Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Reynaldo, Lois (Zoom meeting).
Old business
1. Approval of Minutes for May 18: The minutes were approved as corrected.
2. Progress Reports:
a. Topic of the Month: Public vs Private Education. Reynaldo has done research on this topic and has prepared a draft which he will share with us. He had asked Glenda Rae to organize it. It is a very rough draft, with points not topically arranged and it all has been culled from various websites on the subject.
b. Book of the Month report: Lois wondered what MPJC has to offer in response to her extended thoughts in last month's minutes. Hubble has shown us that our understanding of the cosmos is still evolving and that we need a science mindset. Ellyn showed us a photo of a collage of Time Magazine covers. We recommended that she send it to Reynaldo for posting on the facebook page. Reynaldo recommended the book "Everyday Ubuntu" by Mungi Ngomane. It is an easy read and shows the importance of interdependency rather than individuality. It is an illustration of how forgiveness and finding the good in each other works in the reconciliation process in North Africa.
c. Immigration Coalition Report: There has been no meeting of the Coalition since our last meeting. Ellyn will contact Nancy Flores and ask if anything is happening. (She did this and Nancy advised us to contact Tony F. and Sam C.) Since Trump is shutting down DACA, it is essential that we act to oppose this.
d. Tax Day and Earth Day Events: These have been canceled or postponed due to Covid-19. Diana has not sent any notice of the June Earth Day gathering so we think it has been canceled. They will start concerts at Potawatomi park on July 14 and the Zoo is now open at 50% capacity. The second wave of Covid-19 could be coming. Alabama had 1000 new cases and their medical facilities are overwhelmed with tornado season coming. We will dedicate the Monday, July 12, vigil to holding tax resistance signs.
e. Restarting Weekly Vigils: Reynaldo mentioned that there was a vigil for racial justice outside of Karl King Tower last week and the traffic was heavy enough to make it worthwhile to restart the vigils. We decided to start on Monday, June 22 with new signs supporting Black Lives Matter. We will hold the 2nd Monday vigil each month outside Karl King and Reynaldo will notify Bernie. Lois and Ellyn want one sign to read, "No War, Only Justice." We are to suggest wording for signs by noon on the 16th and Peter and Reynaldo will select the signs to be made by each. Lois does not want us to make a poster of her participating in the vigils. She wants the focus on the issues, not on her. She said that the nation has strayed too far from the truth. "Truth shall make Love clear." All faiths have truths and inspire us. We will respect her wishes and encouraged her to submit ideas for new signs.
f. Updating our social media profile: Reynaldo will continue to monitor the site and post non-political entries and photos. He will pass proposed postings by the coalition before posting them.
3. Treasurer's Report: $118.50 with $20 in petty cash.
New Business
1. What do we (can we) do next? We incorporated this topic into other discussion
2. Topic of the Month: We will continue with the Public vs Private Education topic.
3. Other Topics and Issues: Check the Indivisible email for events, especially protests against the New Carlisle industrial park project. The Common Council is hosting two meetings (Tuesday at Charles Black park and Thursday at Boehm park at 6pm. These meetings are carried live on Facebook. Reynaldo (and Peter/Ellyn) attended a Black Lives Matter Zoom meeting last week and mentioned that we need to hear more from their point of view. Faith in Indiana held a public rally at the County City building last Saturday while representatives met with the Mayor to press him to act on the police matrix and make concrete reforms in the police department. The Common Council tabled a proposal to increase police salaries given the uproar over the killing of George Floyd. There is pressure to defund the police and use the funds to bundle the police with appropriate expert mental health professionals as well as counselors to help with domestic abuse, drug and alcohol problems, etc.
To send a message to the list, send it to mpjc@googlegroups.com. To join the list replace myid in the following url with the email address you use and copy into your browser. "http://groups.google.com/group/mpjc/boxsubscribe?email=myid"
5. Next meeting: Monday, July 20, at 2:30pm. We will hold the meeting via Zoom. Ellyn will initiate the meeting.