october 2011 - newpeople
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The NewPeople is the peace and justice newspaper of Pittsburgh and the Tri-State area and fills the voids left by the mainstream by providing a media outlet reflecting the reality of progressive, alternative politics locally, nationally and globally.TRANSCRIPT
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 1
By Mike Pastorkovich
Physicist, environmental activist, and ecofeminist
Dr. Vandana Shiva, named one of the seven most-
influential women in the world by Forbes maga-
zine in 2010, will be the keynote speaker and an-
nual award recipient at the Thomas Merton Cen-
ter dinner scheduled for Thursday, November 3,
at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel in Pitts-
burgh. Much of Dr. Shiva's environmentalist en-
ergy has been focused on biotechnology and the
patenting of life-forms. A frequent target of her
criticism has been the multi-national corporation
Monsanto which specializes in producing pesti-
cide-resistant seeds, and she has been quoted as
saying "instead of rewarding them [Monsanto]
with a patent, they should be punished for pollut-
ing our food chain."
Dr. Vandana Shiva was born in 1952 in Dehra
Dun, Uttarakhand, India to a forest conservator
father and a nature-loving mother. Having re-
ceived an undergraduate degree in physics, Dr.
Shiva received a PhD in philosophy of science
from the University of Western Ontario in Canada
in 1979 with her doctoral dissertation "Hidden
Variables and Locality in Quantum Theory".
Dr. Shiva's turn toward environmental activism
occurred as she reflected upon the fact that India
has "the third biggest scientific community in the
world...[yet]...we are among the poorest of coun-
tries. Science and technology are supposed to cre-
ate growth, remove poverty. Where is the gap?"
After taking three years to look at science policy
issues, she says she "found that dominant science
and technology serve the interests of the power-
ful."
In the late 1980s, Dr. Shiva founded the Research
Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology
which concentrates on biotech and patenting is-
sues, and in 1991 she founded Navdanya, a na-
tional movement in India to protect the diversity
and integrity of living resources, especially native
seeds. These organizations, according to Dr.
Shiva, are "committed to resist patents on seeds
and life forms promoted by...World Trade Or-
ganization which lead to the privatization of bio-
diversity and piracy of traditional knowledge."
Dr. Shiva is now "focused on preventing imperi-
alism over life itself." "I don't want to live in a
world where five giant companies control our
health and our food, " she says. Navdanya's work
has resulted in the conservation of more than
2000 varieties of rice in India, and the Research
Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology
has successfully challenged
the biopiracy of Neem, Basmati, and Wheat.
For Dr. Shiva, ecology and feminism are
"inseparable" because, among other reasons,
"women are the custodians of biodiversity, the
providers of food security...the conservers of the
cultural diversity of food traditions." She also
promotes a vision of Earth Democracy and sees
the mission of the organizations she has founded
to be "to meet people‘s needs while protecting the
earth, defending our ecological and cultural heri-
tage, and strengthening livelihood and food secu-
rity."
Mike Pastorkovich is a former shop steward
with the International Brotherhood of Electri-
cal Workers. He is now active with the Sierra
Club, the TMC Anti-War Committee, and Pax
Christi.
THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE.
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PITTSBURGH‘S PEACE AND JUSTICE NEWSPAPER
Published by the Thomas Merton Center VOL. 41, No. 8 October, 2011
Dr. Vandana Shiva
Pages 1, 8
Troy Davis and the Death Penalty
– Page 11
Civil Rights Move-ment Bus Tour Page 12
TMC works to build a consciousness of values and
to raise the moral questions involved in the issues
of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice,
oppression and environmental justice.
TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and
faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent
struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just
world.
MERTON CENTER HONORS GLOBAL ACTIVIST
VANDANA SHIVA
Photo by Nic Paget-Clarke
Dr. Shiva will accept the Thomas Merton Award
in Pittsburgh on November 3,2011. For more in-
formation please se page 10.
2 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
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412-867-9213
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Pittsburgh Progressive Notebook
Call 412-301-3022 for more info
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Call 412-301-3022 for more info
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P.O. Box 99204
Pittsburgh, Pa 15233
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412-271-8414 www.thomasmertoncenter.org/hs
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In this Issue
Page 3 Renew your Merton Center Mem-bership!
Page 5 Low Cost Wind Energy
Page 7 Pittsburgh—Haiti Partnership
Page 11 The Death Penalty
Page 13 The Big Idea Bookstore
Page 13 Gaza in Crisis Book Review
Page 14 PA Anti-Torture Conference
CONTACT INFORMATION
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October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 3
Low-cost wind energy comes to Pittsburgh
By Dan Papia
More and more Pennsylvanians are now shopping
for the best deal on electricity, and surprisingly,
the best-priced product available is a 100% wind
product. The Squirrel Hill based non-profit or-
ganization Citizen Power, Inc. joined up with
TriEagle Energy, LP to offer a 100% renewable
wind electricity plan in the Duquesne Light ser-
vice territory, which covers most of Allegheny
and Beaver counties. The certified 100% wind
Green Eagle 24 product, currently available only
through Citizen Power‘s Green Energy Coopera-
tive, beats every other product, green or other-
wise. This is largely due to the maturing of wind
generation technologies, which has brought down
the price of wind electricity considerably in recent
years. Additionally, Citizen Power‘s utilization of
the non-profit/cooperative business model has
allowed TriEagle to offer a very attractive rate.
According to Executive Director Titus North,
Citizen Power was frustrated by the lack of low-
priced wind alternatives available to electricity
consumers. Marketing costs are high in the elec-
tricity industry, and marketing to what is consid-
ered the niche environmentalist population is just
not worth it to the big power companies. Citizen
Power has a long history of fighting on behalf of
electricity consumers and the environment, and
felt that it was well positioned to present a low-
cost green product to the public. After taking its
idea to numerous electric generation companies,
Citizen Power decided to partner with TriEagle
Energy, a low-cost/high-value electricity pro-
vider. TriEagle agreed to create a product that
would be 100% backed by certified wind RECs
(renewable energy credits) from Pennsylvania and
neighboring states, and Citizen Power offered to
provide the marketing in exchange for the lowest
price for consumers.
"Our mission is the promotion of renewable en-
ergy," said North, "and we believe that this is the
most effective way to do so." North sees public
concern about the environment on the rise due to
nuclear crises, oil spills, fracking, and climate
change. "People want to do something positive,
but in this economy, not many people can afford
to purchase a hybrid car or put solar panels on
their roof. However, with this program you can
help the environment and save money at the same
time." Switching from Duquesne Light's default
service saves consumers more than 20% off of the
generation portion of their electric bills.
Duquesne Light will continue to handle the bill-
ing and line maintenance for its customers who
switch. Back in the 1990s when Pennsylvania
deregulated electricity, electricity generation was
separated from transmission and distribution. Re-
gardless of who generates the electricity, the local
utility (Duquesne Light in our area) provides the
distribution. This means that switching generation
companies will not affect reliability. "The lights
won't go out when the wind stops," North said.
"The only change people will notice will be a
lower electricity bill."
To sign up for TriEagle Energy‘s Green Eagle
wind product, visit citizenpower.com/GEC and
enroll in the Green Energy Cooperative, a Citizen
Power program. Membership is free, and mem-
bers will then be able to sign up for the Green
Eagle wind products from TriEagle. To find out
more about this opportunity to save money and
the environment at the same time, see
www.citizenpower.com/GEC or call Citizen
Power at 412-421-7029.
Dan Papia is a U.K.-based journalist who
writes about energy and environmental issues.
By Joyce Rothermel
For 31 years, Greater Pittsburgh Community
Food Bank and Westmoreland County Food
Bank, with the help of organizations like the Tho-
mas Merton Center, have fought hunger in south-
western Pennsylvania. Together we have
achieved record levels of food distribution (more
than 31.5 million pounds of food this fiscal year
alone), raised awareness of the problem, and ad-
vocated for responsible public policies regarding
food and nutrition. Even so, according to the lat-
est census, 14 percent of our Southwestern Penn-
sylvania population -- 370,000 people – are still
food insecure.
We know that poverty causes hunger. But we in
food-banking and food assistance work also know
all too well that hunger can cause poverty. We see
the effects of hunger on adults unable to compete
successfully for jobs, on children whose futures
could be permanently affected by impaired health
and development, on seniors who have worked all
their lives only to face illness and dependency in
their "golden years."
In 2010, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food
Bank assembled more than 50 representatives
from food-banking, human services, faith-based
communities, health care, public education, gov-
ernment, and corporations whose charge was to
mobilize our region to end hunger. Together we
created a comprehensive plan to end hunger in
Southwestern Pennsylvania in five years. This
group has officially become the Southwestern
Pennsylvania Food Security Partnership, dedi-
cated to acting as a collaborative forum and using
the strength and momentum of working together
to turn the tide on regional hunger.
The need has never been greater. Since August of
2008, more than 2,500 new households a month
have been turning to food pantries and soup kitch-
ens for food assistance, including a large number
of recently unemployed people who, for the first
time in their lives, find themselves needing help
to feed their families.
Hunger is not inevitable. There are solutions. The
Southwestern PA Food Security Partnership‘s
mission is to maximize the efforts of our commu-
nity partners already doing heroic work across our
region through increased communication, sharing
resources, and bringing all the stakeholders to the
same table. While we will continue to advocate
for better public policy at all levels of govern-
ment, we don‘t have the luxury of waiting for na-
tional or statewide solutions. If southwestern
Pennsylvania is to thrive as a region, we must
meet this most basic of all human needs.
The five goals of the plan now being imple-
mented by the Partnership are:
1. Increase access to and utilization of public and
private food assistance programs.
2. Build broad community engagement in ending
hunger.
3. Advocate for strong public policy surrounding
hunger relief.
4. Partner with other social service providers to
address the larger issues of poverty.
5. Ensure more efficient administration of sys-
tems and resources.
Your expertise is welcome in this endeavor to
close the hunger gap. To find out more, go to the
Food Bank‘s website at
www.pittsburghfoodbank.org and click on the
SW PA Food Security Partnership logo below.
To join the Partnership, contact Vic Papale, the
director at [email protected], or
412-466-7711.
Joyce Rothermel is the Co-Chair of the SW PA
Food Security Partnership.
Pennsylvania
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Food Security Partnership:
Twelve Counties Five Years, One Focus—Closing the Hunger Gap
4 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
ADVERTISEMENT
Vandana Shiva is one of the world's most dynamic and pro-
vocative thinkers. Born in India in 1952, she trained as a
physicist at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. At
the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of
Management in Bangalore, India, she did research in sci-
ence, technology and environmental policy. In 1982, she set
up the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and
Natural Resource Policy in her home town of Dehra Dun
in the foothills of the Himalaya. The foundation's studies
have validated the ecological value of traditional farming
and have been instrumental in fighting destructive develop-
ment projects in India.
2011 TMC Award Dinner
Honoring
Dr. Vandana Shiva November 3, 2011
Sheraton Station Square
Register at www.thomasmertoncenter.org
Dorothy Day biographer, Jim Forest
October 14 & 15, 2011
Public Lecture & Book Signing - Friday, Oct 14th, 7:30 pm
“All is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day‖
St George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral,
3400 Dawson, Pgh, PA, 15213.
$5 donation
&
Day of Reflection - Saturday, Oct 15th, 10 am – 4 pm
" Dorothy Day: A Saint for Our Times?"
at Holy Family of Nazareth
285 Bellevue Rd. Pittsburgh, near Perrysville exit off 279N
$30.00 donation includes lunch
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 5
Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day lived in New York City among the poor, and Thomas Merton was a monk in rural Kentucky.
When I first came to the Catholic Worker in 1960, I was still in the Navy. I was 19 years old, working at the U.S. Weather Bureau as a very young mete-
orologist and taking kids to Mass on Sunday from a little institution in Washington where I was volunteering in my spare time. I found a copy of Doro-
thy‘s newspaper, The Catholic Worker, in the library at this particular parish, Blessed Sacrament, and became curious about the woman and went up one
weekend from Washington to New York to see what the Catholic Worker was all about.
In New York I was given a bag of mail to take to her in Staten Island. She was sitting there with a letter opener at the end of a table with half a dozen
people sitting around. One of the rituals of life, as I discovered, was Dorothy reading the mail aloud to whoever happened to be there and telling stories.
One of the letters was from Thomas Merton, and I was absolutely astounded that Dorothy Day, who was very much ―in the world,‖ was corresponding
with Thomas Merton, who had left the world with a resounding slam of the door. Of course, they were both members of the Catholic Church and both
writers, but Merton had taken the express train out of New York City for good, and Dorothy lived at its very heart.
Dorothy periodically got arrested; Merton certainly did not. Dorothy was very much under a cloud from the point of view of many Catholics because of
her anti-war activities, and Merton was regarded as one of the principal Catholic writers in the world. But if they had been brother and sister they couldn‘t
have been very much closer. It was a very special friendship, a fruitful friendship for both of them.
From an interview with Jim Forest, US Catholic, Nov. 2011, author , “All is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day”, will speak in Pittsburgh - See page 4
The Thomas Merton Center Needs Your Membership!
Become a MEMBER today, and together, we can create a peaceful and just world.
Already a member? Now through December is the time to renew your membership!
2010 Membership Incentive: Those who join today will receive a free copy of “A Foundry of Consciousness” a Thomas Merton Center (TMC) documentary pro-duced by a member and local videographer, John Detwiler. Simply fill out the form below and return it to the Thomas Merton Center – 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224.
The Thomas Merton Center’s mission is to instill a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved with war, racism, poverty and oppression. Our members are people from diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. Since the Center's beginning thousands of people have joined with us to work together on this important mission and goal. Through protests, as well as ongoing projects, the active involvement of our members has been the backbone of our success. In all, twenty-five organizing campaigns and projects are supported by the Center (see other side). Our monthly newspaper, The NewPeople, is a key source of information for peace and justice activists interested in participating in social actions, campaigns, and justice-oriented awareness and advocacy events. Our web-site provides an up-to-date action calendar, and we send out a weekly electronic newsletter with up and coming events to let our members know about what's going on in the area and how they can get involved.
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The Thomas Merton Center
6 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
International
By Michael Drohan
The Cuban Five refers to five Cuban citizens who
were arrested and detained in Florida on Septem-
ber 12, 1998. Their names: Gerardo Hernandez
Nordelo, Ramon Labanino Salazar, Antonio
Guerrero Rodriguez, Fernando Gonzalez Llort
and Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert. The indictment
against them consisted of 26 separate counts.
Most of the charges were minor, relating to the
use of false identification (the three non-U.S. citi-
zens among the defendants who used false pass-
ports). The most serious charges alleged espio-
nage and murder; charges which carry life sen-
tences. However, the indictment did not actually
charge the defendants with those crimes
but rather with ―conspiracy to commit
them.‖ With this charge, the prosecutors
were relieved of actually having to prove
that any defendant actually engaged in es-
pionage or committed murder, or even that
such offenses had actually occurred.
The defendants testified that they were at-
tempting to prevent terrorist attacks against
their country, Cuba, by Cuban exiles resid-
ing in Southern Florida. They had success-
fully infiltrated some, if not most, of these
terrorist groups and reported on them to
their government who shared the informa-
tion with the FBI. If a U.S. citizen did this in a
foreign country and prevented a 9/11-like event,
he/she would be treated as a hero. The response
of the U.S. was to arrest the messenger and let the
terrorists continue their criminal work. While in
Cuba over the summer, I had the opportunity to
meet with the anguished parents, spouses and sib-
lings of the Cuban Five. In Cuba, these men are
held up as heroes, which they truly are, for their
role in preventing terrorist acts. The shocking re-
ality that the case reveals is that the U.S. aids and
abets the perpetrators of terrorist acts while incar-
cerating the opponents of terrorism. Luis Posado
Carriles, the alleged engineer of the blowing up of
a Cuban civilian airliner in 1976 walks freely in
the U.S. while the preventers of similar crimes
languish in prison.
The most recent and shocking news in regard to
this case is the revelation that during their trial,
the U.S. government – through its official propa-
ganda agency, the Broadcasting Board of Gover-
nors – was covertly paying prominent Miami
journalists to inflame the public with false infor-
mation. As the government conducted its prosecu-
tion, these paid journalists saturated the Miami
media with reports that were highly inflammatory
and prejudicial to the Cuban Five. These docu-
ments, released due to a Freedom of Information
Act request in September 2011, extend some hope
for a new trial and an exoneration of the defen-
dants.
The details of the case itself are truly devastating
in what they reveal about the total miscarriage of
justice in the U.S. The injustice began with the
five being held without bail for 33 months in
prison between arrest and trial. In addition, after
being sentenced, they were kept for 17 months in
solitary confinement cells used to punish prison-
ers guilty of assault and other violent behavior.
But that was only the beginning of the charade of
justice. The trial took place in Miami, and the
defendants appealed for a new venue. They main-
tained that it would be impossible to have a fair
trial in Miami due to the inflammatory and vio-
lent attitudes of the exiled Cuban community in
Florida. One of the defendants, Antonio Guerrero,
told the sentencing judge that ―when it comes to
Cuba, Miami is an impossible place for justice‖.
The irony of the case is that the very same U.S.
Attorney, in a later case involving discrimination
against minorities, Ramirez v Ashcroft et al, ar-
gued that it was impossible to have a fair trial in
Miami-Dade County.
The trial went ahead in Miami-Dade County with
the situation being further inflamed by the gov-
ernment-paid journalists adding fuel to the fire of
hate against the Cubans. The prosecutor of the
case, in his last argument to the jury, falsely and
prejudicially escalated the government‘s rhetoric
against the Five by declaiming, no less than three
times, that the defendants had come to America
―in order to destroy the United States.‖ In a U.S.
Court of Law, five men who had tried to prevent
terrorist acts from taking place were con-
victed of doing exactly the opposite.
With the stage set for a profound miscar-
riage of justice, a Miami jury deliberated
for only short periods over 4 days without
submitting a single note or query to the
court and found the defendants guilty in all
26 counts of the indictment. The verdict
was contested, and in August 2005, the 11th
Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Geor-
gia, unanimously ruled to reverse their con-
victions and order a new trial. In the mean-
time, however, the Five have been lan-
guishing in U.S. prisons, scattered through-
out the country, for 13 years with no reprieve.
With the latest revelations of the U.S. government
complicity in inflaming the case via paid journal-
ists, there is a glimmer of hope for justice for the
Cuban Five. To get involved and work for justice
in this case, go the following websites:
www.reportersforhire.org or to
www.freethefive.org .
Michael Drohan is a political economist spe-
cializing in analysis of Third World economies
and a member of The Thomas Merton Cen-
ter‗s Board of Directors.
The Case of the Cuban Five: Exposing the Injustice System
Don McNeill Russ Fedorka
Cartoon Corner
Participants in 22nd caravan of Friendshipment to
Cuba July 2011 at US-Mexican Border.
Photo by Michael Drohan
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 7
International
Pittsburgh—Haiti 15 Year Partnership
Brings Students to Duquesne University
By Peter Yehl
This year marks the fifteen year
anniversary of the Haiti Solidar-
ity Committee‘s collaborative
relationship between Fonkoze,
Haiti's bank for the organized
poor, and Duquesne University
here in Pittsburgh.
For 15 years now, the Pittsburgh
Regional Haiti Solidarity Com-
mittee (PRHSC) has shown its
commitment to strengthening the
relationship between Haiti and
the Pittsburgh community by
sponsoring staff from Fonkoze to
come to Pittsburgh to study for
two semesters at Duquesne Uni-
versity. Duquesne University of-
fers academic scholarships to the
Haitian students for the two-
semester long program. Fonkoze
identifies the students and pays
for their transportation to and
from Pittsburgh, provides health
insurance, payment for educa-
tional materials, and a small
monthly stipend. The Haiti Soli-
darity Committee, in turn, seeks
out host families who will pro-
vide the necessary room and
board for the two Haitian stu-
dents during their stay in Pitts-
burgh. Additionally, the Haiti
Solidarity Committee contributes
a substantial amount of social and
financial support for the two Hai-
tian students while they are en-
rolled in the Leadership and Pro-
fessional Advancement program
at Duquesne University.
Through this program, the
PRHSC seeks to enrich the Pitts-
burgh community through cross-
cultural contact with students
from Haiti while at the same time
providing for Fonkoze to enhance
the work of its organization.
After welcoming this year‘s
scholarship awardees, Nickelson
Pierre-Louis and Magdala
Fenelon, the Haiti Solidarity
Committee decided to sit down
with them and try to get to know
them a bit better and introduce
them to The NewPeople‘s read-
ers.
What did you do in your job at
Fonkoze before coming to Pitts-
burgh?
Nickelson: I was a loan officer.
That means I met with women in
various communities, gave them
instructions and let them know
how to get loans from Fonkoze. I
opened individual and non-
individual accounts for custom-
ers. I also conducted meetings at
the center.
Magdala: Before coming here, I
was an accountant at Fonkoze‟s
financial department in Port-au-
Prince. I verified intercompany
transfers, and I also verified the
accounts
receivable
and pay-
able.
What do
you hope
to achieve
by spend-
ing nine
months
here in
Pitts-
burgh?
Nickelson:
I hope to
acquire a
deeper under-
standing of
social groups by studying sociol-
ogy so that I can take part in the
social and economic development
of Haiti. I hope my knowledge
will also help Fonkoze to reach
its objectives.
Magdala: My goals for these
nine months in Pittsburgh are to
speak English clearly, easily and
effectively. I also want to take
other (non-ESL) courses for next
semester, to learn about diversity
in the United States. By the end, I
want to increase my intellectual
capacity and knowledge. Then,
when I come back to Haiti to con-
tinue to work with Fonkoze, I
want it to have a good mission
for the Haitian People.
What are your hopes for Fon-
koze and Haiti in the future?
Nickelson: I hope Fonkoze grows
and keeps supporting poor people
so that it continues to be the most
important institution of develop-
ment in the country. I suggest
that other institutions follow in
the steps of Fonkoze to create a
better future for Haiti.
Magdala: Through my knowl-
edge, I want to participate with
Fonkoze in the economic devel-
opment of Haiti, like helping
women to create their own busi-
ness, and showing them how to
do it well. If you really want to
help poor people, you don‟t have
to look far; just look at Fonkoze‟s
example. All Haitians have to do
something beneficial to transform
Haiti‟s situation. I don‟t have the
money to do it, but I think I have
something special, like my knowl-
edge, hard work and honesty. My
biggest dream is to see a new
Haiti, where people can work,
care about their children, and
have health insurance and social
security. I hope we can do that
together.
What do you like most about
your time here in Pittsburgh so
far?
Nickelson: I am so excited to see
how friendly the American people
are, and also how you pay atten-
tion to Haiti through your pro-
jects. I like the transportation
system and I enjoy the Pittsburgh
Zoo.
Magdala: I like the way that the
American people received us. I
also like their humor and hospi-
tality. I like when it‟s sunny; this
reminds me of Haiti.
What message would you give
to people in the United States
about your country, Haiti?
Nickelson: I would like to take
this opportunity to thank all the
American people for their soli-
darity with Haiti after the
[January 12, 2010] earthquake.
Your help was really necessary.
The country always needs your
support for reconstruction.
Magdala: Please, look at Haiti
with another set of eyes. Love it.
Your love can help us to advance
and progress. Keep thinking
about us.
If you are interested in helping to
sponsor a student for one month,
please contact Haiti Solidarity
Committee member Peter Yehl at
Also, if you have an interest in
becoming more involved with the
work of the Haiti Solidarity Com-
mittee, please join us at our up-
coming meetings on Sat., October
8th and Sat., November 19th at
10:00 am at the Thomas Merton
Center.
Peter Yehl is a recent graduate
of Duquesne University and a
member of the Pittsburgh Re-
gional Haiti Solidarity Commit-
tee.
Photo by Becky Newlin
Magdala Fenelon and Nickelson Pierre-Louis are studying at
Duquesne University for two semesters as part of a program of
the Pittsburgh Regional Haiti Solidarity Committee.
By Jim Scofield
I will not celebrate
this killing, this focused head-shot
as a heroic mission
or as feel-good progress
some sanctioned triumph
vindicating presidents' political swagger of
revenge.
I will not honor our death squads
highly trained and proficient
killers
masters of covert executive policy
kicking in doors with soldiery brutality
on midnight raids, other assassinations.
Or the remote deaths administered
from terminals near Las Vegas,
drone-sighted pictures of erased figures
caught in real-time action
all properly verified and wiped-out
on camera before us.
Ten years of a world war on terror
as if the atrocious murderers of broken down
buildings
of that September morning
demonstrated our innocence
before or after
as if we have no history
in the Middle East
countries invaded, occupied, bought off
don't have to "hate our freedoms."
How justified or not
it's blowback against our unremembered
domination.
Each war finds its savage excuse
So America's terrorist casualties
and its most humane response
become a global war and hatred
against equally uninvolved bystanders
endless sacrifices to appease a manufactured
appetite for revenge
Killing this criminal bin Laden
is no balance for hundreds of thousands
killed
our suffered dead, their suffered dead
it's the extra-judicial lawless world
where power brags of what it can do,
with a smug smirk of self-satisfaction,
and how much it can still do.
Jim Scofield is an associate professor
emeritus at Pitt Johnstown, a local
peace and justice advocate, and op-ed con-
tributor to the local daily
newspaper, the Tribune-Democrat.
The bin Laden
Assassination
In Memoriam: Wangari Maathai, 71, of
Kenya died on September 25, 2011, after a
long battle with cancer. She was the first
African woman Nobel Peace Prize winner
and an international voice for the environ-
ment in her native Kenya and throughout
the world.
8 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
Local News
Dr. Vandana Shiva - Who is this Woman?
By Regina Birchem
―Shiva is a burst of creative energy, an intellec-
tual power‖ – The Progressive.
Vandana Shiva is acclaimed internationally as a
provocative thinker, scientist, writer and environ-
mental activist. The recipient of many awards
and honorary degrees, Shiva received the 1993
prestigious Right Livelihood Award. Sometimes
called the Alternative Nobel Prize, the award hon-
ors those ―working on practical and exemplary
solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the
world today.‖
Dr. Shiva is a leader in the International Forum
on Globalization (IFG) and the Slow Food move-
ment fighting the merging of corporations and
government in her native India and around the
globe. ―The American people should see that cor-
porations have abandoned them long ago….The
people will have to rebuild democracy as a living
democracy.‖ Forbes magazine named her one of
the world‘s seven most influential women. After
receiving her M.A. and PhD in Canada, Shiva
returned to New Delhi, India. She centered her
research in science, technology and environ-
mental policy. In 1982, she left academics to
found the Research Foundation for Science, Tech-
nology and Ecology with a scientific focus on
biodiversity. Shiva is currently associated with
the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian In-
stitute of Management in Bangalore.
In 1984, after four days of massacres in Punjab
and the Bhopal tragedy, a paradigm shift in the
practice of agriculture was
demanded. This lead to an
initiative called Navdanya.
Both a movement and an or-
ganization, Navdanya (―nine
crops‖) was born of the search
for nonviolent farming, to
protect diversity, to defend
small farmers‘ rights and pro-
mote organic farming
(www.navdanya.org).
Navdanya has, so far, con-
served more than 5000 crop
varieties, including 3000 of
rice, 95 of wheat, 150 kidney
beans, and many varieties of
other important crops and
medicinal plants.
After the 2001 9/11 attacks
in New York, Vandana
Shiva and Satish Kumar,
in partnership with the UK Schumacher Col-
lege, launched an education initiative, Bija
Vidyapeeth, to explore and practice principles
of ecological living at Navdanya‘s Doon Val-
ley organic farm. ―The school promotes a vi-
sion of holistic solutions rooted in deep ecol-
ogy and democracy as an alternative to the
current world order that is characterized by
blind policies guided by greed, destruction and
war.‖
Shiva weaves her research and views on
planetary destruction, global justice, women‘s
rights, agriculture, cultural piracy, privatiza-
tion of water and natural resources, corporate
control and genetic engineering, and wars and
violence in a powerfully urgent call for Earth
Democracy, non-violence and peace.
Dr. Shiva found her inspiration for earth rights in
the Himalayan Chipko movement in defense of
the forests and the mass participation of women
in the agrarian economy.
For Shiva, ecology and feminism, women‘s rights
with nature‘s rights are inseparable.
―Women producing survival are showing us that
nature is the very basis and matrix of economic
life through its function in life-support and liveli-
hood, and the elements of nature that the domi-
nant view has treated as ‗waste‘ are the basis of
sustainability and
the wealth of the
poor and the mar-
ginal‖ (Staying
Alive: Women,
Ecology and De-
velopment, 1988,
2010, p 224).
Vandana Shiva
has authored more
than 20 books and
hundreds of arti-
cles and speeches.
Some of the latter
including inter-
views and films
can be found at
http://
www.zcommunications.org/zspace/vandanashiva
Books include: Staying Alive: Women, Ecology
and Development, a 1988 classic reprinted in
2010 with a new introduction (South End Press);
Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability and
Peace (South End Press, 2005) gives the broad
scope of Shiva‘s research topics; Water Wars:
Privatization, Pollution and Profit (South End
Press, 2002); Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice
in and Age of Climate Crisis (South End Press,
2008); Stolen Harvest: Hijacking of the Global
Food Supply (South End Press, 2000); Monocul-
tures of the Mind (Zed, 1993); Protect or Plun-
der? Understanding Intellectual Property Rights
(Zed, 2001).
Regina Birchem, Ph.D. is a Westmoreland
County biologist, environment and peace advo-
cate, past International President of Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF).
The Celebration of Caring, a fundraising dinner
and reception, hosted by Northside Common
Ministries (NCM) will honor two renowned urban
and suburban ministers who have valiantly
worked to improve the lives of the hungry and
homeless for more than three decades. NCM, a
nonprofit organization founded by local church
congregations, is home to Allegheny County‘s
largest food pantry, in terms of numbers of fami-
lies served, feeding more than 950 low income
families. NCM also operating an emergency shel-
ter for homeless men facing challenging life and
economic circumstances.
The ministers being honored, Reverend John
Welch of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary,
and Reverend Jay Passavant of the North Way
Christian Community Church, will speak to the
power of caring for others at the dinner scheduled
to occur on October 28 at 6 PM at the Grand Hall,
located at the Priory on the Northside of Pitts-
burgh.
Another local community champion of the home-
less and hungry, Nikki Heckman, owner of Bistro
to Go, located in the East Allegheny neighbor-
hood of Northside, will receive a Celebration of
Caring Award at the dinner for her lifelong dedi-
cation to helping those in need.
As Reverend Passavant sees it, "With nearly 46
million Americans now living ‗in poverty‘; we
may tempted to forget the plight of those living
everyday under the most serious of conditions.
There are thousands of hungry, homeless and op-
pressed individuals and families right here in
Pittsburgh. Anyone who takes the Gospel seri-
ously cannot turn away from these needy but en-
dearing souls.‖ Rev. Passavant explains further,
―We are here to touch some of those lives every
single day.‖
NCM is located at 1601 Brighton Road on the
Northside of Pittsburgh and has served the hungry
and homeless for thirty years with the help of
committed congregations and local residents. The
need for NCM‘s services is greater today al-
though funding is more limited. All funds raised
at the dinner support NCM‘s mission to feed the
hungry and shelter the homeless. Individual tick-
ets are $75 per person. Sponsorships are avail-
able. For more information call Jay Poliziana,
Director of NCM, at 412-323-1163, or email
Northside Common Ministries ―Celebration of Caring‖
Honoring ~ Rev. Jay Passavant, Rev. John Welch and Nikki Heckman
October 28, 6 PM – Grand Hall at the Priory, Northside
Dr. Shiva on Making Justice and Peace
Possible: These oppositional categories are simultane-
ously ecological and feminist: they allow the pos-
sibility of survival by exposing the parochial ba-
sis of science and development and by showing
how ecological destruction and the marginaliza-
tion of women are not inevitable, economically
or scientifically.
Women of the Third World have conserved
those categories of thought and action which
make survival possible, and which therefore
make justice and peace possible.
Ecology movements, women‘s movements
and peace movements across the world can draw
inspiration from these categories as forces of op-
position and challenge to the dominant categories
of western patriarchy which rule the world today
in the name of development and progress, even
while they destroy nature and threaten the life of
entire cultures and communities.
Dr. Shiva on Biodiversity and Women: Economics has rendered women‘s work as food-
providers invisible. Because women provide for the
household, not the market, they have remained in-
vible as farmers despite their contribution to farming.
Science and technology have rendered women‘s
knowledge and productivity worthless by ignoring
the dimension of diversity in agricultural production.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization
report Women Feed the World, women use more
plant diversity, both cultivated and uncultivated than
agriculture scientists have knowledge of. Contrasted
with the monocultures promoted by western science,
in Nigerian home gardens women plant 18 to 57
plant species…
In Guatemala, home gardens of smaller than
0.1 hectare have more than ten tree and crop species.
In one African home garden more than 60 species of
food-producing trees were counted. In Thailand, re-
searchers found 230 species in home gardens. In In-
dia, women use 150 different species of plants for
vegetables, fodder and health care...Women are the
biodiversity experts of the world.
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 9
Local News
By Ashlee Green
Corey Carrington , a 23-year-old recent gradu-
ate of Slippery Rock University, will serve as
the new Public Ally for the Thomas Merton
Center through June 2012. Carrington, former
President of the Commonwealth Association of
Students and Treasurer of the Black Action
Society at SRU, will work with increasing
membership and The NewPeople. Though he is
not yet sure of which specific tasks he will be
working on for the organization, he is eager to
begin.―The unknown excites me because it
forces me to think on my feet, be creative and
work hard,‖ says Carrington.
The Public Ally position is one of many service
positions offered through AmeriCorps, a gov-
ernment program started in 1993 to tackle com-
munity issues throughout the nation. Public
Allies work on behalf of several communities
and nonprofit organizations throughout the coun-
try. Other nonprofit organizations participating in
Pittsburgh are the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank,
Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, Union Project,
A+ Schools, and Pittsburgh Conservatory.
―One of the main things that we are taught is how
to be effective community leaders, whether that
community be as small as a neighborhood or as
broad as a city or a country,‖ says Carrington.
Carrington underwent three rounds of interviews
before he was offered the position with the Tho-
mas Merton Center. Public Allies work four days
a week at their corresponding nonprofit organiza-
tion and spend a fifth day leadership training with
Public Allies leaders and sharing their progress
with one another.
―The Public Allies that are in my class right now,
are doing a lot of different things in a lot of differ-
ent places, but the overall goal is to make the
world we‘re in – Pittsburgh – and on a broader
spectrum, the world, a better place,‖ says Carring-
ton.
Carrington‘s interest in the TMC – The NewPeo-
ple specifically – stems from his background in
journalism and communications. In the past, he
worked for SRU‘s school newspaper, The Rocket,
The Northside Chronicle, KQV-AM and WAMO.
With his position at the TMC, Carrington hopes
to move ahead both personally and professionally.
He explains:
―I hope to reach an untapped population of peo-
ple who normally don‘t know about human
rights, civil rights or social justice: to get more
people involved, to get more people to care or
even just to pay attention.‖
Carrington‘s passion for writing does not stop
at journalism. Under the alias ―Grits Capone‖,
earlier this year he performed his spoken word
poetry at the Eargasm Poetry Slam, held at the
downtown August Wilson Center. He has also
performed at the Shadow Lounge in East Lib-
erty.
―This job is going to open my mind up to dif-
ferent situations,‖ he says. ―I definitely think
it‘s going to improve my poetry and my writing
as a whole.‖
Public Allies positions are ten months long.
Though he is unsure of what is to come after his
time with the TMC, Carrington envisions many
potential pursuits: Applying to the Peace Corps
for education, literacy or HIV and AIDS aware-
ness work or attending Graduate School for Crea-
tive Writing are two of them.
―I am very honored, privileged and excited to be
working for the Thomas Merton Center, says Car-
rington. I will do everything in my power to be
the best Public Ally that I can be.‖
Ashlee Green is a freelance writer, traveler
and activist. She is currently working on a zine
about racism in the U.S. prison system. Visit
her blog at ashleegreen.wordpress.com.
Corey Carrington: The TMC‘s Public Ally
UPMC and Highmark: ―Shame on You!‖ By Molly Rush
Aggie Brose of the Bloomfield Garfield Corpora-
tion said it best, "I'm just in complete awe that
you are our healthcare providers. Shame on you.‖
She was one of about 300 people who showed up
for a September 8th Town Meeting organized by
Sen. Jim Ferlo to confront, in his words, ―a very
ugly divorce.‖ That is, UPMC‘s response to High-
mark‘s plan to purchase and run West Penn Hos-
pital, which is in danger of closing. If the plan
comes to fruition, Highmark subscribers would
have to pay significantly higher ―out of network‖
charges for UPMC services. It also means they
may need to change doctors.
UPMC‘s Tom McGough‘s solution: subscribe to
another insurance company. By the way, UPMC
has its own insurance plan (conflict of interest?).
Got a pre-existing condition? Well, that‘s your
problem. Non-profit UPMC, by the way, in addi-
tion to its 15 hospitals in Western PA, runs three
in Ireland, Italy and the UK. They are building a
$250 million hospital in Monroeville, a mile from
a competitor. Yet Highmark should not compete
with them. This is just the way of our cut throat
―free market‖ health care system – if care is the
right word.
People lined up at the microphone to denounce
the plan. When several speakers mentioned single
payer as an alternative, cheers rang out from the
audience. Could UPMC unwittingly be helping
the cause? A friend told me she once heard
UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff say that single payer
was the best solution, but ―I have a business to
run.‖
Time to join Health Care for All PA, folks. Go to
www.healthcare4allpa.org to sign up. You might
add a donation to help fund an economic impact
study of PA Senate Bill 400. Prime sponsor is
none other than Jim Ferlo.
Molly Rush is a member of the steering committee
of PUSH - PA, Pennsylvanians United for Single-
payer Healthcare.
By Joyce Rothermel
Again this year, the Association of Pittsburgh
Priests, an affiliate of the Thomas Merton Center,
is hosting a fall speakers‘ series. In September,
Sr. Simone Campbell, an advocate for change in
the political system and current Executive Direc-
tor of Network, the Catholic social justice lobby-
ing group in Washington, D.C., spoke on ―Politics
and the Contemplative Life.‖
On Thursday, Oct. 13, Sr. Maureen Fiedler, radio
host of Interfaith Voices, promoting social justice,
peace, anti-racism work, gender equality, human
rights, and women‘s ordination in the Catholic
Church will speak on ―Breaking through the
Glass Ceiling: Women Religious Leaders in Their
own Words,‖ at 7 PM at the Kearns Spirituality
Center next to LaRoche College in Allison Park
(behind the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Divine
Providence). Sr. Maureen served for 26 years as
the Co-Director of the Quixote Center, a national
faith-based justice center in the D.C. area. She
will base her talk on interviews of women rising
to new leadership in multiple roles and faith tradi-
tions. Her hope is that it will open up a wide-
ranging discussion of the role of women in Ro-
man Catholicism and beyond.
The final speaker is Edwina Gateley, whose talk
is entitled, ―Knock Knock Who‘s There?: Explor-
ing our Call to Be Faithful and Prophetic in a
Broken World and Church.‖ Ms. Gateley is a
theologian, advocate, writer, poet and mother.
She will speak from her own faith journey of dis-
cipleship, women in Scripture, justice, mission,
mysticism, and the Divine Feminine.
The events are open to the public. A donation of
$15 is requested. For more information, call Sr.
Mary Joan Coultas at 412-366-1124. Reserva-
tions are not required.
To learn more about the Association of Pittsburgh
Priests, call Fr. John Oesterle at 412-232-7512.
Visitors are also welcome at
www.catholicpittsburgh.org
Joyce Rothermel is the Chair of the Church Re-
newal Committee of the Association of Pittsburgh
Priests.
Fall Speakers‘ Series of Association of PGH Priests Continues
Corey Carrington, the TMC‘s newest addition.
Photo by Jordana Rosenfeld
10 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
ADVERTISEMENT
2011 TMC Award Dinner Honoring
Dr. Vandana Shiva
“Vandana Shiva is one of the world‟s most prominent radical scientists…In Staying Alive
she defines the links between ecological crises, colonialism and the oppression of women. It
is a scholarly and polemical plea for the rediscovery of the „feminine principle‟ in human
interaction with the natural world, not as a gender-based quality, rather as an organizing
principle, a way of seeing the world.”
–The Guardian
November 3, 2011
Sheraton Station Square
Register at www.thomasmertoncenter.org
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 11
The Death Penalty
By Frank Carr
They killed Troy Davis.
It keeps echoing in my head almost like poetry or
insanity. The more I want to write about it, about
the thousands gathered around the world, about
the case against him that really didn‘t exist, about
the witnesses who ―recanted,‖ who admitted per-
jury, whose testimony was accepted against their
own admission…
About Bishop Tutu and Jimmy Carter and the
Pope and ex-FBI head Mueller all supporting
him...
About the three injections; the barbiturate to
simulate painlessness, the paralytic to keep the
witnesses at ease, about the final, suffocating poi-
son...
About the virulent silence of our President and
the acquiescence of the Supreme Court, about the
―war on drugs,‖ about all of it...
...the less there is to say.
They killed Troy Davis.
We are all Troy Davis. We are all Mumia Abu-
Jamal. We are all in line behind them.
In Texas, on that very same day, they killed an-
other man whose lurid crime made headlines,
whose guilt was in fact beyond doubt...
And the family of his victim tried to stop the exe-
cution, tried to apply their religion, tried to end
the death cycle that goes nowhere. But even he is
Troy Davis in the end.
They killed Troy Davis. And it‘s not supposed to
matter. It is not supposed to interfere with our
economic recovery. It is not supposed to pre-empt
football. It is not worthy of the ―major‖ media‘s
attention. Wall Street has been occupied for al-
most two weeks by the unemployed and the strug-
gling, supplied with pizza from supporters around
the world, camping in the rain. We are all the
poor.
Then they killed Troy Davis. And many went to
Wall Street to stand with the economic victims.
Then, and only then, was there a response. Police
moved in. People were shoved. A young woman‘s
head bounced off the concrete.
That connection, of Wall Street to Death Cham-
bers, offended some who could give orders. Sud-
denly the big pizza party wasn‘t funny anymore
and had to move. Suddenly the connection was a
tripwire; all those poor people in jail, mostly for
drugs less dangerous than the state forcibly injects
in prisoners, all those out of work college grads
and moms and dads were coalescing. Suddenly,
as if stifling a cough, power took notice and
skipped a breath.
We are all Troy Davis.
Frank Carr is the Editor of The NewPeople.
We Are Troy Davis
Troy Davis, a man executed by the state of Georgia on
September 21, 2011 despite major doubts about his guilt.
By Jordana Rosenfeld
In light of the execution of Troy Davis on Sep-
tember 21, 2011 in Georgia despite serious doubts
about his guilt, the death penalty is as topical and
controversial an issue as ever. On September 21st,
minutes before Troy Davis‘s execution was
scheduled to take place, the Supreme Court
stepped in, not to issue a stay of execution, but to
deliberate amongst themselves for three and a half
hours only to unanimously and without explana-
tion, allow the execution to take place.
On September 24th, Supreme Court Justice An-
tonin Scalia spoke at an event in honor of Du-
quesne University Law School‘s 100th anniver-
sary. It was a unilateral decision made by the law
school‘s dean, Ken Gormley, to invite Justice
Scalia to speak. This address elicited a response
from Pittsburgh organizations in favor of abolish-
ing the death penalty. Justice Scalia believes that
The Constitution does not stand in the way of the
U.S. executing someone who, after being con-
victed of a crime in a full and fair trial, can prove
his or her innocence. Scalia also alleges that an
innocent person has never been executed in the
U.S. legal system, despite organizations and pri-
vate citizens who beg to differ.
A handful of protesters gathered outside of the
A.J. Palumbo Center where Justice Scalia spoke
to hand out leaflets on capital punishment and
encourage entering audience members to bring up
the death penalty were there to be a Q&A session
with Scalia after his speech. Becky Newlin, one
of the protesters speaking out against Scalia‘s
views, spoke to me about the importance of resto-
ration and rehabilitation in our justice system and
warned against ―definitive punishments‖ like the
death penalty. She said she is ―appalled that Troy
Davis was executed after all the outcry and lack
of evidence against him.‖
The reactions of the entering audience to the
protesters‘ message ran the gamut from enthusi-
astic to disdainful. One smartly dressed man,
referring to the protesters that had approached
him, greeted him, and offered him information
on Catholicism and the death penalty, remarked,
―Let‘s get out of this mess.‖ At the other end of
the spectrum, a Duquesne alum expressed deep
dismay that Scalia had been asked to speak,
given his own anti-capital punishment stance.
Overall, the number of passersby who took pam-
phlets was substantial.
It is said that the largest determining factor in
whether or not someone being tried in a capital
case will receive the death penalty is the race of
his or her victim. Since 1973, 77% of death row
defendants have been executed for killing white
victims, despite the fact that African-Americans
make up about half of all homicide victims. Ad-
ditionally, over 130 people have been exoner-
ated from death row since 1973, and it is calcu-
lated to be significantly more expensive to kill
someone than to keep them in jail for life. I can-
not help but feel, after encountering not only the
facts above, but the overwhelming amount of
evidence that describes the death penalty as rac-
ist and classist, that any rationally minded per-
son could be persuaded to oppose the death pen-
alty if presented with similar information. It is
this conviction that keeps me and the September
24th protesters leafleting, tabling, and lobbying for
death penalty abolition.
Jordana Rosenfeld is a human rights activist
and a high school student who was a summer
intern at The Thomas Merton Center. She for-
matted and helped to edit this edition of The
NewPeople.
Picture by Jordana Rosenfeld
Justice Scalia Speaks at
Duquesne Law School
Carol Gonzalez protests Judge Scalia‘s pro-death pen-
alty stance
12 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
By Theresa Chalich
―The end is reconciliation, the end is redemp-
tion, the end is the creation of the beloved com-
munity.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr. The final days of the
Montgomery Bus Boycott 1956
Greensboro. North Carolina. Atlanta and Albany,
Georgia. Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala-
bama. Little Rock, Arkansas. Memphis, Tennes-
see.
The cities of the south that were imprinted on my
impressionable adolescent mind as I watched the
marching and singing that heralded the Civil
Rights movement on television. And I could not
have missed the ferocious attacks on the sit-ins,
freedom rides, and voter registration attempts
both on TV and in the photos of LIFE magazine.
History was being made and presented to me, and
hence propelling me into the social justice move-
ments of the 1960s and 1970s.
This past June I had the opportunity to go on a
nine day “Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights”
bus tour of these cities. This trip was organized
by Geneva College Professor Todd Allen. We
visited the Woolworth‘s in North Carolina, the
site of the first lunch counter sit-in, the Rosa
Parks interactive exhibit in Montgomery, the Ebe-
nezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr. preached his ministry of
nonviolence, the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham which was bombed in 1963 resulting
in the death of four girls, Memphis‘ Lorraine Mo-
tel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassi-
nated, the Little Rock Central High School that
was desegregated in 1957 by President Dwight
Eisenhower‘s order, and many more memorial
parks and museums.
What made the trip so meaningful was the oppor-
tunity to meet with several of the people whose
activism sustained the movement to end the Jim
Crow laws and the prohibition of voter registra-
tion. We visited with Mrs. Juanita (Ralph) Aber-
nathy who boastfully talked about the women
who ―came up with ideas‖ and did all of the work
while the ―men got the credit.‖ The women on
the trip especially liked her! In Selma we spent
the afternoon with Joanne Bland who remains a
fiery community activist. During the first attempt
in 1965 to march from Selma to Montgomery
over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, she was attacked
and arrested (at the age of 11!). In Albany, Geor-
gia, we sang songs of the movement with a Free-
dom Singer, Rutha Harris.
Reverend Samuel Kyles talked about Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s last evening with him in
Memphis. He was standing next to Dr. King on
the Lorraine Hotel balcony when he was assassi-
nated. Reverend Kyles seemed tired and his
memories must be painful, but you could still
sense his strong resolve that we cannot quit in our
quest for racial equality. Minijean Brown
Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine who inte-
grated the Little Rock Central High School in
1957, was also extremely inspirational. It is hard
to grasp how a teenager could have had the cour-
age to walk through the gauntlet of screaming
protesters to get her education. Would I have had
the guts to do this? I don‘t know. In Nashville we
spent the day with several Freedom Riders as this
year marks the 50th anniversary of their work to
integrate interstate travel and its accommodations.
Initially, I viewed my traveling into the south as a
civics lesson, but what I came away with was a
lesson in how the conviction of religious beliefs
formed the foundation of the civil rights leader-
ship and movement. The churches were more
than just sites for mass organizing and meetings.
In the church Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
and others preached that to be nonviolent in the
face of confrontations was to show Christian love.
It was the church that was the witness to this love.
On this trip I was introduced to the movement‘s
theological principle of building a ―beloved com-
munity.‖
Throughout the trip we asked our speakers if they
ever had a chance to meet with the people who
assaulted or taunted them. And, if so, was there
an opportunity to talk about what happened, and
did anyone ask for forgiveness? We learned there
have been very few chances for any dialogue and
reconciliation. When we talked about forgive-
ness, I thought about Archbishop Desmond Tutu
and his creation of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission when apartheid was uprooted in
South Africa. I wondered what the status of our
nation‘s race relations would be if we had done
the same.
This is not a new question, and it lingered with
me throughout the trip: Would I, a white person,
have embraced the Civil Rights movement and
been as brave as the people I met? If so, would I
have been able to practice being nonviolent as
preached by Dr. King? Could I have forgiven
people who willfully and knowingly killed my
loved ones or physically attacked me with dogs
and water cannons? I need to study how to build
that ―beloved community‖ through my actions of
forgiveness and love. As Charles Marsh writes in
his book about the ―beloved community,” ―It is
rather about bearing witness to the Prince of
Peace in a violent and suffering world.‖
Reference: Marsh, Charles. The Beloved Commu-
nity: How Faith Shapes Social Justice from the
Civil Rights Movement to Today. Basic Books:
New York. 2005.
Charles Marsh also wrote God’s Long Sum-
mer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights where he
profiles five people and how their religious
convictions led to support or to opposition to
the Civil Rights movement.
Civil Rights Movement Bus Tour—Summer 2011
Fight for Lifers West
Gives Credit Where
Credit is Due
Fight For Lifers West, a project of The
Thomas Merton Center, wishes to
thank R.E.S.I.S.T., for sending us a grant
in the amount of $2,000.00.
For more than thirty years, R.E.S.I.S.T. has
funded progressive organizations
like ours, that are actively part of a move-
ment for social change. Without their
gracious help over the past several years,
we may not have survived, and for that we
wish to express our gratitude.
Those who would like to contact
R.E.S.I.S.T. to find out more information
about their fabulous organization or apply
for a grant can do so at:
259 Elm Street; Somerville,
MA 02144. Phone: 617-623-5110. Website
at: www.resistinc.org
Photos (by Michael
Drohan) from a
September 24th
rally to save public
transportation
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 13
Book Review:
Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War Against the Palestinians
by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, Haymarket Books, 2010
By Michael Drohan
Late this month (September 2011), Palestinians
will be making a bid for statehood at the UN. It is
likely to be vetoed by the U.S. At first glance, the
Israeli and U.S. position is perplexing in that offi-
cially both have frequently said that they are in
favor of a ―two state solution, whereby Israel and
Palestine live side by side in peace.‖ In order to
understand the contradiction here, there is no-
where better to begin than by reading Chomsky
and Pappe‘s book. Chomsky is well known to
TMC members and supporters as the recipient of
last year‘s Merton Award, and Pappe is an Israeli
citizen who is a Professor of History at the Uni-
versity of Exeter in the UK. While in agreement
on most of the issues concerning Palestine and
Israel, the two authors differ on a possible solu-
tion. Chomsky advocates a bi-national state while
Pappe believes in a nuanced manner in a one state
solution.
Regarding the question of the opposition of the
U.S. and Israel to the UN bid of Palestine for
statehood, the authors suggest that it is no sur-
prise; in reality both countries are against Pales-
tinian statehood. Pappe explains it in this way:
―From its origins, the Zionist movement has un-
derstood that to achieve its goals, the best strategy
would be to delay political settlement, meanwhile
slowly building facts on the ground. Even the oc-
casional agreements, as in 1947, were regarded by
the leadership as temporary steps towards further
expansion.‖ This policy is played out to the pre-
sent as Israel proclaims its commitment to a two
state solution while expanding settlements in the
occupied Palestine, making a two state solution
impossible. At present, with the expansion of set-
tlements all over the West Bank and in East Jeru-
salem, all is left to the Palestinians is a number of
Bantustans separated by highways and walls.
In several parts of the book, the authors address
the question about the role of the collusion of the
US and the Israeli lobby in the U.S. in preventing
a solution. They make it clear that primacy re-
sides with the US. and as soon as the U.S admini-
stration decides that unequivocal and unquestion-
ing support for Israel is not in the U.S.‘s interest,
then the lobby will disappear. Pappe points out
that ―Israel appears as a liability and not an asset‖
when Middle Eastern policy is looked upon
through the prism of ―black gold,‖ the control of
which is primary in US foreign policy. To date,
the U.S. somehow believes that Israel can be its
gendarme on the ground in curtailing Arab na-
tionalism and making the Middle East safe for oil
exploration.
Is there any hope then of unlinking the Israeli-
U.S. connection? Both authors countenance this
possibility. After all, the U.S. did not become ab-
solute in support of Israel until the 1967 war be-
tween Israel and the surrounding Arab nations.
The Israeli demolition of the Egyptian and Syrian
armies cemented the alliance. Pappe addresses the
fragility of the alliance when he maintains that the
U.S.‘s unconditional support could end ―with a
collapse of its Middle East policy, mainly through
the downfall of one of its allies‖. Well, the world
has experienced this downfall in the last nine
months with the fall of Mubarak in Egypt and the
threats to the dictatorships of Jordan, Tunisia, the
Yemen, Bahrain and Syria. In the last week, the
Israeli Embassy in Cairo was attacked by protes-
tors and its Ambassador withdrawn. Much of the
events of the ―Arab Spring‖ suggest a rapid isola-
tion of Israel in the region. The opinion of Chom-
sky is that ―when U.S. power rejects its goals, the
lobby (Israeli) disappears‖. As an example, he
mentions the rejection by the U.S. of Israel‘s in-
sistence that the U.S. should attack and take down
the Iranian regime. Now this weekend the deal
has come to light of the United States selling bun-
ker-blasting bombs to Israel, seemingly with no
strings as to their use!
Both authors suggest that U.S. policy could
change ―if the United States became a functioning
democratic society, in which an informed public
has a meaningful voice in policy formation‖. That
this comes about is ―the task for organizers and
activists‖ within the U.S. Pappe advocates a Boy-
cott-Divest-Sanctions (BDS) mobilization tool
within the U.S. and other countries as a means
towards achieving both the democratization of the
U.S. and the ending of the U.S.-Israeli
―unbreakable‖ alliance. In a word, it all depends
on the activism of peace and justice workers in
the U.S. and elsewhere.
Michael Drohan is a political economist spe-
cializing in analysis of Third World economies
and a member of The Thomas Merton Cen-
ter‘s Board of Directors.
By Hannah Dobbz
In 2001, a group of kids in Pittsburgh organized a
bookstore based on non-hierarchical principles.
They called it The Big Idea Bookstore, and,
amazingly, the place lasted for a decade, despite
its rotating cast of unpaid diehards and flaky one-
time volunteers. I joined the bookstore when it
was already in its eighth year—its fifth year in the
claustrophobic cubby hole on Millvale Ave. This
incarnation of the Big Idea was great and all, but I
could feel that we were growing out of the tiny
playpen that seemed big enough in 2004 when the
lease was signed.
In early 2010, I made a pact with my co-
volunteer, Brian, that someday we would move to
a bigger space and make the Big Idea our regular,
sustainable job. We agreed that such a reality
would be a dream come true (no more being
bossed around at jobs we don‘t care about), but it
certainly seemed unlikely. By October, however,
we had begun laying plans for a worker-owned
cooperative. We weren‘t entirely sure where to
begin, but we knew that if we were to make the
bookstore into a sustainable business, we would
have to complement it with another service—like
a café. This complicated things, because not only
would we have to figure out how to suddenly be-
come businesspeople, we would also have to
learn the business of caféteering. Further, every
lawyer we talked to assured us that incorporating
as a cooperative was actually impossible in the
state of Pennsylvania, which both confused us
and dampened our spirits about the project. But
with the help of the Keystone Development Cen-
ter (an organization dedicated to helping co-op
start-ups in the Keystone State), we began to un-
ravel the mystery of the cooperative world—an
underground realm that is kept quiet within the
wage labor system.
We fell down the rabbit hole and became enam-
ored by the phantasmagoria of worker-owned co-
operatives. Attending the Eastern Conference on
Workplace Democracy in Baltimore in July, I fell
a little deeper, uncovering the truths about incor-
poration, about self-governance, and about being
successful businesspeople outside the worn tem-
plate of hierarchical labor. The possibilities for
worker-ownership flickered and gleamed in the
conference sessions and among attendees—each a
dedicated cooperative business-owner in their
respective fields. And in this underground world
of horizontal labor, we weren‘t competitors or
bosses to each other; we were supporters and al-
lies. So, after months of searching, we finally
found our new space (it was just around the cor-
ner all along!). Many supporters donated their
time and help to make the move successful:
Shaun did our vinyl sign, Santiago painted our in-
store mural, Artnoose letter pressed our member
cards, and a handful of helpers carried heavy ob-
jects with us on moving day. On July 30, at our
first member drive, we softly opened our doors to
prospective consumer-members for a party with
samples from our new café menu and an en-
hanced selection of books. In mid-August, we
learned that we were chosen for a Sprout Fund
grant to facilitate our Community Curation Pro-
gram—a program for select local organizations to
recommend titles from their fields and organize
pertinent events in our space. At our new location
we will offer you café drinks, light café fare,
more new radical books, more used books, and
more zines. Plus our calendar will be packed with
events ranging from movie screenings to lectures
to workshops and classes. Not only this, but we
are also working with other local co-ops and co-
op supporters to plan something big for Co-op
Month in October and the official U.N.-
sanctioned Year of the Co-op in 2012. I bet you
didn‘t know such a thing existed. At the risk of
repeating a joke that‘s far too old at this point, we
will become the biggest idea yet!
[Insert Another Joke About the Size of Our Ideas]
14 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
By Bette McDevitt
Carole Wiedmann will complete her third and last term
as a Board Member of the Thomas Merton Center in
December. ―It‘s always been in my genes," Carole
said, referring to her commitment to progressive
causes, which got a good workout over the last decade.
Carole has a background as a nurse, and had been ac-
tive in her community in Ohio Township, in a
women‘s club, and an auxiliary to the fire department.
I reminded her of the ―Ladies Auxiliary‖ song written
by Woody Guthrie and often sung by Pete Seeger.
Guthrie wrote it, off the top of his head, in response to
a complaint from the Ladies Auxiliary of the CIO, that
they were not mentioned in ―Union Maid.‖ It‘s a fine
song.
Moving on from the Ladies Auxiliary, Carole went to
Washington. DC. with her son John and daughter
Katherine to protest the inauguration of George Bush,
in 2001. ―In the fall of 2002, when the winds of war
were stirred up, and you knew George Bush was up to
something, I saw pieces in the Post-Gazette about the
Merton Center. I started going to the Saturday vigils on
the North Side at the Unitarian church and met Ed
Bortz and Sandy Hazley, who told me to come to the
anti-war committee of the TMC. In January of 2003,
just before the war, my son and I went to a big rally on
the South Side.‖ Bill Neal‘s refusal to be caged up in
Beaver County when Bush was speaking also caught
her attention.
When Carole joined the board, she said that she lis-
tened for the first few years. ―It was a new milieu for
me," she said. ―The activity at the Merton Center was
stimulating, and it was rewarding to find people who
felt like I did, which I had been missing all these
years.‖ Her feelings will resonate with many of us,
who have found a second home at the Merton Center.
What I remember from those years - as our board times
overlapped - is that she was dependable, always there
to carry heavy loads, both physical and mental, and sit
at the endless number of tabling events.
With her quiet way, she was an unlikely person to be
involved in one of the most dramatic confrontations
with the police in the Center‘s long history. She was
bitten by a police dog and poorly treated by the police
during the episode.
As Carole recalls it, ―I was on the way to the Saturday
vigil on the North Side and Jeremy Schenk, staff per-
son at the center, asked me to stop by an action in Oak-
land, at the military recruitment center. The police
came, and the next thing I knew, the police dog bit me
(in the thigh). The police officer then put me in hand-
cuffs, along with Deanna Caliguiri. We were put in a
paddywagon, but then the police changed their minds
and took me to Presby-Emergency Room. I had bite
marks, but the skin was not broken. The police sat out-
side for a while, talking to each other, and then left. I
had to pay the bill, and walk to my car which was up
on Craig Street.
―I was then charged with failure to disperse, and I con-
tacted Mike Healey to be my lawyer. I had to go to
court hearings, and lots of people came to support me.
I was exonerated, but my husband said I should file a
complaint with the Citizen Police Review Board,
which I did, and thereupon I was re-charged by the
police, and had to go and have more mug shots and
fingerprints. They lowered the charge, but it was not
dismissed, so I went to appeals court, and on the sec-
ond time, the case was dismissed. Deanna and I filed a
civil suit, and the city offered to settle before the G-20,
in 2009, and gave us a financial settlement, which was
divided between us, the Center for Constitutional
Rights and the attorney. Our goal had always been that
the police establish a protocol, known to the public,
about the Canine Corps and the use of tasers. I heard
that Officer Sculli, who filed the charges, no longer
has the dog detail, but I am not certain of that.
―The board has been a working board, and we aim to
become another model, that of a decision making
board, but some members have worked very hard. We
did things that had to be done, with the sale of the
building and the layoff of the staff- we are very sorry
for that - but it had to be done.‖ Thanks, Carole for all
the heavy lifting, and not just the boxes.
Bette McDevitt is a local writer for the PG and
other publications, former board and staff member
of TMC.
By The American Friends Service Committee
As I write this invitation to you on this morning
of September 22, we grieve for the death of Troy
Davis. We deeply respect how he presented his
life and fate as part of an educational effort to
work for justice for others suffering similar cir-
cumstances.
Many, many people around the globe educated
themselves, organized themselves, and committed
themselves to stand up for Davis and others
whose fates are highly representative of wide-
spread, long-ongoing patterns of inequity within
a judicial and prison system that disproportion-
ally metes out cruel and unusual punishments ac-
cording to class, culture and color.
We have much work to do to end cruel and un-
usual punishments, not only across the globe, but
here in the prison systems of Pennsylvania. We
invite you to join in that work at the PA Network
Against Torture conference, Oct 28-29th in Har-
risburg. A diverse range of individuals
and organizations will come together to coordi-
nate training, public education and action plan-
ning across the state, with a focus on:
Ending torture in our domestic prisons,
with a special action planning session
to prepare legislation addressing soli-
tary confinement in Pennsylvania
Ending U.S. Sponsored torture and rendi-
tion
Training for professionals, volunteers, fam-
ily members and/or friends who work
with or support survivors of torture,
trauma, and solitary confinement.
Attorney King Downing, the AFSC's Program
Analyst for Healing Justice work, will overview
how groups around Pennsylvania and the country
are working on reforms, considering models of
success to energize and structure our own efforts.
We will then work together on a draft of legisla-
tion to end the torture of prolonged solitary con-
finement in Pennsylvania and plan lobbying ef-
forts to help pass that draft into effective law.
John Humphries, Director for Program Coordina-
tion for the National Religious Campaign Against
Torture, will briefly cover the recent history of
U.S.-sponsored torture and how this country has
come to increasingly practice and normalize tor-
ture as official government policy. He will lead an
action planning session on how we might coordi-
nate grassroots advocacy, effectively educate the
public, and work for new legislation banning tor-
ture and holding our leaders accountable.
Our keynote speaker and workshop leader, Dr.
Kate Porterfield, clinical psychologist at the
Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture,
has regularly trained and super-
vised professionals, legal teams, volunteers, fam-
ily members, and organizations across the nation
from a wide variety of disciplines. She will lead
Saturday workshops on how to better care for sur-
vivors of torture, war trauma, and soli-
tary confinement, and will also facilitate action
planning for organizations who wish to work to-
gether to organize such trainings for care of survi-
vors across the state.
We invite you to take part in this work. Whether
you are an individual who hopes to end torture, a
professional hoping to better serve your clients, or
a representative of an organization working to
build action partnerships, please join us to help
end torture and care for survivors.
A bus will be transporting participants from Pitts-
burgh to the conference for $30, with scholarships
available both for transportation and for the $20
conference fee - please register as soon as possi-
ble to secure your place in the workshops of your
interest and a bus seat. For more information
about the conference and to register by October
15th, please visit our website:
www.panetworkagainsttorture.org or call Scilla
Wahrhaftig or Helen Gerhardt of the American
Friends Service Committee at 412-371-
3607 and [email protected].
PA Network Against Torture Conference
Carole Wiedmann Wraps up Her Tenure on the TMC Board
―In their fight to survive the onslaughts of both, women have begun a struggle that challenges the most
fundamental categories of western patriarchy – Its concepts of nature and women, and of science and de-
velopment. Their ecological struggle in India is aimed simultaneously at liberating nature from ceaseless
exploitation and themselves from limitless marginalization.‖
~Dr. Vandana Shiva
October, 2011 NEWPEOPLE - 15
~ TELEVISION ~
PCTV21 (COMCAST Channel 21/ VERIZON FIOS Channel 47) PROGRESSIVE PGH NOTEBOOK (check www.pctv21.org for sched-
ule) Internet=( www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv ) DEMOCRACY NOW= 8 AM: AJ STREAM=9 AM ; FAULTLINES=9:30
AM(W/Thom Hartmann, both are on Free Speech TV) CITY COUNCIL (COMCAST Channel 13 / Verizon FIOS Channel 44) Tuesdays Council Meetings; Wednesdays Standing Committees 10
AM Repeated at 7 PM / Repeated Sat & Sundays 10 AM and 7 PM (www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council Legislative Info Center
~ INTERNET RADIO ~ ITUNES click ―Radio‖, Double Click ―News/ Talk‖ , and Click ―KPTK 1090 PROGRESSIVE TALK= THOM HARTMANN NOON – 3 PM (Check other programs on KPTK and ITUNES) LYNN CULLEN MON-FRI= 10 AM www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws
~ LOCAL RADIO ~
East End Community Thrift Store 5123 Penn Avenue, Garfield
(a few doors down from TMC)
Come in today
Tuesday — Friday: 10 AM - 4 PM
Saturday: Noon - 4 PM
What you donate, what you buy
supports Garfield,
supports the Merton Center.
SUBMIT!
your stories, letters, poems, essays, cartoon, photos to the NEWPEOPLE or they may never find an audience! Please limit submissions to
600 words. Photos or art should be sent as JPEG or TIFF. Postage or articles may be mailed to The Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn
Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Manuscripts will not be returned. All submissions become property of NEWPEOPLE, a publication of the
Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh, and may be edited.
ADVERTISING IS AVAILABLE. CONTACT [email protected]
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS OCTOBER 15TH THROUGH http://thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit-article/
WRCT 88.3 FM
DEMOCRACY NOW = 8 AM, MON – FRI
RUST BELT RADIO = 6 PM on MON, and 9 AM on TUES
FREE SPEECH RADIO = MON – FRI, 5:30 PM
LAW AND DISORDER = 9 AM MON
KDKA 1020 AM
“CHRIS MOORE” = SUN, 4 – 9 PM. CALL IN NUMBER 412-
353-1254
WMMY 1360 AM
‖Dr Scott Shalaway, Birds & Nature‖ = SUN, NOON – 2 PM
WKFB 770 AM
“UNION EDGE RADIO TALK” = MON-FRI, NOON – 1 PM
WESA 90.5 FM,
MONDAY TO FRIDAY
BBC = 11PM—5AM
SATURDAY
BBC = MIDNIGHT—7AM
EARTH BEAT = 7AM
ALLEGHENY FRONT = 7:30 AM
SUNDAY
BBC = MIDNIGHT—6AM
TRAVIS SMILEY = 4PM
In the coming months, we
hope to televise Progres-
sive Council Forums on a
variety of issues listed
above. We need Teams to
make all these things hap-
pen. If you are interested,
email Carlana Rhoten at
Rhotencouncilfo-
[email protected] or phone
her at 412-363-7472.
16 - NEWPEOPLE October, 2011
S O C I A L A C T I O N C A L E N D A R
SUNDAYS __________________________ Anti-War Committee meeting Every other Sunday 2:00pm - 3:30pm Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave., Garfield Book 'Em Packing Day Meets every Sunday 4:00pm - 7:00pm Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue Join others sending requested books to pris-
oners. Bring a group. For more info call the Thomas Merton Center, 412.361.3022
Human Rights Letter-writing Salon Meets every Sunday 4:00pm - 6:00pm Kiva Han, 420 S Craig St Write letters to combat human rights abuses!
Meet local Amnesty International activists and other human rights enthusiasts, change the world, and have a grand old time.
MONDAYS _______________________ Weekly North Hills Weekly Peace Vigil 4:30pm-5:00pm In front of the Divine Providence Motherhouse, 9000 Babcock Blvd., Allison Park
Sponsored by the Pittsburgh North People for Peace & the Srs. of Divine Providence
WEDNESDAYS ______________________ Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition Meets the 1st Wednesday of every month
5:30pm - 7:00pm Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library 5801 Forbes Avenue Meeting Room B Write On! Letters for Prisoner's rights Meets every Wednesday 6:30pm – 9:00pm Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Garfield We need help answering our 60 letters a
month from people in prison dealing with abuse and neglect. Come and learn about people in prison while advocating for their rights! Info 412-361-3022
PUSH [Pennsylvanian United for Single Payer Healthcare]/Health Care for All PA Meets monthly on the second Wednesday 6:15 pm office, 2101 Murray Avenue, Squirrel Hill
All welcome Info: [email protected]
Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (PADP) meeting Monthly on the first Wednesday 7:00pm - 8pm First Unitarian Church (Ellsworth/Morewood, Shadyside) For more information, call 412-384-4310. THURSDAYS _________________________ Green Party meeting First Thursday of the month 7:00pm - 9pm Citizen Power's offices, 2121 Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill, second floor
SATURDAYS ________________________
Project to End Human Trafficking Volunteer signup 2nd Saturday of each month 10:00am - 12:00pm Campus of Carlow University Project to End Human Trafficking (PEHT)
offers FREE public volunteer/information. Please pre-register by the Wednesday be-fore via [email protected].
For more information check out our website www.endhumantrafficking.org
PEHT Information and Training Seminars Second Saturday of every month 12:00pm - 1:00pm Carlow University, Antonian Room #502,
RSVP by the Wednesday before to [email protected]
Open to the public. Peace Vigils to End the War Every Saturday, following locations & times
Regent Square Peace Vigil Corner of Forbes and Braddock 12:00pm - 1pm
*Black Voices for Peace Anti-War Protest Corner of Penn & Highland in East Liberty 1:00pm - 2:00 pm
Beaver County Peace Links Peace Vigil Beaver County Courthouse, 3rd Street
(Beaver) 1:00pm - 2pm
Recurring Meetings and Meet Ups
~ October ~ Sunday, October 2nd ____________________
Dreams of Hope
1:00 pm to 4 pm
Call for Performers - Rehearsals
Gay and Lesbian Community Center, 210 Grant Street - downtown Pittsburgh
Dreams of Hope is a creative and performing arts organization for LGBTA youth
Performance Troupe.
Sunday, October 2nd ____________________
God's Mosaic: Celebrating Immigrant Cultures
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Avenue Pittsburgh, Pa. 15233
This three fold event of worship, conversation and table talk is designed to
celebrate the gifts of immigrants both past and present, and to help us find a way to
move forward together in the Pittsburgh area.
Monday, October 3rd ____________________
Pennsylvania's Freedom March for the Wrongfully Convicted
12:00 pm-2:00 pm
City County Building,414 Grant Street Pgh, PA
Keynote Speaker: Jeffrey Deskovic
Thursday, October 6th ____________________
OFF THE RECORD XI: NO FRACKING WAY!
8 to 10 PM
Byham Theater
Sixth Ave., Downtown Pittsburgh
Benefits Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Band And Others.
Musical Satire, lampooning Pittsburgh politics, personalities and culture, with a
special emphasis this year on Marcellus Shale Drilling. www.offtherecord.com
* Event Contact Email: [email protected]
Saturday, October 8th____________________
Project to End Human Trafficking
Carlow University, Antonian Room #502, Oakland
PEHT Information and Training Seminars are held the second Saturday of every
month.
RSVP by the Wednesday before to [email protected]
PEHT website www.endhumantrafficking.org
Saturday, October 8th____________________
PA Wants to Work; Jobs Now! Rally, Resource And Unity Fair
12pm to 3:30pm
Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Building
10 South Nineteenth Street (by the Wharton St Giant Eagle) at the River, South
Side, 15203.
Friday-Sunday, October 14th through October 16____________________
Building Change: A Convergence for Social Justice
9:00 am to 11:00 pm
Heinz History Center
Building Change: A Convergence for Social Justice is a conference for social
change for Southwestern Pennsylvania, a conference unlike any you‘ve ever
attended! There will be skill-building workshops, community dialogues on key
issues, speakers, art, networking, entertainment, a film festival, and more.
Admission is low, and it will be accessible to people with disabilities.
Friday, October 14th___________________
Jim Forest, author, "All Is Grace" on Dorothy Day Speaks
7:00 pm-9:00 pm
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral
Blvd. of Allies at Dawson St
Oakland
Jim Forest will discuss his acclaimed new book, "All is Grace" on Dorothy Day,
founder of the Catholic Worker in 1933, He co-founded the Catholic Peace
Fellowship and was one of the "Milwaukee 14" who burned draft files during the
Vietnam War. He is now international secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship.
The Merton Center is co-sponsoring his visit
Saturday, October 15th____________________
1-day Retreat: "Dorothy Day: A Saint for Our Times?"
10:00 am-4:00pm
Holy Family of Nazareth Retreat Center.
285 Bellevue Rd., off Perrysville exit, 279
Jim Forest, author of "All Is Grace" a new biography of Dorothy Day, founder of
the Catholic Worker movement, will lead the retreat. Space is limited, reserve a
place now. $20 includes lunch.
Friday, October 21st____________________
Sleep-In for the Homeless
Organized by Community Human Services
6:00 PM to 6:00 AM
Schenley Plaza in Oakland (Pittsburgh, PA), 4100 Forbes Avenue across from
Hillman Library and Carnegie Library in Oakland
For more information call Diane at 412.246.1608 or email
Friday, October 28th/29th____________________
PA Conference Against Torture:
A Phobia of Hope: Reflections from a Psychologist, Kate Porterfield, in
Guantanamo
7:00-8:30 pm
Market Square Presbyterian Church, 20 South Second Street, Harrisburg, PA
.