Perhaps many could attend the following event offered by Justified Anger and then talk about it here on this blog;

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15ccc22f72dba19d

Whiteness and Niceness

Thanks to Lucy for sending the article about whiteness and niceness.  It would be interesting to get our responses to the article on this site.  In case you missed it the article can be found at

http://formerlyunchurched.com/white-niceness-as-the-enemy-of-black-liberation/

When have I witnessed "Wisconsin Nice" getting in the way of social justice?t

The article states:
Most white people have a worldview that the playing field is level, (regarding white people and people of color) except for maybe in a few isolated circumstances.

Do I agree?

The article notes that when people say, "Black Lives Matter", many respond, "They should really say,
"All Lives Matter."

Have I seen or heard this?  How would I respond?

A great opportunity to come together

Thanks to fellow Madisonians for imaging the following way of bringing people of our various backgrounds together.

Please join us on June 10 for an interfaith Ramadan Break the Fast - Faith, Fasting, and Friendship! Bring a dish to share, a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank, and enthusiasm for meeting new people and learning about food and fasting in different faith traditions. Space is limited, so RSVP early!

Find the event on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2001425446597292/

Or go directly to the Evite page and RSVP - http://evite.me/WmnzyAXFWA

The deadline is June 5, but space is limited, so don’t delay! A

Remember Native Americans are Human

Recently the name of Pocahontas was used to disparage a political leader.  The National Congress of American Indians responded as follows.  How do we stay awake to misuse of Native culture as we try to work for racial justice?

“NCAI is a bi-partisan organization that works equitably with both sides of the political aisle, and it is not our common practice to comment on the partisan name calling that has come to dominate American politics,” said NCAI Executive Director Jacqueline Pata. “But we cannot and will not stand silent when our Native ancestors, cultures, and histories are used in a derogatory manner for political gain.”

Pocahontas was a real person who to this day holds significant value to her family and her tribe, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in Virginia. The Pamunkey struck a treaty with the British Crown in the 1600s, and just last year were officially recognized as a federally recognized tribe by the U.S. government after a decades-long struggle. The name of Pocahontas should not be used as a slur, and it is inappropriate for anyone to use her name in a disparaging manner.

Read the whole comment at 

http://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2017/05/03/ncai-condemns-president-trump-s-derogatory-use-of-pocahontas-name-in-political-attack

How Intersectionality Plays out for one Madisonian

 April’s Madison Magazine featured Muslims in Madison.  Five individuals speak to their experience. Fatoumata Ceesay gives a perspective of being both Muslim and Black.

 http://www.channel3000.com/madison-magazine/city-life/fatoumata-ceesay-uw-madison-student-19/397589487

“I’m part of two fights that are kind of similar,” says Ceesay. When she’s at a Black Lives Matter rally, she can bring the Muslim perspective; when she’s organizing for Islam, she can share her perspective as a black woman. “Black people here in the U.S. are treated so unfairly and, post-9/11, Muslims here have been treated incredibly horribly,” she says, pointing to President Trump’s policies regarding Muslims as an example. “Because of those injustices,” she says, “I want to help people who don’t have voices, to have their voices heard by the general public.”

From Ceesay’s perspective, Western women’s ongoing fight for equal rights, even the right to vote (which black women didn’t expressly have until the Voting Rights Act of 1965), seems “slow in catching on” compared to Islam, which she says has mandated women’s rights to education and their own money “literally since like the beginning of Islam.” Confronting stereotypes is part of why Ceesay, a Madison365 intern who has written pieces for Madison365.com highlighting social injustices—including one called “10 Things You Know About Islam That Are Wrong”—has chosen to pursue journalism, particularly photojournalism. Her hijab is a visual representation of her personal faith, and she hopes that when people see her wearing it, they’ll speak to her instead of stare. 

How am I welcoming diversity in my city?

White Suburban Lawmakers Push to Put More Urban Youth in Jail, Keep Them in longer

And State Rep. David Bowen responds--

There are dynamics of race at play here where these are majority-white suburbs that are basically saying ‘Milwaukee needs to keep crime in in its own boundaries’ and the only way to fix this issue is to use methods that don’t actually solve the issue.”

“It’s important for residents in those areas and those districts that we be honest about solutions to crime in Milwaukee. I work in Shorewood, a suburb and separate city of Milwaukee, and there’s no way I would go to those residents and say, “Things will get better by being more punitive.’ I tell them that things will get by doing things that are evidence-based. That’s where we can gain the respect of and the attention of the residents that are at the grassroots level who actually want these things to get better.”

Thanks to Tracy (Messiah Lutheran)  for being awake to this article which you can read at

http://madison365.com/white-suburban-lawmakers-push-put-urban-youth-jail-keep-longer/

In Wis one-in-nine blacks can’t vote

It is no surprise who felony disenfranchisement hurts the most: those who are disproportionately incarcerated, i.e. black people.

Of the 6.1 million disenfranchised voters, 2.2 million are African American, which means one in 13 voting age black people is disenfranchised — more than four times the rate of non-black disenfranchised voters, according to the Sentencing Project.

One and a half percent of all Wisconsinites were disenfranchised in 2016, but 8.8 percent of African Americans were disenfranchised in Wisconsin.

According to the ACLU of Wisconsin one out of nine Black voters in Wisconsin are disenfranchised compgo ared to one out of 50 white voters, giving the state the 11th highest rate of disenfranchisement in the U.S.

Thanks to Tracy of Messiah Lutheran for finding this article to read the whole article go to

http://madison365.com/one-in-nine-blacks-cant-vote/

remembering and asking forgiveness

On Good Friday an ecumenical group walked together down town as a modern day Way of the Cross. There were 9 stops along the way including, US Federal Court, Bus Stop, State Capitol, Dane County Jail.  At each stop there was reading, prayer and song.  One stop was the Historical Museum and one of the prayers was:

History is replete with examples where the threat of violence or fear has resulted in the standardization of prejudice and hostility--the forced relocation of Native American populations, the internment of Japanese Americans, the segregation of African American communities, the incarceration of minorities, and the ongoing deportation of immigrants and exclusion of refugees.  All responded:

Lord, forgive us, for we know not what we do

The walk was sponsored by Madison Catholic Worker
www.madisoncatholicworker.org

The Dream of Tomorrow

“Today is the tomorrow you could only dream about yesterday.”  Words from the sermon of Pastor Marsh at the ordination of Christa Fisher. Sunday April 9, 2017

We might reflect on the ordination and installation service of Christa as the tomorrow we dream of for the beloved anti racist community. What did we see? What did we hear?  How did we live those moments in a “key of praise?”

One of the readings was from Martin Luther King, Jr’s Letter from the Birmingham jail written April 16, 1963.

I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

Why is this reading still important to us 53 years later?

New Jim Crow Panel

Thank you for calling our attention to the panel at Edgewood College last evening.

Seeing five panelists on stage who had spent many years in Wisconsin prisons was a living image of the book many of us read, The New Jim Crow. Four panelists were black men and one a white woman. All but one was a member of EXPO (Ex Prisoners Organizing.) The evening was a dialogue with students who had read the book and the five who had experienced the deliberativeness of a system that keeps people of color out of civic life.  When people are labeled as felons and/or registered sex offenders for the rest of their lives, they are prohibited from work as health professionals or federal employees. They cannot live in federally subsidized housing. They may be tracked with an ankle bracelet or on parole for many years. “The system is not broken,” a couple of the panelists emphasized. The system separates black people and other people of color from the rest of society in the same way that slavery and Jim Crow have in the past.

How can we join with ex prisoners, who know the system only too well, to systemically change this racially biased system?  That was the question that sends us to learn more and join with others to undo racism.

In memory of Martin Luther King Jr

April 4, 1968

Today we remember the death of Martin Luther King Jr who gave his life so that we can work for the life of all.  He once said:

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

What helps you to work for racial justice in 2017?

note April 6, at 6:00pm to 7:30pm details below

There is an offering in a new comment under the post about the Supreme Court below.
Sounds like a helpful event for this dialogue.  See that new comment for details.

Great opportunity for white anti racists

Book Workshop Series Facilitated by Laurel Finn and Laurie O’Donnell

10-week, sequential series designed for white people to forward anti-racism work. We connect the book with dialog and experiential activities, by exploring the white experience.

Goals of the Series - Build a community with a shared understanding of privilege, whiteness, and racism - Increase your ability to begin, support, and progress racial justice work - Develop leadership capacity around issues of diversity, inclusion, and race Testimonials from past group members: “I was impressed with both the course content and with the way that Laurel and Laurie facilitated. Laurel and Laurie brought honesty, knowledge, and humanity to our meetings. I'd taken other racial justice classes, but this one felt different. I appreciated the specific focus on whiteness and privilege, and that there were opportunities each week to practice ‘walking the talk.’ There was lots of learning, sure, but each piece also had an element of doing. That seems essential for those who want to not just understand racism but who also want to affect change.” “The Witnessing Whiteness class has truly been a life-changing and humbling experience! I have always thought of myself as a "good white person." And while I do try to do good in my community, I cannot discount or ignore the role my white privilege has played and continues to play in my interactions with friends, neighbors, and community members of color. Frankly, my privilege has allowed me not to even think about it. I honestly believe that every white person in Madison needs to take this class before attempting to step up and interrupt racism in our community. Laurel and Laurie facilitate the class with compassion, honesty, and thoughtful insight. I cannot recommend the class highly enough!” Dates Time Location Monday April 24th 6:00-8:15pm First Baptist Church Tuesdays in May (2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th) 518 N Franklin Ave Wednesdays in June (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th) Madison, WI  53705 The series is free and is limited to 30 participants. To register, please email Laurel at lafinn@wisc.edu by April 10th.

looking at Federal Budget through communities of color eyes

Helpful article to analyze national budget proposal.  What concerns you the most in the article?

http://www.colorlines.com/articles/how-trumps-proposed-budget-will-impact-people-color

How might we see the following from a racial justice lens?

How might we see the following from a racial justice lens?

from By Stephanie Innes Arizona Daily Star

NO WORD FOR WALL For the Tohono O’odham Nation, the U.S. border with Mexico is an unnatural line that divides their indigenous homelands. About 2,000 of the tribe’s members live in Mexico, and many of them use services such as the dialysis clinic, which is on the U.S. side in Sells. Sells, the tribe’s capital, is about 60 miles southwest of downtown Tucson. The expansive Arizona reservation is roughly the size of Connecticut. The tribe essentially has a wall already, many members say. Most of the tribe’s border is already lined with steel vehicle barriers that wind around saguaro cacti, across sacred archaeological sites, and allow for rushing waters to cross the border through washes that water their land during summer months. The added security has had effects. Places where members can legally cross the border with tribal identification cards have shrunk from seven to three in recent years, in some cases tripling travel time to visit families and attend ceremonies in Mexico.

To learn more about the Tohon O’dam nation and how a wall along the border would impact them go to 

http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/

Supreme Court Holds That Racial Bias in Justice System Must Be Addressed

Supreme Court Holds That Racial Bias in Justice System Must Be Addressed

What do you think?

The gist of the decision is here

 . . .racial bias is "a familiar and recurring evil" so harmful to the administration of justice that it cannot be ignored. "[B]latant racial prejudice is antithetical to the functioning of the jury system and must be confronted," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the Court. Accordingly, "where a juror makes a clear statement that indicates he or she relied on racial stereotypes or animus to convict a criminal defendant, the Sixth Amendment requires that the no-impeachment rule give way in order to permit the trial court to consider the evidence of the juror’s statement and any resulting denial of the jury trial guarantee."

"[R]acial bias implicates unique historical, constitutional, and institutional concerns," the Court reasoned. "It is the mark of a maturing legal system that it seeks to understand and to implement the lessons of history." Given our nation's history of racial injustice, it remains critical to address racial bias in order "to ensure that our legal system remains capable of coming ever closer to the promise of equal treatment under the law that is so central to a functioning democracy."

For a fuller report go to

http://eji.org/news/supreme-court-holds-courts-must-address-racial-bias

FREE workshop series (3 parts) on justice system disparities

Nehemiah Center for Justice and Reconciliation in Madison is giving a workshop series -FREE! - on racial disparities in the justice system, on Mondays, February 20 & 27, and March 6, from 7-9 PM.
Here's where you can find  out more:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-workshop-series-racial-disparities-in-the-criminal-justice-system-tickets-31521271973?aff=erellivmlt

Here is a podcast about public housing as a lottery.  It reinforces what we're learning in our study of the book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

More about "Milwaukee 53206"

Many have seen

"Milwaukee 53206" about mass incarceration in Wisconsin and heard the panel afterwards.  It makes us sadly aware that our mass incarceration is a racial justice matter.

I encourage us to learn more about our state’s mass incarceration and talk to our legislators about it at

Madison Action Day, March 30, 2017.  It is all day and well worth it.

See.

http://mosesmadison.org/event/wisdom-day-of-action/

Register at   http://wisdommadisonactio.wixsite.com/mysite

Our local affiliate is MOSES

You can write a check to MOSES please memo on check registration for action day

Mail it to 

MOSES
PO Box 7031
Madison, WI 53707 

Theology for white women

This reflection is addressed especially to women, and it may encourage the men among us to write about their experience as well.


OK white women what do you think about this article?


https://womenintheology.org/2017/02/01/lets-get-strategic-white-women-in-resistance-to-the-trump-cultural-political-machine/

Math and Racial Justice

Which is greater, 1.8 milion or 12 million? Read State Journal report from the other day and then decide. Thanks for doing the math for us, Jerry Hancock. Is there anyone who can do the math for Governor Walker? Do you see any connection with this article and anti-racism? Please share your thoughts.

5 Ways to Disrupt Racism

Here's a great little video from the UK: http://www.racialjusticenetwork.co.uk/category/racial-justice/

White People: I Don’t Want You To Understand Me Better, I Want You To Understand Yourselves

https://theestablishment.co/white-people-i-dont-want-you-to-understand-me-better-i-want-you-to-understand-yourselves-a6fbedd42ddf#.phugif15l

Wisconsin's Black-White Disparity Remains Extreme

http://wuwm.com/post/report-wisconsin-s-black-white-disparity-remains-extreme?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=FBWUWM6956#stream/0

MLK day

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day.  What might we learn from his words:

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."