Archive for November, 2011

Jesse Jackson, Meet Occupy Philly

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Jesse Jackson, Meet Occupy Philly Share/Save/Bookmark Nov 22, 2011
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Rev. Peter Friedrichs, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and others in the Quaker-sponsored interfaith tent. (Credit: Ashlee Espinal/Philly.com)

Famed civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped by Occupy Philly this week to start a discussion about bringing more diversity to the Occupy Movement. While he was there, he asked our own Rev. Peter Friedrichs to lead an interfaith group in prayer before the press conference. Check out the video here.

Rev. Jackson came to Philadelphia with the goal of engaging clergy and people of color in a meaningful diversity dialogue. Some people of color had previously felt unwelcome in the Occupy Philly community and Rev. Jackson wanted to discuss the creation of a more diverse movement. They also talked about how the  economic justice issues at the heart of Occupy often have a disproportionate effect on people of color.

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Rev. Friedrichs and his Standing on the Side of Love t-shirt made it all the way to the cover of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Before he left, Rev. Jackson made a commitment to link the interfaith working group at Occupy Philly with local African American church leaders in an effort to incorporate more voices into the movement.  He also drew a clear connection between the Civil Rights Movement and the Occupy Movement, describing it as a continuation of the same work. Rev. Friedrichs reported that it was inspiring to be in Rev. Jackson’s presence and that the discussion left him energized and hopeful for the broadening of the Occupy Movement.

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Rev. Peter Friedrichs is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County. Read more about his work at Occupy Philly in his blog posts (here, here, and here).

Rev. Friedrichs is just one of the many UU ministers and lay people across the country that are involved in the Occupy Movement. Join the conversation about Unitarian Universalism and the Occupy Movement at the OccUUpy Facebook group.

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A Toolkit: How You Can Help Stop Deportations

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The message below went out to Standing on the Side of Love supporters on Tuesday, November 22, 2011. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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I am excited to share with you a new way to help you stand on the side of love with immigrant families.  The Interfaith Immigration Coalition, a national partnership of faith-based organizations working for immigration reform and other fair and humane immigration policies, has assembled a page of resources including an Advocacy Toolkit that will help equip interfaith teams to change how migrant families are treated all across the country.  The Toolkit was developed in collaboration with the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), Church World Service, and other members of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC), and is available now on the IIC website.  The Unitarian Universalist Association is one of 32 organizations, including Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and many mainline Christian denominations, that are members of the IIC.

The Toolkit equips you with resources to organize interfaith teams to call on elected and appointed officials in your community.  The purpose of these calls is to change your community’s policy on when detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are honored by local officials.

You have heard a lot about the so-called Secure Communities program.  The stated purpose of this program is to identify, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes.  Tragically, thousands of people who have not committed serious crimes have been detained and deported under this program.

According to ICE, their officers make immigration enforcement decisions “only after an individual is arrested for a criminal violation of state law, separate and apart from any violations of immigration law.”  But thousands of people who haven’t violated state law have been detained in local jails at ICE’s request and then deported.  Detainer requests from ICE should not be honored for minor infractions and immigration violations.

Cook County, Illinois, Santa Clara County, California, and Washington, D.C., have decided to not honor all detainer requests.  These communities have made the decision to not honor “detainer requests” unless the person in question has been convicted of a violent or serious state crime.  We believe that hundreds of other counties, cities, and perhaps even states can be inspired to follow their lead. We believe that interfaith teams can help provide the information and inspiration needed.

The Toolkit provides you with resources to organize your community and ask your local leaders to change their policy on detainer requests.  In addition to the Toolkit, we will be offering webinars to help leaders like you organize and conduct calls on local officials.  If you are interested in a webinar you can sign up on the IIC website and be notified when they are scheduled.

Please download the Toolkit at the link below today and join in this major new interfaith initiative to change how migrant families are treated in our communities:

ADVOCACY TOOL KIT ON SECURE COMMUNITIES

The Toolkit was developed under the auspices of the Steering Committee of the IIC, a 32 member interfaith coalition.  Accompanying the Toolkit is a national map that will identify where interfaith teams have formed or are in the process of forming.  You can put your team on the map by filling out the online form next to the map.

If you have any questions about the Toolkit, please contact your faith community’s regional or national immigration advocacy leaders.  You are also welcome to contact me.

In faith,

CR MLUC Min 4x6_7791

Rev. Craig C. Roshaven
Witness Ministries Director
Unitarian Universalist Association

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Walmart Confirms Expansion of Non-Discrimination Policy, UUA Pushes for Gender Identity Addition

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Walmart Confirms Expansion of Non-Discrimination Policy, UUA Pushes for Gender Identity Addition Share/Save/Bookmark Nov 18, 2011
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Tim Brennan

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Glenn C. Farley

Post by Tim Brennan, treasurer of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and Glenn C. Farley, co-chair of the UUA Committee on Socially Responsible Investing.

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In each of the past five years, the Unitarian Universalist Association has filed a shareholder resolution asking Walmart to add Gender Identity or Expression to its non-discrimination policy.  Last week we were notified by Walmart’s Office of Diversity that they were adopting this policy and were disseminating it throughout their network of stores and distribution centers.  This is a big step towards justice for Walmart employees and perhaps even more importantly, an example to other companies. Walmart is currently the largest company in the Fortune 500 and the largest employer in the nation and, for that matter, the world.  So how Walmart operates can profoundly affect corporate policies and practices worldwide, for better or for worse.

Federal law does not prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression, and state laws vary widely.  Therefore, protections by employers are extremely important.  While more companies each year add gender identity or expression as a protected class, most companies are still lagging.  According to the Human Rights Campaign, in 2010 69% of the Fortune 100 and 46% of the Fortune 500 had non-discrimination policies that include gender identity or expression. This is up from 11% and 5% respectively in 2003.  Fully 39% of the Fortune 500 offer transgender-inclusive health insurance benefits, up from 1% in 2004.  We hope that the Walmart example will spur additional companies to become more inclusive.

Other companies have changed as well.  The UUA’s resolutions asking for non-discrimination polices on gender identity or expression resulted in policy change at Lowes, Home Depot, Travelers Insurance, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group.  Verizon, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have so far refused, but our campaign continues.

This is one small, but significant step for Walmart.  Yet the company still has a long way to go to improve its treatment of employees.  Just recently it was announced that the company’s health plan would become more expensive and less widely available.  Advocates both within and outside of the company must continue to push for improvement.

The UUA’s shareholder advocacy program is just one expression of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign – our vision is of a world in which no one is dehumanized through acts of exclusion, oppression, or violence because of their identities.

We know that lasting change only happens in coalition and collaboration. In our broad shareholder advocacy work towards inclusion, anti-oppression and non-violence, we will continue to do our part to bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice.

On November 20, we encourage you to stand on the side of love as we observe the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), honoring and remembering those murdered through hate and ignorance.

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NC NAACP chair Rev. Dr. William Barber electrifies Equality NC conference with open letter opposing marriage amendment

No Comments | Share On Facebook| NC NAACP chair Rev. Dr. William Barber electrifies Equality NC conference with open letter opposing marriage amendment Share/Save/Bookmark Nov 18, 2011

Rev Dr Barber spoke at the NC Equality Dinner last Saturday night 11/12/2011. He tore the roof off the place with his sermon (I don’t know what else to call it) where he preached against the proposed state constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. Great stuff. the blog at the link below has story, video, and the full text.

http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2011/11/13/nc-naacp-chair-rev-dr-william-barber-electrifies-equality-nc-conference-with-open-letter-opposing-marriage-amendment/

Congress: Do Your Part to End Border Patrol Abuses

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Congress: Do Your Part to End Border Patrol Abuses Share/Save/Bookmark Nov 16, 2011
NMD congressional briefing

Panelists: Jennifer Podkul from the Women's Refugee Commission, Tania Chozet from the ACLU of New Mexico, and Danielle Alvarado from No More Deaths.

Yesterday afternoon advocacy organization representatives and congressional staffers gathered in a small room in the Canon House Office Building for a congressional briefing on No More Deaths’ “Culture of Cruelty” report.  As we have reported previously (here and here), No More Deaths conducted interviews with nearly 13,000 migrants and documented 30,000 incidents of abuse and mistreatment by the U.S. Border Patrol in short-term detention over the course of three years. At the briefing, Danielle Alvarado from No More Deaths, Jennifer Podkul of the Women’s Refugee Commission, and Tania Chozet from the ACLU of New Mexico’s Regional Center for Border Rights each spoke about their experiences working with migrants near the border and their frustration surrounding the Border Patrol’s flat out denial of the report’s findings.

While the report presents a multitude of alarming statistics about the situation on our southwestern border (for example: “out of 433 incidents in which emergency medical treatment or medication were needed, only 59 (14%) received it before being deported – the other 86% were deported without receiving needed medical care”), yesterday’s briefing focused on the actions that members of Congress can take to alleviate the situation.

Despite the report’s disturbing findings, the Border Patrol has been unwilling to meet with No More Deaths locally.  This is not an isolated incident–Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has a reputation for being unresponsive to both civil society and congressional information requests.  The only existing oversight mechanism–the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties (CRCL)–is understaffed, does not have the authority to issue penalties or make binding recommendations, and is not independent enough to truly hold the agency accountable.  Consequently, no one is asking questions about questionable Border Patrol policies.

In contrast, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has introduced access policies to allow advocacy groups to visit their detention facilities and conduct independent monitoring.  This program allows ICE to benefit from the expertise and advice of the advocacy community as well as fosters dialogue about ICE policies.  This model could provide similar accountability for Border Patrol policies and facilities.

The panelists emphasized that they are not asking that the laws go unenforced, just that they be carried out in a humane way.  This kind of abuse and mistreatment is inexcusable, particularly in the United States of America.  Moreover, though these policies are conducted under the guise of national security, human rights abuses do not make us safer.  Congress can do a number of things to hold the Border Patrol accountable for their actions including adding oversight and reporting conditions in budget bills and calling for oversight hearings.  Our members of Congress need to start asking the tough questions and requiring the executive agencies to take responsibility for the abuses occurring on their watch.

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Want to do something about Border Patrol abuse?  Sign our petition.  Call the White House and ask the administration to launch an investigation.  Contact your members of Congress and ask them to call for an oversight hearing.  Make your voice heard!

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