Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Rey, Lois, Wanda, Galen
Old business
1. Approval of Minutes for August 28: The minutes were approved as written.
2. Progress Reports:
a. Topic of the Month: Racial Justice. We spent a lot of time discussing the statement which is now on Google drive. Peter had updated the draft from the last meeting and sent everyone (as well as Darryl Heller) a copy of the revised statement. Darryl sent some comments back which Rey, Ellyn and Peter incorporated. At the meeting we made some wording changes, the most extensive of which was to change the sentence "Everybody comes into the world inhaling the same breath of life and the same instinct for following the golden rule" to "Everyone comes into the world with the same capacity to be part of a social group." Peter will make the changes and send out the statement to the group. Rey had tried to interest Charlotte Pheiffer and Gladys Mohamed in commenting on the statement, but they have not responded. It was suggested that we send it to Leonard Pitts, but we thought he would not have time to read it. Peter did send it to Chip Roush who responded with "Great stuff--thank you, Peter."
b. SURJ meeting report and Columbus Day vigil: At the meeting, which was dedicated to a discussion of whether SURJ needs to continue meeting, a young woman offered to set up a facebook page and take on other outreach efforts. We decided to use the October 9 MPJC vigil to protest Columbus Day and support Indigenous People's Day. The next SURJ meeting will also be on October 9. Peter will make some signs for the vigil. Rey suggested the wording "America invaded in 1492 by Columbus."
c. Book of the Month report: Wanda had a book about adoption - "Before we were yours" by Lisa Wingate - that she had prepared to discuss, but because we had spent so much time on the Racial Justice statement, we did not have time. She will talk about this book at the next meeting. Rey and Glenda Rae had seen a film at ND about how Mexican workers in a mine in New Mexico were treated much worse than their white counterparts and went on strike. They were prevented by law from picketing so their wives staffed the picket line while the men stayed home and did the women's work. The women had been jailed by the sheriff, who did not hold them long due to their vocal and persistent resistance as prisoners. The film makes a point about women's power, endurance, and resilience.
d. Immigration Coalition Report: They meet on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 11am at the Human Rights office. Folks get together at 10 to plan the Human Rights day program (see below). Ellyn had contacted Joe who promised to inform her of planned activities and she will pass on the information. There was a film, "8 borders in 8 days," and discussion about a Syrian refugee family the night of the meeting at the Center for History. It was very graphic. We spoke to the director via SKYPE after the film. It was sponsored by Welcoming Michiana under the URC.
e. International Day of Prayer for Peace: Jan , Jane, and Tina have organized a program at St James Cathedral, 117 N. Lafayette Blvd at noon on Thursday, September 21, proclaiming this Day of Prayer for Peace. We dedicated the September 18 vigil to calling attention to this day.
3. Treasurer's Report: $118.72 with a $42.61 in petty cash. Thanks to Ellyn and Peter for a $100 contribution,
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 to work on racial justice. See above. The next topic should be nuclear war.
3. Other Topics and Issues: The MLK Day committee has not yet met. The Human Rights Day celebration will be held at the Library on December 10, 2-3pm.
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5. Next meeting: Monday, October 16th, at 2:30pm at Lois' assisted living center. We will send the directions in the meeting announcement.