Occupy Pittsburgh
Gun Loopholes Page 12
Occupy Wall Street
– Pages 7, 8, 9
THE
-- Page 10
PITTSBURGH’S PEACE AND JUSTICE NEWSPAPER Published by the Thomas Merton Center
VOL. 41 No. 9 November, 2011
OCCUPY
Pittsburgh, October 15th, 2011
Coverage Begins on PagePhoto 7 by Lindy Hazel LaDue
MERTON CENTER HONORS DR.VANDANA SHIVA By Frank Carr
bers and thousands of supporters the Merton Center has provided space, resources and inspiration On Thursday, November 3rd, the Thomas Merton for those who work towards a more just, sustainCenter, at its annual dinner, will present the 2011 able and humane world. Thomas Merton award to global environmentalist, ecofeminist and physicist Dr. Vandana Shiva at This year‘s winner joins a long and prestigious the Sheraton Station Square on Pittsburgh‘s South list of people who have dedicated their lives to Side. others, to peace and to the future. Among those who have won the award are journalist Amy For thirty nine years the Thomas Merton Center Goodman, host of Democracy Now! (2004), antihas been at the center of Pittsburgh‘s progressive apartheid activist Allan Boesak (1986), Chiland activist communities. With hundreds of mem- drens‘ Defense Fund founder Marian Wright
Edelman (1990), writer Studs Terkel (1998), Professor Angela Davis (2006), anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan (2007) and last year‘s winner, linguist and activist Noam Chomsky. Dr. Shiva, who has focused much of her recent work on biotechnology and the patenting of life forms, has been a strident critic of global corporations such as Monsanto, which specialized in genetically modified, pesticide-resistant seeds. Continued on page 3
TMC 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 November, 2011peaceful NEWPEOPLE struggle to bring about a more and just - 1 world.
PERMIT NO. 458 PITTSBURGH, PA
THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE. PITTSBURGH, PA 15224
PAID U.S. POSTAGE NON-PROFIT ORG.
TMC HOURS of OPERATION 10 am — 3 pm Monday-Friday 10 am-1 pm Saturday
IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE THOMAS MERTON CENTER 5129 PENN AVE., PITTSBURGH, PA 15224 Phone: 412-361-3022 — Fax: 412-361-0540 — Web: www.thomasmertoncenter.org Editorial Collective Mana Alibadi, Erica Augenstein, Frank Carr, Nicole Coast, Rob Conroy, Deyja Donohue, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Rory Henc, Steven Green, Charles McCollester, Kenneth Miller, Francine Porter, Jordana Rosenfeld, Molly Rush, Florence Wyand TMC Staff, Volunteers and Interns Viv Shaffer, Thomas Merton Center Coordinator Roslyn Maholland, Bookkeeper / Mig Cole, Assistant Bookkeeper Shirley Gleditsch, Manager, East End Community Thrift Store Shawna Hammond, Manager, East End Community Thrift Store Dolly Mason, Furniture Manager, East End Community Thrift Store Corey Carrington, Public Ally Jordana Rosenfeld, NewPeople Intern TMC Board of Directors Casey Capitolo, Rob Conroy, Kathy Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Mary Jo Guercio, Wanda Guthrie, Edward Kinley, Shawna Hammond, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Charles McCollester, Diane McMahon, Jibran Mushtaq, Francine Porter, Dominique Reed, Chadwick Rink, Molly Rush, Courtney Smith, Carole Wiedmann STANDING COMMITTEES Board Development Committee (Recruits board members, conducts board elections) Building Committee Oversees maintenance of 5123-5129 Penn Ave. Membership Committee Coordinates membership goals, activities, appeals, and communications Editorial Collective Plans, produces and distributes The NewPeople Finance Committee Ensures financial stability and accountability of TMC Personnel Committee Oversees staff needs, evaluation, and policies Technology Team Provides technical advice and assistance to TMC Special Event Committees Plan and oversee TMC fundraising events with board and staff Anti-War Committee info@pittsburghendthewar.org www.pittsburghendthewar.org Book‘Em (books to prisoners) bookempgh@gmail.com www.thomasmertoncenter.org/bookem CodePink (Women for Peace) codepinkpgh@aol.com, 412-389-3216 www.codepink4peace.org
Demilitarize Pittsburgh: War-Profiteering Education & Action Network 412-361-3022, info@demilitarizepittsburgh.org www.demilitarizepittsburgh.org Diversity Footprint (art, justice, community) draw3rd@verizon.net
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org Sustainable Living Project landslide@riseup.net, 412-551-6957
Economic Justice Committee economicjustice@thomasmertoncenter.org
Urban Arts Project mbbpgh@yahoo.com Pittsburgh Progressive Notebook Call 412-301-3022 for more info The Palestine Film Festival Call 412-301-3022 for more info Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group Wanda Guthrie 724-327-2767 murrysvillemarcellus@gmail.com
In Sisterhood: The Women’s Movement in Pgh 412-621-3252, pmulbrich@yahoo.com Literacy for Ziguinchor 724-549-4933, elainekuhar@gmail.com
2 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
Events & Calendar Items ............. www.bit.ly/tmcevents
In this Issue Page 3
Molly Rush Honored by Governor
Page 5
Obituaries
Page 6
Human Rights News
Page 7
Occupy Pittsburgh
Page 10
Occupy Wall Street
Page 11
The School of the Americas
Page 14
Three Rivers Community Foundation’s Building Change Convergence
TMC AFFILIATES and FRIENDS The Africa Project 412-657-8513, peterokema@gmail.com www.africaproject.net Allegheny Defense Project, Pgh Office 412-559-1364 www.alleghenydefense.org
Association of Pittsburgh Priests Molly 412-343-3027 molly.rush@verizon.net
Three Rivers Area Medics (TRAM) 412-6419191 or thefunnysmith@yahoo.com
Food Not Bombs pittsburgh_fnb@yahoo.com http://fnb-pgh.2ya.com
Submissions .................................. newpeople@thomasmertoncenter.org
Pittsburgh Campaign for Democracy NOW! 412-422-5377, sleator@cs.cmu.edu www.pcdn.org
East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010, shawnapgh@aol.com
Fight for Lifers West 412-361-3022 to leave a message fightforliferswest@yahoo.com http://fightforliferswest.mysite.com
Or info@thomasmertoncenter.org
Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org www.amnestypgh.org
Roots of Promise 724-327-2767, 412-596-0066 rootsofpromise@gmail.com (Network of Spiritual Progressives) spiritualprogressives.pgh@gmail.com
Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up (prisoner support and advocacy) 412-802-8575, hrcfedup@gmail.com www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup
General information ..................... www.thomasmertoncenter.org/contact-us/
Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance 412-867-9213
Pittsburgh Works! (labor history documentaries) connections05@hotmail.com
Conscience 412-231-1581 www.consciencepgh.blogspot.com
CONTACT INFORMATION
The Pittsburgh Totebag Project Sue Kerr, 412-228-0216 P.O. Box 99204 Pittsburgh, Pa 15233 www.tote4pgh.org
The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD, www.thebigideapgh.org Black Voices for Peace Gail Austin 412-606-1408 Citizens for Global Solutions 412-471-7852 amy@wfap.org Citizens for Social Responsibility of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, evolve@atlanticbb.net Haiti Solidarity Committee jrothermel@pittsburghfoodbank.org, 412-271-8414 www.thomasmertoncenter.org/hs
412-563-1519 lisacubasi@aol.com Pgh Independent Media Center info@indypgh.org www.indypgh.org Pgh North Anti-Racism Coalition 412-367-0383 Pgh North People for Peace 412-367-1049 Pgh 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 School of the Americas Watch of W. PA 412-371-9722, soapittsburgh@gmail.com United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org Urban Bikers urbanbikes@yahoo.com
PA United for a Single-Payer Health Care (PUSH) www.healthcare4allPA.org Molly Rush molly.rush@verizon.net
Veterans for Peace Icwheaties@aol.com
Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi 412-761-4319
Voices for Animals voicesforanimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA
Pittsburgh Committee to Free Mumia 412-361-3022, pghfreemumia@gmail.com
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net
Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition
TMC MEMBERSHIPS These are organizations or coalitions in which TMC has formal membership, including payment of dues to and fulfillment of other agreed-upon responsibilities as an organizational member Abolition 2000: W. Pa. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons 724-339-2242 / danfine@igc.org Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty 412-384-4310, osterdm@earthlink.net
Molly Rush Named a Distinguished Daughter of PA By Joyce Rothermel Our own Molly Rush, co-founder and current board member of the Thomas Merton Center, was one of nine Distinguished Daughters recognized by Governor Tom Corbett on Wednesday, Oct. 19th at the Governor‘s Annual Awards Luncheon in Harrisburg, PA. Each year a limited number of Pennsylvania women are named Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania and honored at the Governor‘s Residence. Representing the Governor was First Lady Susan Corbett. Honorees are traditionally presented with medals and citations for their achievements. The idea of honoring women who have given distinguished service through their professional careers and/or voluntary service in Pennsylvania was instituted under Governor James H. Duff in October 1948.
Bill, Shirley Gleditsch, long time friend and current manager of the East End Community Thrift, and Viv Shaffer, Office Coordinator, of the Thomas Merton Center. Also being recognized from western Pennsylvania are Dr. Nancy J. Minshew (nominated by the University of Pittsburgh‘s School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry) and Annie Dillard, author (nominated by the Ellis School), though now living in Hillsboro, NC). At the event, Molly noted: ―I can only accept this honor in the name of so many great women who have gone before me in the struggle for human rights and the dignity of all persons, for economic and social justice, for the rights of workers, for excellent public services, including education, and environmental protection.‖ Congratulations, Molly, Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania!
Joyce Rothermel is a long time colleague and The women proposed to receive this friend of Molly Rush, having served on the honor must be nominated by non-profit staff of the Merton Center with Molly from organizations within the Commonwealth 1977-1987. in recognition of outstanding accomplishments of state-wide or national importance. Since the first group was Molly Rush, a Distinguished Daughter of PA named in 1949, 467 women have been thus recognized. Attending the event with Molly were her husband
Association of Pittsburgh Priests Fall Speakers Series Welcomes Final Speaker Nov. 14 The Association of Pittsburgh Priests will conclude its 2011 Fall Speakers Series on Monday, November 14, 2011 at 7:30 PM at the Kearns Spirituality Center in Allison Park with Edwina Gateley, MA from Erie, Pennsylvania speaking on ―Knock, Knock, Who‘s There? All of Us‖: Exploring our call to be faithful and prophetic in a broken and hurting world and church. Ms. Gateley will speak from her own faith journey of discipleship, women in Scripture, justice, mission, mysticism, and the Divine Feminine. She is a powerful speaker, advocate, writer, poet, and mother. Ms. Gateley is also a theologian and HIV counselor. Following her immigration from Manchester, England, and her studies at Chicago Theological Union, Ms. Gateley spent a year in a hermitage. She founded the Volunteer Missionary Movement in England in 1969 after teaching and founding a school for girls in Uganda. In 1983, she founded Genesis House in Chicago, offering hospitality and nurturing for women involved in prostitution. For more information and to register, please call Sr. Mary Joan Coultas at 412-366-1124 or e-mail her at kearnsscl@pghcdp.org A donation of $15 is suggested. No reservations are necessary.
Dr. Vandana Shiva genetics has brought her into alignment with the While those attending will enjoy an evening of 99%ers of the Occupy Wall Street movement entertainment and Indian food, the dinner also which has now gone global, including Pittsburgh. provides education, inspiration and communal She founded the Research Foundation for Scisupport for those who often only see each other at ence, Technology and Ecology to research bioFar from being another awards show, the Thomas police barricades or long meetings. tech patenting and in 1991 founded Navdanya, a Merton Award dinner provides a comfortable The Thomas Merton Center would like to thank movement in India to protect India‘s diversity of space for Pittsburgh's most forward thinking peo- The Three Rivers Community Foundation, Carneplants and seeds. ple to gather and network. Last year‘s dinner fea- gie Mellon University, The Heinz Endowments, tured a banner drop by the Veteran‘s for Peace, and the Service Employees International Union Such technology has placed the food supply of displaying the ethic of the Center that the work for co-sponsoring this event. country‘s like India, and its long-term survival, at of building peace and justice is never done. Frank Carr is the editor of NewPeople risk. Dr. Shiva‘s stand against corporate for-profit continued from page 1
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 3
ADVERTISEMENT
Dorothy Day Events a Success! By Molly Rush, Joyce Rothermel, & Carol Gonzalez The Pittsburgh jazz community was treated to a very special Jazz Vespers service honoring the life of Dorothy Day (1897 – 1980) on Sunday, October 9, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church on the North Side. Jazz at Emmanuel, a monthly ecumenical jazz service currently celebrating its 23rd year, is free and open to all and features some of Pittsburgh‘s most talented jazz musicians. This October‘s service, titled ―Love is the Measure,‖ presented a brief bio and excerpts from Dorothy Day‘s writings on the nature of love and offered those in attendance glimpses of how Dorothy‘s understanding shaped her life-long dedication to providing hospitality to the poor and homeless. The appreciative audience of approximately 100 people were introduced to this ―saint of our times,‖ and were also invited to hear Jim Forest that same week. If the weekend of October 14-15 is any indication, widespread interest in Dorothy Day continues, thirty-one years after her death.
a copy. Soon after, in response to the Great Depression, she and Peter Maurin founded a house of hospitality to feed, clothe and shelter the desperate poor. It was grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person. Until her death on November 29, 1980 she edited the paper and dealt with the demands of hospitality, all the while living nonviolently, protesting injustice and war, and speaking out on behalf of the poor, dispossessed, and exploited. Her last arrest was in 1975 with the United Farm Workers in California. Today there are over 200 Catholic Worker communities in the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden. No two are alike, but all are committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and forsaken. Many members, like Dorothy, have been jailed for protesting injustice, war, racism, and all forms of violence.
On Friday afternoon, about 25 students and staff at Carlow University attended a Meager Meal and On Friday evening, October 14th about 100 peo- Conversation with Jim Forest. We‘re grateful to ple gathered at St George Cathedral in Oakland to J.T. Campbell, on staff at Carlow, who arranged hear Jim Forest‘s fascinating story of Dorothy‘s this opportunity to introduce young people to remarkable life, from bohemian young writer, Dorothy Day, truly a saint for our times. jailed with suffragists at the White House, to On Saturday, October 15th, 48 people gathered founder of the Catholic Worker, the monthly for a ―Day of Reflection‖ with Jim Forest at the newspaper, and the houses of hospitality moveMt. Nazareth Center of the Sisters of the Holy ment. Family. Among the attendees was Sr. Liguori Rossner, co-founder and executive director of the On May Day in 1933 the first edition of The Jubilee Soup Kitchen in the Hill District in PittsCatholic Worker newspaper sold 2,500 at a penny 4 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
burgh. Jim‘s story telling style along with the con-
Photo by Henry Gonzales Carol Gonzales and Jim Forest on Jim‘s visit to Pittsburgh
templative setting and thoughtful sharing made for a wonderful ―Day with Dorothy!‖ From opening meditation on Psalm 119 to the closing prayer we were encouraged to ―Breathe in love…breathe out fear…‖ Especially insightful was the afternoon session on the friendship between Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day. Although they never met in person, their confiding and consoling correspondence over the years helped each of them discern God‘s calling in their lives. Thanks to John Detwiler & Henry Gonzalez, there are video and audio recordings of Jim‘s recounting of her life. ―How to love, that is the question,‖ Dorothy wrote in The Catholic Worker. She answered that question by her life and continues to invite us to do the same. All is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day by Jim Forest, published by Orbis Books, 2011. The book has already gone into its second printing and is available locally at Calvary Episcopal Book-
Obituaries By Michael Drohan
Dan I. Bolef, Ph.D, June 10, 1921 – September 29, 2011
On September 29, Dan Bolef, Professor Emeritus of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis, passed away peacefully at his residence in North Huntington. Dan was an ardent member and supporter of the Thomas Merton Center since he came back to live in Western Pennsylvania in the late 1980s. He is survived by his wife Regina Birchem, his brother Silas and three sons Terje, Larry and Richard. Dan had an extraordinarily rich life and contributed substantially to many areas of human endeavor. He was what one can only describe as a true renaissance man with his career as a veteran of World War II, nuclear physicist, social activist, conscientious objector counselor, consummate gardener, kind friend and father and above all a loving husband and partner to Regina. Dan was the son of Jewish immigrants from Moldavia, his father leaving that country to avoid going into the Czar‘s Army and, later, during World War I went underground refusing to fight in the US army since he considered WWI an imperialist war. Dan was born in Philadelphia and spent some of his early formative years in the alternative Modern School of Stelton, NJ, of which Isadora Duncan was the patroness. He did his undergraduate studies at Penn State University in Physics and earned his Ph.D in Columbia University, his thesis being on molecular beam research. His undergraduate studies were interrupted by service in World War II. In his working career, Dan worked initially at Westinghouse Research Laboratories in Pittsburgh on masers and high-frequency ultrasonic techniques. As Westinghouse was moving closer and closer to research for military purposes, Dan moved to academia and was invited to Washington University, St. Louis as a tenured Professor where he established an extensive research program in nuclear acoustical resonance, a field which he co-founded and was the main practitioner As Dan recognized that much of the research and development in the domain of nuclear physics was being co-opted by the nuclear weapon industry, he believed it was necessary for the scientific community to educate the public about nuclear weapons, about the futility of building bomb shelters, and about the catastrophic environmental consequences of nuclear weapons. He became then a vocal expert opponent of nuclear weapons and during the Vietnam war a counselor to conscientious objectors in St. Louis. His courageous activism against war, weapons and social injustice – often out of favor with administrators - was done in community with students, national activists and local ‗peace centers‘. In his later years, Dan‘s social activism led him to getting involved in environmental struggles on behalf of communities that had hazardous waste dumped in their neighborhoods as in Yukon, Westmoreland County. He also joined the struggle against the Klan and racism in rural Pennsylvania. Apart from his academic arena and his social activism, Dan had a keen interest in many other areas of intellectual endeavor. In particular, he was a great student and admirer of Leo Tolstoy among others. In addition he was an avid gardener and specialized in the production of asparagus, blue berries, raspberries and persimmons. Above all, what is most memorable about Dan was his gentleness and tenderness as a spouse and father. These qualities were also extended to his large array of friends and acquaintances.
Joe Martin, Rest in Peace By Charlie McCollester It can‘t be easy to be an active Merton Center member in McKean County – 126 miles distant and not a hotbed of activism. Joe Martin of Bradford PA didn‘t let that stop him. A longtime member and Cornerstone sustainer, he would often appear at the Center‘s major events.
Dave Demarest By Charlie McCollester "Dave was a superb man whose generous spirit made him engage in many causes both national and international. He was my colleague at Carnegie Mellon University, and a friend and fellow activist in the Palestinian cause with the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee...Many will remember Dave with admiration and gratitude." Brian Johnston, Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University
Joe was unassuming but very dedicated. In August of last year we traveled with Fr. Bernie Survil to a peace gathering in Oakridge, Tennessee. where we protested the construction of a facility to build new nuclear weapons. As we rode along, I learned a great deal from Joe and Bernie about mountaintop removal in West Virginia, a practice which is destroying hundreds of mountains and polluting streams. Joe was a key opponent of widespread Marcellus Shale drilling near his home, threatening both his and his neighbors‘ water supply and health. Joe died at 64 following a brief illness. He will be missed. Our condolences to his wife Diane.
"Dave and I worked together on several campaigns, perhaps most importantly the effort to win a new trial for the former Black Panther Mumia Abu -Jamal...and the court cases surrounding the murder of Johnny Gammage...Dave was, in my view, the salt of the earth, the very essence of human decency. He was one of those rare people who gave everyone a most precious gift: hope for the future." Marcus Rediker, Prof. of History, University of Pittsburgh. Join in celebrating Dave's life and work for peace and justice and art with friends, family, colleagues and comrades 3pm Sat. Nov. 5, 2011 Carnegie Library of Braddock
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 5
Human Rights
Anti-immigrant Laws Have Roots in Our History By Matt Aranda
fled and many came, illegally of course, to the USA where agricultural corporations welcomed them as a source of cheap labor. Their children, who grew in extreme poverty, and were poorly educated became the object of discrimination and organized in gangs.
been abolished in the USA, was restored in a more cruel and deadly form in Mexico to provide the labor for the henequen, tobacco, sugar and coffee plantations. Big profits also came from oil, mining and finance. The bank of Mexico was only Mexican by name.
Guatemala has gone through the same process. Following democratic principles, it elected a president that promised to nationalize unused lands held by fruit growers. This of course disBy ―illegal aliens‖, our politicians mean only pleased the corporations and, obeying their dethose brown-skinned Hispanics that harvest our mands, the CIA quickly overthrew the president tomatoes and do other low paying, back-breaking and replaced him with a ruthless despot who dangerous jobs that no self-respecting American started mass killings of rebels and their suspected nor a blond illegal alien would do. supporters. It is estimated that more that 200,000 were killed, mostly innocent poor Mayan peasUnfortunately the general opinion is narrow ants. Like Hondurans and Salvadorians, Guatemaminded, ignoring the basic roots of this problem. lans fled and many also came to the USA. More Plain and simple: one of the main causes of this cheap labor, more poverty and more gangs. problem is the historical foreign policy that the USA has followed in countries south of the borSituated right in our back yard, Mexico has felt der. the full impact of the American Latin America foreign policy. From the 19th century when comA couple of examples: Honduras and El Salvaplying with our God-bestowed manifest destiny, dor, two of the poorest countries in the hemiwe invaded and took about 1/2 of its territory, to sphere, have had their economy and governments the current American-armed and financed drug very much controlled by big American corporawar, Mexicans have been heavily influenced by tions that use their lands to grow export crops. the dealings of wealthy corporations and not necDuring the Cold War the USA intensified its mili- essarily in their favor. tary intervention, pouring arms and military aid to both countries. By the turn of the 20th century, what was left of The result was armed violence thousands of peo- Mexico, with the cooperation of Porfirio Diaz, ple killed. Many Salvadorians and Hondurans had become a very profitable American colony. Slavery, which had
What has this to do with the current illegal alien problem? Lots. That situation still exists. We know almost nothing about it because our ―free press‖ doesn‘t like to talk about it. The press only noticed the Salvadorian-Honduran affair when our own thugs murdered four American nuns.
Now that Alabama has reaffirmed its title as the most racist state, with its KKK-style antiimmigrant laws, some of our leaders in Harrisburg are busy making similar laws. True, illegal immigration is a problem and a blotch on the Hollywood-inspired American image and solutions must be found.
The welfare and education of the common people have never been in the corporate agenda. The resulting extreme poverty and ignorance compels many to seek survival wherever there is a gleam of hope. These in short are the causes of illegal aliens. And the attacks against them, like those by Congressman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Cranberry‘), ―leave or go to jail‖ are at best ignorant hypocrisy, ,and because they are against very vulnerable people without any means to retaliate, vicious and cowardly. Matt Aranda is a first-time writer for NewPeople. This is an opinion piece.
FED UP! Denounces Prison Rape By Bret Grote On Tuesday, October 18, the Human Rights Coalition and concerned members of the public gathered outside of the City Council building for a rally and press conference to respond to the rape and torture scandal emerging from the State Correctional Institution (SCI) Pittsburgh, which has been deemed by some as "Abu Ghraib on the Allegheny." New Voices Pennsylvania: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice, the FOCUS on Women Campaign for Incarcerated Women, the Pennsylvania Network Against Torture, the Alliance for Police Accountability, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples Movement and the National Council for Urban Peace and Justice were among the groups co-sponsoring the event. Members of the press were provided with extensive packets containing hundreds of documented reports of human rights violations, including physical and psychological abuse, sexual harassment and violence, warehousing of mentally ill people in solitary confinement, retaliation against prisoners who speak out, widespread racism, and other dehumanizing acts. The documentation is only a portion of what has been reported to HRC, and includes extensive reports from SCIs Greene, Fayette, Dallas, Camp Hill, Huntingdon and others. Advance copies of the documentation may be obtained by emailing hrcfedup@gmail.com While the Department of Corrections (DOC) attempted to portray the arrest of prison guard Harry Nicoletti on 92 counts 6 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
of rape and abuse of prisoners as proof that it does not tolerate violence inside their prisons, fundamental questions as to how these atrocities could have gone on for two years without detection remain unanswered. Organizations participating in the action are calling for the state legislature and the Department of Justice to initiate sweeping investigations into the Pennsylvania DOC in order to hold prison officials accountable for the culture of abuse and impunity that exists within the state's prison system. "When government employees are raping and torturing people in their custody there has been a fundamental breakdown in law and order," said Shandre Delaney, an HRC member whose son has been speaking out against human rights violations from inside PA prisons for years. "Warehousing and abusing people does not make us safer, and the violence inflicted on incarcerated people comes back into the community with them when they are released." HRC, New Voices Pennsylvania, and the Alliance on Police Accountability will also be calling on the legislature to initiate an immediate halt on planned prison construction. The DOC is planning to build three more prisons at a time when many other states are reducing their prison populations. Human Rights Coalition-Fed Up! Chapter hrcfedup@gmail.com www.hrcoalition.org Bret Grote is a law student at Pitt, a former board member of the TMC, and a leader of FED UP!
To the Editor of The NewPeople: I am a regular reader of The NewPeople, and I am quite perturbed by the fact that you rarely, if ever, publish letters to the editor! Do you have something against freedom of expression? How ironic that would be, given that you are a social justice paper. In the future, I hope to see this lack of reader input remedied. Sincerely, Angry Young Man
Dear Angry Young Man, I would gladly publish ANY letter to the editor were I to ever receive one! There is no letter too angry, critical, or tersely worded I would not print. Grammatically inaccurate letters, on the other hand, are another story. If you have any friends who would like to write to The NewPeople, have them send their letters to: newpeople@thomasmertoncenter.org or The NewPeople c/o The Thomas Merton Center 5129 Penn Avenue Pgh, PA 15224 Sincerely, The NewPeople Editor
Occupy Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is OCCUPIED By Frank Carr
Then they marched with drums and chants and signs. They were young, old, black and white. OCTOBER 15, 2011—On a windy, cloudMany brought their children and grandchildren. streaked Saturday morning they came, gathering Veterans for Peace marched with MarcellusProto the music of Phat Man Dee at Pittsburgh‘s test.org, with the United Steelworkers, with the Freedom Corner. As usual with Pittsburghers, Communication Workers of America, with stuthey came only just on time, causing a crowd of dents drowning in college debt and unemployed dozens to swell into hundreds and then thousands. teachers facing foreclosure. They marched with joy and passion through a city They were coming to ―occupy‖ their hometown. of vacant storefronts Like those in hundreds of cities across the nation and massive executive they have signed onto a movement begun in Sep- towers, stopping in tember in New York City. front of the financial institutions to assail They call themselves the 99%, and they came the power of wealth. with signs and voices assailing thirty years of corporate hegemony over our economy, our national One could quote endpolitics, and our lives. They would march through lessly their reasons: a the city and break camp on an urban park owned lack of jobs, ecological by the Bank of New York Mellon, next to the fi- degradation, loopholes nancial giant‘s tower on Grant Street. that let corporations saved by public bailGathered on that chilly morning they heard from outs continue to pay many, from a Pitt student who had been peppered their executives obsprayed trying to enter her dorm during the G20 scene salaries. Yet in 2009, from labor and community organizers, somehow the and from a member of the 1%, those whose fami- ―mainstream‖ media lies control more than forty percent of America‘s says they have no dewealth. ―I am a member of the 1%,‖ said a 1%er, mands, no issues, no ―But I am not blind to what is around me.‖ ―leaders.‖ The 99% represent a movement that is crystal clear to its participants: to hold those who have wrecked our economy, environment, and democracy accountable for their deeds. They are said to have no leaders, yet it could also be said that each of them leads. They practice an arduous ―horizontal democracy‖ of consensus decision making and they practiced it that morning. Before setting off on their march to Market Square they adopted, by consensus, a statement of nonviolence and adopted the Statement of the People of Color Working Group to stand against the racism that has helped for so long to decimate our nation.
In Market Square the overflowing crowd heard more speakers. Not just USW President Leo Girardi but anyone who wanted to make a statement. They practiced the ―vocal-relay‖ used in New York where microphones are denied, asking for ―Mic Checks!‖ when they couldn‘t hear. This practice slows speakers down. And it makes the audience listen, concentrating on what is being said and not just the show.
Street, to Mellon Green, not knowing what would happen. They had no permit to camp on the land owned by their nemesis. They also knew that Pittsburgh wanted no repeat of the violence that plagued the G20 conference in 2009. Police presence was very light compared to then. Officers were cordial and businesslike. When the march left Market Square, police said it was cleaner than before the march.
Moshe Sherman At Mellon Green they set up camp. And there they remain at the present time. As we go to print, more than seventy tents and almost two hundred campers are embedded in the city‘s financial district.
As in New York, they participate in almost daily marches, pickets, and rallies. Protesting for good jobs at Senator Pat Toomey‘s office one day and At 4 PM announcements were made that ―the per- picketing BNY Mellon the next. They live-stream mit has expired.‖ It was time to camp, and no one and hold a general assembly every day at 7 pm. In knew what to expect. the first few hours of the camp, they started receiving food donations, including pizza. And they So they followed the drummers back up to Grant heard from a woman that the ground they were on was sacred. ―On this site,‖ said a woman named Lucy, ―In the nineteen tens, there was a building on this site called Magee Center. It was the center for those who opposed World War I, who stood for peace. I move we rename this sacred ground Magee Park.‖ They did by consensus. And they are heckled by the people they are trying to help, called lazy and stoners and hippies, while they maintain their vigil against greed and racism and homophobia and all the ills of our time. Pictures tell the story, and the NewPeople offers our best on the following pages.
Photo by Lindy Hazel LaDue
Photo by Frank Carr The Occupation begins: October 15
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 7
Occupy Pittsburgh
Signs of the Times
Photo by Frank Carr
Photo by Lindy Hazel LaDue
Photo by Lindy Hazel LaDue
8 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
Occupy Pittsburgh
Photo by Lindy Hazel LaDue
Photo by Frank Carr
Photo by Frank Carr
Photo by Lindy Hazel LaDue
Photo by Lindy Hazel LaDue
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 9
Occupy Wall Street
A New York Story they persist. When they marched in solidarity with those opposing the execution of Troy Davis, Zuccotti Park is a small space of concrete and they were pepper sprayed. When shrubbery one block south of Alexander Hamilthey marched to Brooklyn, they ton's grave. And he might be rolling over in it. were arrested on the bridge roadSince September 17th, it has been the encampway, claiming they had been led ment of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which there by police. So they marched is now global. Some fifteen hundred cities have on police headquarters. When been ―occupied‖ by a diverse ―unaffiliated group they marched in Time Square, of citizens,‖ according to their release, determined more were arrested. So they to hold the corporate world accountable for its marched on the District Attoractions and misdeeds. They rechristened the park ney‘s office. They persist. with its original name, ―Liberty Plaza.‖ They are diverse. They are Asian, At first taken as a joke or a lark, the assembly has Black, Latino and White, female become a serious crucible for citizen democracy and male. They are straight and and coalition building. At first it seemed destined gay, socialist, green, democrat and to fail. Zuccotti park was not even the initial des- independent. They have embraced organized labor and been embraced back, marching to support postal workers, welcoming the Transit Workers Union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other unions. By Frank Carr
What they are is a Photo by Mike Havenar new society. Unable A free shave at Liberty Plaza. A masseur is also available to use microphones, They, they have developed a vocal relay we, the 99%, persist. They need no leaders or prosystem to pass along the words of forma agendas because they are participating dispeakers. They have enough food to rectly in the governance of their lives. They have help feed the homeless. They make a library, a barber, medics, and a masseur. I spent signs from the pizza boxes and have five days there. At first it seemed a cross between pies sent to them from around the a craft fair and a homeless camp. But the signs globe, including from Tahrir Square were being made, not sold, and food was being in Egypt. They have solar power for prepared for free and shirts were silk-screened for their computers. And they remain. free and people seemed happy to be standing up, alive and in As The NewPeople goes to press they dependent and HUMAN. In the end that is the move towards the seventh week of agenda. occupation. Tourists atop double decker buses cheer them. When Wall Street firms laid off 10,000 people Photo by Mike Havenar just a week The free library at Liberty Plaza or so ago, tination (Wall Street itself, fortified since the 9/11 many of those anaattacks) or the backup (nearby Bowling Green). lysts and brokers But the small square along Broadway has become went to Liberty the symbol of citizens seeking to retake their de- Plaza, ―To justify mocracy. As a popular sign says, ―I‘ll believe cor- their fears,‖ said porations are people when Texas executes one;‖ one former stock the movement demands a realignment of power Photo by Mike Havenar analyst to Time throughout our system. Magazine. An afternoon at Occupy Wall Street
Derided by the conservative media, called antiSemites by radio entertainer Rush Limbaugh, told they were out to ―Destroy New York City‘s economy,‖ by Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
10 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
U.S. & Colombia Continue Attack on Liberation Church By Dan Kovalic
tice itself in Latin America by wiping out radical Christianity (that is, Christianity in a form closer When I was 12 years old – at the time a devout to its early roots before it became the official, Catholic and Reaganite – I saw something on state religion of Rome). In other words, while television that had a profound effect on my life. It the U.S. tried to justify its war against Commuwas a 60 Minutes piece about El Salvador, and it nism as a war against anti-Christian atheists, it focused on the murder of Archbishop Romero and was in fact the U.S. that posed more of a threat to the four Churchwomen, some of them American, true Christianity. brutally raped and murdered there. What was striking to me about the piece was its suggestion The U.S. has carried out this battle with the that the forces behind these atrocities may well sword, sponsoring forces which have carried out have been those being sponsored by the United the murder of literally hundreds of religious States. As we now know, this was indeed the (including priests, brothers, and sisters) throughcase. And, it was this realization -- that the U.S. out Latin America while the Vatican, which was behind the persecution of the Church in El strayed from the roots of Christianity long ago, Salvador, and as I came to know later, throughout has carried it out through ex-communications and Latin America -- which changed how I viewed censure. Indeed, the U.S. Army School of the the world and the U.S.‘s role in it. Americas (SOA) has bragged on its website of having successfully defeated Liberation Theology Of course, Noam Chomsky, with his partner in as a force in Latin America. As Newsweek has crime, Edward Herman, has been analyzing the reported, ―when Honduran and Colombian solU.S. war on the Liberation Church in Latin Amer- diers go through the urban-combat exercise [at the ica and the media‘s almost utter failure to cover it SOA] with blanks in their weapons, half the time for years. Chomsky, whose lone poster in his the village priest is killed or roughed up.‖ Sadly, MIT office is one with Archbishop Romero along in Colombia, the forces are using live ammuniwith the six (6) Jesuits killed in El Salvador in tion, and this year, have been hitting their target 1989, has pointed out quite recently that the mur- with regularity. der of these six Jesuits (with U.S. bullets) took place very shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Thus, as Colombia‘s paper of record, El Tiempo, That is, the murders took place as the Cold War – explained yesterday, six Catholic priests have the ostensible struggle between Capitalism and been killed in Colombia so far this year. Between Communism – was ending, leading to the conclu- 1984 and September of 2011, two bishops, 79 sion that the assault on the Church, and in particu- priests, eight men and women religious, and three lar Liberation Theology, had little or nothing to seminarians have been killed in Colombia alone. do with the U.S.‘s proffered goal to eradicate For the most part, these victims have been advoCommunism. Rather, the goal was deeper and cates for the poor and have been killed by rightmore sinister – to wipe out the seeds of social jus- wing paramilitaries aligned with the Colombian
state and military – the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the region by far. The most recent priest killed in Colombia was Father Gualberto Arrieta Oviedo, pastor of Our Lady of Carmen Capurgana (Choco), who was killed by a machete to the head. Father Arrieta Oviedo, as El Tiempo explains, ―was known for his committed work with the poorest communities.‖ The Colombian Bishops Conference reacted to this latest murder by decrying the murder of Catholic priests in Colombia and stressing ―the courageous commitment of our priests with the prophetic denunciation of injustice and the cause of the poorest in the country.‖ Meanwhile, the Vatican remains silent about these killings. Of course, it is the ―prophetic denunciation of injustice and the cause of the poorest‖ of the poor which both the U.S. and Colombia would like to see wiped out. It is this goal which is the real impetus for the U.S.‘s support of the Colombian military to the tune of over $7 billion since 2000, and for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which President Obama is threatening to have passed this Fall. Those dedicated to mission of justice must oppose both these policies with the fervor of those priests who risk their lives every day in the lion‘s den which the U.S. and Colombia have created for them. Dan Kovalic is an attorney for United Steel Workers and a member of the Thomas Merton Center.
Close the School of the Americas By Michael Drohan
is merely straight-forward military training with an emphasis on human rights and respect for ciThe School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) is vilians. However, by their fruits shall we know gearing up for its annual protest outside the gates them. As of this writing, one of the candidates for of Ft. Benning, Georgia where the School of the the Presidency of Guatemala is General Otto Americas is housed. The protest will take place Perez Molina, a graduate of the School. Molina in from Friday November 18 to Sunday November the 1980s was directly involved in torture and 20. During this weekend, up to ten thousand acacts of genocide in the campaign against the intivists from around the country will come together digenous Mayan population that brought up to to protest what goes on in the School, which the 100,000 victims in its trail. protesters dub the School of the Assassins. The protest has been taking place annually since 1990 Also, in 2009 those who led the coup in Honduras and was initiated by Rev. Roy Bourgeois. The against President Manuel Zelaya were graduates immediate stimulus for the protest was the murder of the School. In 2007 the government of Costa of six famous El Salvadoran Jesuit priests toRica under the Presidency of Oscar Arias decided gether with their housekeeper and her daughter in not to send any more candidates to the SOA be1989. It was discovered that those who carried out cause of the nature of the training. As a result the the murder had been graduates of the School of U.S. threatened to cut off $1.2 million funds of the Americas and belonged to a commando unit cooperation agreements and eventually succeeded of the El Salvadoran Army named the Alcatal in getting Arias to reverse the decision. So, then Brigade. the SOA is still involved in nefarious practices though its graduates. Above all, they are the ones Further investigation revealed that many of the that the U.S government depends upon to make Latin American dictators and initiators of camthe natural resources of the sub-continent safe for paigns of massacres from Mexico to Argentina U.S. access. were trained in the School. Perhaps the most damning thing about the School was the discovAt the present moment, the U.S. economy is in ery of a manual on torture which was used to train dire straits with unemployment at its highest level those attending the School. In a very real sense, since the Great Depression. Most of the States are the horrors of Abu Graib and the water-boarding in serious debt and are threatened with the cutting in Guantanamo are connected with the activities off of federal monies. The solution to this probof the School. lem that many of the Governors have is to cut all kinds of social and human services. Another way Those who run the School today say that all has to get out of the present economic mess is to rechanged, and no training in torture now takes duce military spending, end the multiple wars in place in the School. They assert that the training
which the USA is engaged, and close institutions such as the SOA. If you would like to join the movement to close the SOA, our local chapter through the Thomas Merton Center can facilitate your travel to Ft. Benning. Many years ago, we sent down busloads of people from Pittsburgh, but now we travel through a sister group in Cleveland, Ohio. If interested in going you can contact them directly through the website www.IRTFcleveland.org or by telephone 216-961-0003. The cost for the entire weekend including travel and accommodation is $199, but scholarships are available. Participation in this weekend will change your lives since you will meet some of the bravest peacemakers alive today in the U.S. Michael Drohan is a political economist specializing in analysis of Third World economies and a member of The Thomas Merton Center‘s Board of Directors.
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 11
Local News
Gun Loopholes Kill By Rob Conroy
Marqus Hill‘s PA permit was revoked in 2007 because of his involvement with a shooting. In Although supporters of the Thomas Merton Cen- 2008, after his appeal was denied, he attacked a ter‘s ongoing fight for peace are familiar with the police officer in the courtroom. But none of that toll of gun violence, a predictable majority of the information was available to the Florida DepartU.S. House of Representatives has once again ment of Agriculture when they reviewed Hill‘s conveniently donned blinders provided by the application in 2009, and shortly after, mailed him National Rifle Association (NRA). This time, a concealed carry permit good for seven years, however, the consequences could be more deadly with the address of his Philadelphia residence than ever. printed on it.
system. However, under the current system, we as citizens can at least take theoretical comfort in the fact that our state government has the ability to determine which states have rigorous enough standards for Pennsylvania to accept their concealed carry permits. Ironically enough, HR 822 would remove the states authority and place it in the hands of the Federal Government – a clear violation of the states‘ rights arguments that the NRA‘s political allies are so keen on brandishing when it comes to federal labor standards and This time last year, investigators were still inves- Congress first considered this proposed change to other issues. tigating the murder of Irving Santana, an unarmed federal law in 2009 – before Hill had exposed the Philadelphia teenager who was shot 13 times. deadly consequences of the Florida loophole. Af- With more than 3,000 concealed carry permits One year later one piece of the puzzle is clear: the ter hearing the opposition and concern of hunissued to Pennsylvania residents by Florida alone, shooter, Marqus Hill, took advantage of a loopdreds of Pennsylvania mayors and police chiefs, such incidents are bound to multiply. If Congress hole in Pennsylvania‘s concealed carry law – an former Senator Arlen Specter cast a decisive vote passes HR 822, all states will automatically be unintentional gap in our reciprocity agreement against the amendment and blocked it from beable to grant concealed carry permits to Pennsylwith Florida that allowed him to sidestep the coming law. Unfortunately for Pennsylvania and vania residents – despite the best efforts of PennPennsylvania authorities who had revoked his our nation, Senator Robert Casey, (D-PA) voted sylvania law enforcement to minimize the risk of permit – and the ruling of a state judge who had in favor, disregarding the recommendations of his hidden, loaded guns, carried by known dangerous denied his appeal to have it returned. constituents and local law enforcement. people, in public spaces. Since then, the state legislature has repeatedly ignored reasonable suggestions – from sheriffs who administer concealed carry permits, prosecutors who seek justice for victims of shootings, and police officers– to close the loophole that allowed Hill to commit murder.
It was a mistake in 2009 when Congress first considered this Bill. Now that we have seen the deadly consequences it is absolutely unconscionable that Congress would consider HR 822. This affects all Pennsylvanians, but poses unique problems for law enforcement, who will face added dangers as well as additional challenges in checkNow, instead of addressing this problem, Coning the validity of concealed carry permits. Ingress is considering a Bill that will expand this stead of pulling the rug out from beneath law enloophole to every other state in our nation. HR forcement, Congress should be giving them more 822, introduced by Congressman Cliff Stearns (R- tools (like funds for a national background check Florida), would expand reciprocity for concealed database that actually works) not fewer. carry permits to all states. The proposed Bill— which has already garnered more co-sponsors HR 822 makes it even harder for Pennsylvania than it needs to pass in the House--renders recip- police to protect our communities. We are already rocity obsolete. struggling with gun violence in our neighborhoods and with enforcement of our flawed current
Since HR 822 is all but guaranteed to pass in the House, it‘s up to Senators Toomey and (more importantly) Casey to cast what will almost certainly be decisive votes against it and protect the health of both ordinary citizens and law enforcement officers.. Rob Conroy is a member of the Thomas Merton Center’s Board of Directors and the Western Pennsylvania Field Coordinator for CeaseFirePA, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting violence caused by illegal firearms. Please direct any questions to rob.conroy@ceasefirepa.org.
The War (in Iraq) is (almost) OVER By Frank Carr
the government ―Bring the war dollars home‖ to assuage our economic difficulties.
On Friday, October 22, President Barack Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, meeting the terms of a bilateral agreement reached with the Iraqi government which the United States has been trying to extend. The United States invaded Iraq in 2003. claiming that its ruler, Saddam Hussein, possessed ―Weapons of mass destruction‖ and was an imminent threat to nations in the region. Then President George W. Bush pushed relentlessly for the conflict, as did his defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and then Vice-president Dick Cheney. Since its beginning, the Iraq War has drawn harsh criticism from the American public, politicians, and civic leaders. In the past week, the Pittsburgh City Council passed a resolution demanding that
12 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
―end the war in Iraq.‖ Already, his political opponents are decrying the decision, saying it simply allows neighboring Iran to exert undue influAt least seven Congressional resolutions to bring ence over Iraq. It is certain to be an issue in the the troops home have been voted on and defeated 2012 U.S. Presidential election. since 2007. To Republicans in the House only ―victory‖ in Iraq would suffice. Progressive DeRuss Fedorka mocrats were unable to pass more ―pacifist‖ resolutions. The troops are being withdrawn not out of high ideals, but because the United States has failed to convince the Iraqi Government that U.S. troops should continue to receive immunity from criminal prosecution for acts they may commit in Iraq. But the troops are coming home, and President Obama can at long last say he has fulfilled his campaign promise from 2008 to
Local News
The Unconscious Segregation of Pittsburgh Public Schools By Corey Carrington Upon graduating from Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) five and a half years ago, I have to say that the landscape of my childhood has severely changed as I believe it has for many other PPS graduates. Since 2006, the closing and consolidation of PPS institutions have evoked anger, confusion, and frustration leading to many parents taking their children out of PPS. You may ask, how many schools have been closed? That number is difficult to pinpoint for a number of reasons. While some may say a school‘s closing is the actual physical closing of the building, I would say it also means losing the identity of what a school used to be and who it had special meaning to.
Schenley High School graduated its last class in May of this year after their students were moved from their old building, due to asbestos, into what was formerly Reizenstein Middle School and which is now Pittsburgh Obama 6-12. Yes, it‘s confusing to me, too. Peabody High School closed in May after years of low enrollment, and Westinghouse has been turned into two single gender academies. Langley High School on the West End is also in talks about closing.
There are many reasons these schools are being closed. Low enrollment, low performance, deteriorating buildings, and fiscal responsibility are just some reasons for the drastic changes. They could be justified, but at what Over the past couple of years my elementary cost? What I don‘t think a lot of people underschool, Horace Mann, and middle school, Arthur stand are the cultural ramifications these closings J. Rooney, have both been closed. Most recently, are having on our communities. If schools are as of the first week of October, there have been supposed to be chief assets of a community, what discussions about the idea of closing my alma is there left to be proud of once those schools are mater, Perry Traditional Academy, and neighbor- gone? ing high school, David B. Oliver, and merging the two into one North Side high school. However, in my opinion the biggest problem with these school closings is the elephant in the room: I‘m not alone in this experience. High schools on They are mostly African-American populated. All the East Side of the city have taken a hit too. I see the Pittsburgh Public School district doing is
confining certain populations to certain schools in certain parts of the city. Perry and Oliver would become one big North Side black school. Peabody and Schenley students, largely African-American, now become students of Pittsburgh Obama, which is in a black neighborhood. Langley students get dispersed all over the city with no home school while the problems never really get fixed. On the flipside, Brashear, Carrick, and Allderdice, schools that serve significant Caucasian populations, have been in no talks to be closed and most likely will not be. Those schools also have a record of performing well. It makes me think about the vicious cycle of taxpayers in low income neighborhoods producing low performing schools that end up failing our students in the end. I feel like PPS is trying to cover a bullet wound with a band-aid and if something isn‘t done about the quality of education and the achievement gap of our schools, we can expect a repeat of these problems 30 years down the road. Corey Carrington is a recent graduate of Slippery Rock University and a Public Ally with the Thomas Merton Center. He enjoys writing/performing poetry under the pseudonym, Grits Capone and is actively engaged in writing various blogs.
Working Class Literature in the United States By Michael Drohan
capitalism was more raw in the US being unencumbered by previous socio-economic systems such as A crowd of over 60 people gathered on October 6th, at feudalism. They were buoyed up by the consciousness the Friends Meeting House, for a stimulating discusof the working class and the radical nature of their sion of ―Working-Class Literature‖ in the United demands. They were demanding social ownership and States. This was the second installment of First Thurs- democratic control over the major economic resources day Forums, what is billed as ―a monthly forum series and so while the terminology of socialism was alien to of ideas, politics and culture,‖ which has recently been them, their demands were socialist in nature. launched by the International Socialist Organization. The October forum was organized around the notion Alicia Williamson, a University of Pittsburgh that U.S. workers have been singing, reciting, perform- doctoral student reported on her doctoral research into ing, telling stories, writing, and publishing for more a substantial number of socialist novels written during than three centuries. As diverse in race, gender, culthe Progressive Era, that is, the period of 1900 to 1920, ture, and region as America's working class itself, when such then-sizeable organizations as the Socialist working-class literature embraces genres that include Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the fiction, poetry, drama, memoir, oratory, journalism, World were playing a prominent role in U.S. politics letters, oral history, and songs – reflecting varieties of and cultural life. In general, she noted, the novelists work and struggle. she has been studying were not (or did not consider themselves to be) part of the working class, and so The forum was kicked off by a panel that intended to approach their subject matter as outsiders to cluded Nick Coles, Paul LeBlanc, Alicia Williamson the labor movement and class struggle. Despite some and Robin Clark. Nick Coles is a Professor of Literagenuine strengths, she saw tendencies to either romanture at the University of Pittsburgh and co-editor of the ticize workers or to treat them as uncouth primitives Oxford University Press anthology American Working- who could be ―lifted up‖ with the socialist message. Class Literature. He drew attention to a remarkable All too often, their writings also revealed insensitivipoem by U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, who selfties to complex issues of race, ethnicity and gender. identifies as a working-class poet, focusing on his This was in contrast to the vibrant 1930s writings – poem ―What Work Is‖ and emphasizing the centrality pointed to in Le Blanc‘s remarks – produced by a risof working-class life to the literature of the United ing wave of working-class writers from various racial States. (See http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/levine/ and ethnic backgrounds. what_work_is.php for Levine‘s poem.) A dramatic challenge was offered in the contribuPaul Le Blanc, Professor of History at La Roche tion by Robin Clarke, herself a working-class poet and College, drew from his recent book Work and Struga Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh. Connecting with gle: Voices from U.S. Labor Radicalism to emphasize an upwelling of present-day writings from rebel poets the richness of US working class culture and literature. from society‘s exploited and oppressed layers, she During the 1880s, he stated, the daughter of Karl Marx sharply posed the question of how legitimately – Eleanor by name – and a socialist friend Edward ―working-class‖ the works of someone like Philip LeEveling toured the United States for 15 weeks and vine could be if they fail to challenge the social injusfound over one hundred working class newspapers tices, economic inequalities, and imbalances of power being produced in the US. Further, they found that in today‘s world. To qualify as working class litera-
ture, in her opinion, its products had to be revolutionary in its demands and understanding. A rich discussion followed the presentations. Professor Le Blanc maintained that he and all who sold their labor were thereby ―working class‖ and were not just speaking on behalf of the working class. On the other hand, Professor Coles maintained that as a History Professor enjoying a pleasant middle-class existence would not consider himself ―working class‖. For him working class indicated those who did physical labor of a demanding nature, that is both boring and physically exhausting. Ms Clarke provided a statement by Karl Marx which states ―a man who has no free time to dispose of, whose whole lifetime, apart from the mere physical interruptions of sleep, meals and so forth, is absorbed by his labor for the capitalist, is less than a beast of burden‖. Whether one‘s existence can be characterized by these traits qualifies one as a member of the working class or whether simply by having to sell one‘s physical or mental labor is sufficient remained a contested issue in the exchanges during the Forum.
Michael Drohan is a political economist specializing in analysis of Third World economies and a member of The Thomas Merton Center‘s Board of Directors.
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 13
Hiroshima Survivor Speaks By Scilla Warhaftig
She went on to talk about the responsibility felt possible to make a peaceful world without nuclear by many Hibakusha, survivors of the bombings, weapons.‖ to tell their stories. ―Many of us Hibakusha do not As a junior and high school art teacher Junko Kayashigne has created haunting paintings of her experiences and memories of being an A-bomb survivor. ―I wanted to depict the foolishness of humans who attempt to solve problems with war and destruction. It is hard for me to revisit and recount my experience, but nuclear weapons are still threatening our lives.‖ With the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the nuclear melt-down at Fukushima the message of the dangers of nuclear power and weapons becomes more imminent.
―It was then that I saw a plane flying in the sky, and realized it was a B-29. "It's a B29 plane!" I shouted, and climbed onto the window to see the plane better. As we were looking at the plane it dropped the A-bomb, which exploded 600 meters above the ground. The house where we were was 1.3 kilometers from ground zero. ..When I came back to my senses, I found myself lying on the dirt under the window, inside the house. My cousin was lying there too. My aunt and sister Fumie, who had been in the same room, were blown farther, to the entrance area of the house.‖ This is how Junko Kayashigne, a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima begins her story. She was severely burned in the bombing and Faces, a piece by Ms. Kayashigne her sister and many relatives died. want to tell our stories of unhealed pain in our The American Friends Service Committee, PA minds and bodies. But we must tell the world Program (AFSC-PA) brought Junko to Pittsburgh what has happened and what we have gone on October 11th and 12th to speak at the Univer- through. Hibakusha are aged now, and there are sity of Pittsburgh to area high school teachers, fewer and fewer of us who can tell you stories of students at CAPA, Creative and Performing Arts our experiences. We Hibakusha strongly hope for High school, and as part of the Carnegie Mellon a world where no one ever should experience the University ―Two Weeks of Peace,‖ and Remem- pains that we have experienced. The only way to bering Hiroshima: Imagining Peace. achieve this is to abolish nuclear weapons. If we cooperate with the people all over the world, it is
AFSC-PA is part of the group Remembering Hiroshima Imagining Peace. This fall we undertook an extensive number of events, art exhibits, films, town hall meetings and films, raising awareness of the threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Our final event this year will be a talk by Lynnea Smith, an activist who is working in banning uranium mining in the Navaho Reservation. She will speak at CMU. Scilla Warhaftig is a longtime member of the Thomas Merton Center.
LaDuke Keynotes Convergences for Change By Casey Capitolo In the hottest social change event of the season, the Three Rivers Community Foundation Building Change Convergence, the progressive community filled the Heinz History Center October 13 -15. The first-ever gathering of advocates for social change, and organizations from across Southwestern Pennsylvania opened with a soul-wrenching but calmly delivered address by renowned Native American economist and environmentalist Winona LaDuke. LaDuke began by stating the obvious- we are all related, our fates are intertwined, but we are faced with the choice of ‗empire‘ versus connection. Her people‘s prophecies have long seen two divergent paths for humanitythe scorched earth economics of death or the ―greenway,‖ following the laws of life and creation. Her father summed it up for her this way: ―I don‘t want to hear your economics or philosophy if you can‘t grow your own corn.‖ LaDuke‘s academic background takes that simple truth further by reminding us that the average crop travels 1500 miles from field to table, bringing along with it a nightmare of petrochemicals, environmental de14 - NEWPEOPLE
struction and dangerous, toxic food. This keynote address was only one high point of the three-day, open attendance conference on social justice and change for the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania region. Events included dozens of workshops, training sessions, plenary sessions and panel discussions. For the hundreds of young people in attendance, there was an Internship Fair, entertainment, and a huge Youth Leading Change event. In the more than two year planning process leading to Building Change, much effort was dedicated to involving young people in both the planning and carrying out of the actual event.
subjects and techniques. More than 26 relevant social justice films were screened over a fiveday span. Showings included an interactive discussion between filmmakers and audience to explore the message and importance of each movie/ documentary. The arts and entertainment working group produced marvelously diverse and stirring works that enhanced the normal conference overload of information with paintings, photography, music, dance and more.
Three Rivers Community Foundation, founded in 1989, works to bring about social, racial and economic justice for Southwestern Pennsylvania With opportunities for network- citizens. The foundation solicing, the convergence included its, identifies and evaluates community members and leadprojects that define and reers, human services providers solve community problems at a and small business owners, un- grassroots level and makes ion members, grantmakers, film- grants to organizations workmakers, artists, entertainers, me- ing on the ground for change. dia representatives, people from TRCF raises funds from indiall backgrounds and interests – vidual donors and foundations. who share a common goal of advancing social justice and Casey Capitolo is a TMC change in our region and world. Board Member. The Building Change Film Festival and 7 Pathways to Change Art showcased both traditional and cutting-edge filmmaking using controversial documentary
November, 2011
5 reasons why Building Change focused on the young? 1. Governance: Politicians are making deci-
2.
3.
4.
5.
sions that youth will have to live with and, if the young do not become active in the democratic process, their opinions will not be heard. War: Adults declare wars – young people die in them and pay for these wars financially. Young people have the right to be fully informed of the decisions that lead to war, in order to influence those decisions when they reach voting age. Poverty among young people, and particularly young African Americans: Young people in general, and those of color in particular, face daunting obstacles to obtaining affordable, high-quality education and living wage jobs and careers. This racial and economic injustice is severely limiting the options and life opportunities for young people in our society. Debt: For the past three decades the United States has amassed an almost inconceivable national debt and the task of repaying this debt will be left to the youth of today and tomorrow. The Environment: Exploding population growth and selfish life choices of adults and the actions of the industries that they operate have created an unsafe, increasingly arid, and heavily polluted world environment. Young people will have to live with the consequences of these decisions and will be tasked with having to come up with viable solu-
tions.
SUBMIT! your stories, letters, poems, essays, cartoon, photos to the NEWPEOPLE or they may never find an audience! Please limit submissions to 600 words. Photos or art should be sent as JPEG or TIFF. Postage or articles may be mailed to The Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Manuscripts will not be returned. All submissions become property of NEWPEOPLE, a publication of the Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh, and may be edited. ADVERTISING IS AVAILABLE. CONTACT NEWPEOPLE@THOMASMERTONCENTER.ORG DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS OCTOBER 15TH THROUGH http://thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit-article/
East End Community Thrift Store 5123 Penn Avenue, Garfield (a few doors down from TMC)
Come in today Tuesday — Friday: 10 AM - 4 PM Saturday: Noon - 4 PM
What you donate, what you buy supports Garfield, supports the Merton Center.
Your Guide to Progressive News ~ TELEVISION ~ PCTV21 (COMCAST Channel 21/ VERIZON FIOS Channel 47) PROGRESSIVE PGH NOTEBOOK (check www.pctv21.org for schedule) Internet=( www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv ) DEMOCRACY NOW= 8 AM: AJ STREAM=9 AM ; FAULTLINES=9:30 AM(W/Thom Hartmann, both are on Free Speech TV) CITY COUNCIL (COMCAST Channel 13 / Verizon FIOS Channel 44) Tuesdays Council Meetings; Wednesdays Standing Committees 10 AM Repeated at 7 PM / Repeated Sat & Sundays 10 AM and 7 PM (www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council Legislative Info Center
~ INTERNET RADIO ~ ITUNES click ―Radio‖, Double Click ―News/ Talk‖ , and Click ―KPTK 1090 PROGRESSIVE TALK= THOM HARTMANN NOON – 3 PM (Check other programs on KPTK and ITUNES) LYNN CULLEN MON-FRI= 10 AM www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws
~ LOCAL RADIO ~ WRCT 88.3 FM DEMOCRACY NOW = 8 AM, MON – FRI RUST BELT RADIO = 6 PM on MON, and 9 AM on TUES FREE SPEECH RADIO = MON – FRI, 5:30 PM LAW AND DISORDER = 9 AM MON
ture‖ = SUN, NOON – 2 PM
WESA 90.5 FM, MONDAY TO FRIDAY
BBC = 11PM—5AM SATURDAY
KDKA 1020 AM “CHRIS MOORE” = SUN, 4 – 9 PM. CALL IN NUMBER 412353-1254 WMMY 1360 AM ‖Dr Scott Shalaway, Birds & Na-
WKFB 770 AM “UNION EDGE RADIO TALK” = MON-FRI, NOON – 1 PM
BBC = MIDNIGHT—7AM
EARTH BEAT = 7AM
ALLEGHENY FRONT = 7:30 AM SUNDAY
November, 2011
NEWPEOPLE - 15
SOCIAL
ACTION
SUNDAYS ___________________________
5:30pm - 7:00pm Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library 5801 Forbes Avenue Meeting Room B
Anti-War Committee meeting Every other Sunday 2:00pm - 3:30pm Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield
Write On! Letters for Prisoner's rights Meets every Wednesday 6:30pm – 9:00pm Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Garfield We need help answering our 60 letters a month from people in prison dealing with abuse and neglect. Come and learn about people in prison while advocating for their rights! Info 412-361-3022
Book 'Em Packing Day Meets every Sunday 4:00pm - 7:00pm Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue Join others sending requested books to prisoners. Bring a group. For more info call the Thomas Merton Center, 412.361.3022 Human Rights Letter-writing Salon Meets every Sunday 4:00pm - 6:00pm Kiva Han, 420 S Craig St Write letters to combat human rights abuses! Meet local Amnesty International activists and other human rights enthusiasts, change the world, and have a grand old time. MONDAYS ________________________ Weekly North Hills Weekly Peace Vigil 4:30pm-5:00pm In front of the Divine Providence Motherhouse, 9000 Babcock Blvd., Allison Park Sponsored by the Pittsburgh North People for Peace & the Srs. of Divine Providence WEDNESDAYS _______________________ Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition Meets the 1st Wednesday of every month
CALENDAR
PUSH [Pennsylvanian United for Single Payer Healthcare]/Health Care for All PA Meets monthly on the second Wednesday 6:15 pm office, 2101 Murray Avenue, Squirrel Hill All welcome Info: drdoneagain@yahoo.com Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) meeting Monthly on the first Wednesday 7:00pm - 8pm First Unitarian Church (Ellsworth/Morewood, Shadyside) For more information, call 412-384-4310. THURSDAYS _________________________ Green Party meeting First Thursday of the month 7:00pm - 9pm Citizen Power's offices, 2121 Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill, second floor
~ November ~
SATURDAYS ________________________ Project to End Human Trafficking Volunteer signup 2nd Saturday of each month 10:00am - 12:00pm Campus of Carlow University Project to End Human Trafficking (PEHT) offers FREE public volunteer/information. Please pre-register by the Wednesday before via smohler@endhumantrafficking.org. For more information check out our website www.endhumantrafficking.org PEHT Information and Training Seminars Second Saturday of every month 12:00pm - 1:00pm Carlow University, Antonian Room #502, RSVP by the Wednesday before to smohler@endhumantrafficking.org Open to the public. Peace Vigils to End the War Every Saturday, following locations & times Regent Square Peace Vigil Corner of Forbes and Braddock 12:00pm - 1pm *Black Voices for Peace Anti-War Protest Corner of Penn & Highland in East Liberty 1:00pm - 2:00 pm Beaver County Peace Links Peace Vigil Beaver County Courthouse, 3rd Street (Beaver) 1:00pm - 2pm
Tuesday, November 1st ____________________ My People Film Series: The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project 7pm-8pm Kelly Strayhorn Theater 5941 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15206 stephanie@kelly-strayhorn.org
Tuesday, November 15th____________________ My People Film Series: Zero Degrees of Seperation 7pm-9pm Kelly Strayhorn Theater 5941 Penn Ave Pittsburgh PA 15206. stephanie@kelly-strayhorn.org
Thursday, November 3rd ____________________ The Thomas Merton Center Award Dinner 6:30pm-9pm Sheraton Station Square, 300 West Station Square Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 office@thomasmertoncenter.org
Wednesday, November 16th____________________ TMC Membership Committee Meeting 12:00pm Thomas Merton Center 5129 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA
Sunday, November 6th ____________________ Anti-War Committee Meeting 2:00pm Mellon Green (Occupy Pittsburgh site)
Friday, November 18th ____________________ Initiative for Transgender Leadership Commencement Celebration 6:30-9:30pm Union Project 801 N Negley Avenue Pittsburgh PA, 15206
Friday, November 11th ____________________ Lynnea Smith, Navajo Environmental Activist 1:00-2:30pm McKenna Room, 2nd floor University Center , Carnegie Mellon University
Monday, November 21st____________________ Board of Thomas Merton Center Meeting Potluck Dinner at 6:00, Meeting at 7:00pm Thomas Merton Center 5129 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA Tuesday, November 22nd____________________ My People Film Series: Brother to Brother 7pm-9pm Kelly Strayhorn Theater 5941 Penn Ave Pittsburgh PA 15206. stephanie@kelly-strayhorn.org
Sunday, November 13th ____________________ Into Eternity (Film) 2:00-3:15 Harris Theater, Downtown sponsored by Remembering Hiroshima Monday, November 14th ____________________ Edwina Gateley speaks on being prophetic in a broken and hurting world 7:30pm Kearns Spiritual Center 9000 Babcock Blvd Allison Park, PA 15101
Clarification: In last month‘s NewPeople, this photo was accidentally omitted. Carole Wiedmann is a retiring board member. It‘s a pleasure to see a good woman standing up for justice!
16 - NEWPEOPLE
November, 2011
Thursday, December 1st____________________ David Zirin speaks on Power, Politics and American Sports 7:30 pm-9:30 pm Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA