Category Archives: Faith and Social Justice

items from Not in Our Town Princeton (http://niotprinceton.org) and Princeton United Methodist Church (http://princetonumc.org)

Stem Cell Scientists Beware: Ruja Benjamin Challenges Your Ethics

Faith and Social Justice, Healthcare, ,

Biotech scientists take note: Ruja Benjamin challenges your ethics. You may have unconscious racial bias.

Benjamin, author of “People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier,” will speak on “What Kind of Future Are We Designing?” at noon on Tuesday, May 12, at the Princeton Public Library. ruja benjaminOn the faculty of Princeton University in the Center for African American Studies, she is a faculty associate in the Program on the History of Science, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and the Program in Global Health and Health Policy.

Here is her TED talk about why scientists and clinical trial directors must actively seek the input of those who might be harmed by new biotechnology.

Her sharp wit gets, perhaps, too close to the truth for comfort.

(this post originated at Not in Our Town Princeton).

Today and Every Day

Faith and Social Justice, , , , ,

sar poster 2015

Have you noticed these posters in storefronts around town? Merchants who support the Stand Against Racism campaign, by putting the signs in the window, are featured in a two-page color spread in Town Topics this week. The ad was sponsored by an anonymous donor to Not in Our Town, an interfaith, interracial group committed to speaking truth about every day racism.

Special thanks to Joy Chen — vice president of the Princeton Merchants Association and proprietor of JoyCards — who designed the poster. And to Lori Rabon of the Nassau Inn, which sponsored the legislative breakfast on Friday.

You can join the Stand Against Racism effort by signing the YWCA’s National Pledge Against Racism 

By contacting Congressional delegates to ask them to pass the End Racial Profiling Act (HR2851)

And by following the Not in Our Town Princeton blog, with its calendar of pertinent events.

Gritty Details: the Gala Scene

Around Town, Dance and the other arts, Faith and Social Justice, , , ,

For all of us who might be planning fund-raising events, this article in the 4-18-15 New York Times has insights.

“The events that work best are the ones that offer people an insider’s view of the organization or the people it serves.”

Not as effective, “those focused too much on honoring people within the organization…misses an opportunity to increase the number of people who know about the cause.”

In other words, buy a table and fill it with folks who might be donors.

Congregation Beth Chaim stages “Memories of Auschwitz on the 70th Anniversary of Liberation Monday” on Monday, April 13, at 7 p.m.

Cantor David Wisnia and his grandson traveled to Poland on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, and he will share his story.

Maundy Thursday: Airline Miles and Shy Feet

Around Town, Business, Faith and Social Justice, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

shy feet

In my email on Linked In this morning, chamber colleague Ken Haag published Is Your Business Heartland Secure? 

By following Haag’s link, I reminded myself that Heartland has a shop local card that helps Princeton merchants by eliminating processing fees. Another colleague at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Adrienne Rubin represents that division. With the One Princeton card, you can pay for things with your smart phone. Benefit to consumer: one percent of every transaction goes to the consumer’s choice of any of dozens of nonprofit organizations, including the Latin American Legal Defense Fund,  Princeton Senior Resource Center, and Princeton Community Housing

I sure hate to give up airline miles, but frequent flyer seats are getting scarce.

And thanks to Rothstein Hughes, who attends Grant Chapel in Trenton, I learned that on Maundy Thursday (today, when Jesus observed his last Passover meal with his disciples) it’s traditional to — not only wash the feet of the poor — but also hand out alms.

Queen Elizabeth follows that tradition TODAY in Sheffield, England, giving money to 89 people, a number that represents her age.

So today I’ll actually join up to get that One Princeton card. With every transaction, I will lose airline miles — but one percent of the transaction will benefit charity.

No, Queen Elizabeth is not doing the foot washing part — but some of us will. Tonight at 7:30 at Princeton United Methodist Church the youth choir leads the Holy Communion Service along with foot washing.

For folks like me, the alternative is hand washing. I have shy feet.

And you?

Amazing African Art in Soiree Auction

Dance and the other arts, Faith and Social Justice, , , , , , ,

3 Luba Shankadi mask

This amazing Luba Shankadi mask will be in a live auction, at the African Soiree to benefit United Front Against Riverblindness. It starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 21 at the Princeton Seminary and includes a buffet of African and international foods, entertainment, and an update from UFAR founder Daniel Shungu.

Anyone may buy items at the African marketplace, from 4:30 on, but you need to be at the dinner to participate in the Kuba art auction. Go to the United Front Against Riverblindness website for $70 tickets.

Other yummy items — this cowry-shell and beaded purse, a whimsica3 cowry shell and bead pursel double-entendre since cowry shells were a form of money. 

Traditional Congolese “Kuba” art was affected by influences from abroad that arrived during the era of colonization, but the individuality and variety of tribal customs has been preserved.

Below left, a modern sculpture. Below right, a museum quality headstand. And the textiles– my photos don’t do them justice so here is a link to a gallery.  Starting prices for the auction range from $100 to $500. If you can’t get there Saturday but want to bid… hmmm, shall I bid for you?

2 Luba Shankadi headrest

10 sculpture

Danielle Allen: canceled — but — wait!

Business, Faith and Social Justice, , , , , , , ,

The Princeton chamber lunch on Thursday with Danielle Allen has been cancelled, due to weather — but you have another chance to hear her.  She will speak at Labyrinth bookstore on Tuesday, March 10,  at 6 p.m. With Melissa Lane she will discuss Lane’s new book the “The Birth of Politics: Eight Greek and Roman Political Ideas and Why They Matter.”

Here is Diccon Hyatt’s interview with Allen in the current issue of U.S. 1  This interview focused on her reading of the Declaration of Independence, whereas I was more interested in her direct declaration of how she advocates for bridging cultural divides, as reported by Not in Our Town Princeton here.

The chamber lunch will not be rescheduled, but Allen will stay in Princeton till June. Perhaps she be persuaded to talk about intercultural dialogue here, before she goes to Harvard.

 

Danielle Allen: ‘interracial distrust’ vs ‘racism’

Faith and Social Justice, , , , ,

Danielle-Allen_605

Ask yourself, when you interact with a stranger from another race or background, whether you have treated them as you would a friend.

So said Danielle Allen, the luncheon speaker at the Princeton Regional Chamber on Thursday, March 5, at 11:30 p.m. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, she explained the difference between the term “Interracial distrust” and “racism.” As below:

“Interracial distrust does capture something missed by the word “racism.” Most of us use the word “racism” to denote the antipathy of white people to people of color. Though the word can equally well denote negative feelings that flow in other directions, we tend to restrict it to the attention “white” people pay to “colored” people.

“Interracial distrust,” in contrast, captures the fact that negative feelings flow all ways across multiple racial and ethnic lines. The world is too full to focus only on how one group of people perceives another group. I am interested in how each of us, individually, interacts with people who are different from us and whom we fear.”

Danielle Allen, a renowned author and co-editor, is currently at the Institute for Advanced Study but will soon leave Princeton for Harvard to be a professor and direct the Edmond. J. Safra Center for Ethics.  aiming to guide the center in a post-Ferguson direction.

She is chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, among other honors. Her topic for Thursday: Pursuing Happiness: What the Declaration of Independence Has to Teach Us About Human Flourishing.

The exact same kind of intercultural conversation that Allen espouses — it takes place in Princeton on first Mondays at the Princeton Public Library. Continuing Conversations on Race is March 2 and April 6 at 7 p.m.

 

 

Edgy (live) dance & film at the Garden Theatre

Dance and Dancers, Dance and the other arts, Faith and Social Justice, , , ,

Something I did NOT expect: The Garden Theatre presents a LIVE dance-theater performance by DV8 Physical Theatre on Wednesday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m., repeating Sunday, January 25, 12:30 p.m. This National Theatre production is billed as for adults, read about it here.

Current films at the Garden are Selma, which I saw in company with some youthful demonstrators at another theater on Saturday . Loved the script and the acting, and (though I am squeamish about it) the onscreen violence was handled well.

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Also the movie about Alan Turing.  Thanks to Princeton University Press who sent the Very Big Book that inspires the film. Spouse is plowing through it, likes it, and promises to provide a mini-review. Turing was surely a hero to my late cousin Ann.