Social Justice Events and Resources

Social Justice Events and Resources

Trinity Episcopal Parish in Wilmington Delaware seeks social justice and equality where it does not exist today.  Our sensitivities to the problems in our modern society were highlighted when the George Floyd protests exploded through the US and the world during the height of the pandemic lockdown.  The problems can be addressed by reform in a wide range of areas: Police, Justice, Housing, Education, Employment, Voting rights and the list goes on in the City of Wilmington, the State of Delaware our region and country.  Our parish members volunteer their time and get involved in order to improve our community and make positive change to help others in need.  Below is a list of resources you might find helpful in order to learn more, raise your awareness and get involved in a cause that is close to your heart. This is a living document and if you have additional information to add please let us know.


UPCOMING EVENTS

 

InterFaith Leaders for Neighborhood Ministries – Please join us for our Monthly Meeting via Zoom, Thursday, March 14th at 12:00 pm.  Come, invite others who are interested in networking and supporting those who are doing work in and around Wilmington, perhaps even downstate.  We meet for 45 to 60 minutes.  Hope to see you Thursday.

We will have some interesting information to share and hope you will zoom in.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85835734345?pwd=Nr8inJa9U1GNlH0Z38dJbx0i5bvHON.1

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Westminster’s Peace & Justice Group presents – 

“WE CANNOT NORMALIZE FAILURE”
Thursday, March 14, 7:00 pm via Zoom
With Dr. Laura Burgos, Executive Director, Wilmington Learning Collaborative

Dr. Laura Burgos will discuss the Wilmington Learning Collaborative’s Big Shifts for the 2024-2025 academic year: Students First. Connected Schools. Purposeful Partners. She will describe what she has learned during the past 6 months that informs these proposed shifts, and what has been accomplished since August. This will include the completion of the first ever multi-district teaching and learning analysis – The Opportunity Scorecard Project, the Educator Leader Team (ELT) Innovation Projects, and the forthcoming launch of the Site-Based Community Councils. Additionally, she will promote the WLC’s first community convening, taking place on April 3rd (flyer attached).

For a recent News-Journal article on the Collaborative, please click here.

Hosted by Westminster’s Peace & Justice Work Group.

JOIN US ON ZOOM

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Network Delaware 

Change Agent Training Program

Do you want the skills to unite people around a common goal in your community?  Do you want to support those around you in developing their own leadership?  Do you want the strategic tools to propel change?  Do you want to run a meeting that feels productive, energizing and action-oriented?

If these are questions you want to be able to answer, then this is the right program for you!.  Through applied training, this program immerses participants in the fundamental elements of social change organizing in the 21st century.

Sign up for the Change Agent Training Program starting March 17th at 2pm at the Episcopal Church of Saint Andrew and Matthew (719 N. Shipley St., Wilmington, DE 19801). The program lasts for 4 sessions.

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The League of Women Voters of Sussex County, Delaware (LWVSCDE) present “Defending Democracy: Then & Now,”  March 18th, at 6:00 pm, at the Cinema Art Theater in Lewes.  Help us Get Out The Vote for the 2024 general election and celebrate Women’s History Month.

We are partnering, for the first time, with the Rehoboth Beach Film Society (RBFS).  The theater will show a series of short documentaries touching on historic and contemporary challenges to democracy.  From the roles of iconic Suffragists like Ida B. Wells and Inez Milholland, to the current battle against voter suppression, to the example of one legislator choosing conscience over ideology to protect women’s reproductive rights, these films will both enlighten you and encourage you to treasure and exercise your right to vote.  A panel discussion will follow the films.

Tickets are $25. for general admission, $20. for RBFS and Cinema Arts members, $5. for students. (Student tickets can only be purchased at the theatre.)

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The Episcopal Church in Delaware – Join us for Benevolent Community Summit of Delaware, Wednesday, March 20th, 9:00am – 6:30pm at Rollins Convention Center in Dover.  This day retreat is for all who want to make a positive difference and will feature the honorable Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. as our keynote speaker.

Register early!  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/benevolent-community-of-delaware-summit-2024-tickets-753855240317

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ALCU of DE

I am providing some updates before our meeting on 3/21/24.

  • Nine new Smart Justice Ambassadors completed their training at the end of February. We trained five from Sussex County, two from New Castle County, and two from Kent County.(picture above Canvassing in Middletown,DE
  • The adjusted bill for Probation Reform SS1 for SB4 is just about done, so we can get that into the Senate committee for Vote. We do not have an exact date yet.
  • Our projected date for Lobby Day around SS1 for SB4 Probation Reform will be at the end of April. The exact date is coming soon.
  • I am Looking for volunteers to canvass in New Castle and Sussex Counties at the end of March (flyer coming soon)
  • Please share this action form link for Probation Reform with your colleagues, networks, and on Social Media.

https://action.aclu.org/ss1sb4

  • Currently, 900+ emails have been emailed to targeted Senators. Thank you for sharing the action link. Let’s continue.

A reminder of our meeting on March 21, 2024, at 4pm Link Below

https://aclu.zoom.us/j/87349109551?pwd=MlFuL21oazg0TzVsVnJSWHhVV2Z3dz09

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

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aclu.zoom.us

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Team Network Delaware 

Civic Action Alert: Week of March 10th

Summary

  1. Policy Action: Support free breakfast and lunch in schools for all kids, regardless of income, with HB 125!
  2. News: The Governor delivered his last State of the State address on March 5th. Read a summary here.
  3. Community Engagement: UNITY Convention for veterans to be held at the Rt. 9 Library on March 16th from 11:00am to 3:00pm.

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Legislative Report 

There are also plenty of pieces of legislation coming up in the legislature this week. Nothing that is a priority focus of WFP, but some things that could make positive impacts for working families:

  • HB 281 & 282 on House Floor Tuesday – These bills have been supported by RISE Delaware and will help push back against the governor’s attempt to force Medicare Disadvantage on Delaware’s retirees.
  • HB 299 in House Econ Tuesday – Sponsored by WFP Champion Cyndie Romer, this bill would ensure that public libraries are officially considered as public accommodations, allowing them to be accessible for everyone.
  • HB 191 in Senate Housing Wednesday – This rent escrow bill was introduced last year but never was passed, this will hopefully be the next step in getting this pro-renter bill officially passed.
  • HB 327 in House Judiciary Wednesday – Sponsored by WFP Champion Eric Morrison, this bill would protect victims of sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment from retaliatory lawsuits that arise when a victim of sexual assault discloses information regarding an act of sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment.
  • HB 189 in House Admin Wednesday – After Republicans tried to force through a bill allowing LLCs to vote in Seaford, this bill will ban any local government from allowing corporations to vote.
  • SB 233 in Senate Labor Wednesday – Many buildings that employ service workers often end up harming their workers when they change ownership, so this bill would create a new set of protections to make sure these workers can have some stability.

If you want to see a more full list of what’s coming up, you can view the full weekly legislative briefing here.

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The Episcopal Church in Delaware

The Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission –

A presentation the life of Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in March of 1822, and later escaped to Philadelphia where she lived as a free-woman.  She dedicated her life to the abolition of slavery as a conductor on the Underground Railroad (the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the Civil War).  Tubman brought approximately 70 enslaved African Americans to freedom in the north.  She died on March 10, 1913.

Our presenter, Sylvester (Sly) Woolford, is a native Delawarean.  He has lectured on African American history since 2010 and serves on several historical preservation boards, including the Delaware Heritage Commission, Wilmington University History Committee, and the University of Delaware Library.  Woolford has received many awards and recognition for his efforts to preserve and proved education of African American history.

The program will be offered via Zoom, Monday, March 25th, 6:00-7:30pm.  Please register by clicking on the button below, you will then receive a confirmation email.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: RJRC Discussion Honoring Harriett Tubman. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

r20.rs6.net

Antiracism RESOURCES

YWCA Antiracist Resource page

Here you can find Antiracist resources such as books, movies and podcast to further your personal education. To register or find out more about our programs visit: www.ywcade.org/what-we-do/rsj/

Books 

Non-fiction 

Roll Jordan Roll by Eugene Genovese
Displaying keen insight into the minds of both enslaved persons and slaveholders, historian Eugene Genovese investigates the ways that enslaved persons forced their owners to acknowledge their humanity through culture, music, and religion. He covers a vast range of subjects, from slave weddings and funerals, to language, food, clothing, and labor, and places particular emphasis on religion as both a major battleground for psychological control and a paradoxical source of spiritual strength.

Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabelle Wilkerson
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two “letters,” written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism.

Autobiography of Malcolm X As told to Alex Haley
In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, and the inherent racism in a society that denies its nonwhite citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.

Malcolm X by Manning Marable
Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America. Reaching into Malcolm’s troubled youth, it traces a path from his parents’ activism as followers of Marcus Garvey through his own work with the Nation of Islam and rise in the world of black nationalism, and culminates in the never-before-told true story of his assassination.

Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion.

Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria and Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious.

 

Fiction

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings– Maya Angelou

The Underground Railroad-Colson Whitehead

The Bluest Eye-Toni Morrison

The Color Purple– Alice Walker

 

Anti-Racism

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness– Michelle Alexander

How to Be an Antiracist-Ibram X.Kendi

White Fragility– Robin Diangelo

So You Want to Talk About Race– Ijeoma Oluo

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson

 

Movies

Glory – R – 1989 – 2hr. 2 min – Available on Netflix

Following the Battle of Antietam, Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is offered command of the United States’ first all-African-American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. With junior officer Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes), Shaw puts together a strong and proud unit, including the escaped slave Trip (Denzel Washington) and the wise gravedigger John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). At first limited to menial manual tasks, the regiment fights to be placed in the heat of battle.

Do the Right Thing – R – 1989 ‧ Comedy-drama ‧ 2h 5m – Available on Hulu, Sling, Amazon Prime

Salvatore “Sal” Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin’ Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin’ Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

13th – 2016 ‧ Documentary/History ‧ 1h 40m – Available on Netflix

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.

Just Mercy – PG13 – 2019 – Drama – 2h 17m – Available on HBOMax, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube

After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian’s life.

Green Book – PG13 – 2018 – Comedy/Drama – 2h 10m – Available on Hulu, Sling, Amazon Prime

Dr Don Shirley is a world-class African-American pianist, who is about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighbourhood in the Bronx. Despite their differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation.

If Beale Street Could Talk – R – 2018 – Romance/Drama – 1h 59m – Available on Hulu

In early 1970s Harlem, daughter and wife-to-be Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together, but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.

12 Years A Slave – R – 2013 – Drama/History – 2h 14m – Available on Hulu, Amazon Prime

In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender), he also finds unexpected kindness from another, as he struggles continually to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Solomon’s life forever.

Malcolm X – PG13 – 1992 – Drama – 3h 22m – Available on HBOMax, Amazon Prime, Vudu

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

Mississippi Burning – R – 1988 – Mystery/Drama – 2h 8m – Available on Hulu, Amazon Prime

When a group of civil rights workers goes missing in a small Mississippi town, FBI agents Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) and Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) are sent in to investigate. Local authorities refuse to cooperate with them, and the African American community is afraid to, precipitating a clash between the two agents over strategy. As the situation becomes more volatile, the direct approach is abandoned in favor of more aggressive, hard-line tactics.

BlacKkKlansman – R – 2018 – Crime/Drama – 2h 16m – Available on YouTube, Amazon Prime

Ron Stallworth is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman, into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.

Crash – R – 2004 – Crime/Drama – 1h 55m – Available on Hulu, HBOMax, Amazon Prime

Writer-director Paul Haggis interweaves several connected stories about race, class, family and gender in Los Angeles in the aftermath of 9/11. Characters include a district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his casually prejudiced wife (Sandra Bullock), dating police detectives Graham (Don Cheadle) and Ria (Jennifer Esposito), a victimized Middle Eastern store owner and a wealthy African-American couple (Terrence Dashon Howard, Thandie Newton) humiliated by a racist traffic cop (Matt Dillon).

Selma – PG13 – 2014 – Historical Drama – 2h 8m – Available on Hulu, Sling, Amazon Prime

Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Help – PG13 – 2011 – Drama/Romance – 2h 27m – Available on Netflix, Paramount Network

In 1960s Mississippi, Southern society girl Skeeter (Emma Stone) returns from college with dreams of being a writer. She turns her small town on its ear by choosing to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent white families. Only Aibileen (Viola Davis), the housekeeper of Skeeter’s best friend, will talk at first. But as the pair continue the collaboration, more women decide to come forward, and as it turns out, they have quite a lot to say.