Rev. Jim Lewis - Perspectives on Economic Justice

September 23 - 7 p.m. - Laurel Room of WVU Mountainlair - Rev. Jim Lewis - Perspectives on Economic Justice; WVU Center for Women's Studies is co-sponsor

The Reverend Jim Lewis will share some of his experiences and perspectives from working toward economic justice as part of CCSJ's on-going discussion to determine what we can do to advance economic justice in this area. Reverend Lewis has a long history of activism, including:

Served parishes in Maryland, West Virginia and Michigan from 1964 until 1986. While at St. John's in Charleston, established a street ministry and feeding program for the homeless. In 1976 the church opened its doors to the gay and lesbian community.

Began the Norborne Day Care Center in 1965, one of the first child care facilities West Virginia and served a mix of poor and middle class children. Served on the governor's task force on day care.

Took a leadership role in a Kanawha County battle over school textbook.

Began major outreach programs for the poor while rector of St. John's and helped establish Covenant House as an outreach center assisting people with housing, jobs and social services.

Was a member in 1977 of the planning group and eventual board that began the Women's Health Center in Charleston, the first women's health center in West Virginia.

In 1986 appointed as the director of the West Virginia Coalition for the Homeless.

Created Helping Hands, a community effort to address the health and safety problems of poultry workers in North Carolina.

Active in peace work, traveling to Central America, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Libya. Member of a Fellowship of Reconciliation team that met with Yasser Arafat in Tunis just prior to the Intifada in the 1980s and a similar team that brought hostages back from Iraq just prior to the Gulf War.

Missioner of the Sussex County Mission of the Episcopal Church from 1995 to October 2001, an outreach ministry to the marginal and at-risk population in Sussex County and along the Delmarva Peninsula; mission assisted in the creation of the Delmarva Poultry Justice Alliance, an organization made up of poultry growers (farmers), poultry catchers, poultry plant workers, church people, union members, environmentalists and community members interested in address the problems associated with the production of poultry. Has advised and assisted in the organization of poultry justice alliances in North Carolina and Georgia. National speaker on the subject of the poultry industry.

One of the organizers responsible for opening a primary health care center (La Red) in Georgetown, Delaware to serve the uninsured, under-insured and those without a medical home, particularly emphasizing outreach to the growing Latino population working in the poultry industry

Coordinated the opening of a Abriendo Puerta, a shelter for Latino women, in Georgetown, Delaware.

$ Active in anti-death penalty work in West Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina and Delaware. One of the founders of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, a project of the North Carolina Counsel of Churches. Served on the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Board member of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, a national interfaith organization that works to develop ties between labor and religion.

Received the West Virginia Governor's Martin Luther King, Jr. "Living the Dream" award in 1991. Honored in Delaware by Pacem in Terris in October, 2001, as "A Peacemaker Among Us.

Essay entitled "Grasshopper Power" will be included in a book to be published by Cornell Press on workplace safety and the role of community organization in bringing about change in the food production system. A contributor to the book Strike Terror No More: Theology, Ethics, and the New War (Chalice Press, April, 2002). Now working on a book.

Sunday Afternoon With Al: Part II

October 13 - 3 p.m. - Sunday Afternoon With Al: Part II - St. Thomas A Becket Church

Al Anderson, community activist, singer, and CCSJ vice president, promises that this program of stories and songs will continue his life's story beyond Osage by focusing on his years in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. This is CCSJ's contribution to WVU's Diversity Week. Directions: The church is across from the old Gutta's Greenhouse. From the Mileground, go down Easton hill (Route 857). Turn right at the light as if you were going to the new Lowe's. However, just after turning right, turn at the first left--it comes very soon. That will be the Old Cheat Road. Then, turn left again as soon as possible and go up the hill to the church.

Economic Justice Discussion

October 23 - 6:30 p.m. - Economic Justice Discussion - Morgantown Public Library Boardroom-2nd fl.

Informal discussion on economic justice issues, including follow-up to Rev. Jim Lee's presentation and discussion of CCSJ's future agenda related to economic justice issues. For further information, contact Paul Becker or Tim Hairston.

Annual General Meeting Report

Paul Sheridan provided an excellent overview of the Civil Rights Teams in the state and the current controversy with the State Board of Education and the West Virginia Family Foundation, an especially timely subject as the nation struggles to define civil rights during wartime. If you wish to contact the State BOE and the governor about these teams, letters or emails can be sent to J.D. Morris, President, WV Department of Education, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305 (Dept of Ed web site) and to Governor Bob Wise, Office of the Governor, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305.

Library Books and Videos on Social Justice now Available

CCSJ has presented 55 books and 6 videos to the Morgantown Public Library that cover a range of social justice issues in our effort to promote tolerance and a commitment to justice in our community. Each has a bookplate identifying CCSJ as the donor. There are books for children and guides for parents and teachers. The books are available to be checked out now. Funding for this project came from the Morgantown City Council, and Mayor Ron Justice, Deputy Mayor Teresa Miller, and Councilman Jim Manilla attended our meeting. Thanks to Sharon Turner and Ellen Hathaway of the Morgantown Public Library for their assistance.

We will have a list of these items on our website soon, and our brochure listing these resources is available at the public library. We are distributing the brochure to our member organizations, the WVU President's Office for Social Justice, WVU Libraries, and faculty and students at the WVU College of Human Resources and Education. Thanks to Diana Claydon, coordinator of the Read Aloud program for the public schools, for sharing the brochure with the 200 volunteers who are part of that program. If you would like a copy of the brochure, which includes call numbers to find the materials at the library, please contact Barb Howe or call 293-2339, ext. 1155.

If you have suggestions for future purchases, please contact Judy Cohen.

2002-03 Board Members and Officers

Tim Hairston will be the temporary president (through December 31, 2002). Other officers will be: Al Anderson (vice president), Greg Wagner (treasurer), and Barb Howe (secretary). Steering committee members will be: Mike Attfield, Paul Becker, Judy Cohen, Lou Cottingham, Julie Greene, Kris Hash, Jacqueline Moseley, and Mike Sharley. Nominating committee members will be Tim Hairston, Marjorie McDiarmid, Charles Spring, and Lillian Waugh.

Suggestions for Upcoming Programs

We are considering a public forum dealing with community service alternatives to jail sentences. State law provides such alternatives, and local governments in the northern panhandle are using this service as a way to cut costs associated with the regional jail program. The Monongalia County courts are not now using this alternative. If you are interested in this issue, please contact Mike Sharley.

Upcoming Events of Member Organizations

WV Center for Dispute Resolution Conference, "Conflict Resolution 2002: The Local and Global Challenge". It will be held at Lakeview Conference Center in Morgantown October 9-10, 2002. Cost is $100 for both days, or pro-rated for those people who can only attend part of the conference. Pre-registration rates of $85.00 have been extended to September 20, 2002. To receive a brochure, call 304-296-2124.

PFLAG - Parents and friends of lesbians and gays. Meetings are every third Sunday of the month, 1-3 pm, basement of Unitarian-Universalist Church, 429 Warrick St, Morgantown. Contact for Information: Jay at 292 5257.

September 15: Mary Jo Podgurski, youth work and non-heterosexist sex education, Washington, PA, through Academy for Adolescent Health, Inc., on behalf of the Washington Hospital Team Direct Outreach - on her work with teens in Washington, PA and on her trip to various Teen Health Agencies in Europe. Email.

October 20: Patrick Arena, of Washington, PA PFLAG, career composer and singer for GLBT people, a concert of his and others' music that speaks to GLBT people. Email.

November 17: Steve Orner and possibly Ken Nuendorf as well: GLSEN, Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, setting up on-going student Gay-Straight Alliance groups in High Schools and perhaps middle schools as well, Pittsburgh area. Email.

WVU Center for Women's Studies. All of the following events are free and open to the public.

September 24: Debra Krummel and Susan McCrone will present "Women and Cardiovascular Disease in West Virginia" Suncrest United Methodist Church Cowen Hall (479 Van Voorhis Road). 7 pm. Co-sponsored with Health Ministries Team of Suncrest United Methodist Church.

October 7-11: Silent Witness Exhibit on domestic violence. The exhibit seeks to (a) honor the women who were murdered in acts of domestic violence; (b) raise awareness in our communities to the extent of domestic violence; (c) help connect people with local resources for ending violence; and (d) encourage community and legislative action in our society. WVU Mountainlair, Vandalia Lounge. For more information, contact Jim Nolan at 304-293-5801 ext 3210 or [email protected]. Co-sponsors are WVU College of Law, School of Applied Social Sciences, Center for Women's Studies; and Junior League of Fairmont.
October 7: Program related to Silent Witness exhibit and domestic violence issues, including "Cat" Cathy McConnell, attorney for Senior Legal Aid, as a singer. WVU Life Sciences Building G15. 7 p.m.

October 14: 7 p.m. Debra Schultz, author of Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement, and Faith Holsaert, one of the women featured in the book, will speak in the WVU Mountainlair Gold Ballroom. Co-sponsors are WVU Center for Women's Studies, College of Law, Center for Black Culture and Research, Department of History, Department of Political Science, and President's Office for Social Justice.

October 23: Ruth Kershner will present "Women as Perpetrators of Violence." WVU Health Sciences Center, John Jones Dining Room B. 4 p.m.

Other WVU Events

All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

September 18: Benedum Lecture, Terrence M. Keane, Chief of Psychology Service, VA Medical Center, "Terrorism, War and Trauma: Lessons for the Promotion of Resiliency and Recovery, " 8 p.m., G24 Eiesland

September 24: Lecture/Discussion, Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard (murdered in hate crime), "The Legacy of Matthew Shepard," 7:30 pm., Health Sciences Center Main Auditorium

October 9: Benedum Lecture, Amira Sonbol, Georgetown University, Center of Muslim-Christian Understanding, "Gender and the Cultures of the Middle East," 8 p.m., G24 Eiesland

October 14-18: WVU Diversity Week. Theme is "The Values That Unite"

October 16: WVU Women of Color Luncheon. Speaker: Thomasine R. Troisi, "The Spirituality of the Plains Indian Women," 11:30 a.m., WVU Mountainlair Ballrooms. For further information, contact Kim Suder at [email protected] or call 293-4555 or see www.as.wvu.edu/cwc/. Buffet lunch is $12 for non-students. Make reservations by October 8 through Kim Suder.

October 16: Benedum Lecture, Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland, "The Stakes: America, the War on Terrorism, and the Middle East," 8 p.m., G24 Eiesland

Web site

Please send suggestions for links or other resources to Mike.

CCSJ Members Needed - Renew/Join Now!

Your annual meeting mailing will include a copy of our new brochure. Please use it to renew your membership. If you wish to have additional copies of our brochure to give to colleagues and friends, please contact Barb Howe (293-2339, ext. 1155).

We will soon be doing a mailing to area organizations to ask them to be members of CCSJ. If you belong to a group that should be part of our coalition, please contact Barb Howe for more information. We are a 501-(c)-3 organization and can supply our FEIN if needed for organizations who wish to become members.