In 2011, Governor Walker signed Act 23, enacting one of the country’s most restrictive voter ID laws.  From then on, the Department of Motor Vehicles, under the Department of Transportation, found itself responsible for providing Wisconsin citizens with a crucial document by which they demonstrate their right to vote – a Wisconsin drivers license or state ID.
 
Unfortunately, this has thrown up huge obstacles for many to exercise their right to vote.  Many DMV’s around the country are located far from public transportation; many are only open a few days a week, and only a very few have Saturday hours.  Many low-income workers are unable to take time off from work to travel to the nearest DMV during working hours to get their ID. 

Non-drivers, including the elderly and many in the disabled community, have a hard time getting to DMV locations off the public transportation path.  People in rural areas lacking in public transportation are also hard hit. People of color, students, and Native Americans are most often affected. The result is many Wisconsin voters find themselves disenfranchised because they cannot access the ID they need to vote.
 
The Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition, of which WFVJ is a member, is asking people to send letters to the Secretary of Transportation Craig Thompson asking him to increase DMV hours, add Saturday hours, and engage in a public awareness campaign to combat misinformation and educate people on what they need to vote.  Please use this letter from the Voting Rights Coalition as a guide to craft your own letter to Secretary Thompson and urge him to implement these common-sense solutions. 

Congress is back in session but just for a short time, and then they recess again to hit the campaign trail. If they do not act now, we will not get another COVID Relief bill until 2021, if then.
 
People need rental assistance, increased SNAP (food stamps) benefits, unemployment insurance, and access to free testing and COVID health care, and they need it now!
 
According to the Wisconsin Budget Project:

• 116,000 Wisconsin parents cannot provide enough food for their children to eat
• 165,000 Wisconsin renters do not think they will be able to pay next month's rent
• 2 million Wisconsin residents are having trouble paying their usual household expenses

 
Please call Tammy Baldwin ((608) 264-5338), Ron Johnson ((414) 276-7282), and your Congress member now (find your Congressional representative here and tell them to get back to work and pass meaningful COVID 19 Relief! 

For more information on the hardships families are facing during the pandemic and economic crisis, see this report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

August 25, 2020
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, 608-513-7121, wifaithvoices4justice@gmail.com
 
STATEMENT ON THE SHOOTING OF JACOB BLAKE
 
With shock and horror, we have seen another officer-involved shooting of an unarmed African American man, this time in our State of Wisconsin.  The video of Jacob Blake being shot multiple times by a Kenosha police officer as his children watched appears to be yet another instance of an unnecessary use of lethal force by our police.
 
As people of faith, we offer the family of Jacob Blake our prayers and support. Although we cannot begin to imagine the pain, anger, frustration, and outrage that African Americans continue to feel as their loved ones are gunned down, we join them in protesting these outrageous acts of inhumanity.
 
The nation has witnessed a long overdue rising of awareness about the reality of systemic racism since George Floyd’s cruel death in Minneapolis just three months ago. Nevertheless, awareness does not suffice in itself. Action must follow.
 
Leviticus 19:16-18 commands us “do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds.”  We cannot be silent while racism and violence ravage African American communities. To be silent is to be complicit.  Rather, we must speak out, and act, to combat this evil.
 
Fighting racism is a life-long task.  We stand with people of color and other oppressed minorities and pledge to work together to end the poison of systemic racism!
 
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
Executive Director, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
 
Reverend Larry Sexe
President of the Board
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
 
 
     

​The Trump Administration's assault on the United States Postal Service threatens everyone's right to a fair electoral process.  More than that, it threatens people's health and lives.  Deliveries of prescription drugs to the elderly and disabled are delayed, endangering the lives of people who depend on those medicines being delivered on time. Bills delivered late can result in late payment of rent and utilities, threatening shut-offs and evictions.

Please take action to save the postal service, preserve safe mail-in voting, and protect people's lives!

Here are five things you can do today:
  
1. Support funding for the post office and for safe, secure elections
 
As you’ve probably read, the postal service is running short on funding right before the election. The US House of Representatives has proposed $25 billion in additional funding to keep the post office running at full strength, to support mail-in voting and all the other vital services that the post office provides. The new Postmaster General has taken a different tack by removing top management, cutting overtime, removing mail sorting machines, and telling 46 states to expect delays that will affect their deadlines for absentee ballots. Check here for comprehensive coverage of the issue.
 
You can help by calling or writing our US Senators to express your views. As long as you’re writing, you can also express support for the House proposal of $3.6 billion in funding which includes funds to help state and local election officials conduct fair, secure, and safe elections despite the complications caused by the coronavirus.
 
Senator Ron Johnson
(202) 224-5323
email using the form at this address
 
Senator Tammy Baldwin
(202) 224-5653
email using the form at this address
 
2. Support continuing post office oversight to prevent drastic changes
 
The Postmaster general will be testifying before the House Oversight and Reform Committee next week about the changes he has made at USPS that may affect mail-in ballots. The chair of this committee, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, has  introduced the Delivering for America Act to stop the Postmaster General from making changes to the operations of the post office before January.  You can read more about it here.
You can help by calling or writing your US Congressperson to express your views.
 
Representative Mark Pocan
202-225-2906 
email using the form at this address
 
3. Promote local alternatives for delivering your ballot
 
Mail voting is usually a great alternative in Wisconsin, where we can vote by mail simply by requesting a ballot – no reason needed. But this year we face the risk of too many ballots overwhelming the clerks and the post offices if everyone waits until the last minute. So familiarize yourself with this important information and let your friends  and neighbors know too.
 
To make sure your ballot arrives on time to be counted:

• check your registration today at myvote.wi.gov. Oct. 14 is the deadline to register by mail or on-line
• Don't wait -  request your ballot now and mail it two weeks ahead of Election Day. If you have not sent in your ballot by Oct. 27, you should deliver it directly to your clerk's office or to a dropbox if they are available in your area.   In most locations, you can also bring your absentee ballot to your polling place by 8:00pm on Election Day, with some exceptions. See below
• The Wisconsin Election Commission recommends not waiting until the Oct. 29 deadline to request your absentee ballot, as they cannot guarantee it will get to you and then back to the clerk's office on time. 
• For more information on absentee voting, registering, deadlines, and to contact your local clerk's office to find more information specific to your district, visit MyVote Wisconsin
• Thirty-five municipalities including Milwaukee and Green Bay count their absentee ballots at central locations.  If you are in those localities and are dropping off your absentee ballot on Election Day, you must bring it to that central location, not to your polling place.  To find the list of central counting localities, check here.

·      
4. Sign up to be a paid poll worker
 
If you are comfortable doing so, sign up to work at the polls on election day. Most cities are facing a shortage of poll workers and would be happy to have the help. You can work for pay or as a volunteer. Sign up yourself or pass this message on to someone who could use the extra money. Read more about working as an election official 

5. Fight back against voter suppression
 
Join us for this upcoming program where you can learn more about the history of voter suppression, how it manifests today, and how you can help combat it.
 
Combating Voter Suppression In Wisconsin: Protecting Everyone's Right to Vote
Webinar Sunday, September 13, 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Join us for a presentation by Matthew Rothschild, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, about the history and current issues in voter suppression across the country - specifically in Wisconsin - and ways to get involved. We encourage you to watch the short 38-minute documentary, “Suppressed: The Fight to Vote,” prior to the event.
 
RSVP here to sign up and get the Zoom link, or tune in at the time of the event on Facebook Live. This event is co-sponsored by Jewish Congregations for Social Justice - Madison, Tikkun Ha-Ir, The Interfaith Center at Miami University, and the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign.

On August 6, a coalition of social justice organizations, including Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, sent a letter to the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation outlining priorities that must be included in the next COVID-19 relief package, currently being debated in the Senate. 
 
Key priorities identified in the letter include:

• Ensuring universal access to free testing, treatment, and preventive vaccines for COVID-19 regardless of immigration status, income, or any other eligibility criteria,
• Funding for states, local governments, and school districts to cover lost revenue and continue essential services,
• Additional and recurrent economic stimulus payments for individuals, regardless of immigration or family status, until the economy recovers,
• Extend the supplemental $600 per week in unemployment insurance through at least the end of the year for all workers,
• Increasing and extending the supplemental federal paid leave included in the CARES Act, as many parents face the prospect of limited in-person schooling, and workers face additional challenges with caring for a loved one, or battling an illness themselves,
• Additional funds for the homeless and those experiencing housing insecurity,
• Funding for workers who provide home health care for the elderly and disabled and dedicated funding for programs to alleviate widespread social isolation and loneliness among older adults.
• Ensure Wisconsinites have access to healthy food by increasing the SNAP maximum benefit by 15%
• Include the Pandemic TANF Assistance Act (S. 3672). This critically important funding would provide flexible emergency assistance to help low-income families cover groceries, the rent, and utility costs. It would enable states to provide emergency cash assistance to families and individuals that have been left out of other relief measures like unemployment insurance (UI), including individuals returning from jail or prison, survivors of domestic violence, immigrants, and young people from low-income neighborhoods who are just entering the labor market.

Please write to Senators Baldwin and Johnson and amplify the message in this letter. Urge the Senators to pass a comprehensive package immediately that includes these vital needs.  Millions of Americans have already been waiting too long!

As COVID-19 spreads and numbers increase, more and more hard-working families need help, support, and relief.  The House of Representatives passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act back in May. Since then, we have been waiting for the Senate to pass similar legislation.  The Republicans reportedly will announce their proposal tomorrow (July 27), but at $1 trillion, it promises to be wholly inadequate to meet the needs of struggling states and individuals.  We call upon Wisconsin residents to urge Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson to work together on a bipartisan response that will address the deepening crisis facing our state and nation.
 
While we wait for the Senate to act, the $600 a week additional unemployment benefit is expiring, as is the moratorium on evictions. Coronavirus cases continue to climb, as over 144,000 people in the US have died and the hardest hit have been communities of color. Over 50% of households have lost income from work between March 14 and July 14. For Latinx households, the number is 62%; for Black households, 57%; for Asian households, 52%; for white households, 45%. 
 
According to the Wisconsin Budget Project, in May, Wisconsin had an unemployment rate of 12.0%, one of the highest rates ever recorded. Roughly 375,000 more state residents are without jobs compared to February. Approximately 720,000 Wisconsinites, representing 23% percent of the state’s February labor force, have filed unemployment insurance claims since the beginning of March. Hardest hit are the workers least able to withstand sustained periods of unemployment – restaurant and retail workers, domestic workers, agricultural laborers . Not coincidentally, these jobs also tend to be primarily held by women, especially women of color.

Congress needs to act now to address the growing health and economic crisis.  The national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities lays out in brief what we need:
 
 “more federal aid to states, cities, and towns so they don’t have to lay off teachers and public workers and cut vital services for seniors, families with children, and people with disabilities; temporarily increasing SNAP benefits, housing assistance, and tax credits for low-income families and workers to help people pay the rent and buy food; creating emergency grants for states and tribes to help low-income households, including immigrants, facing severe hardship; and continuing expanded federal unemployment benefits.”  
 
Aid must be robust and comprehensive to stave off a wave of hunger, homelessness, unemployment, shuttered businesses, and increased hardship for children, the elderly, the disabled, and communities of color.  Immigrant families, thus far left out of previous COVID relief bills, must be included.  Corporations must not be protected against accountability for unsafe working conditions.  And aid must continue for as long as it is needed, not ended prematurely at an arbitrary preset deadline.
 
Please contact Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin today and let them know we need a relief plan that addresses the needs of our states and our communities, regardless of immigration status, and prioritizes people over corporations. We demand better relief for our families; we demand better relief for our children; we demand better relief for the tens of millions of people across the country who look to our elected officials to be the moral, just, and compassionate leaders we need them to be.

This past weekend we celebrated the Fourth of July – Independence Day.  In previous years, I would send out an Independence Day message in our newsletter, with a banner Happy Fourth of July image, complete with the traditional photo of the Statue of Liberty, the American flag, and fireworks.  But this year I decided against it.
 
Why not celebrate the Fourth of July?  Why the hesitation over an image of the Statute of Liberty, that classic symbol of our nation’s promise of ‘liberty and justice for all’? Because this year, of all years, that promise rings hollow and that symbol has lost its luster, since for too many of our fellow Americans, there is neither liberty nor justice to be found.
 
In 1985, Ken Burns created a documentary on the Statue of Liberty in which he interviewed writer and activist James Baldwin.  Burns’ first question to Baldwin was about the nature and meaning of liberty. Baldwin replied, “Liberty is the individual passion or will to be free, but this passion or will is always contradicted by the necessities of the state, everywhere…for a black American, for a black inhabitant of this country, the Statue of Liberty is simply a very bitter joke, meaning nothing to us”. 
 
The Statue of Liberty, for many immigrant communities of the late 19th and well into the 20th century, was a literal beacon of hope, a guarantee of a better life, a life of freedom and opportunity.  But those immigrants by and large were voluntarily, even eagerly, leaving behind poverty, oppression, violence, and war.
 
How vastly different was the experience of Africans who were unwillingly ripped from their homes, their families, their liberty, and dragged to this place where they were enslaved and oppressed.  The legacy of that oppression is with us still today, woven into the very fabric of our society. No wonder, then, that James Baldwin saw the Statue as a hollow symbol, holding no meaning.
 
Statues are nothing more nor less than symbols of our ideals as a nation.  But symbols only have significance if the ideals they reflect are lived out in real life, not merely enshrined on a pedestal. We are challenged today to bring to life the ideals of liberty and justice which the Statue of Liberty embodies, to make them meaningful for all peoples, not just for some.
 
This moment in history is ripe for change.  According to a Pew Research Center poll, two-thirds of Americans say they support Black Lives Matter. The same poll showed seven out of ten say they have had conversations about race in the last month.  Millions across the nation have come out to demonstrate on behalf of justice for George Floyd and to stand against racism, far more than ever took part in civil rights demonstrations in the 1960’s.  Even the NFL and NASCAR have expressed support for Black Lives Matter.
 
Most significantly, these efforts have already begun to bear fruit. “Defund the Police” has come into everyday conversation, not just as a slogan but as a serious issue to be addressed.  People in positions of authority are looking at what it means to take the police out of our schools, to divert funding from militarizing our police departments to funding mental health services and community-based programs, and to banning chokeholds and other deadly tactics. 
 
So much more needs to be done! In the wake of the pandemic and economic collapse, highlighted by the recent protests, the vast inequities in our society have, at long last, been brought into the glare of public scrutiny. Disparities in health care, education, poverty, and incarceration rates; disenfranchisement at the polls; access to services such as transportation and the internet; and so much more, can no longer be denied or ignored.
 
It is past time for each of us to stand up, speak out, and take action! We must hold our elected leaders accountable, and hold ourselves accountable, so that this moment does not pass us by but instead becomes a catalyst for real, meaningful, lasting change.  Let us remember how far we have come, look ahead to how much farther we have to go, and pledge to work together to fulfill the promise of this country ‘conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all [persons] are created equal’. Then can we observe a New Independence Day, one which truly celebrates Liberty and Justice for All.

We are standing at a pivotal moment in history.  We each have a choice to make – do we watch on the sidelines, or do we stand up, speak out, march, protest, examine our own beliefs and behaviors, educate ourselves, build bridges across differences, and work for long-term systemic change?
 
As people of faith, we are called to make the latter choice, not to stand idly by while our neighbor bleeds, but to love our neighbor as ourselves. Many of us, particularly white allies, want to take action, but are not always sure what action to take.  We can easily be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead.  We have to remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.  As Rev. William Barber likes to remind us, we are building a Movement, not a moment.
 
With humility, I would like to offer some thoughts and share from what I have learned from African American leaders. 

1. Show up!  Never underestimate the power of simply showing up.  Even during the pandemic, there are ways to show up safely.  Keep in mind, this current health crisis is just a part of the larger, 400-year long health crisis of racism. 
   1. If you are able, join a march, rally, or protest.  Some tips on how to do so safely can be found here.
   2. If you cannot be present in person, write a letter to the editor, share posts from African American writers on social media, speak about racism to your family, friends, congregations, and communities.
2. Educate
   1. General interest: There are many books, films, articles, and other resources readily available. A short list is below.  For a deeper dive, Wisconsin Voices has put together an extensive list of resources.
   2. Denomination Specific:
      1. The Union for Reform Judaism has also put together a list.  Some items are specific to the Jewish community but much is of relevance to the general public
      2. Unitarian Universalist Association Racial Justice
      3. United Methodists Stand Against Racism
      4. Presbyterian Church (USA) Facing Racism 
      5. Episcopal Church Racial Reconciliation
      6. United Church of Christ Racial Justice
      7. United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
      8. Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative
      9. Buddhist Peace Fellowship
      10. Baha’i Race Amity
      11. Interfaith Coalition of Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs sign statement vowing to fight for racial justice 
      12. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) - Ending Racism
      13. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Northern Yearly Meeting Anti-racism working group
      14. Friends General Conference (Quaker)
3. Donate - Support African American and other minority-led organizations. Some suggestions:​Wisconsin-based organizations:
   1. Nehemiah
   2. Black Enterprise Fund = benefits these black-led organizations - Madison365; Boys and Girls Club; Maydm (introduces girls and youth of color to opportunities in the technology field through interacting with code. We want to support underrepresented youth to recognizing their potential in the STEM field); Madison Black Chamber of Commerce; Urban League
   3. Freedom Inc. – organizes in communities of color in Madison - sign up to volunteer
   4. Psalm 46 Fund – co-sponsored by the African American Council of Churches and The Lighthouse – provides COVID-19 Relief funds for African American and Latinx communities
   5. Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC)
   6. Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) 
   7. Souls to the Polls – voter registration in African American communities in Milwaukee - 
   8. Voces de la Frontera Direct Relief Fund: COVID-19 Relief for Undocumented Workers
   9. Voces de la Frontera
   10. Latinx Consortium for Action COVID-19 Relief Fund 
   11. Centro Hispano of Madison
   12. Wisconsin Poor People’s Campaign
   13. 100 Black Men
   14. Urban League of Greater Madison
   15. Wisconsin NAACP - find your local branch
   16. Support minority-owned businesses.  Contact your local Chamber of Commerce to get a list. Find out if your local community has a Black Chamber of Commerce and a Latinx Chamber of Commerce. The Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce; The Latino Chamber of Commerce – Dane County

     National Organizations:

1. NAACP
2. NAACP Legal Defense Fund (a separate organization from the NAACP) 
3. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
4. Color of Change
5. Equal Justice Initiative
6. The Innocence Project
7. America’s Black Holocaust Museum
8. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
9. National Museum of African American History and Culture
10. National Museum of American Indian
11. Native American Rights Fund
12. United Negro College Fund
13. National Domestic Workers Alliance
14. RAICES - The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
15. United We Dream - Youth-Led Immigrant Rights Organization
16. Anti-Defamation League
17. Southern Poverty Law Center

4. Activate

1. Read the Dane County NAACP Statement on the death of George Floyd and support the demands for change and accountability in our police forces.
2. As a congregation, leaders, or members – reach out to your local police department, mayors, sheriffs and find out what their policies are:

• Are they banning chokeholds, strangleholds?
• Do they require de-escalation training and implementation?
• Do they require a warning before firing shots?
• Are they required to exhaust all alternatives to shooting?
• Is there a duty to intervene?
• Do you ban shooting at moving vehicles?
• Use of force continuum?
• Is use of force required to be reported?

(thank you to Rev. Kerri Parker, Executive Director of Wisconsin Council of Churches, for sharing this)


Podcasts:

• The 1619 Project (NYTimes) 

Four hundred years ago, in August 1619, a ship carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived in the English colony of Virginia. No aspect of the country that would be formed here has been untouched by the 250 years of slavery that followed. “1619,” a New York Times audio series hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, examines the long shadow of that fateful moment.

• Code Switch – (NPR)

What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for! Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story.

• Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay (Apple)

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay dissect the biggest topics in black culture, politics, and sports. Two times per week, they will wade into the most important and timely conversations, frequently inviting guests on the podcast and occasionally debating each other.

• Queer WOC (Apple)

Money and Nikeeta, two Black Queer Troublemakers, on this biweekly insurgent audio syllabus that unites, ignites, and excites the queer women of color community. QueerWOC is a space for queer women and folks of color rooted in reimagining healing, organizing, and community.

• Still Processing (NYTimes)

Step inside the confession booth of Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham, two culture writers for The New York Times. They devour TV, movies, art, music and the internet to find the things that move them — to tears, awe and anger. Still Processing is where they try to understand the pleasures and pathologies of America in 2020.

• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast (Apple)

Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast features movement voices, stories, and strategies for racial justice. Co-hosts Chevon and Hiba give their unique takes on race and pop culture, and uplift narratives of hope, struggle, and joy, as we continue to build the momentum needed to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture. Deepen your racial justice lens and get inspired to drive action.


Books and Articles
Non-Fiction
Alexander, Michelle, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness, 2010

Baldwin, James – The Fire Next Time, 1963

Brodkin, Karen, How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America, 1998

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, Between the World and Me, 2015

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, 2017

Gad, Marra B., The Color of Love: a Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl, 2019

Hooks, Bell, Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism, 1981

Irving, Debby, Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, 2014

Kendi, Ibram X, How to be an Antiracist, Random House, 2019

Oluo, Ijeoma, So You Want to Talk About Race, 2019

Roberts, Dorothy, Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, 1997

Rothstein, Richard, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, 2018

Stevenson Bryan, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, 2014

Wilkerson, Isabel, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, 2010

Fiction:
Hurston, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937

Morrison, Toni, The Bluest Eye, 1970

Whitehead, Colson, The Underground Railroad, 2018

Articles:
The 1619 Project, New York Times

75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice

The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates,

Black, Jewish And Avoiding the Synagogue On Yom Kippur by Leah Donnella

 "What is Owed" by Nikole Hannah Jones, NYTimes Magazine, June 30, 2020 

YouTube videos:
Diversity Training Isn't Enough: Racism, Trauma and Justice - Dr. Joy A. DeGruy

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Emanuel Acho

Movies:
13th – a documentary by Ava DuVernay on how a deliberate loophole in the 13th Amendment has led to modern-day slavery in our prisons

Selma – directed by Ava DuVernay on the days leading up to the historic march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge

When They See Us - directed by Ava DuVernay

I Am Not Your Negro – a documentary about the writer and activist James Baldwin

Hidden Figures – based on the true story of African American women who worked as human ‘computers’ at NASA

If Beale Street Could Talk – directed by Barry Jenkins, based on the James Baldwin novel

Moonlight - directed by Barry Jenkins

Dear White People – directed by Justin Simien

Fruitvale Station – directed by Ryan Coogler

Terminology
Many of the definitions below, unless otherwise indicated, come from Racial Equity Tools Glossary.  The Glossary itself takes definitions from various sources and those sources are cited here. The definitions of many of these terms are fluid and may mean different things to different people or in different contexts. 

• Ally - Someone who makes the commitment and effort to recognize their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and work in solidarity with oppressed groups in the struggle for   justice. Allies understand that it is in their own interest to end all forms of oppression, even those from which they may benefit in concrete ways. Allies commit to reducing their own complicity or collusion in oppression of those groups and invest in strengthening their own knowledge and awareness of oppression. OpenSource Leadership Strategies, “The Dynamic System of Power, Privilege and Oppressions.”  Center for Assessment and Policy Development.

 

• Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. Anti-Racism is defined as the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti-racism tends to be an individualized approach and set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts.

 

• Anti-racist - An anti-racist is someone who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing antiracist ideas. This includes the expression or ideas that racial groups are equals and do not need developing and supporting policies that reduce racial inequity. - Ibram X Kendi, How to be an Antiracist, Random House, 2019

 

• BIPOC = Black and Indigenous People of Color

 

• Black Lives Matter/The Movement for Black Lives –

• BLM - A political movement to address systemic and state violence against African Americans. Per the Black Lives Matter organizers: “In 2013, three radical Black organizers—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called #BlackLivesMatter. It was in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman. The project is now a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters. [Black Lives Matter] members organize and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” 
• The Movement for Black Lives - The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) formed in December of 2014, was created as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural and political wins, convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement wide strategy. Under the fundamental idea that we can achieve more together than we can separately. 

 

• Chattel slavery - Chattel slavery is the most common form of slavery known to Americans. This system, which allowed people — considered legal property — to be bought, sold and owned forever, was supported by the US and European powers in the 16th – 18th centuries. - 

 

• Defund the police - “Defund the police” means reallocating or redirecting funding away from the police department to other government agencies funded by the local municipality. "Defund" does not mean abolish policing. It means moving funds away from the police and toward social service agencies, community services, education, and mental health services. 

 

• Dog whistle - Dog whistle is a type of strategy of communication that sends a message that the general population will take a certain meaning from, but a certain group that is "in the know" will take away the secret, intended message. Often involves code words. 

 

• Equity - is just and fair inclusion into a society in which all, including all racial and ethnic groups, can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. Equity gives all people a just and fair shot in life despite historic patterns of racial and economic exclusion.

 

• Implicit Bias - Also known as unconscious or hidden bias, implicit biases are negative associations that people unknowingly hold. They are expressed automatically, without conscious awareness. Many studies have indicated that implicit biases affect individuals’ attitudes and actions, thus creating real-world implications, even though individuals may not even be aware that those biases exist within themselves. Notably, implicit biases have been shown to trump individuals’ stated commitments to equality and fairness, thereby producing behavior that diverges from the explicit attitudes that many people profess. State of the Science Implicit Bias Review 2013, Cheryl Staats, Kirwan Institute, The Ohio State University. 

  

• Jim Crow/the New Jim Crow - Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second-class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. The New Jim Crow is a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class status—denied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights Movement

 

• Micro-aggressions - The everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. Derald Wing Sue, “Microaggressions: More than Just Race,” Psychology Today, November 17, 2010, 
• Modern slavery – The National Underground Railway Freedom Center identifies five types of modern slavery – forced labor, child slavery, sex workers, debt labor, domestic servitude.  The common thread among them is that a person is forced to work against their will, either to pay off a debt, because they have been trafficked and are held against their will and forced to work, or forced to work through intimidation, threat, fraud, or other coercion.  https://freedomcenter.org/enabling-freedom/five-forms-of-slavery. Another form of modern-day slavery is prison labor. The 13th Amendment prohibits slavery except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Using this loophole, people in prisons are forced to work under threat of punishments including loss of family visitation, solitary confinement, loss of earned time. They are paid pennies an hour, if they are paid at all. 

 

• Not-racist - By reflexively defining yourself as not racist, or beyond racism's firm grip, you're making it impossible to see how your own ideas, thoughts, and actions could be indeed racist. Moreover, being antiracist means moving beyond the "not racist" defense and instead embracing and articulating decidedly antiracist views and beliefs.

 

• POC = People of Color

 

• Racism - Merriam-Webster defines racism as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." Few people would admit that definition reflects their views but nevertheless consciously or unwittingly believe in or endorse racist ideas. Ibram X. Kendi goes further, defining the word racist as: "One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea." This incisive definition forces the reader to hold themselves accountable for their ideas and actions.

 

• Reparations - States have a legal duty to acknowledge and address widespread or systematic human rights violations, in cases where the state caused the violations or did not seriously try to prevent them. Reparations initiatives seek to address the harms caused by these violations. They can take the form of compensating for the losses suffered, which helps overcome some of the consequences of abuse. They can also be future oriented—providing rehabilitation and a better life to victims—and help to change the underlying causes of abuse. Reparations publicly affirm that victims are rights-holders entitled to redress.  International Center for Transitional Justice  "What is Owed" by Nikole Hannah Jones, NYTimes Magazine, June 30, 2020

 

• School to prison pipeline: In the United States, the school-to-prison pipeline (SPP), also known as the school-to-prison link or the schoolhouse-to-jailhouse track, is the disproportionate tendency of minors and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated, because of increasingly harsh school and municipal policies.
• Systemic Racism includes the policies and practices entrenched in established institutions, which result in the exclusion or promotion of designated groups. It differs from overt discrimination in that no individual intent is necessary. (Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations. Race Relations: Myths and Facts)
  It manifests itself in two ways:
• institutional racism: racial discrimination that derives from individuals carrying out the dictates of others who are prejudiced or of a prejudiced society
• structural racism: inequalities rooted in the system-wide operation of a society that excludes substantial numbers of members of particular groups from significant participation in major social institutions. (Henry & Tator, 2006, p. 352)

 

• White fragility - Per Robin DiAngelo, white fragility is “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable [for white people], triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.”   White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo

 

• White Nationalism/White Supremacy - While white supremacy in the United States is a system designed to maintain control over people of color and the sexuality and reproductive rights of all women, white nationalism is a social movement advancing a mass cultural narrative that is singularly focused on the creation of a white-ethno state. White supremacy in the United States is a system of social control and disparities formed to exploit indigenous populations, Blacks, poor whites, immigrants, and women’s sexual reproduction to maintain the political, cultural, economic, and social domination of those identified as white. Some examples include chattel slavery, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Jim Crow, ‘Operation Wetback’ in 1964 and anti-miscegenation laws not struck down until 1967 (Loving v. Virginia) to name but a few. Morally and legally defeated by the civil rights movement, de jure white supremacy (legally recognized) gave way to de facto white supremacy (generally known to exist in society, economy, culture, policies, and services, even if not legally authorized) during the 1960s.   If white supremacy is a system of disparities and bias used to exploit and maintain control, white nationalism seeks the complete removal of Jews and people of color from the United States altogether. White nationalists seek to dismantle the current state and replace it with a white only ethno-state. In short, ethnic cleansing. Unlike white supremacy, white nationalism is rooted in the anti-Semitic belief that Jews are responsible for the defeat of white supremacy and seek to destroy the “white race” through mass immigration, gay marriage, and a host of inclusionary policies. As White Supremacy Falls Down, White Nationalism Stands Up by Eric K. Ward, Executive Director of The Western States Center,

 

• White Privilege - Refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.  Structural White Privilege: A system of white domination that creates and maintains belief systems that make current racial advantages and disadvantages seem normal. The system includes powerful incentives for maintaining white privilege and its consequences, and powerful negative consequences for trying to interrupt white privilege or reduce its consequences in meaningful ways. The system includes internal and external manifestations at the individual, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional levels. White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women Studies. Peggy McIntosh. 1988;​ Transforming White Privilege: A 21st Century Leadership Capacity, CAPD, MP Associates, World Trust Educational Services, 2012.

Dear Friends,
Words fail us, but our outrage and horror haunt us again at this terrible time, when yet another African American has been killed at the hands of the police.  We cannot imagine the pain and anger, frustration and outrage the African American community must be feeling.  The murder of George Floyd is abhorrent, as is the lack of accountability on the part of the police department and the city government.
There is no adequate consolation that we can offer for the violence, the death, the expression of systemic racism blatantly at work here. Yet, we stand with our African American brothers and sisters and pledge to act as allies and partners in protesting these outrageous acts of inhumanity.
​
Leviticus 19 tells us “do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds”.  Let us not stand idly by while the African American community is ravaged by racism and violence.  Let us take action!
Fighting systemic racism is a life-long task. One small first step is to sign this statement from Faith in Public Life - PEOPLE OF FAITH CRY OUT: BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Another small step – read and take to heart this advice from Corinne Shutack – 75 Things White People Can Do to For Racial Justice.

Let us stand together with people of color and other oppressed minorities and work together to end the racism that is poisoning our society!

Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
Executive Director
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

May 13, 2020
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, wifaithvoices4justice@gmail.com; 608-513-7121
 
WISCONSIN FAITH VOICES FOR JUSTICE URGES OUR COMMUNITIES TO REMAIN SAFER AT HOME!
 
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is appalled and dismayed at the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Governor Evers’ Safer at Home order.  The Supreme Court has sacrificed public safety in favor of partisan ideology.
 
While the Governor’s Safer at Home order has been successful in flattening the curve of projected coronavirus cases, the metrics for re-opening the state, as outlined in the Badger Bounce Back plan, have not yet been fully met.  There still has not been a downward curve in the reporting of new COVID-19 or flu-like symptom cases, according to the Department of Health Services.  Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have shown that social distancing has begun to work but have also warned that now is not the time to re-open the state.
 
In an amicus brief Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice filed in support of the Governor’s Safer at Home order, Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, Executive Director of WI Faith Voices for Justice, said, “As a rabbi, I look to Jewish tradition to inform my values and beliefs. For Jews, pikuach nefesh – saving a life – is paramount above all other commandments…For all faiths, the imperative to look out for the most vulnerable in our society leads us to support all actions that do exactly that.  This virus most cruelly affects the most vulnerable in our society – the elderly, the immune-compromised, and particularly and disproportionately affects African Americans and other communities of color.  Social distancing has been shown in past pandemics to slow the spread of disease, and it seems to be doing the same now. Governor Evers’ Safer at Home order is effective, and necessary, to keep us all safe.”
 
While we recognize the negative impact Safer at Home is having on our economy, it is imperative that we all stay home to protect the safety of ourselves, our families, our communities, and especially our first responders and health care workers who risk their lives to care for us.  We all are deeply concerned about the economic impact this pandemic has wrought, particularly upon those least able to withstand an economic shock. Small business owners fear bankruptcy. People are struggling with sudden unemployment, lay-offs, cut hours. They do not know when or if they will be able to get back to work, nor how they are going to pay the rent, feed their families, pay for health care, and keep the lights on and the water running.  However, the way to help is not to open the state prematurely and risk everyone’s health.  Rather it is for the Legislature to pass a relief bill that will help those who need it most.
 
We appreciate the more than one hundred religious leaders who signed on to our amicus brief. They understood that the right to worship freely is truly measured by how spiritual devotion serves the public good—in this case, their flocks’ health—not by how many congregants can be squeezed into a house of worship. We anticipate that the religious community will continue to do the right thing and, on behalf of our members and the broader community, not encourage or support the premature opening of our state.
 
We applaud the decisions of elected officials in Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, and Brown County who have extended safer at home in their localities. Despite the Supreme Court’s disastrous and dangerous ruling, we urge the people of Wisconsin to maintain social distancing, to limit their travel outside their homes to only the most vital of needs, to wear masks and stay six feet apart from others whenever outside the home, and to refrain from public gatherings of more than ten people until health experts, and not politicians, tell us it is safe.