Necessary for Life: Education + Hope + Justice

For some odd reason, I still underestimate the power of the WORLD WIDE web and Facebook. With my excitement about being able to leave 2011 behind and start a new year and new possibilities, my friend encouraged me to use my new tattoo as my Facebook profile picture. I hadn't planned on showing the world my tattoo but I put a lot of thought into my tattoo and it has a lot of personal meaning for me so I thought, "Sure! New profile pic and new meaning on life!" So I changed the profile pic, cropped it so you could only see the tattoo (and not the rest of my body) and posted it.

What Facebook doesn't tell you is that they add your cropped photo to your profile, but they also add the original (uncropped) picture to your pictures. I only had a picture of my stomach, but it's still a little more risqué and exposed than I like to be.

I started getting comments on the picture saying, "You got a tattoo???" Seriously, for some crazy reason, I guess I assumed people would think it was just a picture and not me. I started answering coyly at first and have since changed my mind. After all, if you see me in a swimsuit this summer, you'll see it anyway. If you don't, well, that was intentional. I didn't get it for you. :)

However, now that the word is out, I feel the need to explain it so you can understand it's entire meaning.

The hand: I have a piece of jewelry with this hand on it. The card that came with it explains: "This design represents the ripple effect when we touch the lives of others." I have always used the term "ripple effect." I believe we will never know the true ripple effect of the people we touch. It reminds me of It's a Wonderful Life. Take any one of us out of someone's life and their life would be completely different.

Every once in a while one of my "kids" (who are now either in college or graduated from college) will mention something like, "Yeah, I'm helping so-and-so with their college applications," or "No, I don't need any help with my financial aid, [insert former college student's name here] is helping me with that. It makes me happy beyond belief knowing that I helped the former college student with their paperwork and it only took that one little ripple for so many others to get the help they need. What's even more rewarding about this ripple effect is that my neighborhood is one where the percentage of kids going to college is much lower than average so to know how they have begun helping each other and extended beyond my reach is wonderfully satisfying to me.

The words: A while back I emailed a bunch of my friends and asked them to write three words that described me. It was a little awkward for me to ask this but I thought it would help me figure out the words I wanted on my tattoo and I value my friends so much that I thought it would be significant that they were included in creating the tattoo...even though they had no idea why they were participating in my random request. After getting many words back, I categorized them. I didn't want to write things like "stubborn," "passionate," or "writer" on me. I didn't want to label myself. Instead, I thought about the things that made me stubborn and passionate and the content of my writing. I boiled it down to Education, Justice, and Hope.

The placement: I am a brown belt in kung fu. I have learned that if a kick or punch is executed directly on the solar plexus, it disrupts the entire body...to the point of not being able to function. Thus, I placed my tattoo directly on the solar plexus. (No, it wasn't intended to create a target for any of you who might be getting any ideas!) In my mind, the center of my body is the core. Education, Justice, and Hope make up the core of my being. I truly believe if any of those three are taken out or messed with, it will completely disrupt our ability to function...personally and within our society. Eduction + Justice + Hope = Life and Life Change.

So now you know. I thought long and hard about the why behind the what. I wanted it to be meaningful and out of the ordinary. It's because of that, I know I will have absolutely no regrets. Here's to 2012!

Life After Prison is Hard

I haven't written in a while...and this is not originally what I had planned to post on my first blog back. But, I "friended" one of my "kids" on Facebook when I saw that he made a comment on his brother's page. I haven't talked to him in quite some time. After he accepted my friendship, he wrote and asked me how I was doing. I gave him a quick response and asked about him. This is what I received in return:

Well i just relized... life as an adult is hard. I so missed the days at camp and comin to ur house to play around.everything now is just so complicated u know.i went to the pen. For sellin drugs. Did 3 & a half years. Now im out.have been 4 about 2 months and lookin 4 work. Its so hard u know.ur suppose to come out with this view of how the world is so beautiful and anything is possible when thats not the way it is at all. I want 2 work and no one will let me when i didnt want 2 work everyone offered me jobs!! For the first time since i was a kid im strugglin. I dont know what to do.i do know that if i return to my old methods of gettin money i will make plenty but at what cost.so most days i pray until i cant knees hurt and other days i think until my heart hurts.but pain is growth so im growin.but im bleesed and i know this just waitin 4 my miracle.and im full of joy it may not sound like it but i am. Ive seen a lot and didnt close my eyes heard a lot expanded my mind hurt a lot but grew stronger with time

He is probably in his mid-20s now. He grew up with a mother who was always either strung out on drugs, looking for drama, or looking for the next way to get drugs. He was raised by his dad. I don't know the full extent of his environment there, but I know it wasn't probably the best or easiest home situation either.


It is because of people like him that I feel second chances are important. It's because of statements like these that make me realize that being a part of a system that does everything in it's power to prevent people from voting, getting a job, living in an apartment, isn't a just system. It doesn't mean that after 15 years of doing the wrong thing, he would all of a sudden be the perfect citizen. But when he has paid his dues as deemed by the courts, he should at least get an opportunity to try to do it right. Unfortunately, our system makes it extremely hard to do that.

International Justice Mission...in Thailand

Not too long ago, I found out about the International Justice Mission. Justin Schneider a friend and co-worker of mine who works for CitySquare's Legal Action Works law firm. In the last month or so, Justin was chosen to do a legal fellowship with International Justice Mission at their field office in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The fellowship lasts 12 months and starts in June.

Once we found out about their trip, Imtiaz Haiyoom, our Director of IT at CitySquare, jumped into action and called several of us at CitySquare together to start helping Justin and his wife, Angela, raise the funds needed for their trip. What has resulted is a an excuse to get a lot of cool people together who want to, simultaneously, help good people fulfill a mission that will have an amazing impact.

On Saturday, May 7^th from 7:00-10:00 p.m. we will be hosting a fundraiser for Justin and Angela. The event will be held at 511 N. Akard. You can see more (and RSVP) on the Facebook page here: Let's Get 'Em to Thailand. We want you to come, too!! We have quite a diverse group of friends so I am sure that whoever you are and whatever your interests, you will meet some cool, new people...and/or bring your own friends so that we can meet them as well!

Here are some of the facts I found out about IJM:

The International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.

Because of IJM, in the last four years:

• More than 2,000 children, women and men have been freed from slavery
• More than 800 women and children have been freed from forced prostitution
• More than 300 individuals have been arrested for trafficking-related offenses
• Hundreds of widows and orphans have had stolen property returned to them
• Thousands have received their entitled documentation of citizenship or elevated legal status

Justice is important to me no matter where it is. After watching the above video and reading about IJM, I was nearly convinced to apply to the organization to be a social worker in one of their locations...and I would, except that for now I know I am needed here. I am so thankful to know there are the Justin's and Angela's in the world who can and are willing to work in the IJM arena. Fighting injustice takes all kinds of careers, fields, and people all over the world.

In addition, here is what I think is super-awesome about Justin, Angela, and the amazing people I work with at CitySquare: I love that immediately, when Imtiaz heard about it, he automatically started figuring out ways to help. I love that our entire "committee" of people planning this fundraiser work for CitySquare or other non-profits. I love that each person on the "committee" understands their own organization's financial constraints, yet are still dedicated to the justice of people everywhere...so much so that they're willing to give up money themselves to see it happen (and those of you who are familiar with non-profits understand people in the non-profit business are not working with bunches of disposable income). I love that in my conversation with Justin asking him if he was concerned about the large gap between what they have raised and what they need, he explained to me without missing a beat or adjusting any kind of facial expression that, if needed, he and Angela would cut into their savings to make it happen.

Please come join us.

However, if you can't come, but would like to support Justin and Angela, you can either go here: http://www.ijm.org/getinvolved/internshipsupport, click on "support an intern/fellow," then choose "Justin Schneider"

OR

Go to http://bit.ly/CitySqDonate and choose "LAW Fellowship" from the dropdown menu.

If you would like to help by donating something cool to the silent auction we will have the night of the party, please let me know.

Let's Get 'Em to Thailand!

Angela and Justin:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

What is it with our country??

Last night my friend in Missouri expressed her frustration over going to the gym, as she regularly does. "I hate all of these New Year's Resolution people!" she grumbled. Because of the New Year's Resolution crowd (that only comes the first of the year), she couldn't do her regularly scheduled routine on the treadmill.

As we were talking, I realized that it's not just New Years...our whole society is about one-time events.

At Christmas, everyone wants to give to the poor.

At Easter, everyone wants to go to church.

At Spring Break, Christian colleges want to take groups to "serve."

At the After-School Academy, we get offers that people want to teach a one-time class.

And Monday will be Dr. Martin Luther King day, which has been proclaimed a National Day of Service.

Now I suppose that one-time giving or one-time exercising or one-time serving is better than nothing....and, who knows, perhaps for a few (one or two??) it results in a long-term dedication. But, let's be honest. We are a self-gratifying society. We do these one time events for ourselves...not for anyone else. And when we are focused on ourselves, it doesn't last.

Take exercise. New Year's resolution..."Lose 10 lbs." with the implied "...so I can look better" ...instead of "focus on my overall health for the benefit of myself and others who love me and want me around in 30 years."

Easter. "Attend church." (it relieves guilt, I suppose...but I don't think the intention is really about deepening a long-term faith)

Christmas. "Deliver gifts to the poor and teach my child how to give to the 'less fortunate'." (have you ever thought about what it sounds like if you were to knock on someone's door to say, "Hi, I wanted to deliver gifts to the poor. I wanted my son to see you so he could see how fortunate he is.")

MLK Day of Service. "Go to a rough neighborhood...preferably a street named after MLK...because it will more than likely be in a run-down area (which makes no sense at all to me, but that's a completely different topic) and offer to pick up trash or paint houses or something."

I'm sure I sound a little cynical, but let me be honest here. Being in the non-profit world, I've heard people get frustrated when their offers to do one-time service are turned down. The leader of the group or the church leader will say, "You've got to let people come and serve. That's how they begin donating. That's how to get them involved. They want to connect with people. Don't just give them administrative tasks."

I agree with connecting with people. But I know those leaders haven't been on my end. For one, in the last two-three months, I have had probably 15 or more people say they wanted to volunteer at our After-School Academy...and seemed truly excited about it. I have set up special orientations to accomodate them. Each time, maybe one person shows up to the orientation...and some of them don't return after the orientation. I know...a few is better than none...believe me, we recognize that, which is why we continue creating special orientation sessions. Secondly, allow the people who are there all of the time to be involved with the children. When people come in randomly to volunteer, it's like having grandma over for the day...and we're left to do damage control after she's gone. The kids are there all of the time. They need people there all of the time...not just once out of a year. So, if you don't plan on coming regularly, please be willing to do the administrative tasks that we don't have time to do because we're busy structuring and keeping programs running.

I guess it's just tiring. And I guess that's part of being in a non-profit where we have to be dependent on volunteers...and part of being in a society that has been taught self-gratification.

So, I guess as we move into the Martin Luther King Day of Service, I don't want to discourage anyone from serving. But I would challenge you to ask yourself, "Who is this benefitting?" and then think through what Martin Luther King, Jr. was all about. Wasn't he about efforts that took a much longer time and effort to accomplish...efforts that weren't about themselves, but about the good of the much larger community?

Civil Rights was about personal sacrifice. The Montgomery Bus Boycott ...the Selma to Montgomery march (please click here to watch John Lewis's moving account of crossing the Edmond Pettis bridge)...the effort to gain equality for the Memphis Sanitation workers...the freedom rides...the March on Washington. All were about long-term solutions...and all required time, effort, and personal sacrifice.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was about efforts that would result in systemic changes that benefitted people long term. How can we emulate that as we move forward in 2009?

Reflections of insignificance

As I walked into Albertson's, I could see a man out of the corner of my eye. I could see he was looking at me. He was unshaven and slightly unkempt...I would assume homeless. I continued walking toward the store, looking straight ahead and continuing my phone conversation.

"Hey," I heard.

Here it comes. Someone hitting me up for something...again. I kept walking and talking.

"Janet," he continued.

I turned my head and had to focus a minute. His face looked familiar, but he was much skinnier than I remembered. "Jonathan*!" I exclaimed, and gave him a hug.

I ended my phone conversation so I could talk to him.

"How was your Christmas?" he asked.

"Pretty good. Yours?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, he replied, "It's over."

I hadn't seen him in a while so I asked where he was these days. "Here and there," he explained, but then went on to tell me how he had found this fenced in overhang behind XYZ restaurant that was a covered area that provided safety and protection from the weather. He asked if I would mind picking him up a few things while I was in the store. "Sure!" I replied.

He started explaining how he had figured out how to make his meals work as cheaply as possible and began telling me the few items he needed. I didn't see the point (or the dignity) in leaving him outside while I purchased food so I asked him to walk with me and get what he needed. We chatted and caught up as we walked through the store. He explained his purchases. A loaf of bread...the cheapest brand. A package of individual chip bags because he can eat a bag in a sitting and the ants don't get to them. A 12-pack of sodas for the same reason...plus, he explained, the canned soda doesn't go flat. Preserving meat is a little tricker, he explained. He picked up a package of hot links and informed me about the lasting effect of the sausage. He said he could make two packages last a while and asked if it was okay to get two packages.

After buying the groceries, he asked if I would mind dropping him off at a location around the corner. He explained that a guy was allowing him to store his stuff in a back shed...but the man was real particular about him being discreet so he didn't want me to take him all the way to the house. Jonathan chuckled at his own situation. "Some homeless-looking guy walks toward this house, but he's not stealing anything, he's actually taking groceries in! How can you be discreet about that?!" he wondered aloud.

He wished me a Happy New Year and said he would come visit our new After-School Academy as he unloaded his stuff and proceeded to walk down the street to his storage area.

As I drove off, I realized that to anyone else that may have looked like a good deed--lady walks into the store, says hi to a homeless man, buys his groceries, and takes him home...a good deed during the holidays.

To me, however, it was reason for thoughtful reflection about the way we see (or don't see) people who are "insignificant" to us.

My personal "policy" most of the time is that I don't give money to requests from random people. I try to stay focused on the kids and teenagers I know who are working toward some personal goal(s). But it's not people like Jonathan's fault that I don't know them. It's my own fault.

As we enter the new year, I need to reflect on my own efforts toward meeting and interacting with those who would, otherwise, be "insignificant" to me.

*not his real name

Merry Christmas, Mr. Madoff

When I heard about the Madoff scandal, I was irritated. It bothers me that people are so greedy. It bothers me that our capitalistic society has driven people to "capitalizing" in order to benefit themselves. It bothers me that we take so much pride in this capitalization.

My dad asked me if I knew of anyone who had lost money and was hurt due to Madoff. (I assume he was asking about wealthy people.) At this point, as far as I know, no one I know invested with Madoff and our non-profit was not affected by that... as far as I know. But as I was driving home last night, I heard something very troubling. Dallas County's Innocence Project has been affected by his panzi scheme.

I have written about the Innocence Project before. Since 2001, 20 convictions have been overturned in Dallas County solely because of the tireless work of the Innocence Project. Twenty innocent people spent years in jail but have now been freed. How many are still out there who have yet to receive their exonerations??

I think of James Woodard, a man who served 27 years for a crime he didn't commit. I met Mr Woodard at an Innocence Project press conference and asked him to come speak to a group of students at our Urban Experience program. Mr. Woodard was gracious enough to drive from Fort Worth to Dallas to do just that. Most amazing to me was his kind spirit and lack of bitterness. I can't imagine not having met him. I can't imagine him still being in prison for something he didn't do...all because someone named Bernard Madoff used and abused people and their money for his own benefit.

What he has done may seem like it has to do with money. It may seem like greed and something that should be punished. But his crime is much greater than that. Because of Madoff, many innocent people will lose their life, their families, their livelihood. Not only that, as innocent people spend their lives in jail, their children are also affected... by not having an available parent... by not having the income that a second parent could provide... by facing stigmatization because their parent is in jail.

The JEHT (Justice, Equality, Human dignity, and Tolerance) Foundation that supported the Dallas County Innocence Project was in talks with Dallas County and DA Craig Watkins to give as much as $15 million to fund more of these efforts. All has been halted now.

Maldoff deserves a very harsh punishment... many life sentences for his act. It's Christmas and it seems crass to be wishing someone many life sentences. But then I think of the families who are spending Christmas without their innocent mother or father... and may never get to enjoy that feeling ... or the people who are sitting in a jail cell year after year, wishing they could be with family and friends on the holidays.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Madoff.

Are we ready to move to the next level of race relations?

John Lewis, Rep. (D-Ga.):
As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.

John Lewis has always been a hero of mine. I admire his wisdom, his work, and his perseverance during the Civil Rights movement. In my mind, he was a more important person than he gets credit for in many history books.

Though it may mean little for me to say that John McCain and Sarah Palin are stepping over a line, creating unfounded fears and provoking untruths, John Lewis lived through the climax of racial tensions, fear, and hatred. He experienced the results of fear-filled people who were provoked by strong voices in our country.

In 2008 we have come to a new turning point in our country. We are experiencing a new era that is leading us to deal with our prejudices and discrimination head on--whether it's women, African-Americans, Muslims, Mexicans, spanish-speakers, gays/lesbians, and a number of other cultural groups.

As happened in the 60s, the current culture clash is leading us to show our colors.

I have hope that, like the 60s, these confrontations will ultimately propel us on to the next level. I pray that as we work toward that next level, however, we will not have to go through the same tragedies in order for us to realize how ridiculous our fears and actions were.

The Price of Silence

Rev. Charles Stovall presented the final meditation on this year's Good Friday Walk in Dallas, Texas. Rev. Stovall is the pastor of the Munger Place United Methodist Church, a church which recently hosted Rev. Joseph E. Lowery and the Pastors for Peace caravan.

I'm Charles Stovall, pastor of Munger Place United Methodist Church. God bless you on this walk, and we thank all of you who made the bold journey. I thank God for the Dallas Area Christian Progressive Alliance which has brought us to this moment, to remember on the Friday that Jesus was to die. We gather in memory of the price that Jesus paid. I simply want to say that Jesus did not have to die. Jesus did not have to die-if he had just kept silent. If he would have just shut up, he would not have had to die. If he had just "done church right," kept his sermons on love and brotherhood, kept his speeches on something light and not controversial, Jesus would not have had to die. Yet Jesus healed on the Sabbath day, knowing that that was against the rules of the day. Yet Jesus touched the leper, knowing that the leper was considered "unclean" by church and society. Yet Jesus talked to the woman by the well from Samaria, knowing that Samarians and Jews didn't communicate. Yet Jesus overturned the moneychangers' table.

If Jesus had just done church the way church was supposed to have been done, if he would have just kept his mouth shut, if he had just "gone with the flow," he would not have had to die. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't have to die. If he would have just kept his mouth shut and stuck with sermons about brotherhood and sisterhood and stayed away from sermons about the Vietnam War, he would not have had to die.

Nurses who have called out for more nurses per patient and the rights of nurses didn't have to lose their jobs-if they would have just kept silent. The Tibetan monks wouldn't be under pressure right now if they had just continued to ring their gongs and done their rituals and stayed out of politics. The Dalai Lama wouldn't be criticized right now, if he had just stuck to the things that Dalai Lamas are supposed to do.

If we could just learn to keep our mouths shut. Say nothing about the abuse of gays and lesbians. Say nothing about policies that create homelessness and hunger. Say nothing about what has us in an unjust, illegal, immoral, impractical war in Iraq.

If you just learn to be quiet-perhaps you'll get a promotion on your job. Perhaps you'll get a better appointment in your denomination. Perhaps you'll gain friends and influence more people. There's a price to pay, though, if you keep silent. The most famous words of silence are still the words that were attributed to Rev. Martin Niemoller. Many of you can quote them along with me: When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent. I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent. I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak up. I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent. I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one to speak out for me.

Jesus did not have to die. Jesus did not have to face the capital punishment of the Roman government, handed over to them by those religious leaders of his sect. But because the price of his silence, the price of his inaction would have ended in a world that has no hope, no redemption, no forgiveness, no God's spirit, he did not remain silent. What is the price of your silence and my silence? The silent walk that we take today is shouting out to the city, the state, and this country that we will not pay the price of silence, because the price of silence is the death of our values.

Continue to speak out. Continue to raise your voice and your actions, and continue to take up your cross. Jesus said that "Those who would be my disciples must take up their crosses, deny themselves, and follow me." He goes on to say that "if you do not take up your cross you cannot be my disciple."

Jesus did not have to go to the cross. He did not have to die. All he needed to do was be quiet.

Guilty...until proven innocent

Think about the last 27 years.

If you're my age, that's the majority of your life. In my younger years, we used to talk about the changes our grandparents had seen over their lifetime. But, truly, the last 27 years have been no less amazing.

We now have cell phones...3-D video games...high speed (and small) computers and laptops...ipods...Internet...email...and those are just the technology advancements.

Along with all of the new technology, of course, jobs have changed as well. Even jobs at fast food restaurants require a basic knowledge of technology. What you have to know in order to get a job is very different than it was 27 years ago.

Imagine being frozen in time for those 27 years. What do you do when you wake up today? What kind of clothes do you wear? How do you quickly acquire new job skills in order to work and survive? If you knew anything about computers at the time, they were probably large main frame computers that filled an entire room. How do you learn to function in a world that most jobs require online submission of resumes and applications? How do you even know where you're going...since major land development has restructured the entire landscape since you were last familiar with it?

Some people are in that very situation.

James Woodard served 27 years of time in prison for a murder charge...a crime he didn't commit.

Billy Smith served 19 years for sexual assault...a crime he didn't commit.

Charles Chapman was misidentified in a photo lineup and served 27 years for rape...a crime he didn't commit.

How can I be so sure? Because DNA evidence cleared them.

In Dallas County, DNA evidence has cleared these three men, along with 15 others. The Innocence Project, Dallas DA Craig Watkins, and Dallas Judge John Creuzot are working tirelessly to reclaim fairness and justice in our "justice" system.

So far in Texas 33 people have been exonerated on account of DNA evidence...a total of 427 years of innocent time served!!

How did this happen?

• 82% were misidentified (supposed eye witness accounts)
• 18% convicted on false forensic testimony
• 15% convicted on "snitch" testimony
• 9% gave false confessions to reduce their time
• I didn't catch the percentage, but others were simply prosecutorial misconduct (despite our "justice" system)

Finally, there are people in office who are listening. Finally, there are people in office who recognize that our system isn't always "just" to everyone. But more than that...they are not just listening. They are using their position in our goverment to create change...to create fairness.

Saturday evening, Texas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson convened a panel including Chairman of the House John Conyers, Houston Senator Rodney Ellis, DA Craig Watkins, co-founder of the Innocence Project, Jeff Blackburn, and the exonerees.

Part of their purpose was to listen. They wanted to know, "Where do we start? How do we dig in?" ...and they wanted to hear from people who had been directly affected.

Several spoke about moving our prison system from a punishment system to a restoration system with one person explaining..."because they will be out eventually."

Judge Creuzot brought up the fact that we need a process that will allow formerly incarcerated individuals to move on once they are released. (currently, convicted felons who have already served their time have little ability to get jobs or even find places to live...yet we expect them to come out and be productive members of society and are irritated when they aren't...without realizing why).

An attorney thought it was necessary and crucial that our system begin to fund well-paid, criminal defense, court-appointed attorneys due to the fact that low-income people are many times provided with the least competent attorneys (since more capable attorneys want to profit from their expertise).

In combination with that, others talked about the need for federal mandates to fix the system because we don't have the will to do it on our own.

Evidently some people are angered by the efforts to reform the system. Evidently, it sounds better when prosecutors, judges, and politicians talk about being "tough on crime"--the more convinctions, the better we feel. However, it's also important to realize that for every wrongful conviction, the real criminal goes free.

This is an issue that affects all of us...not just in Texas. Dallas happens to have kept more evidence over the years than most places...which has now allowed for 18 wrongful convictions (to date) to be overturned based on the evidence. Other states and counties have not been immune to these wrongful convictions...but may not have the evidence needed to overturn the cases as readily.

This is an issue we would all be better for if we educated ourselves and got involved. Unfortunately, most of the cases are having to be re-opened by people outside of the system. The lack of will of our political system, at this point, has not provided the funds, despite the mistakes made.

If you would like to help this effort continue, donate to The Innocence Project, write your congressperson, and do what you can to help fix the system.

Persevering for justice

My friend, Dave, called to ask if I had any applications of kids applying to his summer program. I had called a few teenagers, but hadn’t heard back from any of them.

Knowing I wanted kids in his program, I went into my email and scrolled through my “student” list to see if I had missed any of the kids I know who live in South Dallas (his program's requirement). As I scrolled, Tracey’s name jumped out at me. Tracey! He’s a junior in high school now....and he's in South Dallas! Perfect!

I went through the numbers on my phone and called the number I had for his sister. “The mobile number you have called is no longer in service.” Darn. I checked to see if I might have a number for Tracey. Luckily I did...

“Hello?”

“Tracey! Hey, it’s Janet. What are you doing this summer?”

“Nothing.”

“Good. You are now. I need you to fill out an application. Do you like technology?”

“Yes.”

“Great. Call me when you get out of school tomorrow and I’ll bring the application by.”

Tracey called just like he said he would. I ran by his house after he got home.

Tavies (his mom) was driving up as I was leaving. I went over to the car to say hi.

“Did Tracey tell you what he is doing this summer?”

“No.”

“I didn’t figure he did. I’m putting him to work. I gave him an application to fill out for a technology program this summer.”

“GREAT! Thank you, Janet! What do you have for Erica? …for Shatavies? Anything? Please keep them in mind! I’m so glad you came by!”

How did I…a White girl from rural Missouri…get so loved and accepted where I am now?? What makes me able to approach someone else’s kid and tell them what they will be involved in…and both parent and child eagerly accept that?

How is it that for 13 years, I have driven into neighborhoods that are suspect at best yet, instead of anything bad happening, invariably a screeching kid (or now some young adults…like Kiesha, 23, did the other day) calls across the parking lot, “MISS JANET!!!”

What is it that makes some parents feel free enough to talk with me about brothers, uncles, cousins, and nephews in prison (oftentimes people who we both know) and give the full explanation about what they did, how they did it, and what the family says about it?

I didn’t grow up like most people around me. I don’t look like most people around me. Yet, they accept and embrace me. That amazes, awes, and humbles me.

I am given privileges with the kids, equal to that of their own parents. I am encouraged to take them with me, discipline them, and get them involved in whatever opportunity I find for them. I am trusted with taking them anywhere from down the street to the top of a mountain in Colorado.

However...

It is because of what I see in the children…the light in their eyes as they discover something new…the insightful observations they make…their comments that seem to be way beyond their years….

It is because the parents’ trust me to move their child to a new level …it is because the parents’ trust me to seek out and connect their children with the right opportunities that will develop them …it is because the parents’ trust that I believe in their children and have high expectations for them…..

It is because of these things that I feel an obligation to parents and their children.

…parents who want to see their kids do better than they were able to do
…parents who want the best for their children, but don’t always know how to connect them to the right opportunities
…parents who are trying to keep their children out of their surrounding environment so that they don’t connect with the wrong people and get involved with the wrong crowd

It is because of them that this White girl from Missouri must continue persevering justice.

I thank God for granting me with such trust, love, and acceptance. Just like their parents already know, despite their environment, their socioeconomic status, or perhaps even their past behaviors, the children (as well as the adults) around me have something great to offer.

We ALL lose out when we fail to educate our children and fail to demand that we and others around us see the good in what the children...ALL children...have to offer us.

Imagine the Angels of Bread

by Martin Espada

This is the year that
squatters evict landlords,
gazing like admirals from the rail
of the roofdeck
or levitating hands
in praise of steam in the shower;
this is the year
that shawled refugees deport judges
who stare at
the floor
and their swollen feet
as files are stamped
with their destination;
this is the year that police revolvers,
stove-hot, blister the fingers
of raging cops,
and nightsticks splinter
in their palms;
this is the year
that darkskinned men
lynched a century ago
return to sip coffee quietly
with the apologizing descendants
of their executioners.

This is the year that those
who swim the borders undertow
and shiver in boxcars
are greeted with trumpets and drums
at the first railroad crossing
on the other side;
this is the year that the hands
pulling tomatoes from the vine
uproot the deed to the earth that sprouts the vine,
the hands canning tomatoes
are named in the will
that owns the bedlam of the cannery;

this is the year that the eyes
stinging from the poison that purifies toilets
awaken at last to the sight
of a rooster-loud hillside,
pilgrimage of immigrant birth;
this is the year that cockroaches
become extinct, that no doctor
finds a roach embedded
in the ear of an infant;
this is the year that the food stamps
of adolescent mothers
are auctioned like gold doubloons,
and no coin is given to buy machetes
for the next bouquet of severed heads
in coffee plantation country.

If the abolition of slave-manacles
began as a vision of hands without manacles,
then this is the year;
if the shutdown of extermination camps
began as imagination of a land
without barbed wire or the crematorium,
then this is the year;
if every rebellion begins with the idea
that conquerors on horseback
are not many-legged gods, that they too drown
if plunged in the river,
then this is the year.

So may every humiliated mouth,
teeth like desecrated headstones,
fill with the angels of bread.

Courage and justice

What keeps people from speaking out against injustice?

What causes others to speak out?

I've admitted my own silence before. Somehow society has convinced us that speaking out is something to be afraid of.

Shouldn't we more concerned about how people's lives are affected when we *don't* speak out?

Prophetic thoughts from Dr. King

"The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just."

"And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God's children on their own two feet right here on earth."

"But this is where we are drifting, and we are drifting there, because nations are caught up with the drum major instinct. I must be first. I must be supreme. Our nation must rule the world. And I am sad to say that the nation in which we live is the supreme culprit. And I'm going to continue to say it to America, because I love this country too much to see the drift that it has taken."

"We must all learn to live together as brothers. Or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be."

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."

"Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Maybe I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ecclesia and the hope of the world. "

"Jesus frequently illustrated the characteristics of the hardhearted. The rich fool was condemned, not because he was not toughminded, but rather because he was not tenderhearted. Life for him was a mirror in which he saw only himself, and not a window through which he saw other selves. Dives went to hell, not because he was wealthy, but because he was not tenderhearted enough to see Lazarus and because he made no attempt to bridge the gulf between himself and his brother."

"We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to co-operate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil."

Click here to see a slide show of public art images of Dr. King in several different communities throughout the United States.

What it means to live out justice

The Dallas Area Christian Progressive Alliance (http://www.dallaschristians.org/) is based on Matthew 25. Their mission is to live the radical love, compassion and justice of Jesus and to promote these values in religious and public discourse and policy. Below is an email I received that struck me as powerful:


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"When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1:15-17)


An Open Letter to the "Light the Highway" Campaign

In December of 2007, a group of Christians, including members of Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, initiated a "Light the Highway" campaign focused on Interstate I-35, linking the freeway to Isaiah 35:8 (New International Version):

"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it."

Beginning October 28 and ending December 1, the group engaged in 35 days of prayer, and several members conducted actions such as standing outside of sexually oriented businesses with "purity" written across the sunglasses they wore. Among the issues upon which the group focused their prayers were pornography, drug abuse, government corruption, and, somewhat surprisingly, workplace injustices. Their web site states, "As we, the church, walk in purity, we will see a new generation arise who will reform our nations so they can stay transformed!"The media that covered this initiative included CNN, Channel 8 and the Dallas Morning News. Below is the DACPA response to this initiative.


Dear Sisters and Brothers of the "Light the Highway" campaign:

The Dallas Area Christian Progressive Alliance (DACPA) is an organization of grassroots Christians founded with a mission to live the radical love, compassion and justice of Jesus and to promote these values in religious and public discourse and policy. We have become aware of your campaign through the media and would like to with your our own ideas as to how we can best respond to God's call to be just and righteous people.

The words of the prophet Isaiah provide a powerful challenge to us as we set about to bring the reign of God to "earth as it is in heaven": "Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight. And to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high." (Isaiah 58:3-4) Our piety means nothing if we do not act justly.

To tackle the "sins of I-35," the members of DACPA would look to Jesus' words as the focus of our concerns, just as we have done the last two Good Fridays when we conducted our Good Friday Walk to honor Jesus' teachings on the day of his death. In Matthew 25, he calls the nations to: Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Give water to the thirsty. Heal the sick. Welcome the stranger. Visit the prisoner. This is how the nations are judged. Our nation, unfortunately, has fallen short in these areas, as you recognize in some of your own efforts. How many of those around us living in poverty are often forced to seek out charity in sometimes humiliating circumstances that strip them of their dignity?

Jesus told us that he came to fulfill the law and the prophets. Along with Isaiah, let us look to the prophet Jeremiah, and to Jesus' brother James who, among so many others in the Bible, spoke so forcefully of the sin of not paying fair wages.

"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing,
And does not give them their wage." (Jeremiah 22:13-15)

"Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts." (James 5:4)

So as we reflect on the sins of I-35, let us think of the low-wage workers toiling in businesses all along this highway, often without insurance to pay for their illnesses nor those of their families. And let us also remember the low-wage workers who labor in back-breaking and dangerous circumstances in the fields not far from the road that connects us to our neighbors to the south. Every day they put food on our tables and provide the sustenance that we need to live.

Along that by-way, do those strangers who live among us feel welcome? Or will they continue to serve as political footballs when their "offense" was entering this country to seek a way to provide for their families? Following I-35, the Pan-American Highway, south of the border, we might see valleys that had once been a patch-work of farms that provided work for many all year round. Those valleys are now filled with crops for export that now only provide a month's employment. We pray for God's will to extend beyond our borders.

And when we visit the jails in the communities along I-35, what will we find there? Will we find humane conditions and the opportunity for redemption, or will the word "corrections" ring hollow?

In the Bible, God spoke over 2000 times of the poor and almost as frequently of the oppressed. Let us put our efforts into making this world a just place, along the I-35 freeway and beyond, a place that takes God's word seriously. A place where those of many faith traditions and where all those who care for humanity can live in a community based on our shared values of economic and social justice.

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Not a Penny More?

"Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins." (Amos 5:11-12)

What is one more cent for a pound of tomatoes? For Burger King the cost is $250,000 per year-more than the company is willing to pay the people who pick those tomatoes. It's a lot of money, except when you consider that the top 12 executives of one of its major shareholders, Goldman Sachs, paid themselves $200 million in bonuses in 2006. But the company can't, or won't, afford .015% of the cost of those bonuses for the migrant farmworkers who do the torturous work of picking the tomatoes served in their restaurants.

Taco Bell and McDonalds, after public pressure, can afford that penny. We can pray for Burger King to turn from its efforts to force those companies to reverse their one-penny-per-pound increase and to follow their example. And the next time we or our friends or our family members step up to the counter for that fast food meal, let's also reflect on what that Burger King Whopper truly costs.

Monica and Jose are home!

I've been extremely busy and haven't/don't have time to post, but I wanted to let everyone know that Monica and Jose made it home safe late last night. Words cannot explain the homecoming. There were tears, gut-wrenching emotions, and tight hugs. As Monica hugged me, the first thing out of her mouth was, "I'm sorry, Miss Janet."

*She's* sorry?!

Sorry for what???

Sorry for not being born in the United States? Sorry for being a typical teenager and making a bad decision (Come on! What teenager has not skipped...or at least tried to skip...school???)? Sorry for not carrying her ID with her (she wasn't driving!)? Sorry for being in a town where prejudice is an accepted form of treatment toward people different than them?

Yes, Monica made a mistake. Trust me...she knows that. Unfortunately, her mistake (unlike many of mine) became (and still is) a life-changing and lifestyle-threatening one.

As the evening went on and we all enjoyed a wonderful reunion with Monica and Jose, you could see her begin to release some of her fear and apprehension that had begun to affect her interaction with others. By the end of the evening (which nearly ran into the next day! :) ), Monica was talking non-stop...explaining everything that had happened--who was nice to her, who was rude, how she had come up with different survival skills to get messages to her family, the quick thinking she had done each time they shuffled her off to a new place, and many other things. I have to hand it to her. She kept her wits about her!

Of course, Larry has posted about this as well. If you would like to read his post, click here.

My Christmas wish...year-round justice

Call me a bah humbug, but I'm not a big fan of Christmas.

I was in the toy department of Target the other day and overheard a couple of White families talking to each other about purchasing gifts for the "less fortunate." The children were pointing out games and toys they liked and their father eagerly encouraged them to get several of each one enthusiastically claiming, "There will be over a thousand kids there!" A few people walked by and inquisitively asked what they were doing...to which they eagerly told them of their efforts to purchase items for "less fortunate" children who would be coming to their event.

As the kids perused through the toy aisles looking for toys to purchase and give away, I heard their mom say, "These kids are going to be 'dark-skinned' kids so we need to find some 'dark-skinned' dolls." Something about the whole thing didn't set right with me. I suppose I should give them credit and even commend them for taking into account the "darker skin" of the kids they would be giving toys to. Some people don't even do that much. I know that their intentions were probably good. It still struck a nerve with me. I wondered what their conversation sounded like to the other possibly "less fortunate" or "dark-skinned" people who might have been shopping around them.

After thinking about this scenario a while, I finally realized why all of this hype and giving to the "less fortunate" bothers me.

The people giving the gifts don't know the people they are giving to.

They don't know them before the event, nor do they seek to build a relationship with them after the event.

What happens the other 364 days of the year after Christmas is over?

Are these same people who are "getting into the Christmas spirit" by giving gifts and encouraging their children to "have fun" purchasing the gifts for "less fortunate people" putting the same efforts forth the rest of the year to help raise the minimum wage, hire under-skilled people and train them to have marketable job skills, tutor a child to help him/her grasp necessary concepts, work with someone on a part of the GED they can't seem to pass, or help someone fill out the paperwork and forms needed for them to go to college so that when future Christmas's roll around more families can afford to provide Christmas gifts for their own children?

If Christmas is about Christ, shouldn't we be working toward Christmas (being Christ-like) year-round? What would that look like? Is being Christ-like about charity...or justice?

"Let justice roll down like waters..." Amos 5:24

For the benefit of all

Where do our selfish motives and our fears come from?

I read an article in the Washington Post about the current attempts White parents are making to sway desegregation orders so that their children can get put into the best schools and avoid the worst. The "best" schools have AP classes available, multiple opportunities, challenging coursework...and are made up of primarily White children. The "worst" schools have few, if any college-prep, rigorous classes, fewer extracurricular opportunities, and lower expectations for the kids...oh yeah...and are made up of primarily Black and Hispanic children.

Here's what I don't get. These parents who are working so hard to keep their children out of the "worst" schools...why don't they go ahead and put their child in the school and then work just as diligently to fight for the same quality of education and classes at that "bad" school so that all of the children involved can benefit?? Instead, they work overtime to make sure their child avoids the "bad" school...even to the point of enrolling their child illegally in a suburban district and lying to the school about their child's enrollment until their child gets moved up on the waiting list in their own district and is able to attend the school of their (or their parent's) choice.

I suppose I'd be naive to say that I don't know why urban schools don't have more rigor, more AP classes, and other programs that middle and upper-middle class parents want for their children. On the surface, kids in those schools appear to not care...about themselves, their community, or their academic achievements. However, I know that many of these kids, with the right expectations and the right challenge, can far exceed what the schools are currently expecting of them (I've witnessed it!). Think about it, though, that's exactly why many White, middle class parents are working so hard to get their kids in other schools. They recognize that if you put a child in a situation where there is little or no opportunity to grow, they won't! The difference in these White, middle class parents than many of the parents in the area around these "bad" schools is that the White, middle class parents have the money, time, resources, connections, and knowledge of the system to make sure their child gets what they want/need.

If parents who ultimately end up with successful, academically prepared students are making sure they secure those opportunities for their own children, shouldn't we think about what they are seeking out and figure out how to offer it in all of our schools for all of our children?? I have been around kids and "systems" long enough to know that putting a few AP classes into a school is not going to draw the masses of our urban kids. It's going to take time and it's going to take an effort by everyone involved to make sure the kids know about the wealth of opportunities available, can access them (financially and physically), and are prepared for them. This cannot be done by making the opportunities available and then lowering expectations. Our kids deserve so much better than that. We need to make the opportunities available and then work to make sure our kids are prepared for the intensity of those higher expectations.

Look below the surface of what you see in urban neighborhoods and urban schools. The problems aren't the unruly and out of control kids. It's not just the parents or lack thereof of the unruly and out of control kids. The problems run so much deeper. Look at the way the system is set up. Decide if you would want your child to be in those situations. If not, help us figure out how to solve those problems at a systemic level so that every child has an opportunity to be successful.

And realize that the ones who do come out of that system successful are way more extraordinary than we ever give them credit for.

Being Different

Not too long ago, a friend of mine loaned me a book (Strength to Love) that is a compilation of Martin Luther King's sermons. King's commentaries and his breakdown of scripture give me a much better insight and connection to the scriptures than I have gotten in a long time. What I find so amazing about King's sermons is how parallel they are to current issues...particularly war and racism. He speaks truth. He speaks reality. And even though he gave these sermons some 40+ years ago, they still resonate today.

In his sermon
">A Knock at Midnight
King says,

"One of the shameful tragedies of history is that the very institution [the church] which should remove man from the midnight of racial segregation participates in creating and perpetuating the midnight."

What is any different today? Historically our churches have been segregated...and today our churches are still segregated! Granted, they may not be totally segregated. In any given church there may be one or two families that are of a different ethnic make-up than the rest, but overall, the churches segregate just like the rest of our society does. The church reflects the socioeconomic and ethnic demographics of the neighborhood where it exists. Yet, as a Christian body, we claim to be different.

I have come to the conclusion that many Christians are only different in their words and in their beliefs, not their actions. When we, as Christians, talk about being set apart from the rest of the world, are we talking about separating ourselves by our religious talk or are we talking about really acting on our beliefs? I know some people will argue and say that evangelizing is the way they act on their beliefs. But what about taking a stand for different issues? Isn't that what truly sets people apart? Evangelism is easy. It puts all of the responsibility on the person who is being evangelized. Whether or not they accept the Word is up to them. Long-term relationships are much more challenging and take much more time and effort.

Jesus was the type of "different" that I would expect of Christians. Wasn't Jesus so condemned by the Pharisees because he was hanging out and building relationships with sinners? The way I remember the scripture, it referred to him hanging out with, not evangelizing. I'm no seminarian, so I could be wrong. The Jesus I read about hung out with people, got to know people, and built relationships with people....people who were different than him.

Poor people.

Devious people.

Unethical people.

As he built relationships with people, he was then able to speak to spiritual issues...many times because they asked him his opinion. They asked questions and challenged him because he was so different from the rest.

Are we, as Christians, really that different from the rest? What issues do we stand up for? Do we notice that our churches, communities, schools, etc. are still segregated today? Do we care? What are we doing about it? Are we sitting back and waiting for people of other cultural backgrounds to flock to us? Or are we making the first, possibly uncomfortable, attempt to get involved in a church/neighborhood/community that is different than what we are used to?

What if churches and the people in them truly took a stand and fought for truth, justice, and peace? What if their actions spoke louder than their words? What would our churches and our communities look like then?