NewPeople October 2015

Thomas Merton Center Pittsburgh’s Peace and Social Justice Center

PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER VOL. 45 No. 9 October 2015

The Refugee Crisis: Made in America?

The Refugee crisis in Europe is a heart-rending story of the plight of millions of people trying to escape the violence, destruction, poverty and dislocation which is the Middle East. The most wrenching image of this tragedy is the body of a three year old Syrian boy washed up on the beaches of a Turkish shore. It is hard to exaggerate the pathos and human suffering that accompanies this unspeakable tragedy. What we witness in the daily reports of the travails of the refugees, however, is but the tip of the iceberg. In a macabre way, these may be the lucky ones in that millions more are trapped in deadly situations with no possibility of escape.

The dimensions of the crisis boggle the mind.

According to figures from the New Y ork Times, about twelve million Syrians have been displaced since 2011, with four million of them in refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. According to

the same source, there are four million Iraqis who have been displaced since 2013 alone.

Then there is Libya, a country torn apart since the overthrow of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011.

Because of the breakdown of social order in Libya and the dislocation of millions of African people who found work there, another source of refugees has opened up as the desperate attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.

The response of the European countries and the US to the crisis is nothing short of appalling, bordering on the obscene with outbreaks of xenophobia in Hungary and other Eastern European countries. This article, however, attempts to address the root causes of this Photo of Syrian refugees coming ashore on the Greek island crisis and what lies behind this massive disloca- of Lesbos by Angelos Tzortzinis/Getty tion of people. Continued on page 7...

Barbara Lee Stands For the People On November 9th Congresswoman Barbara Lee will be travelling to Pittsburgh, from her 13th District of California, to receive this year’s Thomas Merton Award, and we could not be more excited. Rep. Lee exemplifies the most noble brand of politician, one who is not afraid to be the lone voice for human rights and human dignity in a sea of corruption. Rep. Lee stands for the people.

This past April, the Fight For 15 movement gained national attention when, on April 15th, fastfood workers went on strike for a livingwage. People took to the streets in solidarity with the movement for economic equality. Rep. Lee took a strong stance supporting the striking workers: “Too many Americans are working harder and harder for paychecks that keep them trapped in poverty.

In the world’s richest and most powerful nation, this really is a disgrace,” Rep. Lee said, addressing Congress two days after the April 15th day of action.

“When we empower workers to fight for themselves and provide them with a big paycheck our country becomes fair and our economy grows. People who are working should not be living below the poverty line. So fifteen dollars an hour, that’s [the] minimum that we should be paying our workers,”

By Marni Fritz

said Rep. Lee who also serves as chair of the Democratic Whip's Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality, and Opportunity, and as a co-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus' Poverty and the Economy Task Force.

In 2007, Rep. Lee voted in support of a bill restricting employer interference in union organizing, giving workers the right to form and join unions as well as protecting them against employer backlash during the organizing process. Rep. Lee ad-

dressed Congress this past April in support of unions and fair wages: “Everyone deserves a job that allows them to make a living and provide them with the right to form a union.”

Not only is Rep. Lee supporting union initiatives and fighting against income inequality, but she also raises up the voices of youth, a group often overlooked. Rep. Lee appeared on Youth Radio/ Youth Media International to discuss the politics of racism in the United States. Continued on page 3…

In this issue…

Ongoing Labor Struggles…. Pg. 6 Reforming Prisons…..

Pg. 10

Guatemalan Revival….

Pg. 13

Remembering Dan Fine…. Pg. 15

Thinking Outside the Boss The Pittsburgh Chamber of Cooperatives, founded by Ron Gaydos and Jeff Jaeger, is an exciting new resource for awareness, advocacy, and education about all things co-op in the Pittsburgh area.

The Chamber of Cooperatives aims to provide hands-on guidance and training for those wishing to start co-ops, as well as for existing businesses looking to make the transition into cooperative life. Before the Chamber of Cooperatives, there was really no hands-on resource to guide people wishing to start small businesses with co-op aspirations. The Chamber aims to change this. Its members have been busy building connections throughout the city, recently becoming associated with groups as diverse as the Ujamaa Collective, New Sun Rising, the Uni-

By Michael Drohan

By Mary Sico

versity of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center, and Mayor Peduto’s office— not to mention the Thomas Merton Center’s own New Economy campaign. Ron and Jeff both come from backgrounds that include communal housing, co-op experience, and business development— strong skillsets that seem essential to the Chamber’s stated goals.

Pittsburgh has a long history as a city of coops. The first co-op in Pittsburgh was founded in the 1840s, in response to the industrial revolution and its widespread effects on Pittsburgh’s artisan community. “[Co-ops are] always in response to some eco-

nomic stress,” says Ron. When industrialization came to the Pittsburgh area and threatened to squeeze out local artisans who could not keep up with the fast production and low cost of cheap manufactured goods, our local artisans decided to fight back. “They pooled resources to get a joint workspace,” Ron says, and formed the Pittsburgh Manufacturing Cooperative. The strategy worked; for the next twenty years, the artisans were able to stay in business against the massive factories that had relegated others like them to the past.

Ron and the Chamber of Cooperatives aim to continue this tradition by fostering a sense of community that’s not only good for people, but good for business. They encourage Continued on page 11…

The Thomas Merton Center works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice.

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

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Office Phone: 412-361-3022 — Fax: 412-361-0540 Website: www.thomasmertoncenter.org

The NewPeople Editorial Collective

Paola Corso, Neil Cosgrove, Ginny Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Marni Fritz, Bette McDevitt, Thomas Mulholland, Sean Nolan , Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush, Jo Tavener. Quinn Thomas

TMC Staff, Volunteers & Interns

Interim Managing Director/ Operations Manager: Marcia Snowden Finance Director / Project Liaison: Roslyn Maholland Administrative Assistant: Marni Fritz Support Staff: Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly, Meagan McGill Office Volunteers: Monique Dietz, Lois Goldstein, Joyce Rothermel, Judy Starr New People Coordinators: Marni Fritz, Thomas Mulholland New People Intern: Mary Sico East End Community Thrift Store Managers: Shirley Gleditsch, Shawna Hammond, & Sr. Mary Clare Donnelly Thomas Merton Center Interns Raphael Cardamone, Mary Sico, Max Chis, Meagan McGill, Quinn Thomas, Hannah Tomio, Vivian Tan

2015 TMC Board of Directors

Thom Baggerman, Ed Brett, Theresa Chalich, Rob Conroy, Kathy Cunningham, Mark Dixon, Art Donsky, Michael Drohan, Patrick Fenton, Mary Jo Guercio (President), Wanda Guthrie, anupama jain, Ken Joseph, Anne Kuhn, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Joyce Rothermel, Molly Rush (co-founder), Tyrone Scales, M. Shernell Smith.

The East End Community Thrift (Thrifty) is an all volunteer-run thrift shop which provides quality, low-cost, used clothing and household goods to the surrounding community. Thrifty needs volunteers and shoppers! Please contact us at (412) 361-6010 and ask for Shirley or Shawna, or stop in at 5123 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Email shawnapgh@aol.com.

TMC Projects

TMC Affiliates

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

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

Anti-War Committee info@pittsburghendthewar.org www.pittsburghendthewar.org Book‘Em: Books to Prisoners Project bookempgh@gmail.com www.bookempgh.org Capital’s End 724-388-6258, iamholtz@iup.edu CodePink: Women for Peace francineporter@aol.com, 412-389-3216 www.codepink4peace.org East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010, shawnapgh@aol.com Economic Justice Committee drohanmichael@yahoo.com Environmental Justice Committee

environmentaljustice@thomasmertoncenter.org

Fight for Lifers West

fightforliferswest@yahoo.com

www.fightforliferswestinc.com Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition Anne Wirth 412-716-9750

Harambee Ujima/Diversity Footprint Twitter @HomewoodNation Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up (prisoner support and advocacy) 412-802-8575, hrcfedup@gmail.com www.prisonerstories.blogspot.com Marcellus Shale Protest Group melpacker@aol.com 412-243-4545 marcellusprotest.org New Economy Campaign gabriel@thomasmertoncenter.com Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance 412-512-1709

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

We are mission driven volunteers who look to build love and community by serving others in times of need.

Publish in The New People The New People is distributed each month to 3,000 people who belong to diverse organizations, businesses and groups. The deadline for all submissions is the 13th of the month for the following month’s issue.

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

Pittsburghers for Public Transit 412-216-9659 info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook 412-363-7472 tvnotebook@gmail.com School of the Americas Watch W. PA 412-271-8414 drohanmichael@yahoo.com Shalefield Stories (Friends of the Harmed) 412-422-0272 brigetshields@gmail.com

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For more information: Call 412-361-3022 or email newpeople@thomasmertoncenter.org.

Table of Contents

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Page 1 The Refugee Crisis: Made in America?

Barbara Lee Stands For the People Thinking Outside the Boss Page3 Barbara Lee Stands For the People con’d Union Edge Radio TMC Hiring Process Continues “The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton” Set for November 13 43rd Annual Merton Award Dinner: What Can You Do? Page 4 Fighting the Student Debt Crisis by Attacking the Roots of Economic Peonage Forum for Change: UPitt Webinar Forges Progressive Coalition Page 5 Legitimizing Human Rights: The Key to Sustainable Cities Pittsburgh: A Human Rights City 2 - NEWPEOPLE

October 2015

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

412-848-3079

The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org The Black Political Empowerment Project Tim Stevens 412-758-7898 CeaseFire PA www.ceasefirepa.org—info@ceasefirepa.org Citizens for Social Responsibility of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, evolve@atlanticbb.net Global Solutions Pittsburgh 412-471-7852 dan@globalsolutionspgh.org www.globalsolutionspgh.org North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition 412-369-3961 email: info@arc.northpgh.org www.arc.northpgh.org PA United for Single-Payer Health Care www.healthcare4allPA.org www.PUSH-HC4allPa.blogspot.com 412-421-4242 Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi 412-761-4319 Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition 412-303-1247 lisacubasi@aol.com Pittsburgh North People for Peace 412-760-9390 info@pnpp.northpgh.org www.pnpp.northpgh.org Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org Raging Grannies 412-963-7163 eva.havlicsek@gmail.com www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com

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

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

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

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Abolitionist Law Center 412-654-9070 abolitionistlawcenter.org

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APP’s 2015 Speakers Series: Oct. and Nov. Page 6 Steelworker Struggles Representative of  Rising Labor in Steel City and Beyond Update on the Pumphouse Gang Page 7  Molly Could Not Be Controlled Pittsburghers for Women’s Rights Campaign Refugee Crisis Cont’d Page 8  Casey At the Bar Election Calendar Combatting Misconceptions About Immigration Law  Page 9 Smart Money Goes to Stop Climate Change The Bible and Capitalism - Not an Easy Fit 25th Anniversary Protest at the School of the Americas  Page 10

TMC is a Member of TMC supports these organizations missions.

Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network 412-621-9230 office@piin.org Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Martha Connelly 412-361-7872, osterdm@earthlink.net

“The Times They are a Changin” Honoring the Charleston Nine Page 11 Thinking Outside the Boss Cont’d Activist Notices Page 12 Death, Mayhem and Destruction in Gaza July-August 2014 New Anti-Racist Youth Organizing Training Page 13 Guatemala’s Democratic Revival Roy Bourgeois’ Journey from Silence to Solidarity Page 14 Merton and Joyce TMC Annual Membership Meeting Planned for Sat, Oct. 10 Memorials Set for Lincoln and Wilma Wolfenstein Page15 In Memory of Dan Fine

Coming Events Barbara Lee Stands For the People cont’d….

During this segment Rep. Lee tackled issues such as: changing racist policies through changing laws, her efforts taking resources and money from the Pentagon and bringing them to her district, the ineffective, racist nature of the three-strike policy, and the age of mass incarceration. Rep. Lee also explained the complicated nature of institutional racism and her experiences with the “you are playing the race card” accusation when she talks about race in government settings. “We can’t let that happen,” she said.

This year Rep. Lee introduced bill H.R. 1111, or the Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2015. According to the bill, the mission of the Department is: “(1) cultivation of peace and peacebuilding as a strategic national policy objective; and (2) development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful conflict resolution, and structured conflict mediation.” The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State would have to consult the Dept. of Peacebuilding when conflict

arises between the U.S. and other countries or when conflict is imminent, strengthening our ability as a country to react to conflict nonviolently. Violence within the U.S. is also addressed under this bill, which cites the high frequency of gun violence each year, the high cost of violence, estimated at $460 billion every year, and the disproportionate effects of violence on minority and low-income people in the U.S.

By Marni Fritz

On September 8th President Obama nominated Rep. Lee to be a U.S. representative to the United Nations. “Today, global tensions are nearing feverpitch and the United Nations faces many challenges.

I believe that now, more than ever, the United States must be fully engaged in the United Nations and within the larger international community as we work together to ensure a more just, peaceful and secure world. As a Representative to the United Nations, my personal goal will be to foster stronger ties, deeper bonds and a renewed commitment to the UN’s vision of a better world for all” said Lee on her website following the nomination.

Congresswoman Lee stands for the people. We are deeply honored that Congresswoman Lee is travelling to Pittsburgh to accept the Thomas Merton Award.

Marni Fritz is the Administrative Assistant for the Thomas Merton Center.

Union Edge Radio

By Mary Sico

Did you know that the Thomas Merton Center is on the radio? Since 2008, The Union Edge has led the discussion on issues important to working- and middle -class families. The Thomas Merton Center has a monthly segment on its Pittsburgh-specific show.

Thomas Merton Center segments are paid for by the editorial collective of NewPeople and center on issues of peace and social justice. Pittsburgh’s The Union Edge airs weekdays from 12-3pm on WKFB 97.5 FM/770 AM, and is also available for streaming at www.theunionedge.com. If you would like to listen to our segment on The Union Edge Radio, please tune in on the second Tuesday of every month, and please consider donating to defray the costs of production.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images for Friends of the Global Fight)

TMC Hiring Process Continues As reported in June, Diane McMahon has resigned from her position as Managing Director at the Merton Center. The Hiring Committee for the Merton Center is now in the process of interviewing several candidates who applied when the position was posted this summer.

The plan is to introduce the new Executive Director to our TMC members and the broader community at the November 9, 2015 Merton Award dinner. Marcia Snowden, TMC Operations Manager, continues as acting Managing Director until the new director is isntalled.

“The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton” Set for November 13

By Joyce Rothermel

Morgan Atkinson, the filmmaker of the 2015 documentary of Thomas Merton, “The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton” will be in Pittsburgh for the viewing of his film on Friday, November 13 at 7 PM at Duquesne University’s Bayer Building Rotunda, 6000 Forbes Avenue on The Bluff. Duquesne University is hosting this event, which will include a reception with Mr. Atkinson following the film.

“The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton” includes interviews with several noted Merton experts and authors such as James Finley, Richard Rohr, James Martin, Paul Wilkes, Tori Murden McClure, Judith Valente, Kathleen Deignan, and with others who knew Merton during his life. Morgan Atkinson, a native of Louis-

ville, Kentucky, writes and produces films that examine issues of community and culture. His latest work, “The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton,” is his third Merton-related film, along with “Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton,” and “Gethsemani,” an account of life at the famed Trappist monastery where Merton lived in rural Kentucky.

Please put this date on your calendar and tell others about this wonderful opportunity to continue to celebrate the 100th birthday of Thomas Merton in Pittsburgh.

Joyce Rothermel is Chair of the TMC Membership Committee.

“Thomas Merton: A Trustworthy Guide on the Path to God” at Villa Maria Community Center, Villa Maria, PA a retreatled by James Finley, author of “Merton’s Palace of Nowhere” from October 29 to November 1. The opening night presentation “Turning to Thomas Merton as Our Guide in Contemplative Living” at 7 PM October 29th. $15 for the talk alone. Full retreat cost is $395. Registration is due by October 15, 2015 processed online at www.vmesc.org or by calling 724-964-8886.

43rd Annual Merton Award Dinner: What Can You Do?

By Marni Fritz

This year, on November 9th, the Thomas Merton Center will be honoring Congresswoman Barbara Lee. To learn more about Rep. Lee please see the article above. The dinner will be held at the Sheraton in Station Square from 6:00pm- 9:00pm. The evening will consist of a sit down dinner, an address

by Rep. Lee and our raffle.

This year we have some exciting prizes for our raffle. Prizes include a two night stay at the Sheraton in Station Square, a bike from Free-Ride, a bundle of tickets to various cultural attractions around Pittsburgh, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Kretschmann Farm, a wine basket, a framed picture of Corita Kent and a framed quote from Bernard Lown with accompanying art. Our cultural tickets this year include a gift certificate to the East Liberty restaurant Dinette, a one-year Carnegie Museum membership, and tickets to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, to name a few.

The CSA gives you a weekly source of farmfresh produce based on what has been harvested that week. It is a wonderful opportunity to try new vegetables and dishes while also supporting local farms.

Last year Suzanne Cawley won the CSA from Kretschmann Farm and she said "I always looked forward to each week's harvest. It was a surprise. There was too much food for two people so we were able to share. Accompanying the organic food were related information and helpful reci-

pes." Please tear off the ticket below and bring it to the dinner with $5.00 to enter your name in the raffle!

Other ways you can get involved with our dinner is by taking out an ad in our program book. Ads range from business card size ads for $75 to a full page ad for $500. Have you or your business considered becoming a sponsor for the November 9th event? There are many levels of sponsorship ranging from $100 to $10,000, with varying benefits. For more information on sponsorships and ads, please

visit http://thomasmertoncenter.org/2015-mertonaward-dinner/event-details/. Here, you will also find a link to purchase tickets.

We hope to see everyone there to honor Congresswoman Lee and show your support for peace and social justice!

Marni Fritz is the Administrative Assistant for the Thomas Merton Center and a member of the NewPeople Editorial Collective.

October 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 3

Seeking Economic Justice Fighting the Student Debt Crisis: by Attacking the Roots of Economic Peonage

By Christopher Carter

The term, “peonage,” describes the systematic economic relationship between a creditor and a debtor of debt servitude, in which the debtor’s only option to settle their dues it through servitude. While slavery is the systematic abuse of one’s labor for no pay, peonage has been a historic economic concept placed upon working class citizens within the United States. Though Congress outlawed this concept in 1867, the practice is real in many forms yet today.

While it is not the plight that AfricanAmericans have been forced to endure for centuries in the United States, the current student debt crisis resembles a form of peonage, since an entire class of American students are saddled with large debts through student loans.

Student loan debt has climbed to as high as $1.2 trillion in accumulated funds for American citizens. The average student loan debt of a senior who is about to finish their undergraduate program and receive a bachelor’s degree is $28,400; debt for a graduate school program averages out to $57,600.

Couple those debt totals with interest rates and the need for future loans to attain housing, cars for transportation and other necessities often essential to functioning in the current United States economy and these are debts that can stick with citizens for most of their careers and hinder their opportunities to enter the workforce.

This economic situation has encompassed so many Americans that it has been widely referred to as a crisis and is correctly identified as a major problem which our government must address. While some political leaders have attempted to bring for-

ward legislation that would combat this situation, it is still not an apparent priority in policy making and national discussion when the nation decides on its political leaders.

While one can easily identify high tuition rates from colleges and universities as a source of this issue, it needs to be recognized that educational institutions of higher learning do require large costs to function; however, the weight of these costs need not fall on the shoulders of everyday citizens in the form of long-term debts that take decades to pay off, given the interest rates involved.

This debt load is a hindrance to the socioeconomic class that America needs to be the most prosperous; its educated working class citizens.

While members of this same class pay back their debt from education, they also must pay their taxes to the United States. When the country was on the brink of a financial crisis created by its private financial institutions, the United States government gave $7.7 trillion to the Federal Reserve in 2008 in order to aid those same struggling institutions.

In the student debt crisis, the situation calls for a fraction of the investment needed for the 2008 bank bailout to relieve students of their debt. Predatory lenders and private banking institutions have a stronger support system in our current economy because of their financial prowess and its influence upon our political leadership.

Private banks are institutions that base their decisions on making profits for their shareholders; their interests are not in the welfare of citizens. Because of the financial influence of these institutions,

it is imperative for the working class of America to create and sustain their own institutions in which they can build their own financial power.

Public banks are a tool that allow working class Americans to build their wealth and use the dividends and benefits in ways which the actual citizens who invest into the bank deem to be important; because those banks are public institutions, those applications will be more inclusive than in private banks. One such use would be lower interest loans, with policies that are friendlier to students and do not tie them to extreme debts with higher interest rates.

In essence, the interests of a public bank are determined by the people rather than a handful of shareholders, which allows for more preferable options in lending as well as provides stronger financial influence from the collective public.

Public banks are just part of the big picture of fighting student debt and several other components of today’s economy which are not favorable to the majority of Americans. If you care to learn more about these types of solutions as well as the reasons why they could be extremely beneficial alternatives to today’s methods, join the efforts of the Pennsylvania Project, a chapter of The Public Bank Institute.

Christopher Carter is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, . He works with organizers across the city on issues of public interest.

Forum for Change: UPitt Webinar Forges Progressive Coalition

By Mike Krauss

Economic, bank/finance, environment, renewable energy, healthcare and labor progressive agents came together on Saturday, September 12, at the University of Pittsburgh to support the broadcast of a community webinar organized to forge a “coalition for change” in the American political system.

The forum gathered leaders of national, state and local organizations to outline viable political strategies and harness what, according to program organizer J.T. Campbell, “are compatible but too often uncoordinated efforts directed at movement towards social and economic justice.”

Participating organizations included the Democracy Collaborative, Public Banking Institute, the Pennsylvania Project, Pennsylvanians United 4 Single Payer Healthcare, Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Green Sciences, the Service Employee International Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23, the Battle of Homestead Foundation and Pump House Gang, the Thomas Merton Center, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Metropolitan Action Group, and the Center of Partnership Studies Caring Economy Conversation Starters.

A major theme was the role of public ownership described in the New Economy Circular, from co-ops and worker owned businesses, to utilities, public banks and public credit, and ultimately publicly financed single payer health care Thomas Hanna, Research Director of the Maryland-based Democracy Collaborative, outlined the long history of public and employee-owned businesses in the United States, from co-ops, to modern large scale public enterprises, including hospitals,

state-wide public electric utilities and wholly owned municipal broadband providers.

Dr. Patricia M. DeMarco, PhD, from the Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Green Sciences ,reviewed the “growing market and increasing economic viability” of public and communityowned solar and alternative energy production. Dr. Scott Tyson outlined the national campaign to move forward from ObamaCare to a nationwide, publicly financed single-payer health care system.

Mike Krauss, a founder of the Public Banking Institute and chair of the Pennsylvania Project reviewed efforts underway in more than a dozen states and as many municipalities to form public banks, to provide “affordable and sustainable credit” for local economic development, to actualize job creation and to reduce the costs of vital public infrastructure.

A common theme throughout the day, shared by many who participated in person and online via the myPitt video webinar, was the inability of the growing number of “progressive” organizations and voters to “get out of their silos,” as Hanna put it, “to work in an effective collaboration to achieve common goals within the political process.”

As a public bank advocate Krauss described efforts underway in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as several other Pennsylvania county and municipal governments, to form task forces for creating public banks, modeled on the almost 100-year-old bank of North Dakota.

Krauss argued for the need to create public credit as an alternative to the more expensive and often unavailable private credit of Wall Street, to fund education, infrastructure, renewable energy,

healthcare, small businesses and “locally directed” economic development, which he characterized as “banking for Main Street, not Wall Street.”

Support for the event was provided by the Pittsburgh Foundation W. Clyde and Ida Mae Thurman Fund, the Center for Partnership Studies and the Public Bank Student Task Force, with food provided as part of a donation of the Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. For more information, to get involved with these efforts and coalition building, and to inquire about a copy of the recordings please contact J.T. Campbell at jtc52@pitt.edu.

Mike Krauss is a former officer of county and state government, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee and an advisor to regional and national political and public policy organizations. His public service has focused on energy and water conservation, rural housing rehabilitation and historic preservation. He is the chair of the Pennsylvania Project and founding director of the Public Banking Institute.

“A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a "pointless

slaughter", another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people. In his autobiography he wrote: 'I came into the world. Free by nature, in the image of God, I was nevertheless the prisoner of my own violence and my own selfishness, in the image of the world into which I was born. That world was the picture of Hell, full of men like myself, loving God, and yet hating him; born to love him, living instead in fear of hopeless self-contradictory hungers.' Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions." Pope Francis in his address to Congress 4 - NEWPEOPLE

October 2015

Human Rights Pittsburgh: A Human Rights City

By Marni Fritz

In July of 2011 Pittsburgh declared itself a Human Rights City. Not much has happened as a result until very recently. The Human Rights City Alliance was formed to address the human rights issues facing Pittsburgh and to carry out the Human Rights City goal. As a direct result, Pittsburgh has officially recognized Indigenous Peoples Day, to replace Columbus Day as a national holiday.

On June 22nd the Human Rights City Alliance held a conference bringing in representatives from other Human Rights Cities all over the world and within the U.S. One of the main goals of the conference was not only to discuss different ways of approaching the implementation of the human rights framework into the city, but to build a coalition of different organizations dedicated to peace, social justice and the human rights framework in Pittsburgh.

At the conference, the Human Rights City Alliance presented their action plan to attendees. This plan covers cultural and institutional change, economic justice, education, environmental justice, gender justice, police and justice system reforms, racial justice and social inclusion. The conference was held to hear how other Human Rights cities tackled these issues and to provide a brainstorming session on how to address such problems in Pittsburgh.

The conference was both inspiring and practical.

Hearing the various examples of how different communities targeted violence and discrimination, both

through legal processes and changes in perception, was encouraging. Each representative provided a framework for their accomplishments within their communities while also outlining what has not worked.

There was a heavy emphasis on creating a connection between the government and civil society through providing a space for conversations. Intersectionality was a major issue because activist communities are often “siloed” by their individual issues without being able to assess the overall needs of civil society and working together. These issues can be investigated through engaging the community in Town Hall-like meetings allowing the personal testimonies of community members to be heard.

Another group of people discussed in great detail, often overlooked, is the youth community and what they can contribute to the human rights framework. One example, from Edmonton, was how connecting the indigenous youth population with the local police through role-playing workshops opened up dialogue between the groups. Essentially this group of youth were being targeted by the police. By giving them a voice and allowing them to share their experiences with both the community and the police, there was a policy reform within the police force to fit a human rights framework. The police chief became so inspired that these workshops are now being integrated into police training.

A similar example of role-playing workshops was successful in Eugene, Oregon, where the police and representatives of the homeless communities played out their expected roles/interactions with each other. Both points of view were heard and violence towards the homeless community was diminished. Both days of the conference provided concrete examples of how to achieve social change and the human rights framework through nonviolent means. It would be wonderful if Pittsburgh could engage in or start some workshops of our own to address underrepresented issues within our own community.

Overall, the conference covered how to assess the needs of a community, how to create a human rights framework within government policy, how to engage civil society, how to identify the different needs amongst different communities, the intersectionality of issues and some practical ways of raising awareness and implementing the human rights framework to inspire positive change.

The work of the conference continues in Pittsburgh. If you are interested in working towards making Pittsburgh a Human Rights City, or would like to learn more, please contact Jackie Smith at jackie@mayfirst.org or visit www.pghrights.org Marni Fritz is a member of the NewPeople editorial collective.

Legitimizing Human Rights: The Key to Sustainable Cities

By JT Campbell

Gwendolyn Hallsmith is the founder and Executive Director of Global Community Initiatives (GCI). She is also an advocate of “a public monetary system with a deep commitment to local action.” Her international experience has included work with the United Nations Environmental Programs and Development Programs, the Institute for Sustainable Communities, the International City/ County Management Association, the Academy for Educational Development, and Earth Charter International. Her latest writings examine the way that the problems cities face today are the result of flawed city planning and what can now be seen as yesterday’s solutions. The Key to Sustainable Cities: Meeting Human Needs, Transforming Community Systems is a call to action that focuses on using leverage points in local power to utilize the principles of system dynamics to harness “the energy and enthusiasm of communities and to achieve sustainable solutions.”

Hallsmith provides insight for community organizers on how to develop their group mission, goals, and objectives in order to align with demands placed on local policy makers. As with many postmodern capitalist theorists, she writes of the interconnectedness of the community with an understanding of the actors involved. She accounts for the web of relationships and the interactions of individuals, households, organizations, and the various governing entities around the community itself. Hallsmith goes a step further in her application of system analysis, however. She writes in detail about the dynamics of work systems, care systems, and recreational systems, giving the reader a new perspective on community needs para-

digms. Hallsmith addresses them holistically by confronting human needs on the physical, economic, governmental, and social levels. She challenges activists who work for the community to begin the real work of sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The interconnectedness of the community at large reminds us that without safety, security and protection of the self and of our human rights, there is no real sustainable development effort other than capitalist marketing strategies.

The well-being of creativity is a thread across all narratives, one that prioritizes peace and safety, valued relationships, recreation, lifelong learning, health care, child care, a sense of community, selfexpression, aesthetic enjoyment, and a spiritual life. Often the individuals in position to mediate these activities are concerned with restricting activities and behaviors that violate what they interpret to be individual rights and realities. We need to evolve and expand class consciousness in order to increase social responsibility and build a society that allows individuals to determine for themselves the ideals expressed above. To care about policies based on compassion and care over profit would be truly new age. Then we could see economic security in balance with what we can achieve without money: through barter and through our gifts and talents.

Hallsmith acknowledges Benjamin Franklin by referencing his famous aphorism that “a stitch in time saves nine.” A majority of transactions and relations are still conceived in solely a monetary sense today. With this in mind, we can look to the im-

portance of money management, city planning, and regional planning to understand why Hallsmith is insistent that public bank initiatives are the solution building the bridge to new parts of our societal evolution and transforming the financial sector. If that is the first stitch in the fabric we knit to decorate our bridges, then we can begin to create the other nine systems that support growth in community restoration.

In The Key to Sustainable Cities, an interesting interpretation of Matthew 5:39-41 is given through an expert from Jesus’ Third Way. Theologian Walter Wink examines the cultural context surrounding and the distortion of implied passive surrender. Those in the times of Jesus Christ were attributed with many aspects of justice in master-slave relations. If someone was struck on their right cheek, then that was the backhand of the master to a person below them, as the left hand was considered unclean and not to be used to touch another person. To offer the other cheek was to invite openly to be struck with the open hand as an illegal assault. That would not only get the master arrested, but would also mean the slave was acknowledged as equal. These are interesting times in the development of equality and its meaning. Inarguable is that we are slapped by the socioeconomic residue of failed economic policies.

J T Campbell is a student at the University of Pittsburgh in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. His studies in law and international development focus on how to restructure the principles of the bank industry around elements to actualize social equity.

APP’s 2015 Speakers Series: October and November

By Joyce Rothermel

After a very successful evening on September 1 with Fr. Roy Bourgeous (see report on page 13) this year’s Speakers’ Series continues on Wednesday, Oct. 7 with Daniel Scheid, professor in Duquesne University’s Theology Department. He will speak on Pope Francis’ newest encyclical, Laudato Si (Be Praised): On the Care of Our Common Home.

Dr. Scheid is a longtime environmental activist and a participant in the Catholic Climate Covenant.

His talk will highlight and explore the main themes of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking teaching “on the care of our common home,” underscoring that care for the Earth is not marginal to the Christian vocation, but central. Dr. Scheid will propose ways in which Catholic ecological teaching can be further developed in the wake of this much lauded and chal-

lenging encyclical.

The final talk will be given by St. Joseph Sister Kathy Sherman from La Grange, Illinois. She is a musician-composer, a gifted singer, liturgist and a Director of Spiritual Formation. Her talk is entitled: “Love Cannot be Silenced: Our Message and Our Mission” and will be offered on November 12. Our world/planet is crying out for healing, hope and communion. The evening will invite reflection on the gift and challenge of incarnating the Love of God at this moment in history. As disciples, in community, we give witness to the Gospel by proclaiming to the world that “love cannot be silenced.” Reflection will include scripture, story, and original music by Sherman, who began writing music and lyrics in 1966 and has produced at least fourteen

CDs. As an example, her song, “Language of the Heart,” addresses the images of families affected by the Vietnam War and reaches across boundaries to reconcile and interconnect divisions.

Both of the talks will be held at Kearns Spirituality Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd. in Allison Park behind the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Divine Providence from 7 – 9 PM. To RSVP, call 412.366.1124 or contact kearns@cdpsisters.org. The fee is $20 per talk. For further information, contact John Oesterle at 412-232-7512.

Joyce Rothermel chairs the Church Renewal Committee of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests.

October 2015

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Ongoing Labor Struggles Steelworker Struggles Representative of Rising Labor in Steel City and Beyond

By Patrick Young

As the basic labor agreement between the United Steelworkers union and U.S. Steel approached its September 1 deadline, and the ongoing lockout at Allegheny Technologies (ATI) rolled into its third week, thousands of Steelworkers and supporters mobilized in downtown Pittsburgh to demand fair contracts in the steel industry.

Workers and supporters briefly rallied at the USW Headquarters on the Boulevard of the Allies before marching to ATI’s headquarters in PPG Place and continuing on to U.S. Steel’s Headquarters on Grant Street.

More than 2,200 members of the United Steelworkers who work at ATI have been unfairly locked out of their jobs since August 15th. Management is demanding that workers agree to deep cuts in healthcare benefits and job security before being allowed to return to work. The USW has stated in news releases that it has put forward proposals that would save the company ‘tens of millions of dollars,’ and the company rebuffed those cost saving measures. Instead, ATI is attempting to operate its 12 unionized facilities with replacement workers.

As this issue of The NewPeople went to press, the lockout was continuing and no new talks were scheduled between the union and ATI.

temporary downturn in the market for steel as an excuse to permanently cut back the right to overtime after an eight-hour-day, the right to a secure retirement, and the right to affordable healthcare.

Union leaders say that the fights for fair contracts at U.S. Steel and ATI are part of a broader movement for workers’ rights in the United States.

At the September 1 rally, USW International Vice President Tom Conway told the thousands assembled, “This isn’t just about the steelworkers and the steel companies; America is sick of watching bosses saying they lost money and paying themselves millions of dollars more.”

As this issue of The NewPeople went to print, talks between the Steelworkers and U.S. Steel were continuing.

and restaurant serving cuisine from countries going through conflicts of some kind with the United States, joined the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) on August 28th. Carnegie Mellon University, which owns the Kitchen, agreed to recognize the union after 14 of the 15 workers signed union cards asserting that they wanted to be represented by the UFCW.

Hospital Workers Rise Up, Issue Demands On the heels of a major victory at Allegheny General Hospital that saw 1,200 technical and service workers win union recognition, hospital workers from around the Pittsburgh area came together on August 4th to unveil the Hospital Workers Rising Agenda. Workers, backed by the Service Employees International Union, are demanding: Workers in Pittsburgh Win Earned Sick Pay 1.Every hospital job a good job that provides In a ground-breaking victory, Pittsburgh’s City affordable healthcare and the right to form a union, Council overwhelmingly voted to enact legislation 2.Every hospital staffed to provide quality care ensuring paid sick days for all workers in Pittsburgh. and service, and An estimated 50,000 workers in the City of Pitts3.Every patient with affordable access to all of burgh will benefit from the new legislation. our city’s hospitals regardless of their insurance.

Local business interests, led by the PennsylvaThe launch of the Hospital Workers Rising nia Restaurant & Lodging Association, lobbied Agenda is the latest step in a years-long effort heavily against the law, arguing that the city did not among workers at UPMC, the region’s largest emhave the legal right to enact such legislation and that ployer, to improve working conditions at the hospithe law would hurt small businesses. tal and win union representation.

In the face of aggressive opposition from business interests, advocates of the legislation mobilized Patrick Young is the Financial Secretary/ and organized to collect thousands of petitions, meet Treasurer of Fight Back Pittsburgh (fightbackpittsburgh.org), an associate member with members of council, and speak out at council meetings to build support for the law. In the end the program of United Steelworkers (USW) Local legislation passed by a margin of 7-1 and Mayor Bill 3657.

Peduto signed the bill into law.

Steelworkers at US Steel Stay on the Job as Contract Expires The contract between the Steelworkers and U.S. Steel expired hours after the September 1 rally and workers have been working under the terms of the expired contract ever since. The contract covers 17,500 workers nationwide, including 3,000 Steelworkers in the Pittsburgh area at the Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock, Clairton Works in Clairton, Conflict Kitchen Employees Join UFCW and Irvin Works in West Mifflin.

Workers at the Conflict Kitchen, an art project Workers say U.S. Steel is attempting to use a

Left: Solidar ity facing the U.S. Steel building.

Center: The mar ch pr oceeds up the Boulevar d of the Allies

Right: Demonstr ator s pr epar e to begin their mar ch Photos by Neil Cosgr ove

Update on the Pumphouse Gang This past week at the breakfast meeting at Eat’n Park, we had a rousing discussion of the lockout of 2000 workers by Allegheny Technologies, ATI. United Steel Workers member and employee of ATI Chuck Passon brought us first hand news of the situation. He pointed out that the workers made no demands, but rather were presented with demands by the company, including elimination of the eight hour work day, meaning no more overtime pay for the 12hour-day that has been the regular schedule for many months.

In addition, the company wants to reduce health care benefits, and eliminate pension benefits for new retirees. The union finds these demands unacceptable. “It’s everything the union has fought for,” said Chuck Passon, “and if we give those things up, we’ll

never get them back.”

Many of the people in the room are familiar with the situation. “The elimination of the eight hour day! It’s the same as 1985,” said Mike Stout, who was the grievance person at the Homestead Works, and the last person to leave the mill. And it’s the same as 1892; the comparison with the lockout of the steelworkers by Henry Clay Frick was inevitable.

Joe White, retired professor of labor history at the University of Pittsburgh, brought up the opposition of business and corporations to the single payer plan for health care. “If the country had accepted that, these corporations would have saved millions of dollars by now,” he said.

The shared knowledge of those present, labor

By Bette McDevitt

historians, union members, activists, organizers, and regular folks who pay attention to things, resulted in a far ranging discussion of income inequality, the loss of manufacturing, the decline of the middle class, and a clarion call for candidates and elected officials to be accountable for the crumbling economy.

J.T. Campbell mentioned that the demand for a fair wage and reasonable hours resonates with the Fight for Fifteen, an effort to raise the minimum wage, and help people creep toward the middle class.

Bette McDevitt is a member of the Editorial Collective

Stay Tuned For More Pump House Events “Poetry at the Pump House:” In honor of Thomas Merton and Philip Levine, Robin Clark, Fred Shaw, Peter Oresick and Jonathan Robison will read select portions of the work of the honorees and some of their own poems. Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m.

“Norma Rae:” With a little help from an out-of-town organizer, Norma Rae learns to stand up for her rights and actress Sally Field earns an Academy Award. Win-win. Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

6 - NEWPEOPLE

October 2015

Liberating Women Molly Could Not Be Controlled

By Philomena O’Dea

Hammer of Justice by Liane Ellison Norman is a detailed historical account of non-violent action taken by Molly Rush and The Plowshares Eight to end the production of nuclear weapons at a General Electric plant in Pennsylvania. It takes you inside Molly’s battle with her conscience, her family, her country and tells us why and how Molly Rush accomplished this extraordinary level of freedom.

“Molly conceived of her household as a larger place of human habitation.” - L. Norman Mahatma Gandhi called for “a grammar of non -violent action.” Molly spells it out. As she committed to living her beliefs, Molly hammered out her conscience; a conscience nurtured on a religious faith deeper than dogma. It guided her beyond socially defined rules and roles into the heart and soul of the “spiritual imperative” of universal

compassion and justice.

Thirty-five years after The Plowshares Eight hammered (with household hammers) on the nose cones of nuclear weapons that endanger the “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for everyone on the planet, Hammer of Justice is more relevant today than ever. Psychic numbing remains endemic.

Hammer of Justice written with in-depth knowledge and insight, will inform and inspire you. It is an intimate portrait of courage.

“Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience.

Therefore, [individual citizens] have the duty to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring.”- Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal, 1950 “There is nothing politically right that is morally wrong.” - Daniel O’Connell

Hard and paperback copies of “Hamer of Justice” are available at the Merton Center. Anyone interested in continuing to work on nuclear weapons abolition, please contact the Anti-War Committee at the TMC at 412-3613022.

Philomena O’Dea is a member of the Thomas Merton Center

Pittsburghers for Women’s Rights Campaign The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the only international human rights treaty to focus exclusively on the rights of women. The United States is one of the seven member states, and the only industrialized nation, that has failed to ratify CEDAW. In 1998, San Francisco became the first city in the world to adopt an ordinance reflecting the principles of CEDAW. The purpose of the Cities for CEDAW campaign is to “make the global local” by harnessing the power of cities and promoting the adoption of CEDAW as a municipal ordinance in cities large and small in order to create a framework for improving the status of women and girls.

A look at what San Francisco has achieved by leveraging these principles can give us all hope. Let’s make Pittsburgh a CEDAW City!

and compensation to supply chain practices support more productive workplaces for both women and men.

3. Developed Proper Police Codes –Collaboration between the Department on the Status of Women and law enforcement agencies to adopt new codes for domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, and elder abuse.

4. Expanded Language Access –Trained 150 emergency personnel in basic Chinese and Spanish phrases for responding to domestic violence and partnered with local foundations to provide cell phones to access 170 different languages at crime scenes.

5. Family Violence Council –Addresses family violence across the lifespan by bringing together advocates working against child abuse, domestic violence, and proposes policy reforms to improve the criminal justice and social service responses to famiTOP 10 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ly violence.

SAN FRANCISCO CEDAW ORDINANCE 6. San Francisco Collaborative Against Human 1. 44 Months Without Domestic Violence Homi- Trafficking –A coalition of community-based orcide –Cross-agency approach to domestic violence ganizations and government agencies to eliminate response led to a record 44 months without a single modern slavery. domestic violence homicide (2011-2014).

7. Mayor’s Task Force on Human Trafficking –A 2. Gender Equality Principles Initiative –Seven holistic effort, staffed by the Department on the Stagender equality principles ranging from employment tus of Women, with participation from law enforce-

Refugee Crisis Cont’d The roots of the present catastrophe are the phenomena of globalization under the aegis of capitalism and the imperial struggle for the control of natural resources, particularly oil in the Middle East.

In the Middle East, the focus of this article, imperial power has been exercising itself first in the form of “soft power,” of trade sanctions and embargoes designed to destroy the economies of the targeted countries, and “hard power” in the form of direct military aggression and destruction. The soft power option was exercised on Iraq in 1991 after the end of the first Iraq War and its purpose was to weaken the economy of that country in order to alienate its people from its government. It is presently being exercised in Iran and Syria with the same objectives of spreading economic misery and desperation, leading to the flight of the population when and where they can.

The major cause, however, of the present exodus of people is the violence of the war and destruction which began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its European allies. The war began with a ten-day blitz over the city of Baghdad, beginning on March 19, 2003 and destroying hospitals, war shelters, electricity generating

By Marcia Bandes

ment, public health, child welfare, the school district, and community-based organizations that work with trafficking survivors.

8. Gender Analysis of City Agencies –Government agencies examined their workforce, programs, and budgets to ensure that they are non-discriminatory and fully serve all communities of women and girls.

Ten city agencies have undergone such analysis.

9. Violence Against Women Prevention and Intervention Grants Program –The Department on the Status of Women distributes anti-violence grants totaling $4.6 million to 31 community-based programs.

10. Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance – Working parents and caregivers have the right to request a flexible or predictable work schedule without fear of retaliation.

You can join our coalition or simply offer your moral support by going to our Facebook page and clicking on “Petition: City for CEDAW – Pittsburgh.”

Marcia Bandes is writing on behalf of New Voices Pittsburgh, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and Women and Girl’s Foundation Coalition

By Michael Drohan

stations and government buildings. The ground Turkish gendarmerie stand by the body of a child in invasion that followed lay waste to much of the Bodrum.(EPA/Dogan News) country for the next 11 years. In 2004, after Saddam Hussein had been overthrown, the US installed Paul Bremer as head of a kind of interim still raging. The US arms came to the rebels through government. Bremer disbanded the Army and disits surrogates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The situamissed the functionaries who had been in the tion became drastic with the entry of ISIS as perhaps Baathist Party. Basically all the Sunni politicians, the principal force among the insurgents. It is not soldiers and government officials were dismissed, very helpful to speculate on what might have been if setting the scene for a sectarian war between Sunni the West and the US had not intervened and left it to and Shias. When the United States began its war on the Syrians to resolve their internal conflict and reIraq, there was at most a handful of Al Qaeda opera- pression. However, I would wager that we would tives in the country. By the time it left, a great chunk not be experiencing what we are now had the West of the Sunni population had sympathies with Al kept its nose out of Syria.

Qaeda and out of this came the ISIS phenomenon, The next chapter of this tragedy is presently which is now laying waste to Iraq. unfolding in the Yemen where the US proxy Saudi Syria is the other source of massive migrations Arabia is waging a brutal war of illegal invasion we are experiencing. The Syrian crisis originated in against the local Houthis rebelling against tyranny.

2011 with an uprising of the population against the Keep tuned for the next wave of victims of our warbrutal rule of Bashar al Assad. It was a kind of Arab making.

Spring which was brutally repressed by al Assad.

There was the possibility of an Egypt-like resolution Michael Drohan is a member of the Editorial Collective and the Board of the Thomas Merton Cento this conflict had it not been militarized and inter flamed by Western intervention, which armed the insurgents and turned it into a brutal military battle October 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 7

A People’s Politics Casey at the Bar The movement to stop the six-nation Iran nuclear agreement in the U.S. Congress has failed, in spite of millions of dollars spent on fear-mongering television ads, unprecedented interference in American politics by Israel’s prime minister, and unanimous opposition to the deal by the Republican congressional majority. It failed, primarily, because 42 Democratic and Independent senators withstood the pressure and came out in favor of the agreement, ensuring that the Republican leadership could not force a vote in the Senate rejecting the deal, nor enable Congress to override a presidential veto of such a rejection.

Countering the big money and the aggressive pro-Israeli lobby were the actions of thousands of Americans who have concluded that diplomacy, not further military action, is the most effective way to lessen the incessant violence that afflicts the Middle East. Since negotiators concluded the agreement in July those citizens demonstrated, signed petitions, and personally lobbied their members of Congress in favor of peace, not war.

One such representative action directly involv-

By Neil Cosgrove

ing members of the Merton Center took place on August 21st, on the Sixth Street sidewalk in downtown Pittsburgh in front of the Olive or Twist restaurant, while thousands gathered for a Pirates baseball game that evening. It was quickly put together by Edith Bell, after it was learned that Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania would be present at the restaurant that afternoon for a fund-raiser. Casey, at the time, was publicly undecided about his position regarding the Iran agreement.

Edith Bell, a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust, has spent decades in Western Pennsylvania advocating for peace. (It is important to note that eight of ten Jewish members of the Senate, and 12 of the 19 Jewish House members, supported the agreement.)

She was joined around 4:30 that afternoon by five others—Marcia Bandes, Mary King, Michael Pastorkovich, my wife Joan and myself. About a halfhour later the Khatami family, a mother, daughter and son living in the United States since 1986, appeared with their own signs, and a clipboard for obtaining petition signatures they planned to submit to U.S. Congressperson Mike Doyle, also undecided about the deal at that time. (The Khatamis are affiliated with the National Iranian American Council.)

We stood for more than an hour in front of the restaurant, holding our signs, interacting quietly with passers-by and withstanding the vociferous importunities of two opponents of the agreement who had emerged from the restaurant with their own quickly composed signs reading “Drop the bomb,” and “These idiots are trying to get you killed.” After 15 minutes of standing alongside us, the loudest of the two announced “we’re done,” and they returned to the restaurant.

The payoff came around 5:35 p.m., when Senator Casey himself emerged with two aides. Edith had stationed herself throughout our silent vigil at the door leading up to the restaurant’s upstairs room, where the fundraiser was taking place. One of the attendees had told Edith, while entering the event, that she was going to give Casey the same message we were trying to convey. Casey said he knew Edith from the letter she had published recently in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that

Photo By Matt Rourke/Associated Press “The agreement, while not perfect, gives us the best chance of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,” Senator Bob Casey said on September 1, 2015.

he admired her dedication in appearing there, and that she had good arguments. “I was impressed that he had actually read my letter,” Edith later remarked. “I always thought the aides read the letters and then counted the pros and cons.” One of the two aides who appeared with him recognized Edith from a meeting she previously had with his office regarding the agreement, also attended by other Merton Center members.

A practiced politician, Casey made sure he engaged briefly with each one of us before returning to the fund-raiser. While still undecided, he said, he promised to make a decision by Labor Day. In fact, the Senator announced his decision to support the agreement on September 1st, 11 days after our discussion on Sixth Street.

It is hard to say what, if any, influence our encounter with Senator Casey had on his decision.

“The intense feelings felt by sincere people, whatever their views, have not been lost on me,” the senator observed in the press release announcing his decision.

We can say this: At this point in the 2016 presidential campaign there is much talk about the candidates engaging in “retail politics;” that is, in seeking out personal interactions with potential voters. We should never forget that such politics should work both ways, with individual citizens continually willing to engage on a personal level with the politicians who are obliged by law and tradition to represent them.

Neil Cosgrove is a member of the NewPeople Editorial Collective.

Combatting Misconceptions About Immigration Law

By Danielle Fritz, Esq.

As the debate over immigration continues, the future of 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States remains uncertain. Basic knowledge of the immigration system can help us push back against the rancorous portrayal of undocumented immigrants in political talk and popular media. Misconceptions commonly found in those portrayals are refuted below:

the legal immigration system is already backlogged and many people do not qualify for any form of legal entry. Generally, legal immigration is restricted to highly skilled workers with job offers, people joining their American family members, refugees and others in need of humanitarian protection, and winners of the green card lottery. There is no ‘line’ for many who wish to immigrate to the United States. Even those who do qualify for a recognized Unlawful presence within the United States is a visa may have to wait years for their applications to crime. be accepted. Finally, the claim that current citizens’ Many people assume that unlawful presence ancestors arrived legally ignores the country’s immiwithin the United States is a crime. Under federal gration history. Until the late nineteenth century, law, it is a misdemeanor for a non-citizen to enter the United States had an open immigration systhe United States without inspection by immigration tem. Any able-bodied immigrant was allowed into officers. For the crime of improper entry, a person the United States, and undocumented immigration may be sentenced to six-months imprisonment and was common. The legality of arrival obviously dehave to pay a fine. However, improper entry is dif- pends on the laws in place at that time. Many citiferent than unlawful presence. A non-citizen who is zens’ ancestors would not have been able to immiin the United States without a valid visa has violated grate under the current immigration laws. federal immigration law, not criminal law. For example, a person who enters the United States legally ‘Anchor Babies’ help undocumented parents rewith a student visa but then stays in the country after main in the United States. her visa expires has not committed a crime. She has According to the 14th Amendment, any person violated federal immigration law, which is a civil born within the United States is granted citizenoffense. The penalty for unlawful presence is often ship. The term ‘anchor babies’ is often used to deremoval from the country. Practically, this means scribe parents who enter the United States unlawfulthat undocumented people within the United States ly to give birth and then use the citizenship status of cannot be incarcerated solely on the basis that they their child to remain in the country. Although politiare within the country unlawfully. cians and media figures continue to lambast this alleged legal loophole, having an American child is People should come legally and wait in line. After rarely a successful defense in immigration removal all, my ancestors came legally. proceedings and undocumented parents face the The argument that immigrants should ‘wait in same risk of deportations as every other undoculine’ to enter the United States fails to recognize that mented immigrant. The exception to this rule is 8 - NEWPEOPLE October 2015

when the American child is severely ill or disabled and requires parental care.

There is one way that so-called anchor babies can help their parents achieve legal status, but the process takes decades. When an American citizen reaches the age of 21, she can submit a green card application on behalf of her parents. However, to be eligible, the parents must have left the United States and returned to their home country. Moreover, depending on the length of their previous unlawful stay in the United States, automatic bans of three or ten years may apply to undocumented parents. In other words, it may take between 24 and 31 years for the parents of the so-called anchor baby to receive a green card.

Immigrants strain social welfare services.

According to the National Resource Council, over their lifetimes, immigrants contribute more to public revenue than they receive in local, state, and federal benefits. Undocumented migrants are not legally able to access most welfare programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Government studies have shown that immigrants are much less likely than their citizen counterparts to access welfare programs, even when they qualify for assistance.

Danielle Fritz is a New York licensed attorney. She recently completed a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Human Rights at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.

Changing A Rapacious Culture Smart Money Goes to Stop Climate Change Bill McKibben of 350.org led the campaign for “Divestment of Fossil Fuels.” It was ultimately a strategy for action to save our Planet Earth from the consequences of climate change. The trustees of universities and churches were targeted for lobbying, along with individual stockholders. For most people, including those sympathetic to his goals, this action seemed very risky. It was a sacrifice that might be costly, even if for a good cause. It was a difficult step, to be delayed and carefully considered.

Those who did the right thing immediately, and who dumped their fossil fuel stocks, have big smiles on their faces today. As a group, they may have saved their dollars before the price of oil fell into the toilet, along with gas and coal. And if they are now investing in clean renewable technologies, they have an opportunity to do well by doing good.

No ideology or political group can safely claim infallibility, especially betting on the stock market. But it is safe to say that the divesting progressives are looking like “smart money.” Climate change is real, in spite of conservative politicians denying it. They make jokes, while their own states dry up and burn from drought, or drown in unbelievable downpours never before seen. Crops and livestock die in either extreme; which, in turn, threaten the billions of us, who may have multiplied beyond the capacity of a warming Planet Earth. Pope Fran-

cis, religious Islamic scholars, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus have declared the environment to be a sacred trust, with calls for strong, decisive action to save it.

Our oceans absorb carbon, become acidic, and are full of plastic, trash, toxic chemicals, sewage, fertilizers, pesticides and even radiation from Japan’s nuclear accidents. Our food, water and air are destroyed by our own bad behavior and by multinational corporations around the world.

Bill McKibben gave his speech on “Divestment of Fossil Fuels” in Pittsburgh on November 4, 2013. The occasion was his acceptance of an award presented to him at the Thomas Merton Center Annual Banquet. Students across the nation have lobbied their university trustees to end their investments in fossil fuels. Pittsburgh students are part of this movement and our repeat of the McKibben speech on public access television will give more citizens an opportunity to become better informed. Members of the Thomas Merton Center have proposed that the City of Pittsburgh join this effort by a divestment of fossil fuel stocks from their portfolios.

During the month of October , every Monday at 9 PM the Bill McKibben speech will be aired on COMCAST Channel 21 and VERIZON FIOS Channel 47, inside the Pittsburgh city limits. The speech can be accessed on www.youtube.com/richfishpgh.

(Across the top of the screen, click “Playlist” ) Then click McKibben video.( the link for YouTube is:https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Rc6DnqUprX). Videographer/Editor Rich Fishkin For information, contact Carlana Rhoten, Community Producer, Progressive Pgh Notebook TV Series at 412-363-7472 or email tvnotebook@gmail.com .. Public Access is through Pittsburgh Community Television (PCTV21) Carlana Rhoten is the community producer of the Progressive Pgh Notebook TV.

The Bible and Capitalism - Not an Easy Fit Pope Francis’s recent encyclical and visit to the United States, including addresses to the United Nations General Assembly and the U.S. Congress, have illuminated the stark contrast between this pope’s moral focus and that of many American politicians with highly public religious pretensions.

More specifically, Francis has harshly criticized the inequality and flagrant exploitation of both the natural world and the poorest and most vulnerable of our fellow humans that is characteristic of the most recent forms of capitalism, directly challenging the ideology of ostensibly devout politicians whose allegiance to so-called “free markets” appears to far outweigh their commitment to the practice of faithguided charity.

Reacting to the pope, the defensive arguments and rationalizations of those politicians have commonly claimed that they are the Vatican’s adherents and/or admirers when it comes to matters of “faith and morals,” but are far more skeptical of Francis’s “political” positions. A recent comment by local Republican member of Congress Tim Murphy in a Post-Gazette article is representative. “Sometimes he speaks the word of God and sometimes he speaks the word of man,” said Murphy. “If he’s quoting the Bible that’s one thing, but if he’s commenting on something else, that’s another.”

Murphy poses a useful question for both Christian politicians and the Christian citizenry as a whole to consider. Just what does the Bible say, particularly about the words and actions of Christ and his earliest followers in regards to the accumulation and distribution of wealth, and the need for generosity and charity?

“For creating radicals, there is nothing like a

reading of the gospels,” Catholic intellectual Garry Wills has remarked. The most familiar passages about the difficulty of leading an exemplary life while clinging to material wealth are the parable of the beggar Lazarus’s encounters with his rich neighbor, the rejection by the well-off young man of Christ’s invitation to give away his riches and follow in his path, and the words that put a cap on that conversation: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Perhaps less known but more direct is Christ’s exclamation of “woe unto you that are rich for you have received your consolation.” But for the contemporary “one percent,” the force of Christ’s admonition in Matthew 25 that salvation belongs to those who have sheltered, fed, clothed, and provided medical care to the “least of my brethren” as if they were Christ himself may be the most troubling.

From that proclamation has emerged the notion of the “common purse,” most clearly exemplified by a description in the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles of the earliest Christian community being one where none lacked the necessities, “for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made to each as each had need.”

It is remarkable how often such passages have been ignored or explained away in the common pulpit and by church leaders, or been relegated to the practice of private charity. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that communities in the early church actually legislated a generalized social welfare. In the fourth century St. Basil created a city in the now-

By Carlana Rhoten

By Neil Cosgrove

Turkish region of Cappadocia in which food, shelter, and medical care were provided free. In the fifth century the Carthage Church Councils set up a system of hospices attached to each parish that cared for the poor, the aged, the orphaned and the sick.

Pope Francis was following that ancient lead when in September he asked every European parish, religious community, monastery and sanctuary to each house a refugee family, including the two parishes overseen by Vatican City.

Christian history is filled with smaller scale communal attempts to live the admonitions of Matthew 25 and to emulate the sharing of resources described in Acts. Various monastic rules have required open, unstinting hospitality be extended to visitors to their doors. Similar behavior was manifest by the Franciscans and the Shakers, among others. Within the past century, there have been the hospitality houses and farms of the Catholic Worker movement, the worker priests of post-war France, the Latin American “base communities” inspired by liberation theology, the contemporary Josiah House in Baltimore.

Religious folk habitually quote from their scriptures those passages that best support their arguments of the moment, while ignoring those that don’t. Even the most literal-minded among us are interpreting when we read. That said, Representative Murphy and other American politicians need to recognize that Pope Francis has ample biblical support for his criticisms of contemporary capitalism, and that in uttering them he is certainly addressing matters of “faith and morals.”

Neil Cosgrove is a member of The New People editorial collective.

25th Anniversary Protest at the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning

By Joyce Rothermel

In September, we had the wonderful opportunity to hear from Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch. At the Army School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, or WHINSEC, in 2001), students from several Latin American countries are trained on techniques to control their own populations. Graduates from the school have been found guilty of the illegal assassinations of many of their own people. Famous among the victims are Archbishop Óscar Romero and the religious women killed in El Salvador in 1980. During his speech, Fr. Roy told us that five Latin American countries have stopped sending personnel and that Chile and El Salvador are now considering it. For more information on Fr. Roy’s speech, see page 13.

Several in the audience expressed interest in participating in or contributing to this year’s 25th anniversary protest, scheduled for Nov. 20 – 22. The SOA Watch invites us to join them for their annual public witness at Ft. Benning. Their cry: Resist empire, militarization, and migrant imprisonment. Create a culture of justice and peace. Come to the vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning and march to the nearby Stewart Detention Center, attend workshops and concerts, and join in the presentations by the puppetistas (protesters carrying large puppets depicting current issues of injustice). This may be the greatest act of solidarity you experience this year.

For many years, Pittsburghers have made this pilgrimage. Last year the SOA Watch W. PA traveled to Cleveland and joined the bus organized by

the Interreligious Task Force on Central America.

They are welcoming us again this year. Would you like to participate? Do you know others who would?

You can find out more by calling the Thomas Merton Center at 412-361-3022 or by emailing rothermeljoyce@gmail.com Since this is the 25th anniversary, let’s set a goal for a minimum of 25 people to represent the Pittsburgh area. If you are unable to attend but would like to sponsor someone who can go but needs a scholarship, you can send a donation to Thomas Merton Center and put SOA Watch W. Pa in the memo section of the check. Thank You! Joyce Rothermel is a member of the SOA Watch chapter of western Pennsylvania.

October 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 9

Reforming Prisons "The Times They are a Changin” President Obama, in a historic July speech before the NAACP called for significant reform to our criminal justice system. He pointed out that our criminal justice system “remains particularly skewed by race and by wealth, and has adverse ripple effects on our country's families and communities.”

Since 1971, when President Nixon declared a “war on drugs” our prison population has been steadily increasing, until we now have over 2,200,000 people incarcerated in the United States.

As President Obama pointed out in his July speech at the NAACP, we have 25% of the world’s people in prison in spite of the fact that we only represent 5% of the world’s population. Sixty percent of people incarcerated in our prisons are people of color.

Over 80,000 of these are in solitary confinement, remaining in their cells 23 hours a day.

These are grim statistics, but there is hope. The world was alerted to the brutality of solitary confinement with the Pelican Bay prison hunger strike in 2011. Over 30,000 people in prisons in California participated in this and subsequent hunger strikes at great risk to themselves.

This action has led to the recent settlement with the Department of Corrections in California that is a milestone for reform in this country. The case argued that solitary confinement constituted cruel and unusual punishment and therefore violated the Eighth Amendment. One of the significant aspects of the lawsuit was that people incarcerated in solitary were active participants in all aspects of the decision -making.

“This settlement represents a monumental victory for prisoners and an important step toward our goal of ending solitary confinement in California, and across the country,” the plaintiffs said in a joint

statement. “California’s agreement to abandon indeterminate SHU (Solitary Housing Unit) confinement based on gang affiliation demonstrates the power of unity and collective action. This victory was achieved by the efforts of people in prison, their families and loved ones, lawyers, and outside supporters.”

This decision was followed by a recent statement by the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the leading group of jail and prison administrators, recognizing the need for reform.

“Prolonged isolation of individuals in jails and In 2013, inmate Javier Zubiate stands in the concrete recreation area in one of the solitary confinement units at Peliprisons is a grave problem in the United States,” can Bay State Prison (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) the statement said. It added that the organization was committed to “ongoing efforts to limit or end extended isolation,” problems of mass incarceration and especially soliThis is especially significant as a mark of tary confinement. PANAT members have been change, as these are the people who have been most meeting regularly with Secretary Wetzel to raise influential in creating policies for the use of solitary. concerns about the continued use of this barbaric Clearly these victories are just the beginning of practice. We are also exploring the possibility of the struggle for change and more needs to be done. legislation to restrict solitary confinement in PA. Locally in Pennsylvania in the last couple of In another positive move the PA Council of years the numbers of people in solitary confinement Churches is organizing a conference on mass incarhas been reduced significantly. This decrease was ceration; “Lord Let Our Eyes be Opened: Breaking spurred on by the case brought by the Disability the Chains of Mass Incarceration,” October 23rd to Rights Network and the ACLU against the Depart26th in Harrisburg. A number of the presenters at ment of Corrections for its treatment of people with this conference will be people who were formerly mental illness. Since then John Wetzel, Secretary for incarcerated and are now doing amazing things to the Department of Corrections, in collaboration with change the system. For more information on the conthe Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delin- ference go to:http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/ quency, has reduced the number of people in solitary weblog/?p=20965 confinement and is in the process of training all guards in Mental Health First Aid. Scilla Wahrhaftig has been a long time advoThe PA Network Against Torture (PANAT,) an cate for the abolishment of solitary confinement interfaith group, is working on organizing statewide and is presently working with the National Relito mobilize the faith community to recognize the gious Campaign Against Torture as a PA Organizer

Honoring the Charleston Nine Part Two As we advocate for ways to honor the 9 innocents massacred in Charleston, South Carolina, we should push for a constitutional amendment to accomplish what abolitionists were unable to accomplish in the 19th century; to abolish slavery once and for all. Why, with its shameful legacy, is slavery still legal in the United States? Is there another socalled first world country which has slavery written into its constitution?

Why, with the debate about sending jobs to China, are we not outraged by prison inmates in Alabama and Georgia working for major corporations in the United States for free and others throughout the country who are working for 25-40 cents an hour?

Many jobs are disappearing into the prison system.

While we are taught in high school that the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery, many of us missed the important exception for those “duly” convicted of a crime. While this exception was used to continue slavery with the passage of the Black Codes after the civil war as Eric Foner noted in his book, Forever Free, “The Black Codes … flagrantly violated free-labor principles and seemed designed, as one northern observer put it, to ‘restore all of slavery but its name.’”

To this day convicts slave at the Parchman Farm in Mississippi and the Angola Prison Farm in Louisiana.

There are currently approximately 2.3 million people in prison in the United States. Thus, there are potentially 2.3 million slaves and American Corporations are taking advantage of this pool of workers and have been for many years. According to Rania Khalek, writing for A lternet in an article entitled “21st Century Slaves: How Corporations Exploit

By Scilla Wahrhaftig

By Martha Conley

Prison Labor,” some of the corporations using prison labor include IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T Wireless, Texas Instruments, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, Nordstrom’s, Revlon, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, J.C. Penney and Target, among others. She points out that: “Prior to the 1970’s private corporations were prohibited from using prison labor as a result of the chain gang and convict leasing scandals. But in 1979, The U.S. Department of Justice admits that Congress began the process of deregulation to ‘private sector involvement in prison industries to its former status, provided certain conditions of the labor market were met.’ Over the last 30 years, 37 states have enacted laws permitting the use of convict labor by private enterprise, with an average pay of $0.93 to $4.73 per day.”

Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow tells us that Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs before there was a drug problem. Is it a coincidence that Congress removed the barriers to using prison labor two years before Ronald Reagan declared his war on drugs in 1982 before there was a drug problem? Crack hit the streets in 1985 according to Alexander.

Chris Hedges, writing for Truthdig on June 21, 2015, in an article entitled “America’s Slave Empire” said: “In Alabama prisons, as in nearly all such state facilities across the United States, prisoners do nearly every job, including cooking, cleaning, maintenance, laundry and staffing the prison barbershop. In the St. Clair prison there is also a chemical plant, a furniture company and a repair shop for state vehicles. Other Alabama prisons run printing companies and recycling plants, stamp license plates, make

metal bed frames, operate sand pits and tend fish farms. Only a few hundred of Alabama’s 26,200 prisoners (the system is designed to hold only 13,130 people) are paid to work; they get 17 to 71 cents an hour. The rest are slaves.”

If prison inmates were compensated fairly for their work, might it not give them an opportunity to fund their release and reduce the almost 70% recidivism rate?

When the 13th amendment was first proposed it did not mention an exception for people duly convicted of a crime. One of the first iterations of the proposed Amendment read as follows: All persons are equal before the law, so that no person can hold another as a slave; and the Congress shall have power to make all laws necessary and proper to carry this declaration into effect everywhere in the United States.

As finally passed, Section 1 of the 13th Amendment reads: Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Given this era of mass incarceration and the seemingly deliberate creation of a slave system by moneyed interests who profit hugely from unpaid labors, there is an argument to be made that current slaves have not been “duly” convicted. Rather they were convicted by a system deliberately designed to reinstate slavery and profit from free labor.

Martha R. Conley is a lawyer, Co-chair of Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Pittsburgh Chapter, and an Official Visitor for the Pennsylvania Prison Society.

DON’T BE SCARED

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

In Honor/Memory of:___________________________________________________

Merton Center’s Molly Rush Legacy Fund Donation/Pledge: $__________________

Name(s)______________________________________________________________ Organization (if any):___________________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________________________________ City:_________________________State:__________Zip Code:________________ Email:______________________________________________________________ Home Phone:____________________Cell Phone:___________________________ 10 - NEWPEOPLE

October 2015

Activist Notices Thinking Outside the Boss Cont’d Pittsburgh area businesses to “Think Outside the Boss” in order to remain competitive in this economic climate. Some of the challenges facing workers today, like deflation of the value of work and widening income inequality, would have been familiar to the Chamber of Cooperatives’ intellectual predecessors. There are, however, new challenges, like “giant platforms being built to exploit people” that weren’t possible before the internet age. Ron aims to someday provide a “worker-owned platform” to compete against these exploitative models.

The Chamber of Cooperatives’ relative youth as an organization doesn’t mean they’re without big goals. They’ve already begun working informally with several groups interested in becoming co-ops,

By Mary Sico

and the organization doesn’t want to stop there.

The most immediate—not to mention the most fun—event in the works aims to encourage cooperative recruitment and education by providing a space for community board games—to be called “Coopoly Un-Tournaments.” The games will be a fun way for people to play a cooperative version of Monopoly, and through doing so get an idea of what it would be like to live more cooperatively and make decisions as a team. As Ron says, “It’s a great way of learning how to run a cooperative without having to go through all the expense at first.” The UnTournament is scheduled for sometime this fall.

Planned for the future is the “Co-op Weekend,” modeled after Startup Weekend, which will aim to

have new co-ops up and running in a matter of days.

The Co-op Weekend is tentatively scheduled for early 2016.

What can you do if you’re interested in increasing workers’ voices and continuing Pittsburgh’s long tradition as a cooperative city? Educate yourself, keep up-to-date with the Chamber of Cooperatives, and challenge yourself to “think outside the boss.” Learn more about the Un-Tournament, Co-op Weekend, and beyond by checking the Chamber of Cooperatives’ website, pittsburghchamber.coop/, and by joining its mailing list. .Mary Sico is an intern with The NewPeople and a member of the Editorial Collective.

In Memory of Julian Bond: 1940 - 2015 The Merton Center celebrates the life of civil rights hero, Julian Bond. The words of Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, say it best, “With Julian’s passing, the country has lost one of its most passionate and eloquent voices for the cause of justice. He advocated not just for African Americans, but for every group, indeed every person subject to oppression and discrimination, because he recognized the common humanity in us all.”

GPIC Schedules Multi-Faith Event

Exploring Compassion through Multi-faith Lenses is the theme of the upcoming event of the Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition (GPIC) on Sunday, October 25, 2015 from 2 – 4 pm at Carlow University’s A.J. Palumbo Hall of Science Atrium, 3333 Fifth Avenue in Oakland. While violence has made headlines, compassion is the authentic calling and identity of our world religions. Presenters from Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism will share how our different faith traditions focus on nurturing compassion for all people within and beyond our own communities. These presentations will be followed by small discussion groups on understanding and promoting the common ground of compassion. Presenters will be available during refreshments for further discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. There is free parking on Fifth Avenue. Refreshments will be served. Call 412-963-6656 with questions. Registration is optional but appreciated at: http://gpictalk.eventbrite.com The Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition anticipates holding follow-up events on further dimensions of “compassion” in our faith communities.

Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition serves as a model of interfaith harmony. It convenes our region's diverse faith communities on a regular basis to share resources, foster dialogue, provide education and celebratory venues to deepen understanding and strengthen community relationships.

Dear Friends, The Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister Cities Partnership works to create an opportunity for our residents, public officials and leaders of organizations to engage in mutually beneficial ‘people to people’ exchanges with the residents and officials of Matanzas, Cuba. On February 20, 1998 a signing agreement took place in Matanzas officially designated our sister city relationship. Despite decades of travel restrictions, hardships and the illegal embargo we have continued our work to engage in peaceful and constructive activities with the people and institutions of Cuba. President Obama’s policy shift provides an opportunity to work toward the end to the illegal and counter productive foreign policy that has isolated our country from the world community.

We believe in supporting the autonomy of the Cuban people while engaging in mutually beneficial programs that promote community involvement and understanding. We need your support in the form of membership, donations or by attending our monthly Board meetings. Your on going support is appreciated.

Delegation to: HAVANA & MATANZAS, CUBA

PEOPLE, HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE & CULTURE November 11-15 or from 11-19, 2015 Round Trip-Pittsburgh-TampaHavana Join us to explore the history and architecture of Old Havana and Matanzas, Cuba. Our trip includes visits to UNESCO World Heritage sites and architectural wonders. We will visit art and history museums, experience the sights and sounds and listen to the voices of people and officials to learn more about Cuba’s culture and society in an era of ever changing relationships between our two countries. A full itinerary has been developed to maximize our learning experience and exchanges. Interested individuals should email their contact information to delegation organizers: Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister Cities Partnership: Jim Ferlo at senatorferlo@gmail.com or Lisa Valanti at lisacubasi@aol.com

Board & Officers, Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister Cities Partnership

We Need Your Support – Join With Us! October 2015

NEWPEOPLE - 11

Confronting Injustice Death, Mayhem and Destruction in Gaza July-August 2014

By Michael Drohan

Book Review: Night in Gaza by Mads Gilbert, Olive Branch Press, 2015 Mads Gilbert is a Norwegian physician who has served in the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during the four most recent Israeli invasions of Gaza in 2006,2008-09,2012 and 2014. In 2014 he served in the hospital for 15 days of the 51-day siege lasting from July 5 to August 28. His book is primarily the harrowing account of the men, women and children who were admitted to Al Shifa Hospital, their injuries and his treatment of them. The book is amply illustrated with the photos of the mutilated bodies of victims, in many cases torn apart by shrapnel from the bombs detonated on the homes and the apartments of the Gazan people.

The book begins with the ordeal Dr. Gilbert endured in reaching Gaza to serve these suffering people. He first tried the Rafah crossing on the southern border of Gaza with Egypt. He was denied entry by both the Egyptian and Israeli immigration authorities. He next took a taxi back to Cairo, and a plane to Amman, Jordan, before proceeding into the West Bank and on to the northern crossing at Erez.

By some stroke of luck he succeeded at Erez in getting entry.

It is often said of Gaza that it is an open-air prison or concentration camp. The picture Dr. Gilbert paints makes this truth vividly clear. Gazans are hemmed in on all fronts and even cut off from the West Bank without any possibility of escape. Further, for foreigners to get to Gaza is nearly impossible and media personnel may as well forget it. The Gazan people are defenseless, with no security or military force to defend them. Israel collects the taxes within Gaza but then very often refuses to disburse them if they wish to punish the Gazan people.

One can only imagine the tension and rage that builds up among the people in this prison-like situation. Despite this repression, or maybe because of it,

Gaza is the only part of occupied Palestine exhibiting resistance to the occupation through the military wing of Hamas, known as the Quassam Brigades.

Dr. Gilbert weaves into his narrative many elements of the destruction that took place in Gaza.

Nothing was immune to bombing and destruction; schools, mosques, churches, hospitals, UN compounds, electric generating stations, and water supply towers were all fair game to the Israeli Army.

The suffering that resulted is scarcely imaginable and since there were no military targets, collective punishment of the people of Gaza seemed to be Israel’s only objective. Consequently, it would be grossly inaccurate to describe the assault on Gaza as a war. There was only one army, the Israeli Army, and on the other side the defenseless Gazan civilians in their homes, businesses, schools and hospitals.

This collective punishment is in clear contravention of international law and the founding Charter of the United Nations.

In the midst Dr. Gilbert’s description of the pain and suffering inflicted on the Gazan people, he weaves in an overarching analysis of the context of the war. He maintains that it is the organized Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation that is being punished and that provides a context for understanding the brutality of the invasion. Incisively he says of the invasion: “It is not a case of ‘Hamas versus Israel’s right to exist’, or ‘terrorism versus democracy’, as Netanyahu, Lieberman and Obama claim. The state of Israel intends to crush the Palestinian people’s will to exist so that they can then be driven out. This is why the civilian population is being targeted. This is why half of the casualties are women and children, why schools, hospitals, ambulances, places of worship and ordinary homes are being bombed to pieces. It is collective punishment, in clear contravention of international law and the founding charter of the Unit-

Photo by Mads Gilbert

ed Nations, not that this matters to the Israeli war machine.”

Reflective of another result of the terrorism visited upon the Gazan people in July-August 2014, Dr. Gilbert quotes a grandfather with large blood stains on the top of his kaftan being interviewed by a local television station. “The United States are responsible for this,” said the grandfather. “All the bombs falling on us are paid for by the United States. Our children are suffering, our women are suffering, civilians are being bombed and killed.” In yet another comment on the indescribable suffering he witnessed, Dr. Gilbert states that Israel can and has done all this with impunity because the West, and specifically the US, prevents Israel from being brought to the international criminal court and being brought to justice.

This book is a valuable read for anyone who wants to get a visceral, visual and existential picture of what took place during the invasion of Gaza in 2014. The mutilated pictures of children, women and people of all ages conveys an overpowering image of this catastrophe.

Michael Drohan is a member of the Editorial Collective and of the Board of the Thomas Merton Center

Friends of Sabeel October 16-17, 2015

At PITTSBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 116 N. Highland Ave.

Information and Registration fosnapgh@gmail.com

Come hear first hand accounts of life in Gaza & the West Bank and learn why activists work day in and day out for justice in the U.S. & Palestine. Come join us and find out what you can do to take part in this important justice work. Invited Participants include: Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, founder/director of Sabeel; Daoud Nassar, Director of Operations, Tent of Nations; Anna Baltzer, National Organizer, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation; Rev. Taurean J. Webb, scholar-in residence at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute; Rev. Dr. R. Drew Smith, professor of Urban Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary ; and Jasiri X, hip hop artist and activist. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) supports Sabeel, an ecumenical liberation theology movement founded by Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land. We work with people of all faiths and convictions to secure a just peace in Palestine-Israel.

New Anti-Racist Youth Organizing Training The Youth Undoing Institutional Racism Weekend (YUIR Weekend), a two-and-a-half-day racial justice workshop sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee Pennsylvania (AFSC PA), begins Friday, October 9th and runs through Sunday, October 11th at the historic Bethel AME Church located in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. YUIR Weekend is an anti-racist organizing training event for youth ages 14-24, with an emphasis on high school aged participants. It is open to young people from all over Southwestern Pennsylvania.

AFSC PA partners with the historic Bethel AME Church for October’s pilot program. Bethel AME’s Reverend Steven Jackson has been instrumental in engaging youth through congregational networks. One of YUIR Weekend’s goals is to support youth and youth leaders from already existing groups and programs. In addition, YUIR Weekend focuses on understanding history in order to create change. Local history, including Bethel AME’s historic role in the growth and health of Pittsburgh’s black communities, informs both the workshop and strategies for Pittsburgh-specific change.

At YUIR Weekend youth participants will develop a shared structural analysis of racism and poverty, learn how race and racism was constructed in the United States, analyze institutional oppression, and develop nonviolent anti-racist community organizing skills. YUIR Weekend believes in plain talk for plain understanding and uses these guiding questions: Why are people poor?

12 - NEWPEOPLE

October 2015

Why are so many Black and Latino people in prison?

What is the history I’m not taught in school?

What is the School to Prison Pipeline?

How can I change my community?

YUIR Weekend’s curriculum was developed

by AFSC staff of color in Seattle, Washington, in close partnership with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB) and closely follows PISAB’s Undoing Racism Training. AFSC PA hopes to bring PISAB to Pittsburgh for adultfocused anti-racism training. Having an adult base to support youth-led organizing is critical to building this multi-racial, intergenerational justice movement.

The response and momentum for the YUIR Weekend pilot has been tremendous. AFSC PA is working to offer this youth training twice annually, free of charge. The overwhelming response to YUIR Weekend is just one of the ways we see a youth movement towards anti-racist and intersectional justice building. The current wave of young energy and passion for change builds upon generations of extraordinary hard work, sacrifice, and leadership by community members of color.

YUIR Weekend lays the foundation for the year-round Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR) organizing work. This year, youth as part of YUIR will meet weekly to design and implement a campaign to help disrupt the School to Prison Pipeline. The ongoing YUIR program is a place for praxis: for young people to apply their learning from

By Amanda Gross

YUIR Weekend, and learn how to implement change through doing.

Interested in supporting this work? Want to get involved? Contact Amanda Gross at agross@afsc.org or 412-315-7423.

Amanda Gross is the Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee responsible for Youth Undoing Institutional Racism and is an advisor to the Pittsburgh Student Activist Coalition.

Change in Latin America Guatemala’s Democratic Revival Six months ago, few would have imagined the possibility of Guatemalans protecting the police from the rain while protesting in front of the National Palace. Virtually nobody could have conceived the idea of Guatemalan protesters responding with white roses to violent threats from a group of the President’s political supporters. In a matter of months, Guatemala went from being seen in the international arena as one of the most violent and corrupt places in Latin America, to being an example of what la gente (the people) can achieve when they break the shell of apathy and mobilize against injustice.

In April of 2015, the Public Ministry and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG, in Spanish)—an international body created in 2006 by the government and the United Nations to strengthen the state’s justice system— uncovered a corruption scandal that involved several public officials. La Línea (The Line), as the media referred to it, was an organization deeply entrenched in Guatemala’s customs house that controlled the import of goods through bribery and tax fraud. According to the CICIG and the Public Ministry, this organization incriminated several members of the government, including the now former Vice President, Roxana Baldetti; her private secretary, Juan Carlos Monzón (now a fugitive); and the just recently dethroned President, Otto Pérez Molina.

The scheme that the members of La Línea used was not new. A similar organization known as La red Moreno (The Moreno Network) that involved civilians and former military officials made headlines in the late 1990s, during Álvaro Arzú’s administration. Both structures date back to counterinsurgency policies from the Civil War (1960-1996), when the military gained control of the customs house as a means to prevent weapons from reaching guerrilla organizations.

In a country with one of the most violent histories in Latin America and some of the highest levels

By Daniel Núñez

of wealth and income inequality in the world, the scandal finally touched a nerve.

A few days after the Public Ministry and the CICIG revealed some of the results of their investigations, thousands of mostly young people staged a peaceful protest in Guatemala City’s Constitution Square, demanding the resignation of the President and Vice President. Many of these people came from both public and private universities and from the urban middle class, a sector that had remained politically apathetic for most of Guatemala’s recent history. A week later, they were joined by union members, peasants and women organizations, and peaceful Protestors on International Labor Day in downtown Guatemala City, May 1, 2015 Photo Credit: Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters protests were staged and increased in size almost every Saturday after that. government—headed by Alejandro Maldonado, a Images and videos from April show that the conservative former magistrate of the Constitutional protests were not trivial and that a deep, almost spir- Court—went through with the presidential elections itual transformation was taking place.* For the first that had already been scheduled for September 6. time in their lives, many Guatemalans experienced a Perhaps as a sign of their rejection of the entire sysdeep sense of belonging to their country, and felt so tem, the majority of Guatemalans voted against the intensely proud that they sometimes broke into tears. opposition and chose a shady television comedian The last time the Constitution Square had seen pro- with no political experience, Jimmy Morales. Motests like these was seventy years ago, when univer- rales will probably have to face a run-off in October sity students led demonstrations calling for the resig- against either Sandra Torres or Manuel Baldizón, nation of Jorge Ubico, a military ruler known for his two politicians with dubious reputations and obscure authoritarian tendencies. Those protests were folties to Guatemala’s underworld. As the date aplowed by the October Revolution and by what is proaches, Guatemala is once again torn between now known as Guatemala’s Ten Years of Spring, a those who want to perpetuate the old system of corperiod from 1944 to 1954 characterized by progres- ruption and those who want to plunge into the future sive and democratic reforms that were crushed by and push for significant political reforms. the United States and their local military and politi* See: Bill Barreto. El clamor de una manifestacion: cal allies.

The protests that began this April led to the res- #RenunciaYa. Plaza Pública, April 26, 2015, availaignation of Baldetti in early May and to the resigna- ble at: http://www.plazapublica.com.gt/content/elclamor-de-una-manifestacion-renunciaya. tion of Pérez Molina in early September. The protests were not the only contributing factor, but they Daniel Núñez is a Guatemalan citizen currently were an important factor. Today, both Baldetti and Pérez Molina are held in prison on corruption charg- working as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department es. Against the wish of many Guatemalans, the new of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Roy Bourgeois' Journey from Silence to Solidarity

By Jim McCarville

On September 1, Fr. Roy Bourgeois returned to Pittsburgh and won a standing ovation at the Association of Pittsburgh Priests’ (APP) Speaker Series, with over 150 persons in attendance. His theme, “My Journey from Silence to Solidarity: The Struggle for Justice and Equality,” also sparked a lively discussion. The series is held at the Kearns Spirituality Center in Allison Park.

Roy spoke of his personal growth, from a Naval Officer in Vietnam and a witness to the suffering there, to a Maryknoll priest in El Salvador and Bolivia--where he said the suffering was worse. What hurt him most, he said, was that he found out that the people inflicting the suffering were being trained by the US taxpayer-funded School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Georgia.

His activism first got him in deep trouble in Bolivia, from which he was deported in 1975. He then returned to the US. After learning that the soldiers who had assassinated four American churchwomen and six Jesuits in El Salvador had been trained at SOA, he established SOA Watch. Each year now, on the weekend before Thanksgiving,

thousands of people arrive at Fort Benning to protest the use of American funds for this purpose. Last year the number grew to over 15,000.

For his activism, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It was also for his activism, however, that he spent four years in federal prison. He called that the best long retreat he had ever been on.

While back in America, he said, he became aware of a different kind of suffering: that of the women who were denied equality in the priesthood.

He called it a “grave injustice” and “deep sexism” in the Catholic Church. While his order had warned him about his inconsistency with Catholic teaching on this subject, he continued to speak out. Shortly after a live 15-minute interview on Vatican Radio, he was notified that he had been “separated” from the Maryknoll order. The interview was supposed to be about the SOA, and “it was for the first 13 minutes,” he said. But he could not remain silent on gender issues either. Just like the path he followed in Bolivia and at Fort Benning, it was a question of conscience and of solidarity.

In 2012 the Vatican “dispensed” him from his sacred vows. When asked if anything good came of that, he says with a smile that he “spends a lot less time in meetings now.”

Nonetheless, he remains upbeat on the reforms he hopes to see in the Catholic Church.

Solidarity was the theme throughout the presentation. He stressed the importance of not remaining silent and the importance of perseverance despite obstacles.

Roy is no stranger to Pittsburgh. In 1982 he was the Executive Producer of an Oscarnominated documentary, Gods of Metal, about the Pittsburgh nonviolent witness community.

When he called roll of Pittsburghers featured in that film for their past anti-war activities-Molly Rush, Rege Ryan, Don Fisher and Jack O’Malley--the audience roared back a reRoy Boureois , 2015. Photo Credit: Eric Albrecht, COLUM- sounding “present” for each name. He also recognized Don McIlvane, a force in the nonBUS DISPATCH (2015)

violent movement, who died in 2014. In 2011, Call to Action PA would present him with their 21st Century Prophet Award.

A collection taken after the speech raised over $600, which was sent to SOA Watch. Additionally, 22 persons signed up to participate in this year’s witness, with half indicating a desire to physically go and the others to contribute financial support.

The next speaker in the series will be Dr. Daniel Scheid, a theology professor from Duquesne University speaking on Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si, Be Praised: On the Care for Our Common Home.” It will take place on October 7, 2015, at 7:00 pm, also at the Kearns Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA, 15101.

The Association of Pittsburgh Priests (APP) is a diocesan-wide organization of ordained priests and non-ordained women and men who act on our baptismal call to be priests and prophets to carry out a ministry of justice and renewal, rooted in the gospel and spirit of Vatican II. For more information on APP, contact John Oesterle at johnoesterle2@gmail.com.

For information on the Speaker Series, contact Sr. Mary Joan Coultas at kearns@cdpsisters.org.

For more information on the School of the Americas Watch, see www.soaw.org.

School of the Americas’ Watch of W. PA is a project of the Thomas Merton Society. If you are interested in participating in this year’s public witness at Ft. Benning, Ga. November 20-22, 2015, please contact rothermeljoyce@gmail.com or call the Merton Center at 412-361-3022.

Jim McCarville is a freelance writer who lives in the North Hills, he can be contacted at jim.mccarville@gmail.com.

October 2015

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Merton and His Legacy Merton and Joyce

By Robert Jedrzejewski

To characterize James Joyce as Thomas Merton's literary muse would not be stretching a point.

In his autobiography Seven Storey Mountain Merton tells of owning a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses "in a fancy India paper edition, as he described it, “slick and expensive which I lent to someone...and never got back." Considered by many as the greatest novel in English literature, "Ulysses" is a monumental work of art. For some, an impenetrable thicket, but for Merton, having read the novel at least three times, it was the best example of "comedy" in all of literature - comedy in the Aristotelian sense of seeing conflicts or dilemmas resulting from accidents of fate or man's perversions, and the attempt at restoring a social, biological or psychological balance.

The major influence of Joyce, however, on Merton's conversion to Catholicism, actually came from his reading "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," Joyce's youthful version of himself. Fascinated by an episode in the book where Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's young alter-ego, is on retreat and is transfixed by the Jesuit retreat-master's lengthy conference on hell, Merton wrote that he was "stimulated and edified." From then on, Merton continued to read Joyce more and more As he described it, he was ".... fascinated by the pictures of priests and Catholic life that came up here and there in his books....I was moving in his Dublin and breathing the air of its physical and spiritual slums.... But in the background was the Church in all its gradations... it was this background that fascinated me now, along with the temper of Thomism that had been in Joyce himself."

Heeding what he believed to be a divine calling, in 1941 Merton entered the severe life of the Trap-

pist monastery at Gethsemani to become a priest and took Joyce with him, so to speak. Unlike many readers, Merton was not scandalized by Joyce's earthy language, themes and iconoclasm; he despised the institutional Church and the hypocritical practice of the Irish middle-class version of Catholicism. Merton saw much of Joyce's s writing as epiphanies , or sudden, intuitive perceptions of reality. And this was due not only to the fact that both Merton and Joyce were artists of unique sensitivities; Merton saw the profound subtleties and meanings behind Joyce's intentions. Being a scholar himself and a student and teacher of literature, he recognized the literary tricks Joyce employed - e.g leaving arcane clues and subterfuges for future generations of critics to discover and fight over. And as he matured in his understanding of contemplation and spirituality, a similar maturation occurred in his understanding of Joyce..

After the ban on Joyce was lifted in 1933 and "Ulysses" was published in the U.S. and elsewhere, a veritable flood of commentaries poured forth, creating a virtual James Joyce industry. Merton called it a "treasure hunt for Ph.D. people." And Merton seemed to be aware of all of them. In one of his conferences with the scholastic monks, he sardonically castigated one undistinguished Joyce reviewer who saw every character in Joyce as either a figure of Christ or Dante. Belaboring her naivete, as he did, may not have been the epitome of charity, but it was funny as hell. Merton was not a dour monk. He had a great sense of humor. Perhaps that explains his deep attachment to Joyce.

More esoterically, Merton engagingly expounded on art and aesthetics to his students and showed

the correspondence of the beauty and depth of contemplative life to the non-romanticism of reality in art, using Joyce's literature as an example. For Merton, contemplation means penetrating the reality of the material world. To this end he had particular fun utilizing Joyce's short stories in "The Dubliners," Joyce's first published work.

Merton's most brilliant insight into Joyce, to my mind, is his interpretation of perhaps the most daunting (cringing. for the prudish or squeamish) chapter of Ulysses, the 180-page chapter 15 "Circe," in which Leopold Bloom confronts the dregs of Dublin society and his own demons in a hallucinatory exposition by Joyce that has no match in literature. Merton sees the chapter as a profound eschatological (end-of-the-world) statement, a view of the hell of human depravity, but nonetheless a reality to be reckoned with. His own grasp of the underlying sense of this chapter became more clear as his own understanding of the contemplative life flowered.

(This chapter caused the most problems for the censors of Joyce). One sees beyond it, however, a hope and a compassion in the following concluding chapters of Ulysses. If it's possible to attach a simple reductionist "answer" as to the book's core meaning and all of Joyce's oeuvre, Merton wrote that the "final answer is comedy...God's comedy, and the joke is on the devil."

To go so far as to say that one needs Merton to understand Joyce would not get an argument from me.

Robert is a former college instructor in Philosophy, Theology and Literature, now retired. He welcomes comments on his articles at robertjed@verizon.net

TMC Annual Membership Meeting Planned for Sat, Oct. 10

By Joyce Rothermel

Many of you have been members of the Merton Center since its beginning in 1972 and some of you joined us for the first time this year. Most of you are somewhere in between. Some of you have never been members but have thought about it. One and all are encouraged to come together on Sat., Oct. 10 from 2 – 4 PM at the Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Avenue in Oakland.

We will celebrate the past year’s accomplishments and look forward with some of our most amazing projects to the work ahead. Joining us will be TMC member Jim Ferlo, president of the Pittsburgh-Matanzas (Cuba) Sister Cities Partnership, whom we will honor for his many years of activism.

We will learn about his work since his retirement from the PA Senate. Other speakers include Mark Dixon, filmmaker, activist and TMC board member speaking on environmental justice actions (who will also MC the afternoon’s gathering), Molly Nichols from Pittsburghers for Public Transit and Pete Shell

from the Anti-War Committee who will focus on wars at home and abroad.

Time will be allotted for discussion, feedback and input into the coming year’s activities and TMC awardees.

A special door prize of two free tickets to the Nov. 9 Thomas Merton Award dinner with U.S. Representative Barbara Lee will be drawn and refreshments will be available following the gathering outside the meeting room. RSVP’s are requested but not required at 412-361-3022 or by email at membership@thomasmertoncenter.org We had hoped that Diane McMahon, our managing director over the past three and a half years Hon. Jim Ferlo. Photo by Mark Knobil; courtesy Wikicould be with us for a reception in her honor; how- media Commons. ever, her attendance hasn’t been confirmed to date.

An opportunity to express your memories and gratiJoyce Rothermel is Chair of the TMC Memtude to Diane will be made available to all who atbership Committee. tend.

For more info, call the Center at 412-361-3022.

Memorials Set for Lincoln and Wilma Wolfenstein The family of Lincoln and Wilma Wolfenstein is holding a memorial to celebrate the lives of their parents on Sunday, October 25 at 11 am at the Schenley Park Visitor Center and Cafe (across from the Phipps). Family and friends will share their memories and anyone who wishes will be given an opportunity to speak. This sharing will be followed by a brunch. RSVP’s are requested by emailing Leonard Wolfenstein at lwolfenstein@verizon.net or Donna Caplin at pickcap@ameritech.net. They wish to include all who were friends with their parents.

A second event, sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University, is in recognition of Lincoln’s professional career there for over 50 years as an internationally known physicist and professor, but also will include some family remembrances. There Liane Norman, long time member of the Merton Center and friend of the Wolfensteins, will speak of Lincoln’s peace activism throughout his life. The CMU event will be more formal and only have designated speakers. It 14 - NEWPEOPLE October 2015

will be held on Saturday Oct. 24 at 3:30 pm in the Kresge Auditorium on the CMU campus.

The family has suggested memorial contributions to the Ploughshares Fund, which advocates for a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons. The Wolfensteins were Cornerstone Sustainers to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took note of the following in Lincoln’s obituthe Merton Center. ary of April 4, 2015: “Mr. Wolfenstein sounded the alarm about global warming Contributions may also as early as 1997 and penned other missives stating that: ‘The lesson of these be made in their wars is aggression equals disaster,’ ‘The Bush administration’s motives for this memory to the TMC. war don’t hold up,’ and ‘Cut defense spending; fund essentials.’”

In Memory of Dan Fine Many people have expressed their thoughts, grief and memories, regarding the life and death of our friend, Dan Fine. Here is a small sample that have been shared with us at the Merton Center. If you knew Dan, you will understand the outpouring, and for the other readers, bear with us as we mourn the loss of a very good man.

Another longtime friend was Bernard Lown, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for the founding of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Below is a shortened form of the letter he sent to Dan’s wife, Anita.

I am old enough to have learned that one is never prepared for the passage of an intimate friend. We think we are wise to have grown reconciled to this absolute inevitability. When it happens, we realize that the enormous loss has created an unanticipated, permanent, immense void. Words are inadequate to assuage the emptiness, the immeasurable ache when confronting the awesome finality of death of someone who was a part of who we are. How does one begin to take a measure of an absence? But this is a wrong question.

When Danny made a presence he never left. His spirit hovered as though some elemental force had swept through. Danny never departed for his footprints left a permanent imprint.

The words of Horatio in Shakespeare's Hamlet float before one's eyes:

“Now cracks a noble heart.

Good night, sweet prince, Following is a letter that Michael Drohan wrote to Dan, during the last week of his life; He was hoping Dan would be able to read it, and that they might discuss the topics in the letter at a later time. “Danny loved getting his teeth into philosophical topics, etc,” Michael said. The letter did not reach Dan, and Michael goes on, then, to express his thoughts to us, the readers, upon learning that his friend had passed on.

Dear Danny: Recently I have come upon some of the work of the French Existentialist philosopher and playwright, Gabriel Marcel, which has been fascinating and haunting me. In particular, I have been touched by his remarks on the connection between hope, love and death. Here are a few of the statements that struck me deeply: “to love a being is to say you, you in particular, will never die.” This statement is said by one of the characters in one of his plays. In his own words as a commentary on the words of the play, Marcel says “because I love you, because I affirm you as being, there is something in you in particular, which can bridge the abyss that I vaguely call death”. One more quote in this vein which struck me deeply is the following, “I know that I truly love someone when I see in him/her that which is too beautiful to die.” What do you think of these ideas, Danny? The next time we meet we must talk about some of this stuff. By the way, are you familiar with the work of Gabriel Marcel? To me he is one of the most interesting of the Existentialists in that he did not fall victim to despair.

That was the letter. Now as I reflect on it in the light of Danny’s leaving us alone on this earth, I reflect that I saw in Danny so many things which are too beautiful to die. Personally I learned so much from Danny about all kinds of spheres from gardening to medicine to politics and even lately to the theory of money and on and on. I hope to keep on treasuring the things, many things, which in Danny are too beautiful to die.

Again in this vein, every year in Fort Benning, Georgia when we demonstrate against the thousands of victims of the brutal wars against the people of Central America guided by the graduates of the School of the Americas, we chant “Presente” as the names of these victims are read one by one. This reminds us that though killed these people are still present and remembered. In this spirit I say of Danny, “Presente, Danny, Presente.”

This letter, written by Dan and Anita’s friend, Robert Jedrzejewski, was published in the Valley Daily News, in a slightly longer form.

"As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story" - from "Desiderata" in the "Poems of Max Ehrmann".

For more than half century the Alle-Kiske Valley has known and benefited from a man who personified this maxim. That was Dan Fine. His recent passing creates a void and a sadness that will be long felt. A dedicated physician with the Miners Clinics, later the HMO of Western PA, Dan was more. A man of culture and wit, yes, but blessed with an engaging simplicity that attracted and never repelled, he encompassed a tremendously broad range of interests that included involvement, not only in local issues of peace and justice, but national and international causes as well. He spearheaded the establishment of the local A-K Valley Citizens for Peace in the '70s and '80s. His vital role in the Physicians for Social Responsibility is known locally and nationally.

If the term "Renaissance Man" has any meaning, it would be applied to Dan. How rare to find a person that not only spoke softly, but listened as well. Somehow he was able to balance a heavy work load and broad community involvement with his responsibilities as a husband and father. His proud and dedicated family is testament to this.

Lest one think the above remarks are effusive and the author's comments simply an over the top example of saying nothing but good of the deceased (nihil mortui nise bonum) the archives of local area newspapers can more than substantiate the impact Dan's life and work had on all who knew him. In sum, he was a man of gravitas and grace. I was privileged to be his close friend and associate for the past 45 years and I shall miss him dearly.

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Dear Anita, Remember the evening at your home when I played my guitar and Dan played the harmonica? You paged through old song books and described how essential singing had been to raising spirits and creating community during your first decades as activists. You reminded me that since the Civil Rights Movement, Pete Seeger stands out above all folk singers for encouraging the rank and file to give musical voice to our passions.

When Pete died later that winter, you might say I was primed to help organize his tribute, "Sing Out for Pete." You and Dan were in my thoughts as we put that community sing-along together. I turned to you and Dan for advice and you came up with something great... Pete's testimony before HUAC (House on Un-American Activisties Committeee). Wow, what an entertaining and important educational piece that re-enactment turned out to be.

I am so grateful to you and Dan for encouraging me to see I could still help make music without being a "performer," which alone I'm no good for. But as a song leader or shall we say instigator, well that seems like a fit. Of course, my gratitude and admiration for you and Dan go wider and deeper.

For me, you and Dan stand along side of Howard Zinn and Dennis Brutus -four people whom I've had the unbelievable opportunity to march and rally with -- as personal examples of what it means to be lifelong activists. It is not simply because through the years you all pitch in and show up. It is also the reason for your unflagging determination. You all have shown and told me that you've been inspired by the generous, courageous, kind, creative and loyal capacities of human kind. And because you've witnessed these wonderful human qualities even in bad times, it just makes logical sense to you that if humanity were freed from the pervasive toxins of capitalism and greed, we could reorganize a much more peaceful, just and renewable world.

I am so grateful to be able to think of the two of you and be reminded of which side I am on and to keep my eyes on the prize. And I am grateful for the memories of delicious shared food, laughter and Jan and I being in the company or such a loving couple, devoted parents and collaborative partners in all of life's endeavors. The two of you will always remind me that to sustain my activism, I too need nourishment from many sources AND the willingness to laugh at myself, frequently.

More than anyone else, you know how irreplaceable Dan is. I hope it gives you some comfort to know that there are many of us who will continue to be inspired by the lifelong work of both of you and are determined to carry it on.

Solidarity forever, Ginny

October 2015

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Contribute To Our Next Issue!

Have and opinion or a response to an article in this month’s issue?

Send it in! We are looking for opinion pieces to fill an opinion page in each issue Are you a poet in the Pittsburgh area and would like to showcase your work on peace and social justice issues? Send it in! We are always looking for peace and social justice poems to feature in our newspaper.

Interested in writing an article? Please do! Submit all things here: thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit-an-article/

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Gandhi Day — 2 pm—5pm Frick Fine Arts Auditorium Bitter Seeds Screens! - 6 pm—8:30 pm—Chatham University Sanger Lecture Hall on Chapel Drive

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Circle of Hope— 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm—510 Market Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Poetry at the Pump House—1:30 pm– 2:30 pm—880 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120

“The Marshall Islands Take on the Nuclear Powers” with John Burroughs —7:00 pm– 9:00pm—Alcoa Room Pitt Law School

“Torture by Any Other Name”— 6:00pm –8:00pm— East Liberty Presbyterian Church

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KEEA Conference 2015: Turning Points in Energy Efficiency—7 am– 6 pm—23 South 2nd Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

Association of Pittsburgh Priests 2015 Speaker Series– 7-9pm—Kearns Spirituality Center 9000 Babcock Blvd.

Allison Park (See page 5)

Center on Race and Social Problems Speaker Series—12 pm—1:30 pm—2017 Cathedral of Learning

Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR) Weekend– Bethel AME Church, Hill District (see page 12)

YUIR Weekend continues

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Mental Health Awareness Symposium– 68:30pm- Eddy Theater/ Chatham University

"Norma Rae" (1979) screening— 7:30 pm– 10:30 pm—880 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120

Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh Performances/ Acrobatics/DJs— 8-10pm—Spirit, 242 51st Street Lawrenceville

Joe Hill Roadshow—1 pm– 4 pm—880 East Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120

YUIR Weekend Indigenous People’s Day continues

“Boy I Am” Film screening 7pm- at Union Project in Highland Park

Friends of Sabeel – Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 116 N. Highland Ave.

(Feminist Zine Fest)

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Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh, Tabling, Readings, Workshops — 12:00 pm- 5:00 pm—Frick Fine Arts Building at the University of Pittsburgh

TMC Board Meeting—6:30 pm– 8:30 pm— 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15224

Remembering Julian Bond– 5:30-8pm– Alumni Hall, Connolly Ballroom

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TMC Annual Membership Meeting– 24pm– Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Ave.

Feminist Zine Making Workshop — 11:30am– 2:30pmConstellation Coffee @ 4059 Penn Ave RSVP

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Iris Maron Young Awards, discussion “Gender-based Violence”- 46pm– Pittsburgh Athletic Association, 4215 Fifth Ave

Lincoln & Wilma Wolfenstein Memorial– 3:30pm– Kresge Auditorium, CMU Campus

October 2015 Regular Meetings Sundays: Book’Em: Books to Prisoners Project First three Sundays of the month at TMC, 46pm Contact: bookempgh@gmail.com Anti-War and Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition 3rd Sunday at 11:30 am at TMC, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield, PA 15224

Mondays: SW Healthcare 4 All PA /PUSH Meeting 1st Monday, 7:30 —9 pm Association of Pittsburgh Priests 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm, Prince of Peace Rectory 162 South 15th, Southside, Pgh. PA 15203 Amnesty International #39 2nd Monday, 7—9 pm First Unitarian Church, Morewood Ave. 15219

Wednesdays: Human Rights Coalition: Fed-Up! Every Wednesday at 7p.m. Write letters for prisoners’ rights at the Thomas Merton Center Darfur Coalition Meeting 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Meeting Room C Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill 412-784-0256 Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) 1st Wednesdays, 7-8pm, First Unitarian Church, Ellsworth & Morewood Avenues, Shadyside Pittsburghers for Public Transit 2nd Wednesday, 7pm, 1 Smithfield St., lower level

Thursdays: International Socialist Organization Every Thursday, 7:30-9:30 pm at the Thomas Merton Center Global Pittsburgh Happy Hour 1st Thursday, 5:30 to 8 pm, Roland's Seafood Grill, 1904 Penn Ave, Strip District Green Party Meeting 1st Thursday, 7 to 9 pm, 2121 Murray, 2nd floor, Squirrel Hill Black Political Empowerment Project 2nd Thursday, 6 pm: Planning Council Meeting, Hill House, Conference Room B

Fridays: Unblurred Gallery Crawl 1st Friday after 6 pm, Penn Avenue Arts District, 4800-5500 Penn Ave., Friendship and Garfield 15224 Hill District Consensus Group 2nd Friday, 10 am — 12 pm, Elsie Hillman Auditorium, Kaufmann Center 1825 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 People of Prisoners in Need of Support 3rd Friday, 7:00pm New Hope Methodist Church, 114 W. North Ave, Pittsburgh 15212

Saturdays:

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Exploring Compassion through Multifaith Lenses — 2:00 – 4:00pm — Carlow University’s A.J. Palumbo Hall of Science Atrium, 3333 Fifth Avenue in Oakland

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“Do I Sound Gay?” screening with director David Thorpe– 810:30pm– Frick Fine Arts Building

“Thomas Merton: A Trustworthy Guide on the Path to God” Villa Maria Community Center, 318 Villa Drive, Villa Maria, PA 16155 (See page 3)

“Thomas Merton: A Trustworthy Guide on the Path to God” continues

“Thomas Merton: A Trustworthy Guide on the Path to God” continues

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October 2015

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

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