Reginald Lewis #AY2902

Our Justice Office Coodinator, Joanne Tromiczak-Neid, recently received a letter from Reginald Sinclair Lewis, a published poet and playwright on death row in Pennsylvania's SCI Green State Prison. Lewis' letter invited Joanne to share his poems with the CSJ community. This piece "On the Day the Children Marched," was written after Lewis' pen pals at a nearby elementary school marched to the gates of the prison to protest his imminent execution. The Children's Crusade, as it came to be called, was successful, and Lewis received a stay from the Pennsylvania governor. A brief description of that march and a second, larger action that the children staged afterwards can be found below the poem.

On the Day the Children Marched

Reginald Lewis

On the day you marched they said

the angels were with you,

winding through the new Meadow Run and on

Down the highways, trouncing across

Inauspicious redneck counties and

Into buildings where God reigned.

Heading towards Babylon -- braving the

Wind and the rain and Satan's fire --

You didn't come because of some

twisted notion of heroism,

You weren't drawn by romantic visions

Of matyrdom or self-aggrandizement.

The thing is, you could have been anywhere --

Wallowing in the decadent playgrounds

of indifference,

Lolling in the murky dark shadows

Of blissful ignorance, yeah,

safe and secure behind your impenetrable

Fortress of hypocrisy and indignation.

On the day you marched God smiled

down on you --

Because you see an injustice and

You want to correct it.

You see racism and you want to cure it,

And you see the brutal inequity of

capital punishment and you want to abolish it.

When the Pennsylvania governor signed a death warrant for Reggie Lewis, an inmate at the SCI Green State Prison, the children from nearby Spring Valley School knew they had to act. The kids, who had been penpals with Lewis, badgered their parents to drive them to Green County, where they marched up to the prison, waving signs and chanting, "Don't murder Reggie! He's our friend!" and "End the racist death penalty!" A few weeks later Reggie Lewis got a stay of execution. The elated children next organized the Children's Crusade Against the Death Penalty, a three-day 30 mile march of 1,000 young people that attracted media coverage worldwide.

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Update from the JRLC

A key legislative committee is considering the Governor's budget proposals to:Eliminate General Assistance - that provides $203 a month in income support to adults unable to work because of very serious illness or disability; andTake income assistance away from 7,000 families who have a parent or child with disabilities and are on the Minnesota Family Investment Program, leaving those families to live on disability support only at deep poverty levels. (Another 900 families in which the parent of a child with disabilities or the spouse of someone with disabilities would lose all or much of their child care assistance, jeopardizing their ability to continue working.)Defund the Emergency General Assistance which provides one-time emergency help to keep adults from becoming homeless or for those who are homeless to get re-established in stable housing.The MN House Health & Human Services Finance Committee will be deciding over this Passover/Easter break whether to accept or reject the Governor's proposals. The following committee members have influence over this decision. Please email them and say, "Please protect funding for General Assistance, Emergency General Assistance, and MFIP families. Don't balance the budget on those who have the least."

Rep Jim Abeler, Anoka rep.jim.abeler@house.mn

Rep Tom Anzelc, Balsam Township rep.tom.anzelc@house.mn

Rep Julie Bunn, Lake Elmo rep.julie.bunn@house.mn

Rep Patti Fritz, Faribault rep.patti.fritz@house.mn

Rep Jeff Hayden, Minneapolis rep.jeff.hayden@house.mn

Rep Larry Hosch, St. Joseph rep.larry.hosch@house.mn

Rep Thomas Huntley, Duluth rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn

Rep Tina Liebling, Rochester rep.tina.liebling@house.mn

Rep Erin Murphy, St. Paul rep.erin.murphy@house.mn

Rep Mary Ellen Otremba, Long Prairie rep.maryellen.otremba@house.mn

Rep Sandra Peterson, New Hope rep.sandra.peterson@house.mn

Rep Maria Ruud, Minnetonka rep.maria.ruud@house.mn

Rep Bev Scalze, Little Canada rep.bev.scalze@house.mn

Rep Nora Slawik, Maplewood rep.nora.slawik@house.mn

Rep Cy Thao, St. Paul rep.cy.thao@house.mn

Rep Paul Thissen, Minneapolis rep.paul.thissen@house.mn

If you are not a constituent, please find a friend, family member, old classmate, colleague, board member, or somebody who is and ask them to send an email!

Restorative Justice Peace Prayer

The Criminal Justice Working Group of the Sisters of St. Joseph took charge of the organization and execution of the 11th Day Prayer for Peace this month, taking Restorative Justice as their theme for the service.

Restorative Justice is an ancient idea that is enjoying a recent surge of popularity in criminal justice circles. It's the profoundly sensible idea that crime hurts everyone in a community, not just the victim, and that everyone is responsible for preventing recidivism, not just the offender. Ideally the victim, the offender and the community can join together to create a sense of joint accountability and culpability. The basic message is that we are all responsible for each other.

An example of restorative justice at work on a large scale can be found in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission convened by the South African government after the dissolution of apartheid. All of the trials and hearings administered by the commission were public, and both the victims and the accused perpetrators were allowed to make public statements.

The Criminal Justice team took this theme and ran with it, inviting Jodelle Ista, a member of the South St. Paul Restorative Justice Project to give the reflection and taking the Good Samaritan story of the Gospel reading. Marilaurice Hemlock did a beautiful job as the music leader for the evening, and Mary Maas, Chris Furlong, Ann Quincy and Carmen Shaunghessy-Johnson shared reading responsibilities.

Thanks to all who came!

NOLA

The bright, cold sunlight of 7am February 22nd dawned on two vanfuls of St. Joseph Workers, packed to the overhead lights with snacks and sleeping bags. We traveled in caravan for 12 hours that first day, finally ending in St. Louis, MO, where we were fed and put up for the night in a lovely old convent building. The next morning we set out again, this time for New Orleans, to begin our week of service with Operation Helping Hands, an organization sponsored by Catholic Charities.

Operation Helping Hands is dedicated to rebuilding and refurbishing houses destroyed in the flooding that destroyed the city when the levees broke in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Their website describes their work this way, "Operation Helping Hands brings volunteers from across the country together to help rebuild New Orleans by rebuilding homes of elderly, disabled or uninsured homeowners."

We were joined in New Orleans by six other women, three each from worker programs in Philadelphia and New Orleans, as well as three staff members from those programs and a fledgling program in Albany. You can find photos of the group below . . .

We spent about half of our stay working with OHH painting houses in the Gentilly neighborhood. It felt good to be outside, to be making visible progress on our various projects, to be filling a truly demonstrable need. Some of us got the chance to visit with the homeowners we were helping.

On the one rainy day of the week my group was sent to scrape the rust from the chain link fence that surrounded a one-story mocha and cream bungalow. The task was repetitive and tiring in the way that boring and simple things often are: grasp scraper handle firmly, rasp at the rust only each link, trail a finger down the metal to see if you've made any difference at all. Repeat. We were all grumbling mutinously by mid-day, which was when the homeowner made her first appearance. She had been out shopping for a specific brand of direct-to-metal paint to cover the sanded off rust-coat on the fence when we finished scraping.

We chatted with her for a bit. She showed us a little baggie of paint chips that she had saved from the facade of her house and stored in her purse. She planned on showing them to the supervisor of this project, hoping that he would have something that could come close to a match. We admired the colors and tried to talk about painting metal fences like we knew anything at all about it.

The day before during our dinner table reflection, Marilaurice Hemlock, one of our program supervisors, had mentioned that she felt frustrated while she was working on the house assigned to her group. She said that many of the tools she would have used if she had been painting her own house were missing. The power washer, the paint sprayer, a truly thorough scraping and priming job - all these were not in evidence when they began their work on the house. So she picked up a wet rag and a brush and set to work wiping down the siding by hand, painting as carefully as she could, treating the house, she said, as if it were her own house, and these were the tools she had at hand. At the time I didn't appreciate that commitment fully - I thought that I was doing a pretty good job on the house we were painting. I didn't have a lot of experience, and I was muddling through, whatever. Somehow meeting this homeowner snapped that comment back into the front of my mind, though. Here I was, presented with a task a monkey could do perfectly, and I was slacking. I was scraping, all right, but I was doing it more to have my body in motion than to do a really excellent job. Unlike the house painting we had done the previous days, scraping the house didn't allow me to excuse my half-hearted application with a claim to lack of expertise. Scraping rust off of chain link is not something that you need to be trained to do well. You just either do it thoroughly or you don't.

That moment was a flashpoint in the week for me. There's a chasm of difference between doing something like it's your job and doing something like it's your passion. I was approaching the work like it was service to a distant neighbor, when I should have been thinking of it, as Marilaurice said, as service to myself.

Caucus resolutions

As I'm sure you know, precinct caucuses for all parties are taking place tomorrow. You can find your caucus location on the Secretary of State's website.

Members of our working groups have suggested several different resolutions for the caucuses. If you're interested in proposing a resolution at your caucus you can find them here, from Catholic Charities, and here from the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition.

Upcoming Events!

11th Day Prayer for Peace
Prepared by the Dismantling Racism Working Group
When: Thursday, Feb. 11
6:30-7:15 pm
Where: Presentation of Our Lady Chapel,
1890 Randolph Ave., Saint Paul.
FFI: Joänne Tromiczak-Neid, 651.690.7079

Conversation with Our Legislators: It's About Us All
Presenter: Deborah Schlick, Executive Director, Affirmative Action Coalition
Prepared by the Legislative Advocacy Partners Working Group
When: Saturday, Feb. 13,
8:30 am -12:30 pm
Where: Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., Saint Paul.
FFI: Joan Wittman, 651.774.4008

Second Chance Day on the Hill
Second Chance Day on the Hill is sponsored and supported by a partnership of nonprofits (including the Criminal Justice Working Group) and companies that believe ex-offenders have paid their debt to society and need a chance to enter the workforce to support themselves and their families.
When: Monday, Feb. 22,
10:00 am
Where: Minnesota State Capitol.
FFI: Laney Ohmans, 651.690.7087

Breaking the Impasse: Immigration Beyond the Sound Byte
Presenter: Simone Campbell, Executive Director,
NETWORK - A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Presented by: Legislative Advocacy Partners Working Group, Myser Initiative on Catholic Identity at St. Catherine University, Spirit of St. Stephens Catholic Community
When: Wednesday, March 3,
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Where: Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul
FFI: Joan Wittman, 651.774.4008

The 15th Annual International Women’s Day: Inspire. Act. Change!
Presented by: The Advocates for Human Rights and the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota
Keynote: Leymah Gbowee, Women’s Peace Movement of Liberia
When: Saturday, March 6
8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Where: Coffman Union, University of Minnesota
Free and open to the public. Keynote: Leymah Gbowee, Women’s Peace Movement of Liberia
FFI: www.mnadvocates.org

JRLC Day on the Hill: Justice We Pursue!
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz, senior rabbi at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, followed by issue briefings and meetings with legislators at the Capitol.
When: Thursday, March 25
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Where: RiverCenter, Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul

Massive Earthquake in Haiti

Please consider making a donation to the charity of your choice in response to this massive, devastating earthquake in Haiti. The Catholic Relief Services are one of many that have hastened to respond to this disaster.

Here is a link to the Oxfam site - one of their employees has this to say of the disaster:
"There is a blanket of dust rising from the valley south of the capitol. We can hear people calling for help from every corner."

photo courtesy of the BBC

Where Are They Now?: St. Joseph Worker edition

The St. Joseph Worker program is a one-year volunteer experience sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph, very similar to the Americorps Vista program, but with a strong emphasis on spiritual growth and leadership development. The Justice Commission Office has played host to four St. Joseph Workers, and I recently caught up with a few of them to see what they've been up to since they left the program and the JC Office. Unsurprisingly, the women are all doing great things, working for social justice in a variety of inspiring ways. I'll let these women speak for themselves: here is what 2008-2009 SJW Faith Fischer had to say:




"Working at St. Stephen's is great. I am constantly learning new things. Being a case worker means that I work with individuals who have been homeless for 52 weeks or three times in four years. Through a Hennepin Couny grant they are placed in apartments. I journey with them through grovery store aisles and beaurecratic obstacles. The most challenging part of the job has been learning the proper channels to access the best resouces. The most rewarding part has been building trust with participants so that we can have authentic conversations about what they want out of life. I have applied to local schools in hopes of pursuing my masters in social work next year."

Coming Up!

The Women's Human Rights Film Series
This series of documentaries focusing on the lives and works of women throughout the world continues with the film Rough Aunties.
Date and Time: Wednesday, January 27 at 6:30pm
Location: St. Anthony Park Branch Library, 2245 Como Ave. in Saint Paul. (Map)

Here's a brief description from the Friends of the St. Paul Public Libraries website:
"Fearless, feisty and resolute, the "Rough Aunties" are a remarkable group of women unwavering in their stand to protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa.
This latest documentary by internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto follows the outspoken, multiracial cadre of Thuli, Mildred, Sdudla, Eureka and Jackie, as they wage a daily battle against systemic apathy, corruption, and greed to help the most vulnerable and disenfranchised of their communities."

Mental Health for Refugees

photo by Kurt Moses (www.kurtco.com)

The Minnesota Council of Churches recently expanded their services to refugees to include a three year survey and evaluation of mental health care options in the metropolitan area. Licensed social worker Sue Johnston (read her fantastic presentation on multicultural mental health here) has taken charge of the project, and is exploring a wide range of options that might increase accessibility to programming and decrease the stigma of seeking mental health treatment.

In a recent Minnpost article Johnston speaks to the challenge of moving past shame towards seeking help - "As we're talking to people about the grief or anxiety that they feel, or their inability to feel safe, we have to help them understand that they're not crazy," Johnston says. "If you've lived in a war zone, if you've been ripped away from your community or your home, that's a normal human response."

To get involved with one of the Council of Churches' programs for refugees you can visit their website and check their volunteer listings. Another organization that does a lot of work with refugee populations in the Twin Cities is the Center for Victims of Torture, and they also have a great need for volunteers.

Ramsey County Detention Center Vigil

Many members of the Immigration Working Group of the Sisters of St. Joseph have been attending a monthly vigil at the Ramsey County Detention Center, where civil detainees from the county are held pending deportation or trial. (For more information about this type of detention, see this excellent article on the TC Daily page).

This past Sunday the group was a partial sponsor of the vigil. Here's a a synopsis from Immigration Working group chair Pat Owen:

"Everyone had an active, joyful presence and in particular: Andria gave it a warm and welcoming start and guided it through the march around the walls of Jericho; Kate was by her side and opened with a heartfelt, strong prayer; Mary was right there to lead the songs; Rita held a banner; Barbara so kindly sat with a frozen participant in her car, helping her warm up; Joanne took photos."

The Immigration Working Group is also organizing this month's Eleventh Day Prayer for Peace. I hope you can join them this Monday at 6:30pm in the Provincial House Chapel for a brief prayer service!

MLK Holiday Breakfasts

Join in the metro-wide MLK Jr. Day breakfast celebrations! Five locations across the metro area will broadcast the full program taking place at the Minneapolis Convention Center free of charge. Here is the program for the morning.

The keynote speaker is the Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, described by Ebony magazine in their "15 Greatest Black Preachers" feature as the "consummate voice of biblical social relevancy, a focused prophetic voice, speaking truth to power."

Date:
January 18, 2010
MLK Holiday Breakfasts 2010
Registration Begins on December 28, 2010

Locations
East Side/Downtown Breakfast
Guardian Angels Catholic Church
8260 4th St. N., Oakdale, MN 55128
Click HERE to Register for the East Side / Downtown Breakfast

Summit-University Breakfast
Mount Olivet Baptist Church
451 Central Ave. W., St. Paul, MN 55103
Click HERE to Register for the Summit-University Breakfast

West Side Breakfast
Augustana Lutheran Church
1400 Robert Street, West St. Paul, MN 55118
Click HERE to Register for the West Side Breakfast

Mahtomedi, Minnesota Breakfast
White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church
328 Maple St., Mahtomedi, MN 55115
Click HERE to Register for the Mahtomedi Breakfast.

River Falls, Wisconsin Breakfast
St. Bridget’s Catholic Church, 211 East Division Street
River Falls, WI 54022
Click HERE to Register for the River Falls Breakfast