Peace and Social Justice Committee

Minutes of Meeting September 22, 2013

Present: Ann Winchester, Brig Johnson, Laura Ackerman, Margarite Spears, Diana Spears, Carrie Lauer, James Witker, Nora Hamilton, Cathie Gentile (Chair), Noah Bray-Ali, and Roberta Frye (Note taker)

1. Nora reported on the progress of our textbook fund for prison inmates, saying we’ve collected more than $750. Cathie will ask Charles if/how we can announce the fund on our website. We discussed whether we should make our fundraising an annual event and perhaps raise our goal. Nora will contact Bob Nash at Coastline College to clarify the price of books and how and where they are bought.

2. Brig reported that he’s still working on his Ralph’s scrip program for A New Way of Life, including the flyer.  He noted that there will be a film festival on mass incarceration at Loyola Marymount Univ. on October 21 and 22.  We agreed that our “Without a Home” film and discussion event with the filmmaker was very successful as was our “Unlikely Friends” film and discussion with the filmmaker.

3. On Rick’s behalf, Cathie proposed that we host an educational discussion on Syria, perhaps starting with a documentary.  We decided that we would do so on Sunday, October 13 after second service in the sanctuary.

4. Cathie reported that the UU Legislative Ministry is hosting a discussion on setting statewide social justice legislative priorities.  The event will be at Neighborhood Church on Saturday, October 5, from 3 to 6 p.m.

5. Roberta reported that our committee will again co-host a program with the ACLU, this one screening the documentary “Two Americas” and having a discussion with the filmmaker.  It will be on Tuesday, October 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Forbes Hall.

6. James said that a bill supported by CLUE/L.A. on rights of carwash workers is on the governor’s desk.  He will email us a template of a letter to send to Gov. Brown.

7. Cathie suggested that we host an informational event on the Affordable Care Act.  We can request the help of Abby Arnold who knows quite a bit about it.

8. The Friends of Orange County Detainees’ visitation program has been reinstated!

MAKING SENSE OF THE SYRIAN TRAGEDY

In the three years since the Syrian uprising erupted, over 100,000 people have been killed, millions have been displaced, and civil war has become the dominant dynamic.  On Sunday, April 20, Ziad Abu-Rish will speak on the crisis, highlighting the major causes and dynamics of the conflict as well as the question of U.S. responsibility.  Ziad is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles.  He holds an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in History from Whitman College.  His research interests focus on the political economy and cultural constructions of state formation in the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean), and he teaches courses on a broad array of topics related to the history of the modern Middle East.  He is co-editor of The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order (Pluto Press, 2012) and serves on the editorial teams of the Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya E-zine. .

Sponsored by the church’s Peace and Social Justice Committee.  For more information, call 310-829-5436.

The Peace and Social Justice Committee is sponsoring a showing of the film, "Paying the Price for Peace, The Story of S. Brian Willson", whose assistant director, Frank Dorrel, is well known to the UUSM congregation. Reception to follow in Forbes Hall afterward.

Parking available at the UCLA structure located at 1311 16th Street.