Saturday, December 11, 9:30 a.m.

Social Justice Meeting

Social Justice Committee meeting in the church library on Dec 11th: seated l to r are Sally Jones, Committee Chair; Rona Solomon, Board President; Co-chair, William Taylor Suderman, with his back to the camera; Patricia Murphy, Newsletter Editor; Raffaella Iosue, Secretary.

The Social Justice Committee has agreed to meet on a regular monthly schedule. The first breakfast meeting was held in the UCSI library on November 6th, from 9:30 to 11:30 am, followed by a subsequent breakfast meeting on December 11th. 

Initially, we reviewed ideas that we came up with at our spring workshop (below is the list of general topics from that workshop) and decided to pick specific next steps for our committee.  A full report will follow.

• Health Care forum -- we participated in a health care forum at Wagner earlier this year
• Anti-Racism/LGBT - work with the I AM Staten Island campaign
• Public Transportation - support for better public transportation
• Peace Pole - make and put a peace pole on the grounds of UCSI at the next Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemoration next August
• Support for a project started by local Staten Islanders -- Sustainable Orphanges for Haitian Youth - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sustainable-Orphanages-for-Haitian-Youth/343490771584
• Youth Projects, involving youth in all our projects, also working with a projects like Habitat for Humanity
• First Friday Film Festival - continue this in homes? We can show documentaries/have discussions in our homes, invite friends, etc. 

go to top

Recent Events

October 1, 2010

Poster by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ)

"Americans on Hold: Profiling, Prejudice, and National Security"

The opening film of the "Friday Film" series, sponsored by the Unitarian Church of Staten Island and Peace Action of Staten Island.

Produced by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law, this film reveals the harmful effects of prejudicial and ineffective U.S. counter-terrorism and immigration policies.

Ali and Mahd's Stories

Ali, a teacher, mother, and community organizer originally from Pakistan, became an American citizens in 2002, but faces humiliating and invasive treatment by Customs and Border Protection officials as a consequence of her national origin.

Mahd, a blind adaptive technologies specialist from Jordan, waged and won a five-year legal struggle against the Department of Homeland Security in his effort to become a U.S. citizen. In the process, he was repeatedly interrogated and pressured by the FBI to become an informant.

Both Mahd and Ali share compelling stories of their experiences with racial profiling and the impact of these experiences on their families, their communities, and their sense of self and security. The film also explores the inherent affront to one’s sense of dignity andbelonging that results from such discriminatory targeting and from having one’s life put “on hold.”

go to top

August 8, 2010

65th Anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Bombings

WaFoo Jazz Ensemble

On the 65th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island and Peace Action of Staten Island co-sponsored a commemoration of those events as part of the annual Arthur Foise Summer Forum at the Unitarian Church on August 8 at 11:00 a.m.

The commemoration featured readings and poetry as well as music by Staten Island pianist David Jones and members of the musical ensemble WaFoo, which blends the traditions of Japanese music with American jazz.

In addition PASI's American Conscience Theater presented a short theatrical piece by Georgina Ohene commemorating the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings. The 25 minute presentation is a semi-dramatic combination of live music by Robert Ross, dance, readings and interactive re-enactments based upon John Hersey's book, HIROSHIMA.

The commemoration concluded with a peace procession with banners.

go to top