Category Archives: Faith and Social Justice

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

To Publicity Chairmen: Make it Easy

Around Town, Business, Faith and Social Justice, , , ,
kiwanis
With Robert Bullington, president of the Kiwanis chapter

Today I had a delightful lunch with the Kiwanis Club of Trenton at Leonardo’s II. The program chairman asked me to offer tips that would help this nearly 90-year-old chapter publicize the Times-Kiwanis Camp Fund, founded in 1955 in partnership with the then Trenton Times.

My 10-minutes talk focused on war stories, PR successes and failures, everything from the New Jersey State Button Society show to a Congo mission trip by Princeton United Methodist Church on behalf of UFAR. Titled “Make it Easy: Ask ‘How High,'” the talk focused on how to encourage donors to give, editors to print press releases, and individuals to leverage their connections.

Does anyone else want these tips? Have talk, will travel.

 

Debtors Prisons Here?

Faith and Social Justice

St_Briavels_Castle_Debtors_Prison

Debtors prisons in the U.S.? Surely not.

Yet investigations by NPR say that courts nationwide are sending the indigent to prison because they can’t pay court fines. Click here for a story by NPR’s Joseph Shapiro.

Surely not in Princeton.

But I saw how it might possibly, just maybe, happen. Last year I went to traffic court and watched people present their sad stories to the judge. “Pay your fine before the end of the day,” was the threat, “or you go to jail.” No money? no credit card? “Call some friends,” was the advice.

I didn’t stick around until the end of the day to see if anybody ended up in the hoosegow. And traffic court judges probably do need to use harsh threats for deadbeats. They are within their rights to do that. According to NPR, it is left up to the judge to figure out who has the money to pay and who is just crying poor.

So small a matter as a speeding ticket or a parking ticket is no problem for me, but could be a very big problem for someone struggling to pay rent. If you could pay your parking ticket right away, your court costs didn’t double. If you could pay a lawyer, you might get the traffic ticket charges reduced. If you couldn’t, you might lose your job because you can’t drive.

A judge in a Philadelphia suburb, according to WHYY Newsworks reporter Emma Jacobs, is unfairly targeting the poor , sending people directly to jail without the opportunity to get a lawyer. Click here for the story.

I don’t know whether our local judges — in Princeton, in Mercer County, in New Jersey — are sending vast numbers of people to jail for their inability to pay traffic court costs. I don’t know that any of our judges are making prejudiced decisions. (Full disclosure: Through Not in Our Town Princeton, I support the Princeton/Trenton campaign against what was labeled The New Jim Crow by Michele Alexander. Statistics show that black people go to jail for offenses for which whites go free.)

I do know that on that day in traffic court, the drivers of color were the ones having trouble paying the fines. The judge was not going easier on the white drivers — it was a classic case of the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer. ”

At least New Jersey does not charge its inmates for room and board. Click here for a state by state survey of fees.

NPR continues its coverage this week in Morning Edition and All Thing Considered.

(Image:  mid-Victorian depiction of the debtors prison at St Briavel Castle courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

 

 

 

 

Ponder on the N-Word: May 23 and 24

Faith and Social Justice, ,

“Our dysfunction around race, racism and the N-word not only reflects our inability to collectively deal with nuance, it also shows how our creative energies are diminished because of this fiction called race.”  DSCF7019 poster cropped

So says Rhinold L2014 ponder posteramar Ponder, who has a two-day exhibition of art, poetry, rap, and music, The Rise and Fall of the N-word: Beyond Black and White, at the Carl Fields Center next weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 23 and 24. In addition to Ponder’s paintings, the show includes poetry, rap, a DJ — and logos he commissioned from artists around the world, pictured above.

For details click here.

Ponder says this world needs a public language and environment to honestly and productively discuss the issues of race.

Such an environment does exist in Princeton, I believe. Cosponsored by Not In Out Town and the Princeton Public Library, a forum called Continuing Conversations on Race and White Privilege is held on first Mondays at 7 p.m. at the library, October through June. These forums offer a friendly and confidential place to talk about important but often controversial subjects. The next Continuing Conversation is June 2.

It was Jo Butler versus Bernie Miller and Sue Nemeth in the Democratic primary debate for Princeton Council, staged by the League of Women Voters. Click here to see and hear the dialogue.

Against Racism: Princeton Students Speak

Faith and Social Justice,

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Click on I, Too, Am Princeton.

If you look at the first photo, you can’t NOT page to the end. Please look, please think.

The introduction:

“In the wake of a post-racial ideology circulating in our society today, it is imperative that the light of the struggles that categorize this nation is not erased. With this circulation also comes the muting of the voices that make up the sound of the U.S. This is an opportunity to turn the volume back up….”

Janet Gardner: Uncovering History

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

If you want to know where to find the best south Asian food around here, ask Rocky Hill resident Janet Gardner. She’s spent years in Vietnam and Cambodia making award winning documentaries. Her film “Lost Child — Sayon’s Journey” will be screened on WHYY tonight at 11 p.m. To celebrate the Cambodian New Year, it will be screened at the Buddhist Temple in Philadelphia on Saturday, Aprl 26, at 4 p.m.  Admission free.

Nicole Mulvaney wrote about it today for the Times of Trenton.

Established in 1990, Gardner’s company focuses on films about hidden history. Her films include Dancing Through Death, about a Cambodian classical dancer under the Pol Pot regime,  Mechanic to Millionaire, about the Cooper Union founder Peter Cooper, Precious Cargo, about the babylift from South Vietnam, Siberian Dream, about a Buddhist woman and former fashion model who grew up in the Buryat/Mongolian culture — and several more.

I met Janet when she alerted me to a great place to get Pho.  I have our TV programmed for this important show.

Checking his Privilege

Checking his Privilege

A white student at Princeton University rejects the idea that “I ought to feel personally apologetic because white males seem to pull most of the strings in the world.”

At the UFAR African Soiree

Around Town, Faith and Social Justice, , , ,

Here is what Pat Tanner wrote when she attended the African Soiree to benefit the United  Front Against Riverblindness. Thank you, Pat for helping us spread the news.

And here is an account of how the family of the late Peter Meggitt received a very special award.  soiree presentation Hugo Liz TomFrom left: Hugo Meggitt, Liz Meggitt, and the presenter, Rev. Tom Lank.

This statuette of a child leading a blind adult was made by a third-generation sculptor from Burkina Faso. It represents the tragedy of the disease that affects more than just the infected person — and the hope that, with sustained community-based mass treatment, this common depiction of the disease will soon disappear.

The fifth annual African Soiree, held on March 1 at Princeton Theological Seminary, raised $16,000 for UFAR, the African-inspired, Lawrenceville-based nonprofit that aims, in partnership with other organizations, to eliminate and eventually eradicate riverblindness as a major public health and socio–economic problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2010 Peter traveled with a Princeton United Methodist church mission team to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and he made significant contributions to UFAR’s fundraising efforts for the past five years.

Also presented that evening: a certificate showing that a village has been sponsored in Peter’s s name. This sponsorship, which includes a picture of the village chief, keeps the entire village from going blind.

More than one-third of the 60 million people in the DRC are at risk for contracting riverblindness, according to Dr. Daniel Shungu, UFAR founder.

Photo by Robin Birkel.

African Women Extraordinaire: March 6

Faith and Social Justice, , ,

Princeton Theological Seminary stages a one-day symposium on March 6: about church, health, and women’s development. The full-day workshop is $50 and is being planned by Dr. Elsie A. Mckee. Princeton Seminary’s professor of Reformation Studies and History of Worship. She is also the International Liaison and President of Women, Cradle of Abudance, a North America-based organization that promotes the work and ministry of Femme Berceau de l’Abondance. She is also on the board of United Front Against Riverblindness and co-chair of the March 1 African Soiree.
One of the keynoters is AWE 2014 Mukuna Monique Misenga Mukuna is President of Femme Berceau de l’Abondance, an ecumenical Christian group of women gathered in response to the systemic poverty and violence against women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mme. Monique is based in Kinshasa.

 
Also participating: The Rev. Muriel Burrows, pastor of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church.

African Adventure: March 1 UFAR Menu

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

Too many cooks won’t spoil the broth on Saturday, March 1, at the African Soiree to benefit United Front Against Riverblindness. Along with listening to folktales, shopping in an African market, and bidding on auction items,  Soiree guests will enjoy a feast prepared by two dozen cooks and chefs from two restaurants: Makeda and Palace of Asia.

From the Democratic Republic of Congo:2014 soiree buffet 2013

  • Cassava/manioc
  • Bitekuteku
  • Pondue
  • Fufu
  • Goat a’la Congolaise
  • Chicken moamba
  • Banana snack
  • Makayabo/fish & collards,
  • Sliced mangoes and pineapple

From Ethiopa: injero, shero wat  and doro wat (chicken stew)

From South Africa: oxtail casserole and chicken birnanyi

From Sierra Leone, Bean patties and fritters ‘Oleleh and Akara Balls’

From India: Samosa, meatballs, and goat

And for less adventurous appetites: chicken fingers, Chinese fried rice, green salad, tetrazzini, and barbecue wings.

2014 soiree table 2013

The African Soiree is 5 to 8 p.m. at the Mackay Center of Princeton Theological Seminary. Tickets at $60 ($30 for kids and students) are still available by contacting event chair Susan Lidstone at UFAR@PrincetonUMC.org or 609-688-9979. Offstreet parking is free.

“We welcome the community to the fifth annual Soiree,” says UFAR founder Dr. Daniel Shungu. “As we enjoy the entertainment and the delicious African meal, we will enable UFAR to keep an entire village from going blind.” He will present a special award to the family of the late Peter Meggitt, a UFAR supporter who traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo with a Princeton United Methodist Church mission team.

Photos by Robin Birkel