Category: justice
Food, Faith, and Health Disparities Summit
Save the Date!
Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice invites you to
Food, Faith, and Health Disparities Summit
October 2010
Exact Date and Location TBA
What is it like to live in a “food desert”? What is the link between poverty, obesity and diabetes? Do things just have to be this way? Is it a lost cause or can we do something about it?
Mark your calendars now and join faith and community leaders, health and environmental advocates, and government representatives from the Boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn in October for the Food, Faith, and Health Disparities Summit.
Join hundreds of New Yorkers who live in New York City’s food deserts and those who don’t. Listen and share your stories of food, faith and health. Work with a small group representing a diverse cross-section of New Yorkers to discern the spiritual, social and structural causes for our city’s health disparities. Then work together to set action priorities for the next year.
Be a part of the solution!
The Next Evangelicalism
Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Seminary, speak about his award winning book, The Next Evangelicalism Saturday, July 17. Christianity Today awarded Professor Rah a coveted 2010 Golden Canon Leadership Award.
In his book, he addresses the issues of materialism and individualism and how these and other elements in western culture have negatively impacted the practices, thinking and theology of the evangelical church, including many Asian American churches. His writing has been described as provocative. He also argues that we need to learn from ethnic and African American churches for a more complete picture of how the church is growing.
Dr. Rah will be speaking from 6:00 – 7:30 PM at the New York Chinese Alliance Church, 162 Eldridge St., New York, NY 10002. (NYCAC is on the lower east side, near the B,D, F, J & M trains.)
More information about Rev. Rah himself and about his book can be found at http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=3360.
Faith Community Hails Obama Immigration Speech as Step Forward, Unveils Coordinated Campaign to Keep Up Momentum
On July 1, I was one of four faith leaders from New York to speak at a press conference in Lafayette Park near the White House after President Obama’s major speech on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. The press release below is from “Faith in Public Life.” – Gary Wiley, Pastor of Justice and Care
Meeting with White House officials, Letter to Obama from nearly 600 Faith Leaders, Innovative Grassroots Events
WASHINGTON, DC— Hours after President Obama delivered a major speech on immigration today religiously diverse leaders gathered in front of the White House to applaud the President’s commitment to comprehensive reform as a major step forward and urge Congress to build on this momentum and pass legislation this year. The interfaith delegation announced a letter to the President from nearly 600 faith leaders, which they hand-delivered this afternoon in a meeting with White House officials, and unveiled a coordinated month of action from the faith community for immigration reform: “Justice July.”
As Americans across the country celebrate Independence Day and Members of Congress return home for the July 4th Congressional recess, the President’s remarks that “Being an American is not a matter of blood or birth… It’s a matter of faith, of shared fidelity to the ideas and values that we hold so dear” ring truer than ever.
“We stand here today to call on our President to do everything in his power to maintain the integrity of our nation. Our core values and interests are at stake,” said Lisa Sharon Harper, Executive Director of New York Faith and Justice, who was invited to attend President Obama’s speech. “The faith community will not let up. We see firsthand the brokenness of our system and its devastating effects on families across the country, and we will continue to be powerful advocates for comprehensive reform.”
Faith leaders will be calling on elected officials to pass immigration reform that lives up to our American values with “Justice July”: an innovative, multifaceted national mobilization organized by people people of faith, fighting for immigration reform and reminding political leaders of the cost of federal inaction—draconian state-level legislation like Arizona’s SB-1070. The coordinated action, involving numerous vigils, “pulpit swaps,” public events and petitions, will launch on the July 4th weekend and continue throughout the month, culminating with a major event at the end of the month to stand with the people of Arizona as SB-1070 takes effect on July 28.
The shock waves from Arizona’s punitive legislation are being felt in communities across the country. “Recently, Sikh truck drivers who are U.S. citizens have reported being stopped and asked for their immigration papers each time they make deliveries or pass through Arizona,” said Hansdeep Singh, staff attorney at UNITED SIKHS. “This type of racial profiling speaks specifically to the type of collective punishment that is already being assessed against immigrant communities, even when the law is not currently in effect…. We must mobilize our communities to work together in safe-guarding the dignity of all immigrant communities. “
Rev. Gary Wiley, a white evangelical pastor at Trinity Grace Church in New York, said he realized that if he were to travel to Arizona with his family, he fears his Peruvian son, son-in-law and grandchildren would be victims of racial profiling. Facing these injustices has reaffirmed his commitment to fight for immigration reform, even prompting him to take part in a nonviolent protest, where he was arrested and charged with civil disobedience. “I come from a long line of believers inspired by faith to confront injustice. Jesus now calls me to put feet to my faith and speak out against an immigration system that violates God’s commandment to love our neighbors and undermines the sacred dignity of all human beings,” Wiley said. “As a political conservative and card-carrying Republican, I’m here to remind Republican members of Congress that immigration reform is about protecting family values and doing what’s morally right.”
“I speak today as a Pentecostal Evangelical Latino Christian,” said Rev. Ray Rivera, President and CEO of the Latino Pastoral Action Center in the Bronx, as he extended an invitation to evangelicals across racial lines. “I want to make a special appeal to white evangelicals…our brothers and sisters… certainly those that make up a big part of the Republican Party, to join the effort for immigration reform, to follow the courageous leaders from that community that are beginning to emerge.”
As religious leaders from New York, the delegation had a message not only for the President and Congressional Republicans, but also for their Senator Chuck Schumer, standing behind his leadership in the Senate on the issue and encouraging him to help deliver immigration reform this year.
The group bridged racial and religious divides, finding cause for common concern on immigration reform across their faith traditions. “For some 2000 years, Jews have been migrants, exiles and refugees, forced to flee and seek sanctuary. So when the Torah states, “You know the heart of the stranger, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt”, it resonates deeply with our communal historical experience,” said Rabbi Michael Feinberg, executive director of the Greater New York Labor -Religion Coalition. “It is in an effort to be faithful to this ethical imperative that the Jewish community joins the broad interfaith movement to pass just, humane and comprehensive immigration reform.”
The delegation of religious leaders met with White House officials after the press conference to deliver a letter from nearly 600 evangelical and mainline Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh leaders, urging the President to help deliver comprehensive immigration reform “that both protects our interests and abides by our values” and reminding the Administration of the moral urgency of passing immigration reform. Dr. Diane Steinman, co-chair of the New York State Interfaith Network for Immigration Reform (which spearheaded the letter) and Director of American Jewish Committee New York said, “We urge President Obama to vigorously advocate passage of comprehensive immigration reform this year. Our current system violates the moral values of our nation and of our nation’s diverse faith communities. Politics cannot be allowed to stand in the way of reform, and faith community leaders are prepared to be his partners in the effort.”
“Justice July,” a month-long coordinated mobilization of people of faith calling for immigration reform, will include:
- Letter from nearly 600 faith leaders to President Obama, urging action this year on immigration reform and reminding him of the moral and pragmatic imperatives of reform, coordinated by the New York State Interfaith Network for Immigration Reform
- “Pulpit swaps” in 15 states across the country, coordinated by Interfaith Worker Justice (immigrant pastors will switch places with non-immigrant pastors for a worship service)
- Vigils in dozens of states as part of the Isaiah 58 Summer, a nationwide “rolling” prayer vigil and fast moving from region to region, as people of faith stand with Arizona as they face extreme anti-immigrant legislation and pray for comprehensive reform, coordinated by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
- Interfaith prayer vigil and coordinated civil disobedience in Arizona on July 29th as SB-1070 goes into effect, coordinated by Interfaith Worker Justice
- Clergy preaching from the pulpit on the need for comprehensive immigration reform in Houston on July 4th Sunday, coordinated by the Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation
In early May, the faith community led an Immigrant Sabbath and Prayer for Immigrants weekend with events in Missouri, Texas, Kansas, New York, California, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Ohio. Earlier in the year, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C. for the March FOR America: Change Takes Courage and Faith to rally for immigration reform, and people of faith organized hundreds of grassroots events and sent hundreds of thousands of pro-reform postcards to Members of Congress.
Kristin Williams
Press Secretary
Faith in Public Life
1101 Vermont Ave NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Global Rich List
Have you ever wondered where your income ranks at a global level? Check out the Global Rich List.
The Blind Project Gives Rise to the Good Consumer: We Are Biographers
Be A BiographerThe Blind Project Launches A Crowdsourcing Design Challenge Called ‘Be A Biographer’ To Help Victims And Survivors Of The Commercial Sex Trade
Do you imagine a world where profit comes from moral purpose? Where every purchase is a vote? And where creativity challenges the world’s perception of what is possible?
The social enterprise – a sustainable business that combines non-profit social purposes with for-profit market strategies – is no longer a niche idea. The Blind Project is proudly leading the charge with the launch of Be A Biographer, a crowdsourcing design challenge for a new sustainable style brand called Biographe.
So here’s the challenge. We’re inviting designers, artists and creative-minded people to help tell the stories of victims and survivors of the commercial sex trade through their designs. “We want to connect your talents with her needs. For freedom, love, hope, dignity and protection. Our role is simple. To tell her story. To be her biographer,” said Anthony Dodero, co-founder of The Blind Project.
Right now millions of women and children are being enslaved and exploited in the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade. “In a system that treats human lives like meaningless commodities, the greater mission of Biographe is to restore and reveal the true value of those victimized. Because when every life has equal value, all stories, all hopes and all dreams are worthy,” said Jessica Sturman, The Blind Project’s lead fashion designer.
Biographe is unique in its method of connecting survivors and consumers together to bring attention to, and provide solutions for, sexual slavery. Fashion products are inspired by survivor stories, designed with the public at large through our crowdsourcing design process, and then made by women who have been rescued from the commercial sex trade. Proceeds from sales are then reinvested back into the women’s lives creating a virtuous sustainable cycle.
“Biographe matters not solely because of what we are creating, but how we are creating it,” said Kyle Westaway, The Blind Project’s business development lead. “What makes Biographe truly unique, is the creation of a more personal one-to-one connection between two distinct populations – victims and consumers – and moving them both toward a better tomorrow.”
Participants have until September 15th to submit a design on www.beabiographer.com. Then from September 16th to October 7th, public voting begins to determine the 15 semi-finalists (5 for each of the 3 stories) based on the highest number of votes. On October 21st three Grand Finalists will be selected by our panel of notable judges. The winning designs will be incorporated into fashion items, printed for gallery exhibitions and shown in advertising campaigns.
We are honored to have Alex Bogusky – most recently Co-Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Chief Creative Insurgent of MDC Partners, Somaly Mam – Anti-Human Trafficking Activist and Founder of AFESIP, and AnnaLynne McCord – The Blind Project Ambassador, join the judging panel with The Blind Project fashion team.
“The power of problem-solving creativity, the survivor’s voice for victims, and the influence of youth activism is what makes collaboration with Alex, Somaly and AnnaLynne so amazing,” said Kevin Kim, The Blind Project’s marketing lead. “Every person has that something special – a talent, a gift – to make this cause stronger, more influential, and more personal. Join us.”
About Biographe
Biographe is a sustainable style brand initiated by The Blind Project. Biographe promotes the holistic restoration of women exploited from the commercial sex trade in Southeast Asia, teaches them marketable job skills in fashion design and production, and employs them in a positive work environment while earning a sustainable living wage.
www.beabiographer.com
www.vimeo.com/12561637
About The Blind Project
The Blind Project is a collective of passionate individuals uniting together, leveraging their unique talents to empower victims and survivors of the commercial sex trade in Southeast Asia. We consist solely of volunteers with no paid staff.
www.theblindproject.com
Media Contact
Kevin Kim
The Blind Project, Marketing
kevin@theblindproject.com
Evangelism and Justice
From Sojourners Verse and Voice:
When I went to the factory to work and live with the laborers … I met them simply to evangelize and teach the gospel, but it was no use. It was like pouring water into a bottomless jug. After a long time, I realized that there is a systemic evil. To solve this problem, it is necessary not only to worship but also to demolish that systemic evil.
