JPIC Distance Learning Program

It's been almost a year since Duquesne University launched its JPIC Distance Learning Program.  Have you checked it out?  Click here for more information.

Center of Concern

Click here to read the Spring 2012 edition of Center Focus, the quarterly publication of the Center of Concern.  The newsletter contains information about the social safety net and regional economic cooperation and development. 

Financial Transaction Tax

The following is an excerpt from the letter written to President Obama by the JPIC Commission of the USG/UISG in Rome.  It references the potential to consider a  Financial Transaction Tax at the G-20 Summit in Mexico on June 18-19, 2012. Click here for more information from the JPIC Commission and here to sign a petition regarding this.

Here's the excerpt of the letter:

We are writing at this time concerning a matter which we believe relates to sustainable growth, economic stability and the world’s “financial architecture:” the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). We urge you and other government leaders to assure that this topic is on the agenda of the G-20. We share the hope that a financial transaction tax could be a means to aid development in poor countries. Please give your support to a FTT that could generate funds for human development in the poorest areas of the world. At the same time, we are concerned that the concept of raising funds for development could be undermined by the pressure to raise funds for the struggling domestic economies of “developed” nations. We ask that you please insist that the revenues from any FTT be used to meet global human development objectives such at the Millennium Development Goals. We believe that the administration and implementation of such a large-scale revenue generating and distribution effort requires a new international financial structure. We urge you to promote the creation of such an international structure, free from corruption and committed to authentic human development in poor nations.

Interfaith Worker Justice

Are you familiar with the work of Interfaith Worker Justice?  Its mission and values are:

Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) advances the rights of workers by engaging diverse faith communities into action, from grassroots organizing to shaping policy at the local, state and national levels. We envision a nation where all workers enjoy the rights to:

• Wages, health care, and pensions that allow workers to raise families and retire with dignity
• Safe working conditions
• Organize and bargain collectively to improve wages, benefits, and conditions without harassment, intimidation, or retaliation
• Equal protection under labor law - regardless of immigration status - and an end to the practice of pitting immigrant and U.S.-born workers against one another
• Fair and just participation in a global economy that promotes the welfare of both domestic and foreign workers.

Click here to learn more.

DREAM Day of Action

Do you have 5-10 minutes today to use to contact President Obama and Speaker Boehner about immigration?  As we told you last week, the "United We Dream" network is calling for a day of action today, May 17, 2012, to secure rights for all immigrants. 

President Barack Obama can be reached at (202) 456-1111 and Speaker Boehner can be reached at (202) 225-0600.

Send letters or postcards to:

President Barack Obama, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500

Speaker John Boehner, Office of the Speaker, H-232 The Capital, Washington, DC 20515

To send e-mails, go to their respective websites:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/ or http://www.speaker.gov/ and click on "Contact."

Possible comments to consider when you contact them:
Support the DREAM Act

Our Immigrant youth have the right to live without fear.
Our Immigrant youth have the right to live with their families.
Our Immigrant youth have the right to move freely.
Our Immigrant youth have the right to be educated.
Our Immigrant youth have the right to give back to the community.
Our Immigrant youth have the right to build a strong sustainable economy.
Our Immigrant youth have the right to build their dreams.

For more information, click here to go to the "United We Dream" site.

Partnership for Global Justice Annual Meeting

Thanks to Sister Mary Irene for this report:

On May 6, Sister Anna Theresa Tran, SCC and Sister Mary Irene Sorber, SCC participated in the Partnership for Global Justice Annual Meeting held at St. Bartholomew Church in New York City.  This meeting was held in conjunction with the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues which is occurring May 7th through May 18 at UN Headquarters in New York. The theme of the meeting was:  First Nation Peoples: A Movement Toward Reconciliation and Hope.  The center of the meeting was the presentation of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers which was represented by Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim and her daughter from Southern Oregon, Grandmother Beatrice Long-Visitor Holy Dance and her daughter from South Dakota, and Grandmother Mona Polacca from Arizona.  The day began with a sacred prayer time presented by the Grandmothers.  It was followed by a delicious dinner where we were in conversation with people who are highly involved with the cause of the thirteen grandmothers who are trying to help their young people maintain the language and culture of the various indigenous tribes in the USA and around the world.  After the dinner, everyone went into the church where the grandmothers were awarded the 9th Annual Justice Award.  Finally, a trio of college students presented a play called, "I Am Not A Savage."  This very moving play is based on the facts the students learned about the horrendout way the indigenous peoples were treated after Columbus landed in the "New World."  For more information, please go to http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/.

The Big Question

If you've heard of this before, it bears repeating.  The Big Question: A Film About Forgiveness (2007) invites us to consider forgiveness through several stories of tragic events, including the 2006 Amish schoolhouse murders, the Japanese internment camps and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The film is available on DVD, so check it out when you get the chance.  Click here to visit the film's website.

Declaration of DREAMS

On May 17, immigrant youth and their allies across the country will issue a "Declaration of DREAMS," which outlines several rights for undocumented youth, including the right to live with dignity in the country they call home, the right to live with their families and the right to education.  Should you choose to be involved, here are several suggestions:

• Organize an event
• Attend an event
• Write an op-ed for your local newspaper
• Sign on to the Declaration of DREAMS.

Click here for more information about these actions.