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Victory at the UN! September 9th, 2014
Despite a disappointing no vote from the United States, the UN General Assembly earlier today voted 124 – 11 to begin negotiations for an international bankruptcy process to end global inequality. The process can potentially stop vulture funds from preying on vulnerable countries and create a global economy that serves all of us.
Unfortunately, the United States government was one of only 11 countries to vote against this treaty process. While the US government is against predatory behavior, they are against this approach. We have much work left to do because today’s UN vote will not outlaw global predatory activity in the United States, one of the most important financial jurisdictions.
Read Jubilee USA’s press release and analysis of the vote here.
Yesterday, we asked you to contact United States UN Ambassador Power and urge her to support the resolution, and we thank everyone who spoke out on this issue. Thousands of faxes, calls and emails were sent to Ambassador Power in response to this request from Jubilee USA and Network members. Churches, synagogues, the AFL-CIO and dozens of Catholic religious orders joined you and amplified our message.
We will continue to update our network on this important issue. For information and analysis on the international debt, please visit Jubilee USA
Revel in the Revolution! September 8th, 2014
Please join the 8th Day Center on Saturday, September 20, as they celebrate their 40th Anniversary! This year’s Revel in the Revolution will feature keynote speaker José López, the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, and the presentation of the 4th Annual Mary Elsbernd Award to Rasmea Odeh of the Arab American Action Network. This 40th birthday will be celebrated with dancing, lunch, raffles, and a silent auction. Please join in the fun!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
2:00 – 5:00pm
Jean Marie Ryan Center
Misericordia Campus
6300 N. Ridge Avenue
Chicago
Urge a Yes Vote on the Urban Ag and DC Food Security Bill of 2014 September 8th, 2014
The Garden at 391 Michigan Ave., NE at the Oblate headquarters in Washington, DC
If you live in Washington, DC, please join us in supporting the Urban Agriculture and DC Food Security Bill of 2014. The legislation is moving through the City Council this month, and your voice is needed!
DC City Council Member David Grosso, who spent time visiting the Garden at 391 last April, introduced this legislation, with the idea of building on the legacy of the urban farming act of 1986 and the DC Healthy Schools Act of 2010. This bill takes those initiatives a step further by opening up more public and private land to grow healthy food. Passage of the Urban Agriculture bill is very important as a way to develop local food growing capacity.
Gail Taylor, the farmer of the lower field at the Oblate headquarters in Washington, DC has been building the soil and productivity on the city plots that make up Three Part Harmony Farm for the last 3 years, but she and her fellow farmers need these policy changes to take the next step to really grow (in so many different ways!).
Please get involved in this brief grassroots effort to make sure the City Council knows how important this issue is to residents of DC.
Contact the Chairman and members of the DC City Council Finance and Revenue Committee. They are currently in the mark up phase of the bill.
Please feel free to use these points as a guide:
“Hi, My Name is:
I live in Ward:
I’m calling/ emailing to let you know that the D.C. Urban Agriculture and Food Security Act of 2014 is an important piece of legislation for our city and that I hope it will be passed soon.
• The Act encourages private, District landowners to lease their land for agricultural purposes and encourages urban farming on unused city owned land in response to problems of blighted property.
• The Act responds to the District’s continued struggle to address chronic hunger amongst residents with a local solution: encouraging urban farmers to donate a portion of their produce to District-based food banks and shelters.
• The Act enables urban farmers to sell their produce both on and off the leased land, bringing easy, fresh food access to neighborhoods across the city, including those currently identified as food deserts.
Thank you!”
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Please write or call:
- Chairman Phil Mendelson: (202) 724-8032; pmendelson@dccouncil.us
- Jack Evans: (202) 724-8058; jackevans@dccouncil.us
- Muriel Bowser: (202) 724-8052; mbowser@dccouncil.us
- Marion Barry: (202) 724-8045; mbarry@dccouncil.us
- David Catania: (202) 724-7772; dcatania@dccouncil.us
Thank Grosso and Cheh for their leadership, and the other supporters of the bill as well:
- David Grosso: (202) 724-8105; dgrosso@dccouncil.us
- Mary Cheh: (202) 724-8062; mcheh@dccouncil.us
- Jim Graham: (202) 724-8181; jgraham@dccouncil.us
- Kenyan McDuffie: (202) 724-8028, kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
- Tommy Wells: (202) 724-8072; twells@dccouncil.us
Thanks to Three Part Harmony Farm for the information in this post. For more information on Three Part Harmony Farm, visit: http://threepartharmonyfarm.org
Please Support UN Resolution for an International Bankruptcy Process September 5th, 2014
We would like to share this prayer and action request from our colleagues at Jubilee USA. JPIC Director, Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI co-signed the recent Jubilee letter on this issue to Ambassador Power:
Friends,
On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly could vote on a resolution to not only stop vulture funds, but to actually prevent the world’s poorest economies from defaulting. A majority of countries support it – thanks to the work we have done together, the world is largely united against predatory behavior.
Yesterday, Jubilee’s executive board officers sent a letter to the United States UN Ambassador Samantha Power urging her to support this resolution.
Please pray for Ambassador Power as she weighs her vote, and we hope your entire faith community will pray for the UN process this weekend. We would be honored if you would share your prayers with us by replying to this email.
This resolution is an opportunity to win a financial reform Jubilee USA has championed since our inception: an international bankruptcy process for countries. As the Argentina case highlights so clearly, we need a bankruptcy system to stop predators and end the specter of default. Winning this resolution moves us closer to building an economy that serves, protects and promotes participation of the most vulnerable.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
A Test for all Americans: Unaccompanied Children Deserve a Compassionate Response September 3rd, 2014
Children at the Border;
Photo credit: Catholic Charities,
Archdiocese of Dubuque
“Maria would rather die than return to El Salvador,” notes the child psychiatrist who evaluated the 13-year-old near the U.S./ Mexican border. The girl is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression after escaping rape by a gang member, as well as threats to her grandparents’ lives back in El Salvador. With her in mind, and others like her, it is unthinkable that U.,S. policy proposals would roll back protections afforded to unaccompanied children under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. It would give border patrol agents the power to immediately render deportation decisions, and if this happens, children like Maria won’t have the opportunity to even talk to doctors. Read “Vulnerable and Alone: Children Crossing the Border” (PHR), here. The U.S. Bishops are calling for a humanitarian response. Watch this You Tube.
Learn more and spread the word: Watch the three-minute video, Why People are Fleeing Central America, from Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, that succinctly explains the root causes of the migration spike. The children are predominantly coming from Honduras (with the #1 homicide rate in the world), El Salvador (#3) and Guatemala (#8), known collectively as the Northern Triangle. Reportedly, street gangs from the 90’s now work closely with the drug lords and increasingly use “join or die” tactics with these children. Watch the video.
Click here to read more »
