Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center
PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 44 No. 8, September 2014
Washington County Judge Challenges “Corporate Personhood” by Charles McCollester In an important 2013 decision, Washington PA Court of Common Pleas Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca eloquently attacked the dangerous judicial doctrine of corporate personhood. This doctrine underlies the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” and other decisions eliminating democratic safeguards against the corruption of the political process by unlimited political contributions. O’DellSeneca’s decision forcefully struck at the claims of individual privacy rights for corporations and the resulting veil of secrecy that is being spread over the corruption of the democratic process by
the ultra wealthy. The case involved the sealing of court records in the case of the Hallowich family in their dispute with Range Resources over the construction of compressor stations and a wastewater pond adjacent to their home in Washington County. Their well water began to be contaminated with a wide range of toxics including toluene, acetone, benzene and other volatile organic chemicals. The family of four began suffering nosebleeds, skin rashes, nausea and headaches. Their lawsuit against Range Resources et al and the Pennsylvania Department of
World’s Most Dangerous Militant Group by Andrew Karl In the wake of a rapid campaign across northern Iraq, security analysts have described the Islamic State, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as the most dangerous militant group in the world. Too brutal even for al-Qaeda, their fanaticism has been showcased in reports of mass executions, beheadings, religious persecution, and torture. More alarming, however, is the disciplined organization the group has demonstrated in this summer’s attacks on Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.
The group has carved out a quasi-state roughly the size of Portugal and is almost entirely internally funded. Expert analysis indicates that the Islamic State’s revenue stream from oil and gas resources alone, an estimated $3 million daily, outpaces corporate giants like Amazon and Microsoft. To put this into perspective, al-Qaeda had a budget of roughly $30 million a year prior to 9/11; analysts believe ISIS currently holds $2 billion in cash and other assets.
Environmental Protection led to a $750,000 settlement that included a gag order that covered the couple’s two children, ages 7 and 10, for their entire lives. A lawsuit was brought before the Court of Common Pleas in Washington County by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other media companies demanding the opening of court records and asserting the public’s right to know about issues impacting the public health. In its defense, Range Resources denied that the freedom of the press was involved because the press’s “mere curiosity in this private matter is in no
way protected by the First Amendment or the common law of this Commonwealth.” In addition, Range Resources’ lawyer asserted that unsealing the court record on the agreement would violate the Pennsylvania Constitution, “because this Court would be violating their rights of property.” Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca addressed the question of whether a right of privacy for businesses exists. After a review of relevant cases concerning sealed records and the right to privacy, she penetrated the heart of the matter.
Statement of the Thomas Merton Center on the Crisis in Gaza Aug. 22, 2014 The Board of the Thomas Merton Center joins with people around the world seeking peace with justice for the people of Gaza, the Occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. In accordance with the Center's core value of nonviolence, we call upon the leaders of the Israeli government, supported by the military might and taxpayer money of the United States, and the leadership of Hamas to agree to an immediate, just and lasting cease-fire. We also call for an end to the blockade of Gaza which has made these suffering people to be imprisoned and cutoff from the outside world.
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Fast Food Worker Fights for $15 by Ginny Cunningham and the front counter or For a few months, taking food from the Christopher Kumanchik, assembly line and 21, worked two bagging it. “What you minimum wage jobs at see from your car is an fast food outlets. That illusion,” he says. “If the meant his alarm sounded walls were transparent, at 4:45 a.m., before the you would see constant buses set out on their movement, speed, people routes Without taking making and assembling time for breakfast, he multiple food items at walked three miles to once; and always, his first job, saving the Christopher Kumanchik, a someone is running to the volunteer recruiter for the Fight $2.50 bus fare he would for $15 campaign for low wage freezer for what they’ve spend if it weren’t so run out of.” fast food workers. Photo by Ginny Cunningham. early. At the end of his shift at At the drive-through 2 p.m, Chris has a 15window of the fast food outlet, his minute dash to the bus stop and a bus headset on for the 6 a.m. opening, Chris ride to another fast food outlet where his simultaneously takes orders from the shift begins at 3 p.m. and ends at 10:30. cars at the speakers while delivering After leaving work, he heads again for orders and making change for the cars at the bus that will drop him a mile from the pickup window, mindful of company home. He’ll arrive home between 11:30 policy that workers speak to customers and midnight, eat, shower and finally within four seconds, take orders within crawl back to bed between 12:30 and 1 20 seconds and give change at the a.m., only to begin again in less than four pickup window within 10 seconds. hours. When rush hour is fully underway an (continued on page 10) hour or so later, you “speed up,” Chris says, making drinks for drive-throughs
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Thomas Merton Center 2014 Award Dinner Honors Jeremy Scahill The Anti-War Committee and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition would like to invite you to attend the 2014 Thomas Merton Award Dinner. Jeremy Scahill, investigative journalist, National Security Correspondent for The Nation, and author of New York Times Best Seller
Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, will receive the Thomas Merton Award for his work in shedding light on unjust military power structures. November 12, 6:00 P.M. Sheraton Station Square Hotel 300 W. Station Square Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 To RSVP, please call (412) 361-3022 or visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org
In this issue: Massacre by Drone: Scahill to speak out in Pittsburgh —Page 6 Palestine: Uncompromising Resistance —Page 7 Ukraine Divided —Page 9 October Retreat Opportunity for Peacemakers —Page 11 Climate Change Action: The Time is Now —Page 12
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.
September 2014
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Book‘Em: Books to Prisoners Project bookempgh@gmail.com www.bookempgh.org Capital’s End 724-388-6258, iamholtz@iup.edu CodePink: Women for Peace francineporter@aol.com, 412-389-3216 www.codepink4peace.org East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010, shawnapgh@aol.com
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www.fightforliferswestinc.com Formerly Convicted Citizens Dean Williams (412) 295-8606 Harambee Ujima/Diversity Footprint Twitter @HomewoodNation Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up (prisoner support and advocacy) 412-802-8575, hrcfedup@gmail.com www.prisonerstories.blogspot.com Marcellus Shale Protest Group melpacker@aol.com 412-243-4545
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Table of Contents Page 1 Judge Challenges “Corporate Personhood” World’s Most Dangerous Militant Group Statement of TMC on the Crisis in Gaza Fast Food Worker Fights for $15 TMC Award Dinner Honors Jeremy Scahill Page 3 The Rebellion in “Fergustan” SURVIVAL in Pelican Bay The Big Deal about an Open Internet Page 4 Why Immigrants Flee Central America Cartoon by Russ Fedorka Non Partisan Voter Registration Page 5 Judge Challenges “Corporate Personhood” Prisoners make 19 to 51 cents per hour Let's Bring Single Payer Health Care to PA September is Hunger Action Month 2 - NEWPEOPLE
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CeaseFirePA
Global Solutions Pittsburgh 412-471-7852 dan@globalsolutionspgh.org www.globalsolutionspgh.org
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org
To Submit an Event to the TMC Calendar:
The Black Political Empowerment Project Tim Stevens 412-758-7898
Environmental Justice Committee
Pittsburgh Campaign for Democracy NOW! 412-422-5377, sleator@cs.cmu.edu www.pcdn.org
Visit www.newpeoplenews.org/submit
The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org
www.ceasefirepa.org
412-512-1709
To Submit Articles, Photos, or Poems:
Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org www.amnestypgh.org
Economic Justice Committee drohanmichael@yahoo.com
Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance
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! See page 17 for more information, and please don’t hesitate to contact us at (412) 361-6010 and ask for Shirley or Shawna, or stop in at 5123 Penn Avenue.
Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750 B.a.finch@att.net
School of the Americas Watch W. PA 412-271-8414 drohanmichael@yahoo.com Shalefield Stories 412-422-0272 brigetshields@gmail.com Stop Sexual Abuse in the Military 412-361-3022 hildebrew@aol.com Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group 724-837-0540 lfpochet@verizon.net Who’s Your Brother? 412-328-2301 support@whosyourbrother.com
Page 6 2014 Peace Prize Awarded to CODEPINK Massacre by Drone World's Most Dangerous Militant Group Page 7 Palestine: Uncompromising Resistance Statement of TMC on the Crisis in Gaza International Day of Peace Festival Page 8 Students and Workers Protest Xerox Partners in Progress Leadership Change U.S. Escalates War Against Cuba Page 9 Spoiling for War: U.S. v Russia Ukraine Divided FIFTY Page 10 Fast Food Worker Fights for $15 UMWA Leaders Swim with Peabody Energy
PA United for a Single-Payer Health Care www.healthcare4allPA.org www.PUSH-HC4allPa.blogspot.com 2102 Murray Avenue Pgh, Pa 15217 412-421-4242 Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi 412-761-4319 Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition 412-303-1247 lisacubasi@aol.com Pittsburgh Independent Media Center info@indypgh.org www.indypgh.org North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition 412-369-3961 www.northhillscoalition.com Pittsburgh North People for Peace 412-367-0383 pnpp@verizon.net Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org Raging Grannies 412-963-7163 eva.havlicsek@gmail.com
www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com
Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com SW PA Bread for the World Donna Hansen 412-812-1553 United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org Veterans for Peace kevinbharless@yahoo.com 252-646-4810 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net
TMC is a Member of: Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network 412-621-9230 office@piin.org Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Martha Connelly 412-361-7872, osterdm@earthlink.net
Labor Organizer Joe Hill’s Centenary Page 11 Rev. Barber on Moral Language and Labor A Retreat Opportunity for Peacemakers APP Announces Fall 2014 Speakers Series Page 12 Shalefield Stories: Front Lines of Fracking Climate Change Action: The Time is Now Page 13 Public Banking Q and A Page 14 Mark Dixon Appointed to TMC Board We Remember Rev. Neil McCaulley Thomas Merton: Author, Activist, Mystic Page 15 Classifieds Page 16 September Activist Calendar
Justice Today The Rebellion in “Fergustan”
SURVIVAL: WHAT SURVIVAL IS
op-ed by Pete Shell "HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT" This is the rallying cry of the movement for —by Bambari S. Kelly Andersen RIP justice for the unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown, who was murdered by police Michael Survival is being spiritually and mentally filled by the officer Darren Wilson on August 9th in (Mike) Angels of Justice fighting the fight for our liberation Ferguson, Missouri. That murder, and the Brown from Pelican Bay SHU. subsequent militaristic attacks on people protesting it, has enraged the nation and the Survival is possessing the intellect to know when the world, and recalls for me the trauma of the Gpsych comes into the housing unit to ask the mentally un20 riot-police assault on our democratic rights stable if they need a psych line, and you realize how in Pittsburgh in 2009. But I also feel that the ridicu-lous he sounds — you’re surviving. activists who are bravely rallying are shining a Survival is waking up in the morning, in a sound light on crucial problems that need to be mind, realizing that one was not killed during the night or addressed in Ferguson. Indeed, this has turned moved to some unknown destination. whenever there are allegations of police into a teachable moment for the U.S. at large. Survival is hearing one’s neighbor laughing out loud It's not only the murder of Michael Brown but brutality because of the built-in conflict of be-cause his son or daughter received a good grade in interest that DAs have. also the decades of rampant racial profiling, school or a great report card. The militarization of Ferguson -- and of police brutality and injustice against the Black forces nationally -- is a threat to our democracy. community that have sparked mass Survival is when one can assist his neighbor in his demonstrations in Ferguson. Many activists are The ACLU recently reported that the time of need, no matter what his racial, political, or Department of Defense increased the flow of calling this suburb of St. Louis "Fergustan" cultural views may be. because the war-like machinery and tactics the surplus weaponry to police departments from $1 Survival is hearing one’s neighbor call out to make million in 1990 to $450 million in 2013! police are raining down on the people there sure the man is not taking advantage of one, and to let the The people of Ferguson have captured the parallel the war in Afghanistan. man know you’re not alone. attention, sympathy, and inspiration of the The mostly young brothers and sisters in Survival is being able to state to oneself that I have Ferguson have every right to feel outrage at the world, because they are standing bravely for made it through another day — without being killed, their democratic rights in the face of a massive indiscriminate attacks and now a traumatic beaten half to death or made to stand in a shower or show of force. They hit a nerve because the occupation of their community. The de facto holding cell naked, hand-cuffed for hours (for not violent racism they exposed in Ferguson is both imposition of martial law -- by imposing a moving fast enough, or hav-ing the wrong look, not using curfew, using tanks, the infamous LRAD (Long proof and a symbol of the continuing social the right words, or for speak-ing out on injustices) — disease of racism and police brutality in our -Range Acoustic Device), as well as other having one’s dignity at the end of the day still intact to military hardware and tactics, and calling out the society. fight another day. The chronic police murders and other crimes national guard -- reminds me of the de facto against Black and Brown people represents a And giving thanks to whatever God one might believe martial law imposed on us in Pittsburgh for two state of national emergency. Ongoing silence in, before closing one’s eyes for sleep. days during the G-20 summit in 2009. Fortunately for us, the martial law was over after and the inaction of white people means that the the summit ended. But the nightmare of having oppression and killing of people of color will You smile because you have survived another day at your constitutional rights stripped away and the continue. It's the responsibility of those of us Pelican Bay. with white skin privilege to learn about, speak outrage of feeling occupied in retaliation for out, and act out against racism. trying to exercise your constitutional rights Bambari S. Kelly Andersen is a prisoner in California. continues for the people of Ferguson. This piece was originally published in the American Pete Shell is a member of the Anti-War By standing their ground in the face of a Friends Service Committee’s “Survivor’s Manual.” Committee of the Thomas Merton Center. massive police terror in their town, the spontaneously organized protestors have exposed the oppressive mission and behavior of the police. The police have also been harassing, and sometimes arresting, the media. They even raided by Ginny Cunningham “Paid prioritization” opens the door to commercial entities. St. Marks Church, which had become a Is email one of your modes of a system that would ‘package’ access to, Comcast, Verizon and AT&T refuge and medical aid station for communication with family, friends and for instance, Netflix, gaming, FaceBook, vehemently oppose Title II protesters who had been injured by tear legislators? Do you use Skype to email, Skype, YouTube, etc., separately reclassification, claiming it would allow gas. A pastor was shot while trying to communicate with siblings, parents or or in various bundles, each of which “unprecedented government mediate between the cops and protestors. grandchildren who live at a distance? would come with a price. Currently, you micromanagement of all aspects of the What also hits home for me is the Do you post links on Facebook about pay one price to a service provider for Internet economy.” Proponents insist demonization of protestors by the issues of concern to you? Do you read all access. Title II is necessary to ensure that strong corporate media, instead of asking why out-of-town newspapers online? Do you The Motherboard website reported Open Internet protections are in place. they're protesting. The media focuses on use Hulu or similar sites to watch that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, -- and exaggerates -- looting, but what movies or television series at your in a response to a letter from David Ginny Cunningham is a member of the has been really going on in Ferguson is a convenience? Do you have a website? Segal, executive director of Demand editorial collective. rebellion against years and years of Do you unwind by playing video games Progress, a liberal advocacy group, has brutality and repression by a mostly on the Internet? “strongly and publicly supported net white police force against a Black If you participate daily, weekly or neutrality” since population. In fact, captain Ron Johnson monthly in any of these now 2006. This July 29 of the Missouri Highway Patrol admitted commonplace activities, you might want announcement, recently that only a "tiny minority" of to add to the comments that more than along with Reid’s protesters had been arrested for one million people have made to the historical stance, becoming violent or looting. Federal Communications Commission provides notice When people feel that police are about the direction it will take on its that Open Internet exercising their authority unfairly, when Open Internet policy. (www.fcc.gov/ has a powerful ally people are backed into a corner and comments) in Congress. treated so unjustly that it starts to look At issue is a proposal to reclassify Advocates cite like apartheid and Palestine, social unrest broadband service under Title II of the many substantive and rebellion happens. It's unfortunate Communications Act to give the FCC reasons to support that mainstream white society doesn't greater authority to ensure that an open internet, hear the cries for justice until things get broadband providers don’t block or including its to the boiling point. Hopefully society discriminate against online services. A potential for will pay attention now and make real 2010 federal court ruling struck down education, changes so that such tragedies don't most of the agency’s open internet information, happen again. order. Subsequently, FCC Chairman communications, They can start by arresting and fully Tom Wheeler proposed new rules that and innovation and Without an open internet, you might see this pop-up message prosecuting Darren Wilson. A special would pave the way to “paid to decry the threat when you try to access your favorite websites or tools. Photo by prosecutor should be appointed Ginny Cunningham. prioritization.” of co-option by
What's the Big Deal about an Open Internet?
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Citizenship Why Immigrants are Fleeing Central America by Michael Drohan In 1954, the democratically elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbentz, was overthrown in Guatemala by a military coup organized by the CIA. Guatemala had been enjoying a democratic spring since 1946 after decades of military rule and oppression. The reasons for the overthrow were bananas, United Fruit and the Dulles brothers. John Foster Dulles was Secretary of State, his brother Allen was head of the CIA, and both had connections to United Fruit Company. President Arbentz had advocated the nationalization of thousands of acres of land that United Fruit was not using and distribution of it to the landless of Guatemala. That was the crime for which he was deposed by the CIA, and there ensued in Guatemala four decades of military oppression and criminality. The Mayan people suffered particularly with more than 100,000 of their number cut down by the military. Poverty and misery for the greater part of the population made life intolerable. This is part of the deep background for the influx of immigrants into the U.S. which we are experiencing today, but which we are unlikely to hear about in the news infotainment circus. If we fast forward to 2009, another coup took place in Honduras, where President Manuel Zelaya was deposed on June 28, 2009. Zelaya was elected in 2005, took office on Jan 27, 2006 and had a progressive agenda of combating drugs, crime and poverty. He built alliances with Raul Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, neither of which endeared him to Washington. Wikileaks released a document containing the cable of the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras at the time, Hugo Lorens. This cable revealed that the Ambassador and the U.S. knew of the coup being planned but did nothing to alert the Zelaya government. Since Zelaya’s overthrow, crime and violence in Honduras has gone off the charts.
Honduras is now the principal route for drugs from South America to the U.S. Rather infamously it has become the murder capital of the world. It would be wrong to blame all the social ills and crime in Honduras on the regimes that succeeded the Zelaya Presidency, but they certainly are a factor. Honduras has been, for over a century, the typical “banana republic” as it was dominated by United Fruit and the military leaders it favored. It was also the base which the U.S. used in training the “Contras” who tried to overthrow the Sandanista government of Nicaragua in the 1980s. We cannot understand the stream of refugees from Honduras today towards the U.S. border without this context of violence, crime and poverty which we played no small part in creating. The third country contributing to the uptick in immigrants at the Mexican border is El Salvador. The violence and crime that permeates this country cannot be underestimated. In a visit I made to that country a few years ago, it was amazing to see how any modest home had to be fortified with barbed wire on top of the walls and electric fences above that to provide security. In the 1980s and 1990s the army, many of whose top brass had been trained in the School of the Americas, Ft. Benning, Georgia, committed many massacres against the peasantry and poor people who were demanding justice. The best known crimes were the El Mozote massacre of a thousand men, women and children, the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980 and of six Jesuit defenders of the people in 1989. Although the military has now receded to its barracks, the legacy of these decades is the present situation of crime, drugs and poverty. Another twist in the massive influx of refugee immigrant children to the U.S. is the export of gang bangers and criminals back to El Salvador from the U.S. in the 1990s. In 1996 Congress passed the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
cartoon by Russ Fedorka
Reform Responsibility Act,” which allowed law enforcement officers to deport migrants for crimes such as shoplifting and even speeding. Petty criminals made in the USA then became major crime figures back home, terrorizing the citizenry. In confronting the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border, with so many children seeking escape from violence, crime and poverty, which we had no small part in creating, being treated as less than human is disgraceful. Politicians, by and large, use this human
tragedy as a political football and the media provide little context for us to understand how we have contributed as a nation to this heart-rending tragedy. Michael Drohan is a member of the editorial collective and the board of the Thomas Merton Center.
Helping Everyone Vote: Non Partisan Voter Registration Opportunities by Kenneth Miller Thank Ron Bandes and Votes Allegheny for the preparation of an Election Calendar for The New People each month (see page 15). We all need to be reminded of voter registration deadlines and when elections are being held, and we need to be reminded every month. We need to exercise all of our rights under the law. Given that we don’t have enough rights, it’s important we don’t abdicate those that we do have. We encourage readers to convince people to register before Monday, October 6, and then to vote on November 4. Make a list of people you know, family members, people with whom you work and go to school. A visit to the PA Secretary of State’s website allows you to check if those family and friends are registered to vote and how frequently they have voted in previous elections. If you register someone to vote, you should later verify that their correct information has been added to the voter file. The Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) and the Black and White Reunion (BWR) can assist in 4 - NEWPEOPLE
soliciting voter registration forms in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and at each of the Community College of Allegheny County’s four campuses. Call Lorraine Cross, B-PEP Civic Engagement Coordinator, at 412-758-2056, or call BWR's Bob Maddock at 412-322-9275. To help someone register to vote, become familiar with the voter registration form. “That question is asking for your County, not your Country.” “Do you know what municipality you live in?” The best voter registration volunteers have maps of Allegheny County with them and suggest registrants use a blue pen. “Are you registered to vote at your current address?” is one easy way to engage people in a conversation about voting. Sometimes people can ignore the question several times in a row, and then, you catch them on a good day, and they turn around and register to vote. It is okay to ask people several times if they are registered to vote. To help someone else register to vote, you do not have to be 18 or a U.S. citizen. When we ask “Are you registered to vote at your current address?,” some
September 2014
people are. Some people are under 18 or are not U.S. citizens. We should stop and ask them about the future of our jobs, our education and our environment, about police brutality and the August Wilson Center. We are not in such a hurry to collect voter registration forms that we don’t have time to discuss the reasons people vote and to make people under 18 and non U.S. citizens You can access the voter file, known in PA as feel like we are voting for them. SURE, via the PA Department of State's website. Some folks have been It is fast and easy to see if your co workers are discouraged from voting because registered to vote and whether or not they vote regularly. Visit www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us politicians lie and business interests wield such disproportionate power. People are often made to feel stupid or under-educated. But voting is not Kenneth Miller is a member of B-PEP something we do selfishly, like a and the Black and White Reunion and Republican elephant or a Democratic has registered a few hundred voters donkey. We vote, we cast our ballots for over the years. everyone. This is why it is important to carry copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and involve people who are under 18 and non-U.S. citizens in our election work.
Pennsylvania Justice Washington County Judge Challenges “Corporate Personhood” (continued from page 1)
The protections against unlawful search and seizure on which privacy protections are based are the domain of individual human rights. They do not apply to corporations. Businesses are “legal fictions, existing not by natural law but by operations of state statutes.... The Pennsylvania constitution vests in business entities no special rights that the laws of the Commonwealth cannot extinguish,” the judge asserted. Judge O’Dell-Seneca contrasted today’s corporate attitude with the vision of William Penn who held a proprietorship granted by the English king over the entire colony. Penn wrote in 1702: “Hardly is any Thing given for our Selves, but the Publick may claim a Share with us. But of all we call ours, we are most accountable to God and the Publick for our Estates: In this we are but Stewards, and to Hold up all to ourselves is a great Injustice as well as Ingratitude.” In the spirit of Penn, the judge continued: “...corporations, companies, and partnerships have no ‘spiritual
nature,’ ‘feelings,’ ‘beliefs,’ ‘thoughts,’ ‘emotions,’ or ‘sensations,’ because they do not exist in the manner that humankind exists.... They cannot be ‘let alone’ by government, because businesses are but grapes, ripe on the vine of the law, that the people of this Commonwealth raise, tend, and prune at their pleasure and need.” The protection and extension of individual rights vis-àvis governmental power is one of the
cornerstones of American liberty. However the judicial doctrine of corporate personhood and privacy represents a dangerous perversion of constitutional law and an assault on the public interest. The equation of money with speech is steadily eroding the rights of citizenship. Corporate free speech rights are regularly invoked to intimidate workers in union organizing campaigns, as well
as to justify the perversion of politics by financial muscle. Assertion of corporate rights to freedom of religion is increasingly used to undermine employment rights, academic freedom, and union organizing at religious institutions and private businesses. Will ingenious corporate lawyers develop arguments for corporate rights to bear arms and form militias? At the root of the erosion of human rights and civil liberties in America is the growing inequality that has shifted the balance of political power toward wealthy unelected elites. In the present context, it is indeed salutary to be reminded that “businesses are but grapes, ripe on the vine of the law, that the people of this Commonwealth raise, tend, and prune at their pleasure and need.” Charles McCollester is a labor historian, the author of The Point of Pittsburgh, and a member of the Battle of Homestead Foundation.
Don't call it a wage: Prisoners make 19 to 51 cents per hour by Marty Dunbar It is time for men and women who are incarcerated in Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections, led by Correctional Secretary John E. Wetzel to receive a ten cent pay increase. Sixty percent of the 56,000 prisoners count on their institutional job assignment in the prison system to
enable their purchase of toilet articles, snacks in the prison commissary, medication, doctor's visits, phone calls and cable television. But these assignments pay just 19 to 51 cents an hour, depending on the skill level required and only four hours of work a day are permitted. The only things a prisoner is given
without charge each year are a pair of brown boots, three sets of underwear and state browns. We are not asking for a handout but only that the millions of dollars in the Prisoners' General Welfare Fund be put to good use by giving prisoners on work assignment a ten cent an hour pay increase.
Marty Dunbar is a prisoner at SCISmithfield State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon PA. You can reach him by writing to: Marty Dunbar #CM-9649 1120 Pike Street P.O. Box 999 Huntingdon, PA 16652
Let's Bring Single Payer Health Care to PA in 2017 by Bob Mason With 2017 in sight, Health Care (HC) 4 All PA held its third quarterly strategy retreat and board meetings in State College and Bellefonte August 16 and 17. Board members and activists from around the state gathered to advance the campaign to bring single payer health care to Pennsylvania in 2 plus years. The meetings focused on the re-introduction of single payer legislation in 2015, solidifying relationships with other progressive organizations, utilizing social media to continue outreach and education, and fundraising to support a full time salaried executive director, a part-time organizer, and field offices. Following the meetings, Chuck Pennacchio, PhD, HC 4 All's Executive
Director, flew to Oakland, CA where he led a workshop for the annual One Payer States coalition. One Payer States (OPS) brings together the efforts of single payer organizations from 26 states. HC 4 All PA was a founding member of OPS. Chuck also participated in two other conferences that overlapped with OPS, Health Care Now (focused on federal single payer legislation), and the Labor Campaign for Single Payer. This provided a unique opportunity to share strategies for advancing the movement. HC 4 All PA's ultimate goal is to pass single payer legislation in 2016 because in 2017 the Affordable Care Act frees states to innovate in health care delivery as long as the programs meet baseline requirements. Our single payer plan
would far exceed these requirements in terms of cost, comprehensive benefits, and the number of Pennsylvanians covered. Currently there is federal legislation which will smooth the way towards this 2017 goal. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced SB 1782 that supports states wishing to establish single payer plans. Congressman Jim McDermott, from the state of Washington, has been developing legislation that would enable states to move forward with comprehensive health care legislation that includes single payer. Please contact Senators Casey (202-803-7370 or 412-803-7370) and Toomey (202-224-4254 or 412-8033501) to encourage their support for SB
1782 and your Congressman to connect with Representative McDermott. If you care about financially sustainable, comprehensive and compassionate health care please join our efforts. Find out more at www.healthcare4allpa.org. Bob Mason is the president of Health Care 4 All PA.
September is Hunger Action Month by Joyce Rothermel Every September Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks organizes a nationwide campaign aiming to mobilize the public to take action concerning the issue of hunger. The campaign brings greater attention to the
issue of hunger in America and promotes ways for individuals everywhere to get involved in the movement to solve hunger. To help the cause, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank invites all New People readers to take part in this year’s Hunger Action Month. If you are wondering what actions you can take to make a difference, here is a list of a few ways you can help be a part of the solution to end hunger nationwide. On Hunger Action Day, Thursday, September 4, 2014, help us kick off hunger action month and show your support by wearing orange! And if you think about it, change your Facebook and Twitter profiles orange for the day.
Also, Congress has an important opportunity to strengthen child nutrition programs in 2015. Especially programs that target children when they are out of school and harder to reach. Food Banks and other child hunger advocates are urging Congress to give states flexibility in how they operate summer, afterschool, and weekend programs to better reach hungry kids. Help us to spread the word! •MAKE A PLEDGE - Pledge your voice, share with others and become part of Feeding America’s advocacy team, helping to urge Congress to strengthen child nutrition programs. •SEND YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AN INVITATION Encourage your Member of Congress to
visit a child nutrition program of a local food bank. Congressional visits shine a spotlight on how federal nutrition programs make an impact in your community. •VOLUNTEER - Call the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at 412-460-3663 or Join the South Western Pennsylvania Bread for the World Team at 412-361-3022 during September and volunteer all year long. To learn more about activities planned for Hunger Action Month, visit www.pittsburghfoodbank.org Joyce Rothermel is Co-Chair of the SW PA Bread for the World Team.
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Anti-War 2014 Peace Prize Awarded to CODEPINK Women For Peace by Xinpei He The US Peace Memorial Foundation awarded its 2014 Peace Prize to CODEPINK Women for Peace “In Recognition of Inspirational Antiwar Leadership and Creative Grassroots Activism” on August 7 at The New Peace Center in Culver City, CA. Medea Benjamin (a Thomas Merton Center Peace and Justice Awardee in 2012) and Jodie Evans, co-founders of CODEPINK, accepted the plaque from Michael Knox, Chair of the Foundation. CODEPINK is the first organization to be recognized in this way by the Foundation. During the ceremony, Knox thanked CODEPINK for the efforts its members have made to end wars and promote social justice movements worldwide. He remarked, “CODEPINK is the most innovative, effective, and visible antiwar presence in the United States. Its approaches to peace and opposition to war are contemporary and receive
more media and government attention than any other peace group. CODEPINK has shown what volunteers can do with limited resources. Their service is an inspiration to the world.” Jodie Evans remarked, “What a wonderful honor for tens of thousands of women and men of CODEPINK who take action, write letters to the editor, organize locally, travel globally, and live intentionally to create a more peace filled world.” Medea Benjamin, who has received the 2014 Peace Prize in recognition of her creative leadership on the front lines of the antiwar movement, noted, “After more than a decade of perpetual war, the American people are both war weary and war wise, understanding that a military response to violence only leads to more violence.” In her remarks, she thanked The US Peace Memorial Foundation by saying, “We don't do this work for recognition, but after so many years of exhausting
work, getting this prize from the US Peace Memorial Foundation inspires us to continue our efforts to build a world where we take care of each other and our precious planet, and send the weapons-makers back to the drawing board to come up with a new set of products that are not designed to kill.” CODEPINK is a worldwide network that involves dozens of local groups throughout the U.S. and overseas. It calls on both women and men to rise up and take action to advocate for peace and social justice. As a grassroots activism organization, CODEPINK is playing a critical role to educate the general public about the importance of speaking out to stop violence. It encourages everyone to work together to build a better world of love and joy. There is a Pittsburgh chapter of CODEPINK, led by Francine Porter, who organizes that group around antiwar issues and campaigns. From Pittsburgh to Washington D.C, from
Left to right: Medea Benjamin, Michael Knox, and Jodie Evans. Photo credit the US Peace Memorial Foundation.
U.S. to Iraq and Afghanistan, let’s organize in PINK! To get more involved with our local chapter email francineporter@aol.com. Xinpei He is a former intern of the Merton Center. A MSW graduate from University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work and currently working at Alliance to Save Energy in Washington, DC.
Massacre by Drone: Scahill to speak out in Pittsburgh by Connie Totera-Hutchison Jeremy Scahill is coming to Pittsburgh! Who is he? He is a journalist, filmmaker, and author of Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield. Mr. Scahill shows us in his book and movie the reality of endless war, as the U.S. has created bases over the entire globe, and as undeclared wars are taking place without anyone's approval. How appropriate to hear his voice as we witness the dirtiest of all wars, which is not a war at all. An occupied territory that has no army, no navy, no air force, no way out was invaded by a country that has a U.S.-funded military, including a superior arsenal of weapons, not the least of which are the Israeli drones. Not a war at all: a massacre and genocide. Israel is the
leading exporter of drones in the world and their drone weaponry is the most sophisticated. Drones must be understood in the context of American imperial policy. Drones operate both in war and in domestic surveillance. They contribute to a methodology of making (illegal) war and thwarting protest at home. This methodology has serious implications for action. What role do drones play in a massacre? 1. They allow for constant surveillance which creates anguish for those being surveyed. 2. They allow for indiscriminate targeting, even though the government insists on “precise” targeting. 3. The pilots are distant from the actual fighting. 4. They decrease the need for soldiers on the ground.
5. They are popular for the invading country. 6. The victims are defenseless. 7. They allow for implementation of endless war. Join the Pittsburgh Antidrone Warfare Coalition at our community outreach every month on the last Saturday of the month to raise awareness of drone warfare. Our meetings are on the third Sunday of the month at the Thomas Merton Center at 1:00. Reserve your seat to see Jeremy Scahill on November 12. Online reservations can be placed at www.thomasmertoncenter.org/scahill. To pay by check call (412) 361-3022. Connie Totera-Hutchison is a consultant of family therapy in the Pittsburgh area.
World's Most Dangerous Militant Group (continued from page 1)
In addition to sizeable territorial control and unprecedented financial resources, the Islamic State has a highly developed public relations strategy. Recent examples include a series of videos with a strikingly high production quality, an online English-language magazine, and a resilient social media presence. Translating jihadist materials to English, French, and German, ISIS has drawn international support with recent studies estimating that more than 10,000 foreigners have taken up arms with the Islamic State – including Americans, Britons, Germans, Belgians, Australians, and Fins. The origins of the Islamic State trace back to the al-Qaeda in Iraq(AQI)-led insurgency in response to the American invasion. AQI exploited Sunni resentment arising from a loss of political power resulting from the toppling of Saddam Hussein to garner safe haven and recruits for a campaign of suicide bombings targeting Shi’ite Muslims. When AQI’s senior leadership was killed by U.S. airstrikes, the group was on the verge of extinction until Abu Bakr al Baghdadi took the reins in 2011. Al Baghdadi quickly revived the group, intensifying bombings and expanding recruitment. Rebranding the group the Islamic State, al-Baghdadi opened a second front in Syria, where the group took on a much more conventional military role. After considerable gains in Syria, the Islamic State returned its 6 - NEWPEOPLE
attention to Iraq, where they have taken as much as a third of the country under their control this summer in an attempt to establish a caliphate across the Middle East. Less of a terrorist group, they are “a full blown army,” in the words of Brett McGurk, the top State Department official on Iraq policy. A mutual disdain for the Islamic State across the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula has considerably altered regional dynamics. Within Iraq, the central government has taken unprecedented steps in arming the Kurds, who have long been at odds with Baghdad. After ISIS threatened to sack Riyadh and a cell of more than 60 ISIS members was discovered inside the country, Saudi Arabia sought the cooperation of Egypt and Pakistan, who have deployed thousands of troops along the Saudi-Iraq border. When ISIS captured the Lebanese town of Arsal, Saudi Arabia extended $1 billion in military aid to Lebanon. Iran, too, has joined the coalition against ISIS, committing three battalions of Quds forces to aid the Iraqis. Further steps are needed to enhance intra-regional cooperation and military coordination for these states to succeed against ISIS. The Islamic State can prevail if these states fail to do so. On August 7, President Obama announced that the U.S. would launch open-ended air strikes in order to protect U.S. personnel in Erbil and to aid religious minorities trapped in the Sinjar
September 2014
Mountains. It is not currently clear what effect these strikes will have. Security analysts anticipate these airstrikes will force ISIS to either revert to guerilla tactics or to take cover in civilian-dense cities. Territory Controlled by Islamic State - Having held large Critics contend sections of Syria for more than a year, the group now that these occupies more territory than many countries. Cities under ISIS airstrikes speak to control are shown above. a foreign policy without a coherent regional endgame the conflict, which can be seen as a strategy. On one side of the now wider, Sunni-led rebellion in both Iraq meaningless Iraqi-Syrian border, the and Syria. ISIS has been successful U.S. is carrying out airstrikes on ISIS recruiting and drawing support from positions. On the other, the U.S. is Iraqi Sunnis, who have been arming and training groups who are marginalized under Shi’ite Prime cooperating with ISIS as they fight to Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s rule. The overthrow the Assad regime. Further, sectarian discord among Sunnis and critics argue that these airstrikes suggest Shi’ites cannot be resolved by airstrikes, Obama is willing to use American but necessitates a political solution. Almilitary might to protect Iraqi Christians Maliki’s resignation on August 14 and other religious minorities but not to signaled an important first step, but prevent the slaughter of Muslims by whether his successor, Haider al Abadi, other Muslims. is committed to a true unity government The current strategy calls for the use of remains to be seen. airstrikes to take out the group’s leadership, while Iraqi and Kurdish Andrew Karl is a member of the Antiforces press ISIS northward from the War Committee and holds a degree in ground. However, while airstrikes may International Political Science. slow or reverse ISIS advances, it will do little to address the underlying causes of
Solidarity with Palestine Palestine: Disobedience, Non-Cooperation, and Uncompromising Resistance by Kenneth Boas Home after ten days in Jerusalem, most of them while the massacre of Gazans was going on, and I am overloaded with thoughts and emotions. I want to say a few words about denial and the great damage caused by what I consider a pathological denialism; and of the dishonesty and moral cowardice of defending that which cannot be defended. One aspect of my trip, originally a trip to rebuild a demolished Palestinian home but the rebuilding cancelled because of the war, seems crystal clear to me. With the exception of a very small group of radical, secular, anti-Zionists on the left who struggle to be heard and are demonized at every turn, nothing can be done to effect positive change within Israel. We cannot look there for hope or help. The great majority of the Israeli people cannot be talked to, they will not
change their way of thinking on their own (87% of them supported the Gaza war), and the racism and right-wing extremism is growing. The idea of a two -state solution, always a delusion, is absolutely dead in the water; the massive settlement blocks, the continuing appropriation of more and more land, the apartheid fence, the system of Jewishonly roads, and the draconian matrix of control that is imposed on the West Bank make the idea of a viable and selfdetermining Palestinian state an absurdity to contemplate. The same is true of a one-state solution or some kind or regional confederacy, although we should be seriously talking about these. The Israeli government, on their own, will never deal with the Palestinians in any way but with violence and repression. I wrote a letter to the Pittsburgh PostGazette while I was in Jerusalem with an
Three Palestinian boys in front of their demolished home. Photo by Kenneth Boas.
eye to the uncanny similarities between the Israeli populace and the mainstream American Jewish community. Both are unwilling to see clearly; both are in denial as to what Israel has become. Both demonize the victim and hold themselves in a state of self-righteous innocence. This denial amounts to complicity in the war crimes and violations of human rights and international laws that Israel is guilty of. The killing of children and civilians has become so normalized that the Israelis, who know little about the horrific conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, have become oblivious to what their country is actually doing: an “incremental genocide” and an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. The evidence is well-documented and irrefutable at this point, and yet the Jewish Federation, AIPAC, and the Israeli populace will not face up to these truths and have instead created an “iron dome” of justification based on misnamed anti-Semitism, manufactured security concerns and Israel as the weak victim, still the ghetto Jew of Nazi-era persecution. And this cannot stand. Miko Peled, the author of The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine, has written a moving article called, “Gaza Reminds Us of Zionism’s Original Sin” that helps to explain this dynamic of denial and demonization, and so I quote him at some length. He writes, “Gaza is being punished because Gaza is a constant reminder to Israel and the world of the original sin of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the creation of a so-called Jewish state. Israel is an illegitimate creation brought about by a union between racism and colonialism. The refugees who make up the majority of the population in the Gaza Strip are a
constant reminder of this.” “They are a reminder of the crime of ethnic cleansing upon which Israel was established. The poverty, lack of resources and lack of freedom stand in stark contrast to the abundance, freedom and power that exist in Israel and that rightfully belongs to Palestinians.” He concludes with one of the strongest statements of resistance I have heard, and one I believe we must all endorse if Palestine is ever to be free: “Criticizing Palestinian resistance is unconscionable. Israel must be subjected to boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS]. Israeli diplomats must be sent home in shame. Israeli leaders, and Israeli commanders traveling abroad, must fear prosecution. And these measures are to be combined with disobedience, non-cooperation and uncompromising resistance. This and only this will show mothers, fathers and children in Gaza that the world cares and that ‘never again’ is more than an empty promise.” When the son of one of Israel’s most powerful men can write these words, there remains the promise of change. With BDS leading the way, we must struggle to isolate Israel, turn the bright light of reason and justice onto this rogue state so that the world may see it clearly, and then perhaps the illegal Occupation can end and peace can come to this land for both the Palestinian and the Israeli people. Kenneth Boas is chair of the board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – USA (icahdusa.org), a professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, and a former president of the board of the Thomas Merton Center.
Statement of the Thomas Merton Center on International Day of Peace Festival: the Crisis in Gaza “Harmony & Nonviolence in Our (continued from page 1) Neighborhoods” We condemn the carnage that has been wrought on the people of Gaza over the last month where more than two thousand lives have been lost, the vast majority being civilians. In the same breath we condemn the launching of rockets by Hamas and other factions in Gaza on civilian areas of Israel, causing death and panic in the civilian population. The bombing of schools, hospitals, electric power stations and UN refugee centers in Gaza is totally unacceptable. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said that “there seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes.” In building towards a more permanent solution and a lasting cease-fire, the Board of the Merton Center calls for the following actions: Our US government immediately suspend military aid to Israel and instead use our tax dollars for humanitarian aid to Gaza US military aid to Israel be suspended pending investigation of violations of US and International Laws for crimes against Gazan civilians with weapons obtained from our Government The siege of Gaza by all responsible parties be lifted forthwith as the first step towards a permanent solution All nations but especially the US join the call to give assistance to those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed in Gaza Now, more than ever, is the time for peace, pax, salaam, shalom.
by Mary Sheehan The International Day of Peace will be observed in the North Hills with a festival on Sunday, September 21, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Point Grove on Lakeshore Drive in North Park. This year’s theme is “Harmony & Nonviolence in Our Neighborhoods.” The festival celebration will bring together people of diverse cultures in an afternoon of music, dance, and activities emphasizing harmony and nonviolence. The highlight of the afternoon will be a colorful procession and ceremony of 194 flags of United Nations countries. All are invited to bring a side dish or dessert. The festival is being sponsored by the Pittsburgh North People for Peace, the North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition and several other community organizations. For more information, call (412) 367-0383 or email pnpp@verizon.net. Mary Sheehan is Chair of Pittsburgh North People for Peace.
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. September 2014
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Caribbean Solidarity American Students Join Dominican Call Center Workers to Protest Xerox’s Exploitation an update from Solidarity Ignite SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -Students from the University of Pittsburgh and 14 other American universities have teamed with activist group Solidarity Ignite in supporting Dominican Call Center Workers who answer calls from the United States for Xerox. The groups have denounced severe abuse on the job. Workers in the Xerox-owned Call Center, assisting Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile customers, have documented cases of sexual harassment, fires resulting from improper factory safety precautions, wage discrimination, wage theft, non-payment of severance pay, abusive language and humiliation on the job, and other assaults on their dignity. The groups picketed the XEROX facility, located in a Free Trade industrial park in East Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In addition to violation of workers’ job rights, Xerox also systematically harasses and silences workers who speak out to improve conditions. More than 100 people gathered at the action, including American students, outraged Dominican citizens and community actors, and
workers affiliated with the National Union of Employees of Call Centers "UNECA.” The "Call Center" sector began in the Dominican Republic in the mid-90s as part of the Special Free Trade Zones system implemented in the country since the late 60s in order to attract direct foreign investment and create steady jobs for the population. Today, this sector employs nearly 50,000 employees around the country. Call Center companies offer customer service, sales, telemarketing, technical support, billing, retention, and interpretation services to large corporations and brands both local and foreign, located throughout the world, but especially in the United States and Canada. Among the brands most present in Dominican Call Centers are Xerox, Samsung, Boost Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, Sirius-XM, Time Warner Cable, Direct TV, One Link and Dish Network. Workers at the Xerox-owned facility are calling for fair pay, in the face of a 6 year wage-freeze despite constantly rising inflation in the Dominican Republic. The hourly wage of Call Center workers is $2.65 an hour, while
U.S. Escalates War Against Cuba by Lisa Valanti It will come as no surprise to the “On June 30, U.S. authorities readers of The New People that modern announced a stunning $9 billion fine on technology and ‘social’ mass media French bank BNP Paribas for violations have radically changed the face of of financial sanctions laws that the warfare’s weapons of mass destruction United States had imposed on Cuba, with its stealth drones, secret renditions, Iran, and Sudan. In essence, BNP had targeted assassinations, bulk datasurreptitiously conducted business with mining, and smart phone propaganda countries that the United States had exploitation. The U.S. also conducts its sought to isolate diplomatically far subtler and equally destructive, often (sometimes unilaterally in the case of clandestine international Cuba). Although BNP is not technically ‘destabilization’ programs using both under the jurisdiction of American domestic and international ‘partners’ to regulators, and the bank had apparently foment social disruptions, undermining not broken any laws of its home country, any social progress, making any local the fine was one of the largest ever governance impossible. It also creates issued by the United States and the local grievances (usually fostered by largest ever levied on a non-U.S. firm. manufactured ‘dissidents’) so egregious The Treasury Department and the as to force ‘rebellions’ justifying Federal Reserve made clear that unless ‘humanitarian’ interventions demanding BNP forks over the $9 billion ‘regime change’ to install proxy (equivalent to one year's of the governments with more empathy to U.S. company's total earnings), the U.S. will financial and corporate interests. prevent the bank from engaging in You may have read about the recently dollar-based international transactions. exposed misuse of ‘democracy building’ For an institution that makes its living programs. They are now exponentially through such transactions, that penalty is enhanced with a toolbox of new internet the financial and satellite equivalent of a death NOTE: This is a relatively short technologies; sentence. The fine will piece about a very big issue, computerized be paid. The algorithms, Twitter, Economist magazine, sort of a ‘canary-in-the-coal Facebook. They which is not known for mine’ type of alert. Please accompany ‘oldcome to the September 30th alarmist reporting, school’ sabotage, described Foreign infiltration, potluck supper and meeting Account Tax terrorism, datafrom 6 - 8 PM at the Thomas Compliance Act mining, democracyMerton Center to discuss this (FATCA) as "a piece building non-profits, and other urgent Cuba related people-to-people of extraterritoriality news, plus a report back from programs, USAID stunning even by Washington mercenaries, germ the 25th annual Pastors for standards." (For those Peace Caravan! warfare, and of you who did not employing (for under pay attention during minimum wage, no world history class, "extraterritoriality" less!) international students to try and is an attempt by one country to enforce recruit possible Cuban students to train its own laws outside of its own as counter-revolutionaries. The U.S. borders).”(Source: Peter Schiff Friday, Interests Sections provides exit visas and August 15, 2014) scholarships to train Cuban students in 8 - NEWPEOPLE September 2014
Xerox receives more than 9 times this amount from its American subcontractors per call – most workers answer around 70 calls a day. Besides disproportionately low wages paid by XEROX to its workers, once workers are fired from their jobs, the company has systematically avoided paying legally-owed severance pay – essentially robbing workers of the equivalent of several paychecks, more if they've worked at Xerox longer. To date ACS-XEROX has unjustifiably fired
over 2000 workers, including pregnant women and people with disabilities, which is a flagrant violation of Dominican labor law, as well as international treaties on labor rights. Solidarity Ignite (¡Si!) brings together labor and consumer groups to hold corporations accountable to uphold human rights by changing industrywide market incentives. ¡Si! is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice.
Partners in Progress Prepares for Leadership Change by Joyce Rothermel Since its founding by the Pittsburgh Haiti Solidarity Committee in 2001, Partners in Progress (PIP), supporting rural sustainable development in Haiti, has been led by Executive Director Dr. Richard Gosser. Emeritus professor of mathematics at St. Vincent College, Dr. Gosser left his full time position to begin his service at PIP and deepened his commitment to the people of Haiti. Dr. Gosser developed relationships with peasant associations living and working in rural Haiti and through the resources generated by PIP has contributed to sustainable projects mainly in the communities of Fondwa and Deslandes. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the community of Fondwa, whose infrastructure was greatly damaged and destroyed, was assisted by PIP in the process of rebuilding. New school buildings and a successful agriculture project highlight PIP’s activities in Deslandes. Earlier this year, Dr. Gosser announced his decision to retire from his current position at the end of 2014. His leadership and accomplishments will be celebrated at a reception in his honor to be held on Sunday, September 7, at 7 p.m. in Duquesne University’s Bayer Rotunda. A progress report of PIP’s work in Haiti will be presented to all who gather. The public is welcome.
Guests will also have the opportunity to hear from Mike Neumann, long time program coordinator for PIP projects in Haiti who has agreed to assume the role of PIP’s executive director in January 2015. Mike has more than twelve years of experience in community-led project development in indigenous communities and communities of color in Minnesota. He has a Juris Doctorate degree, extensive graduate studies in agricultural education, and considerable experience in non-profit management. He has been a strong proponent of development approaches that build on local knowledge and traditions and support community capacity building and innovation. Dr. Gosser says, “I am excited to leave PIP in Mike’s capable hands! Solidarity with the people of Haiti has occupied my heart and my soul for most of my adult life. I am confident that Mike’s commitment to PIP and its mission will help our organization develop in exciting new ways.” To find out more about PIP, visit www.PIPHaiti.org. Donations to support its work and in honor of Dr. Gosser can be sent to 329 N. Fairfield Street, Ligonier, PA 15658.
sophisticated computer technologies and software development. And that’s the tip of the iceberg! The U.S. is effectively balkanizing global banking. It requires all foreign banks operating in the U.S. to become subsidiary companies and requires international banks with U.S.-dollar clearing accounts to comply fully with U.S. tax, regulatory, and even foreign policy (for example, refraining from trading with U.S. enemies like Cuba). What does this mean? Exactly what it implies. Banks worldwide cannot afford to support their customers who have business with Cuba, no matter how legitimate that business, for fear of U.S. extra-territorial penalties. (Imagine if you could no longer use bank services for any reason!) The Cuban Consulate in Washington DC, which issues passports to Cuban Americans and visas for all travel to Cuba, as well as all other travel related services cannot function in this vacuum. Cubans must pay all their bills in cash; electric, phone, heat, water… the
situation is untenable. International banks with U.S. subsidiaries are telling their customers they will no longer honor credit cards or cash transactions with people using those services in Cuba, even though the U.S. is the only country that prohibits travel to Cuba. Three million Canadians stand to be affected, as well as tourists from all over the world as banks try to determine how to respond to this new phenomenon. PLEASE ATTEND THE SEPTEMBER 30th TUESDAY NIGHT GATHERING FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS VERY URGENT ISSUE!
Joyce Rothermel is vice president of the board of Partners in Progress.
Lisa Valanti is co-founder of the Pittsburgh CUBA Coalition, The Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister City Partnership, US-Cuba Sister Cities Association.
Eastern Europe Spoiling for War: U.S. v Russia by Michael Drohan With the end of Cold War One and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, we naively thought that a peace dividend would ensue, nuclear weapons would be abolished and the creation of enemies who hate us ended. Instead, since 1991 the U.S. has been at war or threatening war continuously. Yesterday it was Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya with all these countries lain in ruins. But now it is the big tamale with the Russian Federation and President Putin in the gun sights. Every day the prognosis looks all the more ominous as Ukraine unravels and Putin and the Russians are demonized just as the Soviets were before them. The moral of the story is that the ruling elite of this country need and breed war much as living things need air. The spark that ignited the latest hostilities between the U.S. and Russia is the developments in the former Soviet Republic, Ukraine. Ukraine is a complex country with a major divide between the Eastern part which is composed of ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking inhabitants, and the Western part which is ethnically and culturally close to Poland. In 2013, an uprising took place in Maidan Square, Kiev, which many compare to the Arab Spring. The democratically elected President, Viktor Yanukovych, an authoritarian and perhaps corrupt leader, was the target of the revolt because he favored a trade pact with Russia in preference to one with the European
Union. The reason for this preference seemed to have been that a free trade pact with the Europeans excluded trade pacts with the Russian Federation whereas the pact with Russia did not exclude one with Europe. Yanukovych also favored cultural ties with Russia. The U.S. was active in the uprising against Yanukovych as evidenced by the comments of Victoria Nuland of the State Department to the Ambassador of the U.S. to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. A considerable part of the protest against Yanykovych was from neo-fascist groups such as Svoboda and Right Sektor. With the violent overthrow of Yanukovych in February 2014, the neofascist groups have gained from five to eight top Ministry positions in the government of President Petro Poroshenko. It is unique among European democracies that neo-fascist parties form a part of the government. The U.S., however, seems to have no difficulty in recognizing and collaborating with neo-fascists in this case. In the aftermath of the overthrow of Yanukovych, the Eastern part of the Ukraine has been in turmoil as they tried to do their version of a Maidan Square revolt against the central government, declaring their independence from same. Many cities in the East such as Donetsk and Luhansk have declared their autonomy and greater ties to Russia. This time round, however, the Kiev government has declared war on these cities, declaring them to be
“terrorists” who are armed, aided and abetted by President Putin. The brutality of the neo-fascist elements in the Kiev government was laid bare on May 2 in Odessa. They attacked an encampment of ethnic Russian protesters, drove them into a trade union building and then set it on fire. The Ukrainian nationalists likened the protesters to a potato beetle with black and red stripes as they burned them to death. The situation in the Ukraine and relations between the U.S. and the Russian Federation took a serious turn for the worst on July 17 when a Malaysian airline flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lampur was struck by a missile over Eastern Ukraine, killing all passengers. The immediate reaction by U.S. media and the political elite, without any evidence, was to declare the rebels in Eastern Ukraine responsible, aided and abetted by President Putin and Russia. Calls for economic sanctions and even threats of military measures on Russia echoed from the halls of Congress and the U.S. media. Harsh sanctions have been imposed on Russia, which in themselves are acts of war. But three weeks later, guess what, it now seems that the aircraft was shot down by a Ukrainian missile from one of its fighter aircrafts (SU 25). It is even speculated that the Ukrainians mistook the plane for the Presidential plane of Vladimir Putin. With this revelation, the U.S. media have gone blank on the entire incident. The latest gambit in the spoiling for
“It’s a bill to help drive an outcome,” said Sen. Bob Corker in reference to SB 2277. Supported by fellow hawks Senators John McCain and Mitch McConnell, the bill would be tantamount to a declaration of war, drastically escalating sanctions on Russia, delivering military hardware to arm Ukraine, and increasing NATO troop commitments in Eastern Europe to further isolate Russia.
war is the introduction of a bill in Congress on May 1 entitled “The Russian Aggression Act of 2014” (RAPA) by Senator Bob Corker (R) of Tennessee. This bill, SB 2277, is a virtual declaration of war by Congress on Russia if it becomes law. There is little doubt from its stipulations that it means to institute a new “hot” cold war with Russia suggesting such measures as the incorporation of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine into NATO; demanding Russian relinquish the Crimea and the infiltration of Russian society with spies and provocateurs. Michael Drohan is a member of the Thomas Merton Center Board and the editorial collective.
Ukraine Divided by Scilla Wahrhaftig The critical Gaza crises has meant that the struggle in the Ukraine has taken a backburner. However, the situation there is in no way resolved and the potential for a return to something like the cold war with Ukraine as the battle field is very real. Joseph Gerson, Director of the Peace and Economic Security Program for the American Friend Service Committee’s Northeast Region in a recent talk in Sarajevo spoke of the struggle between Russia and NATO in the region: Ukraine – divided by religion, historical experiences and economic interests – is caught midst powerful historical forces. President Putin may have a black belt in judo, but the U.S. is exploiting the Ukraine crisis by increasing its military deployments and reinforcing NATO’s power and influence across Eastern Europe, the Baltics and Scandinavia. Meanwhile, Putin has been working to revitalize a neo-Tsarist state, attempting to reassert Russian influence in its “near abroad,” and is now hitching its economy, military and political ties to China’s rising star… Russia, with its campaign to bring Ukraine into a Eurasian Economic Community, its annexation of Crimea and its apparent support of separatists in eastern Ukraine was not alone in creating the Ukraine crisis. Ignorant or simply insensitive to the history of Western invasions of Russia and dismissive of the value of international agreements, over the past generation NATO marched east to Russia’s borders….Washington and the E.U. poured billions of dollars into divided Ukraine to develop and nurture allied forces and to turn the former Soviet republic away from Moscow and toward the West. As we see in so many conflict areas of the world, while the major powers fight over the future of Ukraine, it is the people who are the victims. In writing
this article I turned to a contact of mine who is doing Russian rebels took over that area. Thousands have aid work in Ukraine to get some understanding of what fled the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, especially from people are experiencing in the country. Donetsk and are now crowding into cities around the Going into this struggle the Ukraine economy was in country adding to the economic crises. Many of these tatters partly due to the corrupt former President. Early people are in makeshift housing and summer camps this year in response to demonstrations an agreement which will be untenable in the coming winter. was reached between the EU and Russia to create a Add to this there is now a war tax of 1.5% on national unity government with Yanukovych as everything. However, even with this new tax, the President and with elections to take place in December. military is very underfunded with family and friends However under pressure from armed right wing having to buy non-lethal equipment and medical nationalists Yanukovych fled and an interim supplies for the military. government was formed. This was in violation of the It is clear that support for the many displaced in the agreement with Russia. Much of Ukraine’s economy country and help becoming economically more secure was tied to Russia especially energy dependence. This are priorities. This could best be achieved by has meant that a country already struggling under supporting the United Nations in providing economic heavy debt and lack of resources is seeing a drop in relief and advocating for all-party negotiations. trade with Russia and soaring energy prices. This will especially be a problem going into a long cold winter. Scilla Wahrhaftig is a new member of the editorial The new government of President Poroshenko has an collective. ambitious agenda for reform which is hampered by the economic situation, the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the general distrust of the government. Russian —by Matt Kolbet propaganda against the government has been strong and effective which has Fifty used to be an age for parents, exacerbated the present conflict in Eastern for losing count of candles, Ukraine. There is still a strong nostalgia for and jokes about fire hazards, life under Soviet rule. Coal has been a yet I remember causes that are major industry in this area and miners are just as old that don’t limp off stage, seeing their salaries being cut as the mines acts that show no signs of dying quietly in courtrooms, become less viable. It hasn’t helped that one rights people march for on streets of the first actions the Government did was as though the hopes of justice travel to remove Russian as an official language. on legs the same length, They have since reinstated it, but Russia has watching others, twice as old, used this as a propaganda tool presenting stride easily with wishes in their eyes, the Government as anti-Russia. are still young. Meanwhile the country is reeling under a huge number of IDP’s (Internally Displaced Matt Kolbet is a teacher and writer living near People). Some have had to flee twice, once Portland, Oregon. from Crimea when the Russians annexed it and again from Eastern Ukraine when pro-
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Labor Organizing Fast Food Worker Fights for $15
UMWA Leaders Swim with Peabody Energy
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opinion by Martin Zehr “Every union should have a vision of the future,” stated Jock Yablonski as he announced his candidacy for the UMWA presidency. “What good is a union that reduces coal dust in the mines only to have miners and their families breathe pollutants in the air, drink pollutants in the water, and eat contaminated commodities?” The rallies on July 31 in Pittsburgh were focused on new regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency on emissions from power plants. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) organized a rally to protest these regulations at a hearing. “The UMWA estimates the rule could take as much as $208 billion out of coalfield communities over the next 20 years. “The EPA proposed that Pennsylvania lower emissions to a rate of 1,052 pounds per megawatt hour by 2030, down from 1,540 in 2012.” It is certainly an indication of the profound character of the steps being taken against working people that these measures have no systematic approaches that establish compensation for workers jobs and families impacted. Even during the Rustbelt shutdowns, at least steelworkers were provided a modicum of support from the Trade Readjustment Act (TRA). Since that time and because of the transformation of unions into company unions, today union leaders are promoting corporate profits as their job programs at the expense of the health and safety of working people. So steelworkers rally in Munhall with US Steel and promote fracking and the Keystone XL pipeline and then not even a month afterwards, US Steel shuts down National Tube in McKeesport. Rural communities bear the price of contaminated spring waters caused by fracking, while Texans come in and take the jobs. There’s not even a correlation between fracking and the local economy that demonstrates more jobs for local people. As mountaintop removals continue in West Virginia and the UMWA loses members, the impact has increased exponentially. Likewise, the political domination by corporations has already resulted in the contamination of the water for 300,000 West Virginians along the Elk River. The plunder is not simply to pump up corporate profits, but it also to keep workers from any say in regards to their own lives. The same Jock Yablonski quoted at the
Today, Chris works just one job, lives with his grandparents, and is studying at Allegheny County Community College in the nursing program. Dedicated, intelligent and curious--he can communicate in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Korean--Chris hopes to eventually earn a doctorate and teach. “I can retain knowledge,” he says. In the meantime, Chris has awakened fully to the plight and injustice suffered by fast food workers whose wages barely allow them to subsist in our economy. “I was completely ignorant until organizers talked to me” about the organizing of fast food workers nationally, he says. He became a volunteer organizer for the Fight for $15 campaign. (www.fightfor15.org and www.lowpayisnotok.org). The campaign that Chris joined was launched by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in late 2012 and may benefit radically from a recent determination by the National Labor Relations Board that McDonald’s, along with individual franchises, could be held as a “joint employer” in certain complaints over workers’ rights. McDonald’s franchises in the U.S., make up approximately 90 percent of McDonald’s 14,000 + outlets. The Fight for $15 campaign has already influenced actions in Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago that have raised or are weighing measures to increase minimum wages significantly. Organizers cite the Fight for $15 campaign as a matter of economic justice comparable to the civil rights movement. They point out that 52 percent of minimum wage workers are forced to use public assistance; 78 percent are the primary wage earners for their families; 65 percent are women; and 26 percent have children. At the same time, according to the Fight for $15 website, McDonald’s reports $5.6 billion in annual profit with $9.5 million paid to its CEO; Burger King reports profits of $234 million with $4.7 million paid to its CEO; and Wendy’s reports profits of $46 million, with $7.6 million paid to its CEO. Chris Kumanchik has a dim view of what such disparities reveal about the fabric of a society that calls itself democratic and capitalistic. “We’re in a bad place,” he says, when those to whom wealth accrues pay a smaller percentage in taxes than do the poor. Consequently, Chris talks about the issue whenever and wherever he can. He wants to see the $15 an hour minimum wage implemented; he wants a union that can provide job security, dignity, respect in the workplace and benefits. To achieve these goals, he educates workers about their rights and has recruited more than 30 workers for the campaign. “My parents did something,” he says. “They learned a skill, earned a living, made a life.” That took effort, and he looks for similar effort today. “It takes effort to learn things.” He encourages people to listen to and see the plight of others and to live the message that is sewn into the fabric of their religious beliefs. “You’re not going to have peace, justice, and equality if you don’t follow the steps it takes to get there.” Ginny Cunningham is a member of the editorial collective.
top of this article was murdered in 1969 by Tony Boyle, who was then the President of the UMWA. Jock dared to demand that unions defend the rights of miners and all workers to a decent life. He dared to confront the coal bosses and the hacks killed him for that. This is not a debate about climate change. This is not about environmentalism or even reducing greenhouse emissions. This is about the price being paid by ordinary working folks for the benefit of the world’s biggest corporations. This is about a government that continues to tax the poor to support the rich. The burden carried in working class communities is that we are told to accept the contamination of our air and water so that the rich can get richer. The taxes we pay for agencies that are supposed to oversee public health and safety is being squandered by the domination of government. Eugene Debs said it succinctly: “The class which has the power to rob upon a large scale has also the power to control the government and legalize their robbery.” Fact is that coal mining currently employs 120,699 in the U.S. today which is down 15% from 20 years ago. Much of the new employment is centered in open pit mines of Wyoming. That’s not happening because of E.P.A. regulations. Time we spoke up for ourselves and stop letting so-called “leaders” speak for us. If we really want to fight for jobs, it’s time we did it together. No pain, no gain. Spittin’ in the bucket won’t give us water to drink. Got to go to the well. Let’s make sure that spring isn’t contaminated by false leaders and corporate polluters. Organize where we are. One Big Union. Martin Zehr is an active member of the General Membership Branch of the Pittsburgh Industrial Workers of the World.
UMWA presidential candidate Jock Yablonski (left) talking to PA miners before his death in 1969. Photo credit the United Mine Workers of America.
Organizer Joe Hill Remembered with Centenary Calendar and Little Red Songbook by Kenneth Miller Centenary Calendar and the 1915 Joe Wobblies, members of the Industrial Hill Little Red Songbook. Current Workers of the World (IWW), are members of the Hungarian Workers getting ready for the Joe Hill Centenary. Literature Fund are Jon Bekken, Fred Joe Hill was killed by authorities in Lee and members of the Greater Kansas Utah, framed for murder by the copper City General Membership Branch of the bosses, and shot by the state on IWW. November 19, 1915. The bosses hated Over U.S. Labor Day Weekend, as the Joe Hill because he sang for workers and September New People comes off the taught workers songs that helped them press, four members of the Pittsburgh to feel powerful and demonstrate IWW are on their way to the IWW’s solidarity. While Joe Hill was awaiting Delegate Convention in Chicago IL over execution, the General Executive Board US Labor Day weekend. The IWW is of the Industrial Workers of the World the most radically democratic union on published the Joe Hill Little Red Song the planet. In addition to annual Book… and in this sense, as Joan Baez Delegate Conventions, we elect most of and Paul Robeson and Mike Stout and our officers to the General Anne Feeney sing, “Joe Hill never Administration every year in a union died.” wide mail-in referendum. We have a A long time ago there were some General Organizing Bulletin that is Hungarian members of the IWW who mailed to members eight times a year. In wanted to help other Hungarian Pittsburgh the IWW has monthly immigrants join the IWW, so they meetings conducted with Roberts Rules created the Hungarian Workers of Order. All members have equal Literature Fund. To celebrate the Joe standing and everyone votes and speaks Hill Centenary, the Hungarian Workers at meetings. All decisions are made at Literature Fund is publishing a Joe Hill meetings where we have a quorum. We 10 - NEWPEOPLE September 2014
care deeply about one another’s free speech and we don’t abdicate our individual rights. We encourage one another’s initiatives. (The Industrial Workers of the World are not the “International” Workers of the World. “International” and “World” would be repetitive. We don’t have “International” like the Teamsters and the Service Employees do, and we do not have Union Presidents. We have a General Administration with a General Secretary Treasurer.) The Hungarian Workers Literature Fund has published IWW Labor History Calendars for many consecutive years, it is the gift of labor education that lasts all year long. At $12 each, they have been a successful fundraiser for the Pittsburgh IWW. In 2005, the Hungarian Workers published a First 100 Years Calendar (the IWW was founded in 1905) that was bigger than the usual IWW Labor History Calendars and sold for $15. The Joe Hill Centenary Calendar will be big like the First 100 Years calendar. Very fancy.
The IWW has a tradition called, “In November We Remember.” A lot of bad things happened to the IWW during the month of November. For example, Joe Hill was murdered by the authorities in Utah 1915. This November, and during the 2015 Joe Hill Centenary, take the lessons from IWW Novembers of years past and protect your civil liberties and the free speech of others, immigrants and the poor, student and teachers, and especially our free speech in the workplace. Order Joe Hill Centenary Calendars and Joe Hill Little Red Song Books from the Pittsburgh IWW and sing at work. Use the calendars to discuss labor history at work and at school. Contact the Pittsburgh IWW for Joe Hill calendars and songbooks. Pittsburgh IWW (412) 894-0558. Join the IWW Today! Kenneth Miller is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and a member of the editorial collective.
Spirituality Reverend Barber on Using Moral Language to Improve Communities by Abrar Aref During his revival styled speech at an East End Wesley AME Zion Church on June 28, Reverend William Barber provoked foot stomping and energetic responses to his theme of how moral language in the labor movement can be used in any argument to challenge the adversity of working conditions. Barber, the President of the NAACP in North Carolina, said this could be done through a collaborative effort in the form of labor leaders organizing to implement a shared agenda which helps the community move towards better working conditions. “Dr. King gave it to us when he talked about putting together the most important movements: civil rights and labor unions into one organization, funding it, organizing it and building a movement,” he said in his sometimes fiery message. His speech in the AME Zion church was organized by the United Steelworkers as an effort to educate the community about workers’ rights and to give background about the work he has been doing in North Carolina with Moral Mondays, a movement he started there. He has frequently appeared on national networks, most recently to voice opposition to a new voter registration law that restricts voters’ rights, especially for young people and minorities. “We all want a more just society, but it requires a strategy,” he said. In his speech, the Reverend also pointed to twelve steps that he thinks are critical in building a coalition that is a deeply moral, constitutional, pro-justice, antiracist, anti-poverty, transformative, fusion that is layered by home grown leadership. Barber emphasized the importance of using moral language to frame the issues that matter to the aforementioned coalition. For instance, when North
Carolina's governor refused to expand Medicaid benefits for half a million poor people, the issue was framed as a moral offense to the citizenry. He said that politicians cannot claim moral superiority in the face of such an immoral act. He also mocked today's brand of conservatism. He says the right wingers of today misunderstand the biblical message dating back to the Old Testament. If the Bible was read conservatively they would see that it focuses on workers having rights before liberty and pursuit of happiness. He also said many have fallen away from the teachings of King, often because organizations do not consider the big picture. “When we fight for a campaign, we act as if the elections are everything, not realizing that the work needs to be carried over and utilized to complete a larger movement,” he said. He concluded his speech by asking the Pittsburgh community to form an organization that includes a group of representative union leaders who can work towards shared goals: worker rights, living wages, and organizing in the city of Pittsburgh. “There must be a movement in this country that does not measure its success purely by an election turnout, but understands if you have a movement that can shift the center of political gravity, it is possible to cause people who may be elected to do one thing and not be able to do it because the consciousness of the community is so changed.” Randa Ruge, the organizer of the event from the United Steelworkers said, this speech was important for the community to hear and take to heart. She reiterated what the Reverend said in his speech, “It is true that we cannot do anything alone. The organizations represented here today have to come together to hear this message, perhaps
Reverend William Barber of the Moral Mondays movement addressing Pittsburgh labor organizers at AME Zion Church in June. Photo by Abrar Aref.
we can work together to something similar to Moral Mondays here in Pittsburgh.” Ruge asked the question of “How do we take the energy of the campaigns that are currently underway in Pittsburgh, and build a larger and stronger movement?” She added, “There are more organizing drives going on in Pittsburgh than in any other city of the country.” A discussion panel followed his speech from nine different organizations in the Pittsburgh community who work on different campaigns to help workers around the city in improving their working conditions. Some of the panel members were from American Federation of Teachers, One Pittsburgh, Fight Back Pittsburgh, Adjunct Faculty Association, Great Public Schools, Casino Workers, Clean Rivers Campaign and Make it Our UPMC. The discussion panel continued on the path Barber described, by explaining how the
work they are doing fits into the plan. Rebecca Taksel, an adjunct at Point Park University and an organizer/ member of the Adjunct Faculty Association, praised the speech Reverend Barber gave and encouraged the conversation to build a coalition movement to continue: “What the Reverend talked about is what happened in the adjunct campaigns that we just won. My colleagues and I joined together for the first time and recognized our power to not only improve our working conditions but also has mobilized us to become a part of a larger movement that fights for standards for all workers in Pittsburgh." Abrar Aref is a student at Point Park University and an activist with the United Steelworkers organizing with the Adjunct Faculty Association. Abrar is from Saudi Arabia.
A Retreat Opportunity for Peacemakers: Association of Pittsburgh Priests Announces Oct. 10-12, 2014 Fall 2014 Speakers Series by Joyce Rothermel An exciting opportunity awaits you this fall at the Kearns Spirituality Center in Allison Park. For several months, a Joint Planning Committee of the Merton Center, PA Call to Action, Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi, and the Association of Pittsburgh Priests have been meeting to create a retreat experience Oct. 10 -12 for their members. The weekend will provide an environment for rest, reflection, discussion, and the sharing of community. On Friday evening, Oct. 10, Rev. Art McDonald, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Essex, MA and former Merton Center staff member, will speak about “Thomas Merton, Contemplation and the Life of the Activist beginning at 7 PM. Evening prayer and a reception will follow the presentation. The cost for the evening is $20. One need not be registered for the retreat to participate in this Friday evening event. The retreat on Saturday, Oct. 11, will be led by Nancy Sylvester,
IHM. She will invite us to imagine our work for justice differently. Together we will practice contemplation and listening and speaking from a contemplative heart. Finally, we will explore what it might look like to do work for justice from a contemplative perspective. There will be an opportunity for communal worship. The evening will end with a social. The retreat will wrap up on Sunday, Oct. 12 with prayer and a final presentation by Rev. Art McDonald. Kevin Hayes from the planning committee will facilitate a discussion about connecting and going forward locally. For more infoand to register, visit www.thomasmertoncenter.org/ retreat . Questions can be directed to 412-532-8654 or pghretreat@gmail.com
by Joyce Rothermel This year’s Fall Speakers Series of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests, dedicated to the memory of Fr. Neil McCaulley, has an exciting line-up beginning with Rev. Anthony Padovano on Monday, September 15 at 7 PM at the Kearns Spirituality Center in Allison Park. He will speak on the topic “Vatican II, Pope Francis and the 21st Century Catholic.” In his talk, Rev. Padovano plans to help his listeners sort out what has been gained and lost since Vatican II and where things stand now during the Papacy of Pope Francis. Rev. Padovano, a very compelling speaker, holds doctorates and professorships in theology and literature. He is the author of 29 books including three award-winning plays. Over the years he has been a visiting professor at 25 American universities and colleges. He has lectured around the world and appears regularly in the media in Europe and the United States. He has presented at United Nations Conferences in New York City and Europe and at the White House and U.S. Congress. Other lecturers in the series include Dr. Diana Hayes speaking on “A Womanist
Perspective on Church and Society” on Monday, Oct. 13. Ms. Hayes is Professor Ermerita of Systematic Theology at Anthony Padovano Georgetown University. She holds the Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology from Louvain as well as Ph.D in Religious Studies and a JD in Law. As a womanist theologian she works in the area of gender, class and religion. The final lecture will be given by Jamie Manson, entitled, “Making Sense of Your Catholic Faith in Today’s Culture.” Ms. Manson is a nationally known speaker, retreat leader and media commentator on issues related to young adult Catholics and the future of the Church. Her award winning column, “Grace on the Margins,” appears in the National Catholic Reporter. To register send $15 per lecture or $40 for all three to Association of Pittsburgh Priests, P.O. Box 2106, Pittsburgh, PA 15230. Advanced registrations are not required. You can pay at the door. For more information, call Sr. Mary Joan Coultas at 412-366-1124 or email kearns@cdpsisters.org
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Environmental Justice Shalefield Stories Brings Voice and Relief to Front Lines of Fracking by Mary Hansen and Anna Hansen There is another side of fracking that you don’t hear about from our media, or from the gas industry’s PR machine. Mysterious illnesses, open toxic waste pits, dying livestock, and contaminated drinking water sound like elements of a post-apocalyptic novel. They are actually the accounts of Shalefield Stories, a booklet of personal testimonies and resources chronicling the devastation caused by unconventional horizontal drilling for natural gas. The aim of the project, described as the “diary of a dying country” by journalist Bill Moyers, is to spread awareness of the destruction that can be caused by fracking and the failure of oversight by officials. Friends of the Harmed, a group of volunteer citizenjournalists, published the booklet. Through donations for the book they provide direct aid and relief to impacted residents. John Slesinger of Cambria County tells his story: He’s part of a lawsuit brought against a drilling company after levels of Total Dissolved Solids found in his water reached 3,590 parts per million (acceptable levels are 500ppm), presumably leaked from a well close to his home. He says that the Department of Environmental Protection of PA and the gas company withheld information about how these solids had leaked into his groundwater,
and treated him “as if [he] did not exist.” Profiles accompany narratives like this with the location, chemical exposure, harm incurred, and any oversight failure. These profiles, infographics and other information, combined with the “List of the Harmed,” document the complaints, the type of gas facility near their home (wells, compressor stations, frackpits), their exposure and their symptoms. The profiles create a huge database of the havoc that the fracking industry has wreaked on families across the U.S. As the introduction to Shalefield Stories recounts, “the 24/7 truck traffic and pollution; the devaluation of property...sickness and disease...and the massive, industrial infrastructure of pipelines and compressor stations...are awaking many citizens to the reality of what natural gas drilling really is.” The hope is that the booklet will not only educate readers but inspire support and solidarity with the affected communities. It is also widely used as a tool to educate our government officials, who are ultimately making the decisions that allow this industrial process into our communities. This year, Friends of the Harmed distributed 3,500 booklets across the country and donated almost $11,000 in aid to families affected by fracking, including 6 medical grade air filters, water buffaloes and plumbing, and
$1,000 dollars for water for the residents of the woodlands in rural Butler County, where over 40 families have been living without potable water for over three years. Outside of a heavily drilled park in Washington County, residents are still struggling with their inability to get clean water. It is almost impossible to sell a house without it, and often, the family’s lifelong investment is reduced to nothing, leaving most people trapped. A 90 year old resident, who everyone affectionately calls Me Ma, had lived for over 5 years with contaminated water and was left with nowhere to turn for help, until she met Friends of the Harmed. Volunteers worked hard to bring Me Ma water. Prior to this, she only had a water cooler for drinking and cooking water. "Oh how wonderful!" she said. "No more itching after bathing and that so many people cared about an elderly woman like me. The water buffaloes sure eased my mind, and the clean air machine is wonderful. We know there is something in our air too, not just our water. Thank you for answering my prayers...the generosity shown. You have restored my faith in people during this hard time in society.” Jeanie, her daughter who lives across the street, said, "It’s disgusting that money means more than clean water and air. Water is essential to life. Air is a necessity - not to mention our human
and constitutional right. Where is the industry’s integrity?" Struck with deteriorating health, failure of oversight, and economic loss, these families continue to fight for their rights, with help from the Friends. Their work is defined by actions and words, which provide a glimmer of hope to affected citizens for a brighter, healthier future. However, this organization cannot run on hope alone. This work is made possible by donations given by compassionate people and most importantly, the few dedicated volunteers who produced Shalefield Stories and serve as the backbone of Friends of the Harmed. To acquire Shalefield Stories or to make a donation, visit friendsoftheharmed.com. Join Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Anna Hansen is an intern for Shalefield Stories.
Climate Change Action: The Time is Now by Warwick Powell 70% of all Americans took at least some We hear much about climate change of these few actions, the difference nowadays. Every day there seems to be would be huge: some reference to its effects. Every 1. Go to the People's Climate March week, somewhere nature is telling us she in New York City Sept 21 (More details is troubled. Pretty scary stuff. The task below)* to stop or at least slow climate change 2. Read The Collapse of Western seems so enormous that I wonder what a Civilization: A View From the Future by single person— like me—can do that Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway to would make a difference? Can the get a little insight into what the future Power of One really have a significant will look like if we do nothing influence? 3. Join the Sierra Club and participate But if I—and the 70% of Americans in their local Climate Change activities, (over 200 million) who are in favor of alleghenysc.org setting higher emissions and pollution 4. Join 350.org and participate in their standards for business and industry, and local Climate Change activities imposing mandatory controls on carbon 5. Buy renewable electricity to run my dioxide emissions and other greenhouse house and business, there are a variety of gases (Gallup 2014), DID take some options to chose from, one is: personal actions, what a collective www.communityenergyinc.com . Go to difference we would make. http://www.papowerswitch.com to see On the other hand, since 30% of all alternative energy suppliers. A local Americans don't think climate change is non-profit who offers wind power, but is caused by us human beings, it would be not on the powerswitch web site is easy for me to throw in the towel and Citizen Power. You can find their resign myself to the fact that we are not information at http:// capable of mounting a sufficiently large www.lowcostwind.com/. campaign to stop or at least arrest the 6. Choose an electric car at least for rate of climate change. my second or commuter car I have to agree with the late George 7. Plug the electric car into my house Carlin who in good humor said the renewable electricity power supply planet will be here long after we have 8. Use public transport whenever I can screwed it up and are all gone. He is 9. Replace my lawn mower and weed right, but what of our children and eater with electric models grandchildren? Perhaps I can make the 10. Think really big and have Solar planet slightly better for them. What of Panels installed at my house the fact that a significant portion of 11. Be more vigilant about recycling climate change has occurred under my and composting by reducing, reusing watch, under my stewardship? And that and recycling the vast majority of scientists attribute 12. Turn my heating down to 68 deg. the planet's warming to our manmade F and put on a sweater activities? Doesn't all this mean I need to 13. Turn my air conditioning up to 80 do something about it? Here are some of deg F until I get renewable electricity the actions I can do as one person. and if 14. Use my own bags when I go 12 - NEWPEOPLE September 2014
shopping everyone on board. 15. What other actions are there? Sunday, September 21 in New York * The People's Climate March in New City. Join us. York City Sept 21 is an invitation to The Pittsburgh Sierra Club and the change everything. Thomas Merton Center have both In September, world leaders are chartered coaches to go to NYC for the coming to New York City for a UN March. If you would like to be on a summit on the climate crisis. UN coach and reserve a seat, please send Secretary¬ General Ban Ki-¬moon is your name and Zip code to urging governments to support an pjwray@verizon.net with CLIMATE ambitious global agreement to MARCH on the Subject line or register dramatically reduce global warming online at: http://tinyurl.com/lm34pxv. pollution. With our future on the line and the Warwick Powell is a member of the whole world watching, we’ll take a Sierra Club and organizer for the trip stand to bend the course of history. to the NYC People's March on Sept. 21. We’ll take to the streets to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities. The movement converging in New York will be multifaceted, but our core message will be simple: the time for mere speech-making on global warming is past, and the time for action is at hand. If that’s a message you feel comfortable spreading, we need Ellie & Akira Ohiso’s design won the Avaaz People’s Climate March NYC subway poster design contest. The Ohisos’ work you. will be featured on 10% of NYC subways starting Aug 25 To change through the Climate March on September 21. Make sure to everything, we need join them at the march.
Economics Public Banking Q and A an edited interview by Jo Tavener with Dakota Public Bank includes in its John Leonard of the Public Banking mission statement the need to help Institute farmers. Unlike Wall Street, public banks Q: How did you get interested in have job creation in mind. Also they public banking? can buy down interest on a loan now A: I’m a retired construction costing 10 percent interest, too high electrician. Over two years ago I read for a small start-up business. “A Web of Debt” by Ellen Brown. I The local bank could partner with was so infuriated that I called to ask if the public bank, and provide half of she knew someone working to the loan at 5 percent interest. Now establish a public bank, of, by and for the local bank can provide the loan at the people that would benefit 5 percent interest while the public the community. She suggested Mike bank may pay the necessary interest Krauss, who works to create a public to lower the percentage to a more bank in Pennsylvania. acceptable 1 percent. The Bank of North Dakota, has Q: So how do public banks get their been in operation since the 1930s. money back? State revenue is deposited in the bank A: They don’t (entirely). They are set which then provides low interest loans, from which the state can up to provide credit for economic borrow at a very low interest rate. development to establish jobs in the The Bank is run by a commission area. including state officials. Let’s say Pittsburgh has its own Globally, over 40 percent of all bank with a $5 million capitalization. banks are public banks. They It can borrow ten times that from a avoided the credit crisis of 2008Federal Reserve legally, so it can 09. A city, county, or a union can invest $50 million. Then the create one, avoiding reliance on Wall municipalities around Pittsburgh that Street bonding, which is now how now have bonds or loans at 5 percent they get financing for major projects interest could borrow from since local banks lack the resources Pittsburgh’s public bank, pay off the for such loans. Beaver Falls, for bonds, and get the loan at 1 percent. example, pays 5 percent on bonds for Since they are backed by the favor needed infrastructure -- water lines, and trust of taxpayers they are highly sewer lines, roads, etc., paying high rated and less risky. Worst case, taxes interest for multi-year bonds. The could increase to ensure loans to local school district recently built a municipalities are paid off. The same $10 million addition. At 5 percent for goes for schools. These bonds are 30 years, that’s $9 million interest, good bets. almost double. It’s robbery. To borrow from a public bank, interest would cost far less, usually about .5 percent over operating costs, saving taxpayers millions on major projects. Q: How do they actually operate? A: Individuals don’t deposit funds or write checks. But taxpayers can partner with community banks to make small business loans. Say you go to a JP Morgan subsidiary for a loan to open a bar. JP Morgan may have other investments in the area so may offer just a percentage of the loan. A public bank owned by the citizens can lend the remainder of the loan. Both banks work together, vetting the loan for a safer investment. Q: Can they partner with a credit union? A: They can partner with whomever wants to borrow money. Q: My taxes help would capitalize the public bank. How do I ensure the bank makes loans for projects I support, like the worker-owned green laundry that is coming to Pittsburgh? It may appear as a more risky investment. Won’t interest on the loan increase? A: Such ventures may be eligible for grants, making them more viable investments, but it’s not up to the public bank to provide grants. Q: But this is a people’s bank, right? So why can’t they write into their mission that they can help these kind of businesses? A: It could be written into the mission statement, which is most important when it initially starts up. The North
It’s not as if you have to ensure municipalities’ credibility since all these municipal bonds are paid off. The public bank, in taking on Wall Street debt, allows for lower interest rates so the public owned bank could pay that. Q: But some cities are dying. They don’t have money. The state is giving them fewer and fewer funds to work with. A: Public entities have rainy day funds. Pittsburgh keeps its rainy day fund in a bank. It can’t be used for investments since it has to be ready to be used instantly. Every municipality has them, counties, cities, authorities, state parks. So rather than paying high interest rates, you could borrow at 0 percent. Meantime the public entity could benefit. It’s still a rainy day fund available instantly because the bank draws its funds from the Federal Reserve using the rainy day fund to back the loan. Q: So you can start with a rainy day fund and build up your reserve through the interest on the loans. A: . . . and any amount of the money the municipality would like to put in. Q: So it sounds like such a great idea. What’s holding it up? A: Once we set up a public bank in Philadelphia, once it’s established in the 15th largest city in the country, lobbyists will come crawling out of the woodwork screaming their heads off -- why create this bank when you
really don’t need it; it’s just a waste of taxpayer’s money. Q: So that’s why it has not happened so far? A: That’s why we haven’t pushed at the state level yet. We don’t feel it’s the right moment. Harrisburg wouldn’t be receptive with the current leadership. Q: So you want to start at the local level? A: If we can get on the ground in any big city in Pennsylvania, Harrisburg will listen. Once we get a city public bank going, we’ll begin to push at the state level. Q: Why couldn’t you just partner at the local level and do the same thing and not try to go to state level? A: Well. When you do it on a state level, the money is greater. And there are counties with populations of around 30,000 people. They would never have the necessary funds to bankroll a public bank. (Next time more about public banking and its relationship to unions and the new economy. We’ll also look at what other states are doing to create public banks and forge new financial relationships that benefit the entire community.) Jo Tavener taught film production studies at New York University School of the Arts before retiring as Assistant Professor of Critical Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
Graphic by the Asheville Grown Business Alliance — www.ashevillegrown.com
September 2014
NEWPEOPLE - 13
Thomas Merton Center Community TMC Board Appoints New Board Member: Mark Dixon by Joyce Rothermel With the resignation of one of the Thomas Merton Center Board members this summer, the Board voted in Mark Dixon to fulfill the unexpired term. The by-laws call for vacancies to be filled by the Board within 60 days. A relative newcomer to Pittsburgh, Mark lives with his wife Christine in Highland Park. We are very fortunate to have them in our city and involved with the Center! Born in Virginia, at an early age Mark moved with his family to the San Fernando Valley in California. During two of his high school years, Mark and his family lived in Vienna, Austria. Mark’s higher education began at Stanford University where he graduated in 1997 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. He began his technology career in Silicon Valley working for two start-up companies. One was Akimbo Systems where Mark managed the deployment of close to 10,000 programs for its Internet video service. Mark has lived on three continents including a year in Tokyo, Japan and visited 26 countries. With a growing awareness of global warming and resource depletion on the globe, Mark decided to redirect his life and tackle these issues. After making a 10 day retreat, he launched YERT – Your Environmental Road Trip in 2006 along with his college friend Ben Evans. With Mark as the Producer and Ben as the Director, they created a feature film documenting the YERT adventure. It
has been screened by film festivals, universities, and community groups around the world and has earned many awards. In 2011, Mark received Penn Future’s “Citizens Choice Green Power Hero” Award. Mark is currently working on several environmental film projects including documentations of the Green Building Alliance’s Green Schools Academy and the South Side’s Schwartz Living Market renovation to Living Building standards. As a volunteer, Mark is leading the New Economy Working Group’s “Mapping Project,” working with students and other volunteers to document the diverse array of organizations building a sustainable, cooperative, and socially just economy. Mark’s roots in peace and justice go back to his freshman year at Stanford when his white privilege was brought to his consciousness by people of color and the people in the gay and lesbian community. He began to see life in the context and perspective of community and to realize that no one is an independent operator. Our lives are a part of a whole that contributes to so many others. Following Mark’s graduation, his mother was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. Mark became a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA. He is a seeker of truth. While he sees life through a Christian lens, he can see beyond belief
We Remember Rev. Neil McCaulley November 22, 1939 – June 28, 2014 by Joyce Rothermel parishes to close?" Over the summer the Merton Center Many spoke of lost a long time supporter, Rev. Neil their memories and McCaulley. In 1972, Fr. Neil, then a gratitude for Fr. parish priest in Springdale, signed the Neil during the Articles of Incorporation for the newly wake vigils formed Thomas Merton Center. As including Fr. Jack Molly Rush noted in a letter printed in O’Malley and Fr. Donald Fisher. In the the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on July 4, homily offered at the Mass of Christian 2014, “He (Fr. Neil) believed in the Burial at St. Stephen’s in Hazelwood, Fr. scriptural teaching that faith without John Oesterle, a long time friend and works is dead…. We members of the colleague of Fr. Neil’s, said: “Fr. Neil is Thomas Merton Center are grateful for crying out for justice and inspiring us to the life and witness of Fr. Neil write letters to the editor. He’s prodding McCaulley. We hope through our us to read the books we have at home continued work his legacy will honor his and don’t read. His sense of humor, his memory. willingness to look at the glass half-full, Fr. Neil loved the Catholic Church and his ability to imagine new possibilities through his work with the Association of for the Church and the world, his love Catholic Priests and the National for God and God’s word live on. Let’s Federation of Priests Councils he worked let Fr. Neil keep being a priest bringing for the implementation of the teachings us closer to God, with God more alive in of Vatican Council II and renewal within us. That would honor him.” the Church. He was outspoken on the Sr. Mary Theresa Leitem, a close issues of married clergy (ending the friend who ministered with Fr. Neil in mandatory celibacy of priests) and the several parishes, is encouraging ordination of women. In his final letter to donations to the Association of the editor in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Priests in Fr.Neil’s memory. published in early June, Fr. Neil wrote: They can be sent to P. O Box 2106, "There will be no new evangelization or Pittsburgh, PA 15230. Some are 'church alive' without a drastic increase remembering Fr. Neil with a donation to in the number of priests. The obvious the Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, answer that everyone speaks of is to Pittsburgh, PA 15224). They are much ordain married men. The only ones who appreciated. don't recognize this seem to be our bishops. It is about time for them to Joyce Rothermel is Chair of the publicly demand the permission to do Church Renewal Committee of the that from the Vatican. Pope Francis is Association of Pittsburgh Priests. open to the idea of collegiality. ... What are our bishops waiting for? For all the 14 - NEWPEOPLE September 2014
Mark Dixon with reams of Mapping Project data. Photo by Christine Benner Dixon.
structures. At All Saints he was introduced to YES Magazine and Democracy Now and became immersed into a community steeped in a culture of spiritually discerned action. While Mark was only there for a year, he says, “It would have been hard not to become an activist!” Another facet of Mark is seen and heard when he takes to the stage. Mark has entertained audiences with choral and solo performances of jazz, comedy, gospel, opera, and classical music as well as improv and musical theater. Mark was attracted to the Merton Center because of the Center’s focus on environmental justice. The peace and justice framework of the Merton Center provides an opportunity to share
visions. In relation to service on the board, Mark says he doesn’t bring a preconceived agenda, but looks forward to learning more about what the Merton Center does well and helping to connect those strengths to national and global efforts. With his own global experience, technical skills and environmental outlook, he hopes to help guide the decision making process of the Center and to make the most of the precious time we have on this earth. Joyce Rothermel serves on the Board Development Committee of the Thomas Merton Center.
Thomas Merton: Author, Monk, Activist, Mystic, and more by Kate Mattes Did you know that in 1951 Merton wrote in his journal that he wished he hadn't published any works after The Seven Story Mountain and Thirty Poems? He then went on, in 1967, to begin regretting even those publications. Merton came to have a distaste for his views of the world and the monastery during his earlier years. Merton is even quoted as saying "I was still dealing in a crude theology that I had learned as a novice . . . a clean-cut division between the natural and the supernatural, God and the world, sacred and secular" in reference to his earlier writings. While Merton's publications have aided the lives of many and give insight to a brilliant man, it is essential to remember that even religious scholars are subject to change throughout life. "There was this shadow, this double, this writer who had followed me into the cloister. He rides my shoulders I cannot lose him." -Thomas Merton The Thomas Merton Center is planning a festival to honor this author, monk, activist and mystic from April 16 to April 26, in 2015. During this ten-day period many of our partner organizations will host workshops and discussions on the many aspects of this complex
Thomas Merton with his camera
man after whom our center was named in 1972. To date activities are being planned by Carlow University, the Sheraton Hotel, the Association of Pittsburgh Priests, Rabbi Without Walls, and other leaders in the Pittsburgh peace and justice movement. For more information, please contact (412) 361-3022. Kate Mattes was an intern at TMC over summer 2014.
Classifieds THE STRUGGLE HASN’T ENDED! When we think of Labor Day, we think of the human faces and stories behind the products and services we need and enjoy. Molly Rush gave us a human face and enduring story about working for social justice. Won’t you consider ensuring this legacy for the future? All donations to the Molly Rush Legacy Fund, no matter how modest, are greatly appreciated. Please designate your contribution to the Legacy Fund. Fill out this form, cut out, and mail this form and Legacy Fund donation to: Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Molly Rush Legacy Fund Donation $____________________________ Name(s): _________________________________________________
SING OUT FOR PETE DVD’s/CD’s now available directly from Rich Fishkin. $15 each + $2.50 for postage and handling. Send to Rich Fishkin at 539 Tenth Street, Pitcairn, PA 15140. Rich.fishkin@verizon.net (412) 856-7723 Youtube: richfishpgh
Need a house-sitter?
Organization (if any): _____________________________________________________
Pittsburgh area housesitter available for your next vacation. Willing to do light housekeeping work. Call Kathy Cunningham at (412) 944-7912.
Address: ____________________________________________________________________ City: _____________________ State: ________ Zip Code: ______________________ Home Phone: _____________________________________________ Cell Phone: _______________________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________________
See the history, Meet the locals, Experience the culture
ETT’s issue-based tour for autumn 2014 ISRAEL/PALESTINE Meet with key leaders and experts in their field on both sides of the divide in Israel and Palestine Receive analysis from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), one of the leading peace and human rights organisations, and other respected organisations at the forefront of the struggle of equal rights for all Hear personal stories from local people from all faith backgrounds and learn about their hopes for the future Witness the situation in different geographical areas in the Occupied Palestine Territory & Israel Examine several aspects of life today and how they affect the wider region & beyond Help strengthen the voice of the international community that seeks peace with justice for all No amount of reading, attending lectures or watching films can convey an accurate understanding of the ‘facts on the ground’, which are crucial to any programme of advocacy. Eleven-Day Study Tour 10 - 20 November 2014 This tour provides the opportunity to gain an overview of some of the main issues facing a population living under occupation - house demolitions, displacement, education, refugees, water, lack of freedom of movement, women’s issues - as well as discrimination within the state of Israel. Engage with more than twenty organisations and local individuals. Meet in Jerusalem and go as far south as Hebron and later north to Maghar in the Galilee. Visit the Mediterranean coast on the west and the Jordan Valley to the east. Price - £900, single supplement £230 Cost per person includes the full tour programme and staying at good three star hotels at half board (bed, breakfast and evening meal), sharing a twin-bedded room with ensuite facilities, tour leader, tour bus, guides and tips inclusive. Not included are: flights, travel insurance, lunches. Tour groups are kept small in size. Information about the appointments and practical information covering all aspects of the visit are provided. Since ETT’s founding in 1999, hundreds of people from around the world have joined these tours and many recommendations are available. The tours provide unique access for discussion and ongoing involvement with key people and organisations that would be difficult to meet when travelling on one’s own. For many the tour has proved life-changing. “I thought I knew a lot about the conflict, but the tour changed some of my views quite a bit. If you care for peace and human rights for Palestinians and Israelis this tour is an absolute must to deepen your understanding.” —C Walischewski, Bremen, Germany For more information and full itineraries email info@experiencetraveltours.org or phone (country code 0044) 01235 764 754 Experience Travel Tours Stablehayes, Five Oaks Road, Horsham RH13 0SX, England www.experiencetraveltours.org Local contact: Ken Boas— kpboas@gmail.com or 412 327-8374 Sponsored by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions : www.ICAHD.org
Cemetery: wastes steel, concrete, & hardwoods
Cremation: pollutes the air and wastes energy
September 2014
Woodland Burial: Restores land w/ minimal pollution
NEWPEOPLE - 15
September Activist Calendar Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Regular Meetings
Saturday
Sundays:
1
2
“If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.”
- Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
3
4
“A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once. But a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over.”
Northern Appalachian Folk Festival 7:00 pm 500 Philadelphia Street, Indiana, PA
5
6 PPT Baldwin Walk for Transit 10 am 3783 Churchview Ave. Ext.
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9
Anthony Padovano Speaks 7:00 pm Kearns Spirituality Center
“A climate change response must have at its heart a redistribution of wealth and resources.”
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A Call to Men: A Call to Action 9am– 4pm Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave
Artistic Vision Art Show 6:00-10:00 pm 143 W. Bridge St, Waterfront
TMC Membership Meeting, 1-3 pm Friends Meeting House
“Westinghouse Jazz at Strike of 1914 “ Emmanuel 10:30 am (see page 15) The Pump House
- Emma Brindal, environmentalist
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Building Interfaith Neighborhoods 2 pm, St. Mary of the Mount, 115 Bigham St. Pittsburgh, PA 15211
Dismantling Structural Racism & Promoting Racial Equality 7:00-8:30 pm Monroeville Public Library
Race and Racism: A Conversation in 5 Parts 6:30-8:00 pm The Neighborhood Academy, North Aiken Avenue
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Green Genius Harvest 5:00-7:30 pm Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, 4141 Fifth Ave
20 Good Politics Forum: Making Democracy Work Together 5:30-7:15 pm Rivers Club, 301 Grant St
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International Day of Peace Festival, 2 pm, North Park, Lakeshore Dr., McCandless
LGBTQ Community of Practice - Child Welfare & Cultural Identity 5:30-8:00 pm 1 Smithfield St., Lower Level, Liberty Conference Room
Cuba Coalition Potluck 6:00 –8:30 pm 5129 Penn Ave
UGGC Community Meeting Kingsley Association, 6435 Frankstown Ave.
Days that Changed America: The Homestead Strike 7:30-9:30 pm The Pump House
26
27 Penn Ave Arts in Motion 12:00-8:00 pm 5022 Penn Ave
Weeklong Campaign of Nonviolence: A World Free of War, Poverty, and Climate Crisis
29
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.”
- Abraham Lincoln, 16th president
30 Cuban Solidarity Potluck 6-8 pm at the Thomas Merton Center
join us for the Thomas Merton Center annual membership meeting. This year’s meeting is set for Saturday, Sept. 13 from 1 – 3 PM at the Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Avenue in Oakland. This year we have a special guest, Pittsburgh’s Mayor Bill Peduto. Some current initiatives of the Merton Center relate directly to Pittsburgh City Government. We value our relationship with the “new” Mayor and are extremely excited that he will be joining us this year! During our time together, our Managing Director Diane McMahon will share with us the recent happenings of the Center. A draft of the Center’s strategic plan for 2015 will be presented for your input and discussion. We are also excited
Mail this form and membership donation to: Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15224
_____ Check here if this is a gift membership
will be mailed to your home or sent to your Select your membership level: email account. You will also receive weekly e__$15 Low Income Membership blasts focusing on peace and justice events in __$15 Youth / Student Membership Pittsburgh, and special invitations to mem__$50 Individual Membership bership activities. Now is the time to stand for __$100 Family Membership peace and justice! __$500+ Cornerstone Sustainer Membership Join online at www.thomasmertoncenter.org/join__Donation $____________________________ 16 - NEWPEOPLE
September 2014
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 (POP—INS) 3rd Friday, 7:00pm New Hope Methodist Church, 114 W. North Ave, Pittsburgh 15212
Saturdays: Project to End Human Trafficking 2nd Saturday, Carlow University, Antonian Rm #502 Fight for Lifers West 3rd Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 pm, Thomas Merton Center
WANTED: TMC Members, Old and New It is with great pleasure and excitement that I invite you to that a few representatives of the TMC’s projects will be on
Subscribe to The New People by becoming a member of the Thomas Merton Center today! As a member, The New People newspaper
donate or fill out this form, cut out, and mail in.
International Socialist Organization Every Thursday, 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Thomas Merton Center GlobalPittsburgh Happy Hour 1st Thursday, 5:30 to 8 pm, Luke Wholey's Grille, 2106 Penn Ave, Strip District Green Party Meeting 1st Thursday, 7 to 9 pm, 2121 Murray, 2nd floor, Squirrel Hill Black Political Empowerment Project 2nd Thursday, 6 pm: Planning Council Meeting, Hill House, Conference Room B
Fridays:
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Wednesdays: Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p, Write letters for prisoner’s rights at the Thomas Merton Center Darfur Coalition Meeting 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, 2121 Murray Ave., 2nd Floor, Squirrel Hill. 412-784-0256
Thursdays:
movetoamend.org
People’s Climate March, New York City (see page 12)
Mondays: SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 7:30 —9 pm 2101 Murray Avenue, Squirrel Hill Association of Pittsburgh Priests 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm, Epiphany Administration Center, Uptown Amnesty International #39 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm First Unitarian Church, Morewood Ave. 15219
- Joe Hill, IWW
7
Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First two Sundays of the month at TMC Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com Anti-War and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition 3rd Sunday at 1:30 pm at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224
hand to share their work with you. Again this year, we will be seeking nominations for next year’s New Person and Thomas Merton awardees. Finally, a door prize will be drawn for a $100 VISA gift card. Remember, this is your opportunity to have a voice in your Thomas Merton Center and to share some time with your fellow TMC members. If you are not a member yet, or your membership has lapsed, please come. All are welcome! We look forward to seeing you on September 13! —Mary Jo Guercio, president of the board of the Thomas Merton Center
Or Become an Organizational Member:
__$75 Organization (below 25 members) __$125 Organization (above 25 members) Name(s):________________________________ Organization (if any):____________________________ Address:__________________________________________ City:______________ State:_____ Zip Code:_________ Home Phone:____________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________ Email:_________________________________