority to provide these services even if they were financially capable of doing so. In Umm al-Kheir people spend much of their income purchasing tanks of water which they use sparingly. Electricity comes from a few solar panels and several portable toilets serve the whole village. The people live in ramshackle homes - resembling something in between tents and shacks. This is because the IDF requires a building permit for any Palestinian wanting to build a structure over a foot or two high. Applications for building permits are routinely rejected. Of course people need somewhere to live. So they build homes. At some point the IDF comes with their bulldozers and demolish them. The villagers picks through the rubble, salvage what they can and rebuild. During my time in Umm al-Kheir I got to see
the creative resilience of the community through the dreams of the village children. Together we designed a mural of their future homeland. They drew rolling fields, “real” buildings, a mosque, orchards of fruit trees, camels and goats, a car, and electric lines powering the village. We painted the design together. Bulldozers cannot destroy such visions once they have been seen and shared. Why does the IDF focus so much energy on destroying simple homes and a Community Center? Let me fill in the picture a little more. If you were to step outside of the Community Center door and look towards the dirt road that runs through Umm al-Kheir you would see several houses and a chicken coop. Just beyond that would be several small fields and running through the fields would be a chain link fence with barbed wire on top. On the other side of the fence lies Carmel, a Jewish settlement, illegal under international law. The roads in Carmel are paved. There is running water and electric lines running to each house. Towards the edge of Carmel, some trailers have been put up. This typically marks the first step in a settlement’s expansion. The trailers can be moved to the Palestinian side of the fence overnight and, in short order, military protection arrives to protect settlers from the Palestinians on whose land they are now squatting.
Today’s Post-Gazette (September 12) reported on the increase in hostilities before the beginning of a ceasefire in Syria, which is supposed to start on this day. The article reported the deaths of 91 people in the rebel-held cities of Idlib and Aleppo in Northeastern Syria by the Syrian Army, supported by Russia. Supposedly the attacks were designed to increase the advantage of the Assad regime going into the ceasefire. These are the latest developments in what Charles Glass describes as a catastrophe for the people of Syria. To date, since the civil war in Syria began in June 2011, over 300,000 people have lost their lives and eight million people have been displaced, some internally and the majority as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Europe. According to Glass’ analysis, while the conflict in Syria was not started or instigated by foreign powers, it has, nevertheless, become a playground in which global geopolitical battles are carried out. Turkey, Iran, Saudi-Arabia, the US, Russia, France, Great Britain, Lebanon and Israel are all involved fanning the flames and arming their preferred sides in the conflict. Thus, in large part it has become a war by proxies of all these powers. Turkey is primarily involved in attacking the Kurdish population and is not really concerned with the removal of Bashar al Assad as such or combating ISIS. The US seems to be obsessed about the removal of Assad from power as the supreme objective of their involvement. Because of this demand that Assad step 10 - NEWPEOPLE
November 2016
In practice the way Area C has been classified and governed supports the notion that Israel intends to annex as much of the West Bank as possible essentially destroying any chance for a viable twostate solution. Area C is the majority of West Bank territory, but being the rural areas, it is also the region with the fewest Palestinians. Even so, the IDF uses home demolitions and the lack of municipal services to further incentivize the Palestinians living in these areas to leave. Meanwhile the Jewish settlements expand with full support of the military. Any person who believes in human rights and the inherent dignity and equality of human beings can agree that these policies and the Occupation they support must be ended. We are complicit in these actions, as is made clear by the recently approved U.S. aid package of $38 billion to the Israeli military. We need to demand an end to the support for Israeli Occupation and the destruction of Palestinian homes and dreams. If you have any questions or would like to get involved with local organizing, send an email to pittsburgh@jewishvoicesforpeace.org Moriah Ella Mason is a local organizer with Jewish Voices for Peace.
Demolishing of Community Center in Palestinian village of Umm al-Kheir this summer by Israeli Defense Forces. Photo by Moriah Ella Mason
The Syrian Holocaust Review of Book “Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe” by Charles Glass, Verso 2016
By Moriah Ella Mason
By Michael Drohan
down, all attempts at ceasefires or diplomatic solutions have been an utter failure. US hostility to Assad, however, is somewhat derivative in that he is unacceptable and has to be overthrown only because he is an ally of Iran. The Saudis are involved somewhat like the US because of their hostility to Iran, whom they see as their arch enemy in the Middle East. The Saudi promotion of Wahabi Sunni fundamentalist Islam has nurtured the rise of the al Qaeda and Islamic State rebels and has armed them with weapons supplied largely by the United States. Russia and Iran, on the other hand, are supporting the Assad government but for different reasons. Russia has been an ally of Syria and Assad going back decades. For Iran there is the affinity between the Assad regime and them because of both being part of Shiite Islam. As each of these entities pursue their geopolitical objectives, the people of Syria are subjected to horrendous suffering, death and destruction. Glass goes into some detail in describing this nexus of national interests and how they have visited hell on the people of Syria. Glass concludes “The US, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have all played their part in destroying Syria….They provide their clients with the means to fight the war. And they can cut them off”. He identifies Turkey as the main entrepot for the arming of ISIS, the Nusra Front and other fundamentalist Islamic terror groups. Without this pipeline, the war would be over quickly. From his analysis of the conflict in Syria, Glass
concludes that a military solution is a dead end. The only solution is a diplomatic one but therein lies the rub. Were it not for the insistence on the part of Saudi Arabia and the US that the resignation of Assad be a precondition for any peace process, we could have seen peace a long time ago, with the saving of hundreds of thousands of Syrian lives. Russia, on the other hand, has insisted that Assad and the Assad government be part of any negotiated solution. More recently, going into the present peace talks, they have modified their stance conceding that eventually Assad must go but not as a precondition for peace. This is a hopeful sign in what has been a domain of intransigence and obstinacy. Glass’ book is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the intricacies of the political situation in Syria and in the Middle East more generally. By understanding its complexities we get some glimpse of what the solution might look like. The biggest take away from the book is that Syria and the Syrian people have been victims of external interference by the Western powers and their local allies, especially Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The depressing conclusion of his analysis is that “the goal of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and Jebhat alNusra was to make Syria something it never was: an extension of Saudi Arabia”. Michael Drohan is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Thomas Merton Center
Towards Lasting Peace Nuclear Weapons Trump Real Security “It starts with the deployment of four or five of our Ohio-class nuclear submarines to the Persian Gulf,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit them and we’re going to hit them hard. I’m talking about a surgical strike on these ISIS stronghold cities using Trident missiles.” - Donald Trump [Meet the Press, 8-10-15]
know that nuclear disarmament can only be achieved through an approach that takes into account the views and security interests of all states. That is why we reject the final report…[it] will [not] lead to the elimination of nuclear weapons.” Meanwhile the U.S. plans to spend $one trillion over the next 30 years to upgrade its nuclear arsenal. The argument that bombs protect us and our He has stated that he’d “absolutely” use nuclear allies is a powerful one; it is powerfully reinforced weapons. Yet neither the media nor the debates have by the weapons industry’s pursuit of profits, continfocused on the two growing threats to our planet, the uing to block progress by promoting fear of disbomb and climate change. armament while soothing the fears of a real security It may be that the failure to develop strategies threat from the bombs themselves. for action by most grassroots groups has contributed to the problem. The collapse of the Soviet Union Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: Three Minutes to eased fears of an all-out nuclear war. But Putin’s Midnight threats, North Korean missile tests and the fear that The Bulletin has moved its Doomsday Clock to terrorists could get their hands on one of the thouThree Minutes to Midnight, noting: “The probability sands of bombs dispersed around the planet may of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions revive a grassroots abolition movement, needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken US Presidents should not allow “their senior very soon. That probability has not been reduced. commanders to plan for the first use of nuclear The Clock ticks. Global danger looms. weapons,” wrote former Vice Chairman of the Joint “We estimate that Russia and the United States Chiefs of Staff, General James Cartwright, and nu- keep a staggering 1,800 strategic nuclear warheads clear security expert Bruce Blaire. They called for on high alert on land and sea-based ballistic miscomplete elimination of land-based missiles in the siles, ready to launch between five and 15 minutes U.S. and all nuclear weapons deployed in Europe. after receiving a launch order. These forces number [The New York Times, 8-15-16] more nuclear warheads than all the other seven nuFifty to 90 B61 warheads are deployed at Tur- clear weapons states in the world have, combined.” key’s Incirlik Air Force Base, ready for loading onto At the end of the Cold War, the United States, U.S. jet fighter bombers This in a region that is inthe Soviet Union, and later Russia removed several creasingly unstable. categories of nuclear weapons from alert, including On August 19 the United Nations Open-Ended long-range bombers and non-strategic nuclear forcWorking Group on Nuclear Disarmament recomes. Since then, Republican and Democratic US presmended that the General Assembly mandate negoti- idential candidates have recommended changing the ations on a legally-binding ban on nuclear weapons. US and Russian alert postures, but little has hapThis grew out of meetings by 127 nations. pened. The International Physicians for the Prevention Former US President George W. Bush stated in of Nuclear War [IPPPNW] said the goal is “more 2000 that, “high-alert, hair-trigger” nuclear forces effective measures to stigmatize... prohibit and elim- were leftovers from the Cold War, inappropriate and inate nuclear weapons.” dangerous in today’s world, and that he would reIn response to the UN plan they stated, “We duce the alert levels.
By Molly Rush
President Barack Obama echoed that concern in 2007, saying on the campaign trail that he would work with Russia to take nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert, and criticized Bush for not fulfilling his promise. Yet the Obama administration’s April 2010 Nuclear Posture Review continues the current alert posture. [For more information on these issues see nukewatchinfo.org] Broken Arrows: Nuclear Bomb Accidents Between 1950 and 2000, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as “Broken Arrows.” A Broken Arrow is defined as an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft, or loss of the weapon. To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered. [Business Insider, May 2013] Titan Missile Disaster in Damascus Arkansas That list does not include the September 19, 1980 Titan missile accident in Damascus, Arkansas in which one Airman was killed and 21 were injured. It was declassified in 2013. An 8-3/4 pound wrench fell into a silo containing a 374-7 300,000 pound Titan missile with a 91/2-megaton warhead attached, 1700 times more destructive than the Hiroshima bomb. An accumulation of fuel contributed to a massive explosion. The warhead was thrown from the silo but, thankfully, it didn’t explode. [Next issue: Radioactive waste issues in Western PA and elsewhere.] Molly Rush is co-founder of the Merton Center, a member of the Board and the Editorial Collective, Health Care 4 All PA, and the Plowshares 8.
Please Help Restore the Mural at My Lai During a recent trip back to Vietnam with three peace activists, Brian Willson, Becky Luening, and Sandy Kelson ( March 28-April 22, 2016 ), I spent two days at the My Lai Massacre site in Quang Ngai. Aside from being a soldier during the Vietnam War, this was my second visit to the My Lai site, the first being in April 1994. Being there is more of a life experience than a visit. Having been very familiar with the breaking story that appeared in Life Magazine ( December 5, 1969 ) and the horrifying pictures that were taken by an Army photographer, Ron Haeberle, experiencing the memorial site is life revealing. For me personally, I see the My Lai Massacre as a metaphor for the entire war in Vietnam. The United States was responsible for over 20 million bomb craters during the war, what some people have called, “My Lai's from the skies.” The four of us were the only ones walking the grounds there on April 4-5, 2016. Near the infamous drainage ditch where U.S. soldiers killed 170 civilians, a large mosaic-tile mural depicts some of the 504 Vietnamese civilians who were murdered by our government on March 16, 1968, in the last moments of their lives. The mural is very powerful on so many artistic levels. Sandy Kelson and Brian Willson are standing in front of the enclosed picture I took of the mural. Examining the mural closely, we noticed the artwork had badly deteriorated from years of severe hot and wet weather. While I was there, I had a private conversation with the co-director of the museum. She has worked at the memorial site for 16 years. I told her I was a veteran, a member of Veterans For Peace, and that millions of Americans who were adamantly against the war consider the My Lai Massacre site extremely important. I also said, as far as I was concerned, the My Lai Massacre site is sacred ground, and one of the most important memorials in the world. After this observation, she broke down and cried. It was a very powerful moment for both of us. I felt a deep emotional connection to her, and a lov-
By Mike Hastie
ing empathy that was so important in healing my As a combat medic in the Vietnam War, it soul. has been an amazing experience to have faced the Shortly after we talked, she arranged for us truth behind the My Lai Massacre, let alone the ento meet one of the lone survivors of the massacre, a tire Vietnam War. Whenever the truth threatens Mr. Pham Thanh Cong, who was eleven-years-old one's core belief system, there is an urgent need to when the massacre occurred. Four of his family deny its reality. I feel a sense of liberation in knowmembers were killed by a U.S. hand grenade. Meet- ing that I no longer have to deny my moral injuries. ing him was an emotional privilege. In his recent It is a deep healing awareness that is denied many. I book published in 2016, The W itness From sincerely appreciate the opportunity to keep a proPinkville, he concludes the book: " If there was one found historical memory alive. thing I might ask for, that would solely be your sympathy." When we parted, I kissed him on the cheek Mike Hastie, Army Medic Vietnam, comes from a military background. His father was a career Army and said, “I was born in America but my heart is officer and WWII combat veteran and he spent Vietnamese.” When I got back home in Portland, Oregon, most of his early childhood immersed in military culture. When he returned from Vietnam, he I corresponded with the co-director of the museum picked up a camera to photograph what he calls, via email, and offered to raise the funds needed to “the lie of my childhood. Lying is the most powerrestore the mural. She eventually replied that it ful weapon in war. Liberation from denial is everywould cost $4,200 to complete the restoration. Our goal is to raise this money soon, so the mural may be thing.” completely repaired by the 50th anniversary of the massacre on March 16, 2018. Some of us plan on returning to Vietnam for this historic event. To contribute to this project, please make checks out to VFP Chapter 72, and mail to: VFP Chapter 72 c/ o Bob Projansky 3036 SE Taylor St., Portland, Oregon 97214. Any funds received over the goal will be given to the Sandy Kelson and Brian Willson are standing in front of the My Lai mural comMy Lai Museum, and memorating the massacre of 504 Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers on March upkeep on the 16,1968. Photo by Mike Hastie. grounds. November 2016
NEWPEOPLE - 11
Steel Town Mysteries
Murder Mystery: A Book Review By Paul LeBlanc This delightful murder mystery, Woman Missing: A Mill Town Mystery, a fast-paced swirl of politics, classconflict, and murder, provides a web of interweaving mysteries, all solved by the final page. Two strong heroines – mother and daughter – come to life through their interplay with a cast of likable characters, richly varied by race, class, gender, and personalities, plus satisfyingly detestable villains. The setting is the Pittsburgh area in the late 1970s, and three decades later. The central character of the 1970s is Ginny, a spunky steelworker, carrying on the radical Wobbly (Industrial Workers of the World) tradition of her grandfather. The central character of 2007 is her daughter Cory – red-headed and spirited like her mother, trying to unravel the mystery of her disappearance. One victim is the local steel industry. What made Pittsburgh the Steel City was the dense network of mills running around the city and through the Mon Valley – now part of the famed “rustbelt,” but then vibrant powerhouses of profits and pollution. They supplied good-paying jobs (thanks to earlier labor struggles) that sustained workers’ families and communities. Workers are this book’s heart and soul, in the
landscape of Braddock, Homestead, Munhall, Rankin. The impending murder of Pittsburgh’s steel industry is forecast and solved by Ginny herself halfway through the novel – and she doesn’t hesitate to let the cat out of the bag at a union meeting, confronting a “partnersin-progress” steel company executive. Ginny rubs a number of menacing enemies the wrong way in big steel’s corporate structure, as well as corrupted and rogue elements within the steelworkers union. Her daughter Cory’s snooping-around stirs up some of the same elements. Among the sinister undercurrents in the book is a pervasive racism against which this book and its heroines consistently push back. The troubled atmosphere is similarly interlaced with poisonous and violent misogyny – directed especially against our smart and articulate heroines, who don’t “stay in their place.” It is all deliciously presented by former Pittsburgh steelworker, Linda Nordquist. Available at www.hardballpress.com
Paul Le Blanc teaches History at La Roche College. Active in Pittsburghers for Public Transit, the International Socialist Organization, he has been a long-time supporter of the Thomas Merton Center.
Interview with Linda Nordquist By Ginny Hildebrand
Linda Norquist has just published a new the job. book entitled Woman Missing: A Mill Town Mystery The following is an inter- G:Did you meet people like the characters in “Woman Missing?” view by Ginny of author Linda: L:The old adage “write what you know” Ginny:Where were you when you certainly plays out in this mystery. thought up the idea for the book? Linda:The entire time I worked at Edgar G:Did the mill experience change you? Thompson I thought someone needs to L:Absolutely. Doing a job that ever ywrite a book about this place. It wasn’t one believed a woman could not do creuntil I moved to the Peruvian Andes in ated a huge shift in my confidence. I 2004, that I realized that “someone” learned that equal pay had the ability to was me. help me live independently. My body grew stronger. Thanks to being a union G:How did the men and the union react member, I learned to stand up for myto women? self against foremen and higher-ups. I L:We were welcomed by some, vilified got invaluable experience working with by others “for taking good paying jobs men, learning how they thought, their problems, what they wanted in life. It away from men,” and teased by most. The black guys were more under- was a mixed bag that always presented standing, since they fought similar bat- learning and teachable moments. tles against racism. The local union permitted an unofficial women’s commit- G:What are you doing now? tee to be formed. It addressed issues L: I am a clinical social worker speciallike bathrooms and bathhouses. Union izing in the treatment of PTSD in South officials were used to filing grievances Dakota. Before I went to Peru (in 2004) around shop floor issues. But they did- I treated women and children victims of n’t want women making waves over big domestic violence and sexual abuse. In social issues, like the Equal Rights Peru I continued that and also helped Amendment. I believe(d) unions would traumatized peasants after natural disasbe stronger if they got involved in such ters until my return to the US in 2015. issues and the social movements would Now I work with veterans who have be more effective if they included the PTSD as a result of our government’s unions. many wars. G:How did you come to work on the G: Do you anticipate any big changes steel pouring platform? It sounds terri- on that front after the elections? fying? L:No matter Hillar y or Donald, war s L:US Steel was hiring under a Federal will continue to be an American staple. Consent Decree: one woman/one black There will be more veterans in need of for every 5 new hires. I was assigned to care. Fortunately I have the kind of prothe BOP (Basic Oxygen Processing) fession where I can die with my boots department. It had modern technology on…as long as the mind is working. except for the 100 year old steel pouring Ginny Hildebrand is a former steelworker platforms. Standing on the platform watching a crane carry a massive ladle at the Hazelwood LTV, briefly at Edgar of red hot steel toward us was an awe- Thompson, and was also a coal miner at Republic Steel's Russelton Mine. Currently some sight. I loved the excitement. I she grooms dogs when not actively volunalso loved the extra pay that came with teering with TMC. 12 - NEWPEOPLE November 2016
Supporting Democratic Business Practices “One Man” Arrested at the Duquesne Club That "one man" is from Butler County, where 50 families from the Woodlands community have each been getting about 20 gallons of water every Monday at White Oaks Springs Presbyterian Church, to replace a small portion of the potable water they used to get from their wells. According to the best science available, Rex Energy contaminated those wells. The replacement water is not provided by industry or any arm of government. The water is provided through the good works of people like you and me. This water bank began after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)— i.e. Don't Expect Protection – exonerated Rex on the basis of a faulty hydrology report and Rex removed the replacement water it had been providing. The "one man" and others have been working with these families to help make them whole. That "one man" arrested is from Butler County, where 17 schools are within a mile of an active fracking site (some are within a mile of several sites, including the Woodlands). In the past couple of years, research has linked proximity to fracking (1 mile) to low birthweight, problem pregnancies, emergency cardiac admissions, migraines, asthma, and a host of other maladies. Other studies link proximity to fracking with water and air contamination and lower property values. Millions of dollars in impact fees filter into Butler County. These fees were intended to reimburse for the damage from shale extraction. However, not a penny has been expended in Butler County for any harm caused by shale extraction. Despite lobby days, rallies, lawful protests, meetings, hearings and court cases, not a single family in the Woodlands has been made whole; not a single school has been protected. So why would "one man" decide to crash a Trump fundraiser? Isn't that as bad as setting fires or
looting? Well, I am that one man. Donald Trump came to Pittsburgh to extol the virtues of shale extraction. After an industry event, he went to a private club where folks were granted special favors. If they paid $50,000, they got a private audience with Donald Trump. If they raised $25,000, they got to eat lunch with him. If they raised $2,500, they could "get on the Trump Train." If I paid for a special audience with the judge who was about to hear my case, I'm pretty certain that we could agree that I was trying to curry favors, to get a more favorable outcome for my trial. We’d all agree that was highly suspect behavior. In fact, I think we'd call it illegal. The shale industry, the rich and powerful, can buy access to politicians. Donald Trump even brags about how he does that. But the average person can’t. For the average person, $50,000 or $25,000 is a lot of money. To people like those in the Woodlands who don’t even have clean water, $2,500 is a hell of a lot of money. I considered starting a GoFundMe campaign to get an audience with Trump – but that seemed stupid. Asking people like me, a retired schoolteacher living on a pension, to kick in money to buy what should be guaranteed seemed sinful to my Catholic heart. Instead, I went with the intent to engage in lawful protest and found, when I got to the club, that the door to the fundraiser was open, that people were coming and going, that no one was telling me I had to pay to get in. So I went inside. The fact that this was a Trump event was just a nice coincidence. If this had been a high-roller Clinton fundraiser, I'm pretty certain I would have gone in there too. I take solace in the fact that what I did was not a violent expression of dissent. No property was dam-
By Michael Bagdes-Canning
aged, no fires were set, no riots started. I don't condemn riots out of hand, though. According to Dr. Martin Luther King, riots are the cry of the oppressed. The events at the DuMichael talking to police before his quesne arrest Club were nothing more than corruption – money buying influence. I can tolerate the rebukes of those who equate what I did with starting a riot or setting a fire because my friends in the Woodlands, my friends near schools, my friends in all the shalefields are oppressed and being hurt right now, and the status quo is unjust and inhumane. One man's opinion. This author is a Green Party Candidate for the PA House in the 64th District. He is a member of the EcoJustice Working Group and a founder member of Edgy Elders Leaving a Legacy, an activity of the Center, as well as many other groups calling for a ban on fracking and climate justice.
Cooperative Principles: Democratic Member Control By Ron Gaydos and Jeff Jaeger
Cooperatives are business enterprises that are managed and led by all of a cooperative’s workers or members rather than by top-down organization. There is no “boss”, but cooperatives have policies and procedures in place to ensure smooth operations, just like any efficient business. Democratic decision making is one of the most important pieces of the cooperative puzzle, and is one of the features that most clearly distinguishes cooperatives from conventional hierarchical businesses. Early examples in the United States include a mutual assistance agency for firefighting, utopian communities, and labor organizations. Benjamin Franklin co-founded the Union Fire Company in 1736. This was one of the first volunteer fire departments in the United States. The members wrote the rules for working together. The nine Harmonist communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York state were productive farming and craft-making communities from the early 1800’s into the 20th century. They were democratically run without hierarchy. In Philadelphia, the Knights of Labor started as a secret society of tailors finding ways to improve their working conditions. Eventually they ended the secrecy and publicly fought for the eight-hour work day, abolition of child labor, and equal pay for equal work. By 1886 the Knights of Labor consisted of 2,600 cooperative businesses throughout the northeast with 800,000 production worker members. They gave all their members a vote on major decisions concerning their cooperative. In the late 1930’s, Spanish dictator Franco’s repression of the Basques inflicted desperate times in the Basque Country. In 1956 a priest named Jose Arizmendi organized a cooperative so that people could learn skills and make things that people needed. Their first product was a paraffin heater for cooking. Fast forward through the rest of the 1900’s and to 2016, and the Mondragon Cooperatives,
which Arizmendi founded, is a $12 billion network of 101-cooperatives employing over 62,000 workers. Workers elect their management and vote on the major decisions of each cooperative, as well as in the seven governing councils in the Mondragon Corporation. As Mondragon General Council President Inigo Ucin puts it, Mondragon is “a business model with a difference, based on inter-company cooperation, people playing a leading role and commitment to developing our environment. It’s a fair, equitable and supportive proposal, and we sum it up in our slogan ‘Humanity at Work’” In the late 19th and early 20th centuries there were cooperative manufacturing plants, department stores, and even farming communities, like Norvelt and PennCraft here in the Pittsburgh region, that were very successful. There was that cooperative tradition, but similarly, traditional corporations took a dominant role in the life and welfare of their host communities. Many communities became used to being taken care of by Big Steel, Big Coal, Big Oil, or “Big Whatever”. As the economy began to be financialized – where financial transactions across regions, the nation, and the world became more important than the production of goods – corporations stepped away from local communities and operations and became increasingly controlled from remote headquarters. Union membership also declined. Paternalistic, authoritarian management philosophies persisted, so most of us have to relearn the democratic process for decision-making at work. The Fourth River Workers Guild in Pittsburgh is a business that takes democratic decision making seriously. Fourth River is a six-member construction and permaculture landscaping company that practices a consensus-based governing process. Members are committed to arriving at decisions that every member can live and work with. Member Dave Stokes says “if we have an idea, we give it to the group, and let everyone accept, reject, or work with it.”
Fourth River and Mondragon are good modern examples of a democratic business. Each member has responsibility for their own production and an interest in the production of the whole. There is an incentive to be creative and efficient, as well as competent in many aspects of the business. Those who have a stake in the results are the ones creating those results. This all translates into that Holy Grail in business: stability. Members determine their own working conditions. Members own the company, and determine what to do with profits. Democratic member control gives cooperative members a strong sense of belonging. Ownership and leadership changes come from within and only when necessary for the good of the cooperative and its members. The triple bottom line approach (for people, planet, and profit) keeps the company focused on its business, and locally oriented and responsive, which makes the community more resilient. We’ve let our collective knowledge of democratic governance in business fade into history, but it’s coming back. We have a lot to relearn, but it’s been worth it to cooperative members. See www.PittsburghChamber.coop/events for an upcoming workshop on democratic governance in business in November. Jeff Jaeger is a member of the Steel City Soils Cooperative and a graduate of Slippery Rock University’s Master of Sustainability program. Ron Gaydos is a consultant in inclusive economic development, entrepreneurship, and organizational strategy, and a member of the Thomas Merton Center’s New Economy Campaign. Jeff and Ron are Co-Founders of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Cooperatives. (www.PittsburghChamber.coop) November 2016
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Of Pipelines and People Fractivist Among the Frackers For two days in September, I went "through the looking glass," to attend the fracking industry's annual "Shale Insight" conference and trade show. My friends and colleagues from Marcellus Protest and the Thomas Merton Center's Environmental Justice project were gathering in the street to oppose the drillers. But, inside the Convention Center, I was hearing David Spigelmyer, Rich Fitzgerald and Donald Trump (among lesser dignitaries) extol the virtues of natural gas extraction. No recording or photographs were allowed. But I came away with these impressions, of how people on the other side talk about themselves -- and about us -- when they're securely among their own kind: First, the fracking industry sees itself losing ground on the battlefield of public opinion. Fundamentally, the conference was as scripted as a pep rally to fire-up natural gas operators, suppliers and political supporters. Again and again, the speakers repeated the mantra, "We have to do a better job of telling our story." In one plenary session, titled "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels," audience members were divided on the question, "Does our industry's public relations effort actually do more harm than good?" In another breakout room, panelists offered advice on identifying and grooming local fracking advocates, urging industry reps to "Make a friend before you need one." Another panelist led with the rhetorical question "Why do they [residents attending town hall meetings] hate us?" Then, without addressing fracking's history of adverse economic, environmental, and public health consequences, he too concluded that the industry suffers from timidity in public rela-
tions. Proposed remedies for community opposition went beyond mere persuasion, however. The Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) used a breakout session on “Local Government Challenges” to float its new strategy. PIOGA proposes to encourage and participate in impeachment proceedings, and even criminal prosecutions, against municipal officials who vote for restrictions on drilling. An attorney from Babst Calland added that many office-holders "welcome" her professional services to "educate" them on the perils of local regulation. A second impression from the conference was its resounding silence on the subject of climate change. Rather, fracking's opponents were consistently dismissed as "radicals," as inexplicably malicious or irrational crazies. Not a single speaker mentioned climate change, even as a straw-man argument to be rebutted. Nor were climate concerns ever acknowledged as a possible motive -- even as, arguably, an unreasonable motive -- for public misgivings about their industry. A third observation was one point on which fractivists (had any been on the podium) might have agreed with the conference speakers: Massive expansion of gas transportation infrastructure has become the make-or-break issue for future industry success. Under the catch-phrase "getting the product to market," presenters walked through their plans for billions of dollars worth of new pipelines and export terminals. On the one hand, it was argued, would-be consumers are in dire need of ever-larger supplies of gas. On the other, drillers and leaseholders are suffering for lack of "takeaway" capaci-
By John Detwiler
ty. Regulatory approvals, and right-of-way acquisitions (including eminent domain proceedings) will need to be "streamlined" to bring the natural gas economy to the next level, speakers urged. Finally, the Shale Insight conference was almost eclipsed by its election-year context. For his part, our County Executive's two appearances were carefully nonpartisan, as Mr. Fitzgerald constrained his remarks to welcoming and applauding the visitors. But Republican candidates from all three of the “hosting" states (Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) expounded aggressively pro-business, antiregulatory and anti-environmental messages. More than one summed-up their position as "Don't be complacent! Don't wait for another Democratic administration to do to natural gas what the Obama administration has done to coal!" The conference climaxed with the closing address by Donald Trump, who came on after lecternthumping warmup speeches from two of his surrogates. "You are going to love Donald Trump," said Mr. Trump. Then he promised to end restrictions -on coal; on drilling, offshore and on public land; on pipelines; and on energy exports -- and to "let the wealth flow." Exhorting the attendees to "get out the vote," he wrapped up Shale Insight 2016 with a roar. John Detwiler is a past Board Member of the Thomas Merton Center. He is now retired from work in engineering and business, and has been active with Marcellus Protest and Protect Our Parks since 2010.
Doctrine of Discovery Continues to Bring Injustice to Native Americans
Stop Deportation of Martin EsquivelHernandez
Last month, over 20 interested Merton Center members and friends gathered at the Center to view the 2015 documentary, “The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking The Domination Code”. The film presented a powerful story of historical truth, spirituality, and resistance, told on behalf of the original nations and peoples of Great Turtle Island (North America), and elsewhere on Mother Earth. It laid out in graphic detail the religious reasoning behind Christianity’s takeover and subjugation of the first inhabitants of North America and how those themes continue to be played out today. The film invites its viewers to support the efforts of the Indigenous Law Institute, which initiated a global campaign to request that the Pope revoke the Papal Edict of May 4, 1493 that set into motion the domination system. To contact the Indigenous Law Institute, call Steven T. Newcomb at 619-618-9346 or write to him at P.O. Box 188, Alpine, CA 91903 or by email at stv4newcomb@yahoo.com One of the viewers also recommended the film be shown in local universities. To reserve the DVD from the Merton Center for viewing by more audiences, call us at 412 -361-3022. We were joined at the event by David Smith, a Native American, who explained the history and provided an update of the confrontation of the Standing Rock Sioux and anti-drilling activists from all over the world with those constructing the Dakota Ac-
After living for over four years in Pittsburgh with his family, Martin Esquivel-Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant, is now in prison, charged by federal officials in the US District Court of Western Pennsylvania with felony illegal re-entry. Martín has no criminal record. He has spent his years in the Pittsburgh area volunteering for local Latinx community groups, advocating for better Spanish-language services at Pittsburgh schools, and fighting for other immigrant rights, all while working in the residentialconstruction industry. He
By Joyce Rothermel
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cess Pipeline Project in North Dakota. Several of those attending noted the solidarity we share here in southwestern Pennsylvania, where fracking is causing many harmful effects to the earth and ground water. David recommended donations to the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), noting that resolution of the situation will come through the courts. Those gathered provided $165 which has been forwarded to the LDF. See the list below of ways you can show your support. Joyce Rothermel serves on the Thomas Merton Center Membership Committee, which hosts many TMC potluck suppers.
is fighting his charges. The Merton Center is a part of the coalition to stop Martin’s deportation and support Martin and his family. You can help by joining the interfaith prayer vigils outside the US Federal Courthouse at 700 Grant Street downtown each Friday from noon to 12:30 PM to bring Martin home to his family in Pittsburgh, instead of the forprofit prison where he sits under threat of deportation. You can also sign the online petition and learn more by going to https:// keeptheesquivelfamilytogether.com
Activist Reports The Impact of Pope Francis, According to Robert Mickens By Joyce Rothermel
Since his leadership as the head of the Roman Catholic Church began, Pope Francis I has maintained a very high profile and influence throughout the globe, far beyond those who identify as Roman Catholic. We have an opportunity to learn more about the impact of Pope Francis this month by coming to hear Robert Mickens when he speaks on “The Impact of Pope Francis on the Church in Rome, the Bishops around the World and the People in the Pews” on Monday, November 7 at 7 PM at the Kearns Spirituality Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd. in Allison Park (adjacent to LaRoche College). Robert Mickens is a Rome-based journalist, where he has lived since 1986. He has been reporting and commenting on the Vatican and the Catholic Church for the past three decades. He is now the editor of Global Pulse, an online magazine launched in 2014 by the Union of Catholic Asian News in collaboration with the French daily, La Croix, and the U.S. bi-weekly, Commonweal. The site features his “Letter from Rome” each week. His column, “A Roman Observer,” can be read twice a month in The National Catholic Reporter. He has long been a Vatican-affairs analyst for the BBC in the United Kingdom, ABC in Australia and National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States.
From these unique vantage points, along with his first-hand experiences of 11 years at the Vatican Radio (1989-2000) and 13 years as the Rome correspondent for the Tablet International (2001-2014), Mickens will share his observations about Pope Francis’ pervasive impact on the church and its people. Mickens studied philosophy at the Benedictine-run St Meinrad College in Indiana and theology at the Jesuit -run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The fee for the upcoming talk is $20. Preregistrations can be made by sending $20 to the Association of Pittsburgh Priests at P.O. Box 2106, Pittsburgh, PA 15230. Participants can also register at the door the evening of the talk. The final speaker in this year’s series will be Tina Whitehead, whose topic is “Seeing the Other,” on Monday, Dec. 5. For more information and questions, contact Fr. John Oesterle at 412-232-7512 or johnoesterle2@gmail.com You are also invited to visit www.associationofpittsburghpriests.com Joyce Rothermel serves as the Chair of the Church Renewal Committee of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests.
Let the Quarks Fall Where They May If it's true, as astronomers aver, that there are more stars in the "heavens" than grains of sand on all the beaches of the world, that gives a clue to the phenomenon of Donald Trump as a viable candidate for President of the United States. Far fetched? Hear me out. In the 13.7 billion years after the Big Bang occurred, our universe of billions upon billions of galaxies, each with billions and billions of stars and planets, evolved. A MACRO-WORLD of gravity, electro-magnetic and other forces, so vast and incomprehensible that it is difficult for most earthbound minds to grasp. The physical laws governing all the planetary activity are encapsulated in Albert Einstein's (1879-1955) "e=mc square" formula. Almost as difficult to comprehend is how a volatile, blustering, narcissistic human personality such as Donald Trump could emerge as the political champion of millions of an intelligence-evolved human species. Einstein doesn't help us much in understanding this, though he does set the stage. But wait! Two other brilliant scientists came along to further astound us - but also point us towards the resolution of our big question: How the Trump phenomenon came to be ? Max Planck (1858 -1947) and Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) went the other way, so to speak. They studied the MICRO -WORLD of unbelievably minute sub-atomic particles in the atom's nucleus and originated a new set of physical laws that govern this micro world, called QUANTUM PHYSICS. (see ***below) Don't feel bad if you don't understand it. Most scientists don't either. Indeed. Heisenberg proved that you can't even physically observe what
is happening with these tiny little sub-atomic "hickey-quarks" because they change positions and jump all over the place while you’re trying to figure them out. Heisenberg called this the UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, Sound familiar? Does this strike a chord? Does it remind you of someone? Does he have a florid face and dyed blond, mopsy hair and three wives? Aha! You're getting the picture. To explain and prove the astounding physical reality he found in the micro-world, Heisenberg had to call upon something more than traditional techniques and equipment. So he turned to higher mathematics and the LAWS OF PROBABILITY. So must we similarly direct our efforts beyond traditional methods of political analysis and likewise invoke the laws of probability to understand the bizarre things currently occurring in our political world. And to guide and console us in our quest, we have a modern day exemplar who was hit hard with the laws of probability "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" laments Humphrey Bogart (as Rick Blaine), saloon proprietor in the movie "Casablanca". What was the probability of this happening, "Rick" is asking (sobbing) in effect. "Yes," you say, “but that was a movie and wasn't real. Our situation is a lot more serious, even dire. We are really scared. -- on all the orbs circling all the stars of all the galaxies in all the possible universes, Trump drops into ours." I hear you saying., “This guy could be PRESIDENT! - finger on the nuclear button, etc." Okay, okay; Maybe you don't know it, but in that Bogielike lament you are very close to hitting the cosmic
By Robert Jedrzejewski
nail on the head. So, here's how the whole thing happened. By chance, according to the laws of probability, there was generated in one of the innumerable universes with all the trillion-billion stars and planets, on a tiny orb hurtling around an average-sized star in a medium-sized galaxy, a Trump creature and tens of millions of otherwise intelligent people who temporarily lost their heads. It's something new and strange - totally! Like Quantum Physics. Only this is QUANTUM POLITICS. It was bound to happen and be discovered -(the author's self-congratulatory "ahem" is heard in the background). It's all confirmed by higher math and the laws of probability. But take heart. Just as Humphrey Bogart (Rick Blaine) and his erstwhile squeeze, Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund) in the end received some solace in the memory that they would "always have Paris" we too can have our consolation: It will come to pass on November 8th, election day, when we and other tens of millions of intelligent humans will have the opportunity to affect the laws of probability, and bid the Trump nightmare "adieu" forever by our vote. Then we can gently fist-cluck the chin of the loved one cuddling next to us and say warmly, like Bogie: "Here's looking at you, kid." ***The basic principle of Quantum Physics is that energy is emitted not as a continuum, or a continuously variable entity, but rather in discrete units, or tiny bundles, called Quanta, the plural of 'Quantum, Latin- how much.
Robert Jedrzejewski is a retired college instructor of Philosophy, Theology and Literature.
“The Children are Okay, Everyone is Okay…But We Have Lost Everything” By Joyce Rothermel
Last month, Hurricane Matthew brought death and devastation in its path and to no place more than in Haiti. We offer to readers of The NewPeople a way to help some of the people in Haiti who seek our support at this time. The Haiti Solidarity Committee, once a project of the Thomas Merton Center, established Partners in Progress (PIP), supporting rural sustainable development in Haiti, in 1999. Since then PIP has partnered with the people of the rural area of Fondwa, about 30 miles south of Portau-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The day after Hurricane Matthew tore through Haiti, Mike Neumann, PIP’s Executive Director learned that no one in Fondwa had lost their lives but much of what they have been building up in Haiti is gone again (lost just years earlier in Haiti’s
2010 earthquake). Here is Mike’s report: “Yesterday evening (October 5), I spoke with Sr. Claudette of the Sisters of St. Antoine in Fondwa. She was thankful to report that the children of Fatima House Orphanage and the Sisters are safe and that there was no loss of life in Fondwa. However, the plywood dormitory the Sisters have been living in since the earthquake and the chapel were completely destroyed!” Trees and crops have been destroyed throughout the area. This will have an extremely detrimental impact on this community’s ability to feed itself in the months ahead. In addition, one of our Haitian friends, Fito Gourdet, helped by the Haiti Solidarity when he first moved to Pittsburgh after fleeing Haiti for his life following the 1991 coup, has learned that both of his
sons and his brother lost the roofs over their heads in Haiti. He is also seeking help on their behalf. If you would like to make a donation to help rebuilding and recovery efforts in Fondwa, you can do so by going to: https:// donatenow.networkforgood.org/PIPHaiti or by sending a check payable to Partners in Progress to 2213 Brownsville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15210. For more information go to www.PIPHaiti.org or call (412)668-3353. (Checks for Fito’s family can also be made to Partners in Progress and writing “Fito’s Family” on the memo section of the check.)
Thank you!
November 2016
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Sunday
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Rock Against the TPP 6-11 PM Mr Smalls 400 Lincoln Ave Millvale
TMC Interfaith Retreat Feat. Art McDonald
TMC Interfaith Retreat Feat. Art McDonald
November 2016 Regular Meetings 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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APP Speaker Series feat. Robert Mickens 7-9 PM Kearns Spirituality Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd
Election Day
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Pittsburgh Housing Summit University of Pittsburgh Frick Fine Arts Building
Pittsburgh Housing Summit University of Pittsburgh Frick Fine Arts Building
Pittsburgh Housing Summit University of Pittsburgh Frick Fine Arts Building
Dorothy Day’s Birthday
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Pittsburgh Housing Summit University of Pittsburgh Frick Fine Arts Building
44th Annual Thomas Merton Award Dinner Honoring Frida Berrigan 6:00 PM Sheraton Station Square
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Wednesdays:
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Shale & Public Health Conference 8:30 AM – 5:00PM Pitt University Club 123 University Pl
Driving Systemic Change in Communities with Naomi Davis 5:30—7 PM Hill House Kaufmann Center 1824 Centre Ave
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Darfur Coalition Meeting 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Meeting Room C Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill 412-784-0256 Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) 1st Wednesdays, 7-8pm, First Unitarian Church, Ellsworth & Morewood Avenues, Shadyside Pittsburghers for Public Transit 2nd Wednesday, 7pm, 1 Smithfield St., lower level
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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
Board Ballots Due
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Bridge Builder Transgender Day for Peace & Justice Award of Dinner Hon. Rememberance Cong Mike Doyle 5:30-7:30 Atria’s at PNC Park, Federal Street
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1998—7,000 march on School of the Americas– 2319 arrested
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Thanksgiving TMC Closed
International day for Elimination of Violence Against Women
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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
TMC Closed
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SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 3rd 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 Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILP) 2nd Monday, 7:00 PM Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave Amnesty International #39 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm First Unitarian Church, Morewood Ave. 15219
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1995– Criminologists predict youth crime wave y “radically impulsive, brutally remorseless” black male “superpredators,” leading to laws that expose thousands of kids to adult prosecution
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Saturdays: 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 3rd Saturday at 11:00 am at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224
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In addition to supporting our projects, the Thomas Merton Center is currently:
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Advocating for affordable housing in Pittsburgh with Pittsburgh UNITED Advocating for Martin Esquivel-Hernandez’s release from a for-profit-prison after being detained
by I.C.E. on May 2nd 2016.
Working toward city-wide divestment of fossil fuels. Partnering with the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh to combat Islamophobia in Pittsburgh
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November 2016
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