May 15, 1 to 2 p.m.

Jim Clune, peace activist, on Israel/Palestine

Jim Clune

Jim Clune, peace activist and president of Broome County Peace Action, will be at the Unitarian Church of Staten Island to show photos and talk about his recent trip to Israel/Palestine with a group of 25 other Americans and Canadians.  Sponsored by Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB) and the Resource for Nonviolence (RCNV), this delegation was the 35th such experience organized by IFPB since 2001, successfully educating nearly 600 North American citizens about the Middle East and deepening their understanding of its conflicts through eye-witness experiences.  Jim Clune, a lifelong resident of Binghamton, NY, was a conscientious objector from the Vietnam War and has been active in the peace movement for over forty years.

Earth Day 2011: 40/40/40

Plum blossoms

40 Years of Earth Day, 40 Days of Commitment,

40 UUs in Your Congregation
Stand Up for Environmental Justice: April 18 – May 27, 2011

The 40/40/40 campaign invites congregations to gather 40 friends and members (or 40 percent of average Sunday attendance) who will each commit to making a small or large change in their daily habits to benefit environmental justice.

Such changes might include giving up bottled water or sodas, eating a step lower on the food chain, or supporting or starting a community garden.

Not sure what you can do to make a difference? For a sample list visit the UU Ministry for Earth.

Visit the UUA website for more information about the 40/40/40 program.

Sunday, April 10

Community Cleanup Day

A cooperative project of El Centro del Inmigrante and the Unitarian Church of Staten Island

Pictured left to right are: Gonzalo Mercado, Executive Director of El Centro del Inmigrante; Gilberto Gonzales (El Centro); behind him, Alan Kindler (UCSI); Edgardo Cazles, El Centro; Jose Cedillo (El Centro); Sally Jones, UCSI Social Justice Committee Co-chair; Bill Johnson, friend of the UCSI; Sebastian Cabrera, El Centro; Rev. Susan Karlson, Minister, UCSI; Sarah Dolinar, UCSI, and Mary Hernandez Ceribello.

Mary Hernandez, Rev. Susan and her husband, Alan Kindler, and Sally Jones make a curbside clean sweep.

The UCSI Social Justice Committee and El Centro del Immigrante co-sponsored a clean-up event as part of Community Days on Staten Island. Volunteers met at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, April 10 at Broadway and Richmond Terrace and cleaned-up southward to Forest Avenue.

The special relationship with El Centro

The Board of Trustees of the UCSI voted to become an official Friend of El Centro, establishing a special relationship in which UCSI participates in the educational, service, cultural and advocacy mission of Port Richmond-based El Centro and El Centro participates in the programs of UCSI. As organizational friends, UCSI and El Centro open up their doors to each other. The Clean Up Day on Sunday was the first joint project of this official

friendship.

Cleaning-up along Broadway

Sally Jones and Gilberto Gonzales

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February 13, 1:00 p.m.

Downloadable Postcard from Green America website

"The Dark Side of Chocolate", a 45 minute film

The Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island screened "The Dark Side of Chocolate", a film by Miki Mistrati and U. Roberto Romano.

The film reveals new evidence that child labor and human trafficking continue in the cocoa fields for millions of children, nearly a decade after the major players in the cocoa industry promised to resolve these problems.

After the film, we discussed the issues and took action to end the exploitation of children in the cocoa fields and ensure that cocoa is a source of joy for all children. Viewers will have the opportunity to design and sign a valentine as well as a petition to the CEO of Hershey as part of the Raise the Bar, Hershey! Campaign, led by Green America and a coalition of nonprofit organizations that are calling on the cocoa industry to end child and forced labor and trafficking, and to start sourcing Fair Trade cocoa, which prohibits the use of child and forced labor.

Fair Trade chocolate refreshments were served after the film.

Children were invited and encouraged to participate.

For more information contact socialjustice@uucsi.org

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Social Justice Report: “Shining the Light”

Mike Stein, Social Justice Committee member, talks with Sally Jones, co-chair, and Board President Rona Solomon about the "Shining the Light" project.

The Social Justice Committee has initiated a new project called “Shining the Light”, as a means of acknowledging what individuals in our congregation are doing to support causes of social justice in their work or as volunteers.

The committee plans to act as a resource center and a conduit to the congregation and the wider community for information about UCSI people and their social justice work. The committee will also highlight the social justice work of organizations or events outside the church.

Diverse issues and causes

Members of the committee are working on diverse issues such as health care reform, anti-racism, anti-bullying, immigration, LGBT concerns, public transportation improvement and such organizations or groups as Building Bridges, Building The World We Dream About, I Am Staten Island, El Centro, Peace Pole for Hiroshima-Nagasaki, Interfaith Peace Pole, Sustainable Orphanages for Haitian Youth and many other local organizations that are making an impact on others.

Additionally, the committee will continue to focus on maintaining and improving well established UCSI projects such as the relationship with Project Hospitality, the Food Pantry and the First Friday Film series. We will also be highlighting Youth projects, working closely with the Religious Exploration committee.

Join us at our next meeting

We are a small committee, but we have lots of resources to share. If you want to be involved with us, come by and bring ideas. Our next meeting will be held on January 8th, in the church library at 9:30 am. Yes, there will be bagels and hot coffee!

Recent Events

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, co-chair; Rona Solomon, Board President; co-chair, William Taylor Suderman, with his back to the camera; Patricia Murphy, Newsletter Editor; Raffaella Iosue, committee 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 Orphanages for Haitian Youth
• 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. 

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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.”

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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.

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