Since the beginning of the year, I seem to be doing a whole lot more activism recently than I have in the 57 years previous to that. I suppose there’s an extremely good reason for the change. Still, I have been reporting my activism here, and racking up a fair number of diaries on the topic. Yesterday I wrote a diary about a town hall in Erie, PA, where our Congressmen didn’t show up.
Today, it was a rally in support of immigrants and refugees. The rally was sponsored by the Benedictines for Peace, as an opportunity for people of faith to express their support for immigrants and refugees in the City of Erie. Recent immigrants make up a substantial proportion of the current population of Erie, as much as 10 %. The hateful rhetoric of Trump and his supporters has put many of them into a state of fear, and they need to be reassured that they have allies who will stand with them. Borrowing a page from Pope Francis, the subtitle for the rally was “Build Bridges, Not Walls.”
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie is an order of nuns who have worked tirelessly to further social justice for decades. The most famous of these sisters is Joan Chittester, who, though her writings and activism, has had the honor of pissing off Pope Benedict XVI.
As I am not a person of faith, I was not originally planning to attend this rally, but last night, I learned that hubby himself would be speaking. So of course I had to go to support him. And then RevKatie spoke too. More below the fold…
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The rally took place outside the Federal Courthouse, on the corner of State Street and 6th Street, by Perry Square. Sister Anne McCartney (pictured above) served as the MC. Throughout the program, she sent people into the courthouse in groups of six to visit Senator Pat Toomey’s office (where his staffer was not cowering behind a locked door with the lights out), and advocate for humane policy toward refugees and immigrants, regardless of their status. Here were the speakers:
Joe Haas spoke about the obligations that refugees must fulfill as new residents in the U. S. They must become self-sufficient within 8 months of their arrival, and pay back their plane fare. They must do this even if they know no English when they arrive, and they virtually all do.
Christa Gray spoke about fear and the “fight-or-flight” response, and how we must use that fear as motivation to help refugees in need.
Hubby worked for several years at a refugee resettlement agency, teaching the new immigrants English. He spoke about how these immigrants turned into the very best Americans.
Rev. Charles Mock spoke about how all U. S. citizens, if they aren’t refugees, are then descended from refugees. Closing the door on new refugees and immigrants denies our own origins as Americans.
RevKatie spoke about her experiences helping refugees to settle into Erie, and welcoming some of them into her congregation. She reminded us that Jesus said “If you welcome the stranger, you welcome me,” and rejecting the stranger is an un-Christian act.
Before I left, I too paid a visit to Senator Toomey’s staffer (and Senator Casey’s as well) with the message that we must not reject Muslim refugees, and that their vetting is already extreme. Casey has already demonstrated passionate advocacy for the refugees. Toomey? Well, who knows? However, the message has been delivered.
So, now, on to the comments!
Top Comments (February 22, 2017):
From belinda ridge wood:
In bubbanomics' HAHAHA diary on Trent Franks and marijuana, citizenx made a great comment in response to yankeegrl's invoking Cheech and Chong. And then, mittenstheunrulykitten replied to that with an excellent planned action at the district's next town hall meeting.
From elfling:
Dog Day Afternoon makes a relevant observation (in Twitler form to boot!) in Hunter’s front page post on the administration’s staffing woes.
From gharlane:
Wisdom from ZenTrainer that many of use could stand to learn. From Hunter’s front page post on how Trump voters are feeling defensive these days.
Highlighted by madcitysailor:
This comment by Toro Blanco on the slippery nature of the term “populism.” From kindler’s rescued post on the topic.
Highlighted by BrokenGlass:
This comment by acerimusdux on the topic of strengthening the Democratic Party. From wilbur’s post.
Top Mojo (February 21, 2017):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Photos (February 21, 2017):
Tonight’s picture quilt is courtesy of jotter!