Eracism MInute 10/17/2020 David Curley

Good morning. I’m David Curley, a member of the Black Lives Matter ministry action team. Today I want to talk about the role of listening in building a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community. And I want to talk particularly about how to “stay in the room” when we are listening to stories about injustice.

We can practice with the first of the first of the formal statements that are meant to explain why an eighth principle is needed. “Whereas white supremacy perpetuates the assumption that white people and their culture are superior to other races, and those in power use this assumption to dominate others and to serve their economic, political and social interests.”

I was in college. It was 1966, a hot summer night on the South Side of Chicago, and I was walking with a friend in in acity park. A group of young Black men approached us. One of them asked us to stop, said that he just wanted to talk. We stopped, not sure where this was going. He asked: “You go to the University of Chicago, right?” I said I did. He said, “I live here. I get A’s in my high school. Our teachers, our school are so bad that we can’t get into college.”

He may have said more, but in any case, I felt afraid ofemotions of frustration and anger. I remember that he insisted, “You are smart, tell me what I am supposed to do.”

Here is what I wish I had known to do. I wish I had taken a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and asked them all to tell me more. I wish I could have said, “Do you have time to talk for a while?” Instead, I said, “I don’t know, I don’t know.” and we left.

All of us have established habits of response that tend to shut down conversation. At the BLM program on Difficult Conversations led by Kaitlin Davis we learned about twelve of responses that tend to say “end of discussion.” I’ll list a few: of course, shaming or blaming, but also, agreeing and praising(that’s great!); advising, providing solutions (“what I do is”);interpreting “What you really mean is . . .” You will see the whole “dirty dozen” list on this week’s BUF news.  Jayme and I are trying to learn new habits.

ERACISM Minute 10/3/2020 Claire Lending

 Hello, I am Claire Lending and I am going to talk youtoday about Michelle Obama’s early life based on her book Becoming. As I talk, I ask you to think about the racist system she had to face.

 

Michelle Obama grew up in Chicago’s South Side living with her parents and brother on the top story of a house owned by her Mother’s Aunt and Uncle. Her father worked for the government, but they could not afford their own house. As a young child her neighborhood was middle class and racially mixed. In Michelle’s kindergarten class a boy was earning gold stars for being able to read the names of colors. Michelle was very competitive so she studied at home so she could earn gold stars too. In second grade Michelle’s teacher was incompetent; the children were unruly and labelled bad kids. Michelle complained to her mother who then went to the principal and Michelle ended up moving with one other girl in the class to a newly formed joint 2nd/3rd grade class of high performing students. (Now she looks back and wonders how the rest of the children in that second grade classfared.)  Every year when Michelle showed up for school there were less White kids on the playground. Some transferred to the Catholic school but more left the neighborhood altogether and the schools reflected this. 

 

Michelle tested into a magnet school for high achieving high school students. She had to take a one hour city bus ride each way which meant she gave up sports and family time. She was at first not sure she belonged in the new school, but she worked hard and ended up in the top 10% of her class. She went to her counselorearly in her Senior year to discuss college. Michelle said she wanted to go to Princeton; the counselor discouraged her and said Michelle was not really Princeton material. But Michelle was stubborn. Her brother went to Princeton on a track scholarship and Michelle knew she was smarter than her brother. 

 

Michelle applied and got into Princeton. When she firstarrived, she thought other students were looking at her and thinking she was just an Affirmative Action choice. However, when she earned an A- average her first semester, she knew she belonged. Michelle found a community at Princeton and did well, then applied and was accepted at Harvard Law School. 

 

After graduating from law school, Michelle got a job at a prestigious law firm in Chicago doing intellectual property law work. One summer she was assigned an intern from Harvard Law. As soon as she saw him, she knew why he was assigned to her; he was Black. However, this turned out well as the intern was Barrack Obama.

 

Michelle did not stay in the job with her high salary. She wanted to give back. She took a big pay cut to work in Mayor Daley’s office and has continued to work for the public good since then.

 

As I read Michelle Obama’s story, I wonder how different my life would have been If I were Black and had grown up in South Side, Chicago.  Even though I am a college professor in the male dominated field of Finance, I very much doubt that I would have had the courage and determination to overcome the barriers that Michelle Obama faced.

ERACISM Minute 10/11/2020 Henry Ohana

 

The 13^th amendment was passed in December of 1865.  The text of that amendments reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”  This loophole was immediately exploited and many of the newly freed slaves were imprisoned for minor crimes such as loitering or vagrancy.  Thus, slave labor was allowed to continue and the notion of the “black criminal” was created.

 

This system of labor allows states to maintain their reliance on forced, uncompensated or undercompensated, and predominantly Black labor to this day.  Cheap prison labor is a powerful labor market incentive against criminal justice reform.   Private corporations are incentivized to lobby for policies that maximize prison populations in order to sustain a business model that is only profitable because they can exploit artificially deflated labor costs.

4100 corporations profit from prison labor and every state, except for Alaska, has a state-governed prison industries initiative.

 

Most inmates are engaged in in-house work within correctional facilities, such as food service and laundry, however around 63,000 inmates work in prison industries which produce goods for external sale. Work ranges from farm production and manufacturing to call centers and distribution services.  Those Idaho potatoes you may eat?  Prison labor.  McDonald’s containers, cutlery, and employee’s uniforms?  Also - prison labor.

 

Usually inmates are not “required” to work; however the consequences of not working are harsh.  They may lose their “privileges” such as family visits or even may end up in solitary confinement.  If the prisoners are paid, they can earn as little as 74 cents a day and are often required to pay for basic items such as soap, deodorant, and shoes. Inmates can have 80% of their measly pay taken for taxes, room and board, and restitution.

 

Here are some companies to avoid if you don’t want to support prison labor

Meeting Minutes 10/5/2020

 

BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team

Business/Planning Meeting:  October 5, 2020

 

Present:  Mary Aldin, Genia Allen, Murray Bennett, Lauralee Carbone, David Curley, Claire Lending, Cat McIntyre

 

1. Eracism Minutes. 

10/11   Cat will ask Hank Ohana

10/18   David Curley

10/25   Lauralee Carbone

11/1      Cat McIntyre (about 8th Priniple 'whereas' statements)

 

2. Program for Oct. 12.  Kaitlin Davis will complete the three-part series, "Difficult Conversations. Genia would like to repeat this series in the new year, perhaps with facilitators.  This could also be a 'meet up' topic. 

 

3. Program for Nov.  9. Subject will be a talk by Ibram X Kendi. Genia encouraged whomever presents this to use enhanced audio. Lauralee and Genia will coordinate the technology, with help from Kevin Allen-Schmid. 

 

4. Phone Tree Report. Genia reports that she and Henry Ohana completed the phone tree list. It will initiate by Cat McIntyre calling eight people who will then each call 5 or 6 others. Calls will be selected for urgent actions that require a quick response. An example would be local shooting with vigil the same night.

 

5. Eighth Principle Update.  Five more listening sessions have been set up through November 8. Kara Black did a session on Sunday, Oct. 4 for Chalice Circle facilitators.  Two frequent questions are the format of the resolution, particularly concerning: 

a.    Accountability

b.    Whereas statements -- does one have to agree with all the statements to sign on to the principle? and

c.     Where is BUF regarding Beloved Community now, and how would that change under 8th Principle?

Upcoming Eracism minutes will address these questions.

 

6. Meeting with Whatcom Co. Prosecutor. Lauralee put together a power point presentation, some of which she showed to the group. Hank Ohana is working to add Grass Roots Law's Four Demands. Once the presentation is edited to focus on 2-3 items that the prosecutor has power over and could effect change, Lauralee will arrange the meeting.  Several people are interested in working on this, including Kara Black, who has already met with the prosecutor, C2C and Restorative Justice. The point of our meeting will be: although we are all white, we have a moral stance, we are allies, we care and we vote. 
 

Next BLM Program meeting: Oct 12 at 7 pm

Next BLM business/planning meeting: November 2 at 6 pm

 

Respectfully submitted,
Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator, BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team