Author: Eleanore Ablan-Owen

The Poor People’s Campaign of Michigan and the PPC Lansing Chapter invites advocates and allies across Southern Michigan to participate in the first PPC Moral Monday event of 2021 – a car caravan at the State Capital calling for fair housing for the poor and criminal justice reform.  The specific calls for action target Ingham County, so this Washtenaw County’s chance to stand with our Lansing friends to help them get action on housing and criminal justice reform.  Michigan has momentum to build on!  

Cars are gathering at 10:30 am at Union Missionary Baptist Church (500 S. MLK Jr. BLVD) in Lansing  before caravanning downtown. And please help by getting out the word. Even if people can’t participate, they can hear that housing and criminal justice reform are still social justice priorities for 2021. Here’s the link to the organizers’ facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/742875736325361.  

ICPJ is a broad network that is constantly in motion doing work in multiple areas at the same time. Some of our Board members share why they are motivated to do the work they do in the community, and why they support ICPJ.

Thursday, December 3rd, 7 PM (Online)

The Town Hall is hosted by the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice and the Faith Leaders Forum

The Citizens for Racial Equity Washtenaw (CREW) is a group, co-chaired by Alma Wheeler Smith and  Linda Rexer,  that investigated  whether there are racial disparities in sentences by judges in Washtenaw County.  This one hundred page report found that Washtenaw County appears to have the same kinds of disparities in sentencing that we find nationally. We hope you will join us as we discuss the report and how our faith communities might best work to bring an end to this kind of discrimination. We would also appreciate your sharing this invitation with others that you think might be interested in joining us. Please register for the forum at this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucuCtrj4vH9PFXaSnoJnMpKsgDAyk6u4a

Join Us on November 3 as we do our part to make this election more democratic in process and to make it more fun for those standing in line! Fill out this link to join our crew. We will be sending more details on Monday! https://forms.gle/B6zcskXQs7rAopwp9.

Also, if you are at a polling place that could use our support, please call our helpline (855-VOTE-311) and we will send a team if we have one available.

Rally November 4th ~ 4pm Diag ~ UM Ann Arbor

ICPJ has been working with national, state, and county-wide partners over the last several weeks to organize and advocate to COUNT EVERY VOTE. We are part of the Washtenaw Action Council, a loose newly-formed coalition to protect voter rights, unified and organized to make sure that this election truly represents voter choices.

We want Michiganders to expect that results will not be confirmed on Election Night and reassure them that this should not be equated with fraud, but rather expect that we need to have patience to ensure that every vote is counted. We are preparing for a delayed announcement, and also preparing for the possibility of a contested election.

When everyone’s vote is counted and the will of the people is truly heard, we can have a better future for everyone. However, in recent memory, communities across Michigan, especially Black and brown communities, have had their votes taken from them and ignored. We will not allow that to happen again. 

This fight is about so many things, Black liberation, climate justice, an economy that works for everyone, and basic human rights for all, to name a few. What we are fighting for in this moment is breathing room and a better chance and the space to build the future we want. We need to work together to demand every vote be counted, the voice of the people be respected, and stand side by side to protect each other, our families and our communities.

Image Credit: Fuse Washington

• Organize with ICPJ and others to build and distribute tools to protect voter rights!
  • Non-Partisan Voter Tool Kit
  • Videos for New Voters
  • Ypsi Can I Share GOTV resources & videos for folks who don’t typically vote.
• Non-partisan voter registration and access resources, including step-by-step information on how to register and vote and information about voting rights for released prisoners and those formerly convicted of felonies.
• Learn about your ballot!
• How to get involved in organizing to stop voter suppression and to protect voter rights.
• Join us during weekly meetings here and share important information within your networks.

The Poor People’s Campaign Washtenaw County (PPC), and the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), are in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) in their strike and demands for a safe, equitable, and just work and community environment at the University of Michigan. GEO’s demands are consistent with ICPJ’s Principles and Practices and the Moral Policy Agenda of the National Poor People’s Campaign. 

GEOs demands specific to COVID-19 and a disarmed and demilitarized workplace are wholly reasonable and should be met as soon as possible by the University by providing:

• transparent and robust testing, contact tracing, and safety plans for campus;
• support for graduate employees working remotely and an option to switch to remote from hybrid/ in-person;
• flexible subsidies for parents and caregivers including those with school-aged children or care obligations for adults;
• better International Center support for international students and the repealing of the discriminatory, termly international student fee;
• unconditional support for all graduate students in the form of timeline and funding extensions, an emergency grant, and flexible leases and rent freezes at U-M housing.
• a demilitarized workplace
• diversion of funds from campus police (involving a cut of 50% to DPSS’ annual budget)
• and ending any and all ties to local law enforcement (AAPD) and other agencies (ICE).

The Washtenaw PPC and ICPJ urge our members to support the GEO workers’ strike, to refuse to cross their picket lines, and to join in solidarity with the strikers in the call for the UM to accede to their contractual demands for justice now! 

CREW Releases “Race to Justice: Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw’s Report on Racial Disparities in the Washtenaw County Criminal Legal System”

Download report here.
To easily send letters to elected officials online, go to the letter campaign page here.

Letter from Rev. Joe Summers
Episcopal Church of the Incarnation
ICPJ Board member
Washtenaw Poor People’s Campaign Steering Committee

Dear Friends,

Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw (CREW) was formed to gather public data on the charging and sentencing of individuals in Washtenaw County and to assess whether the data reflected racial disparities and the impact of any disparity on members of our community. Though we have begun to have extensive discussions on problems with discriminatory policing practices in our county, we have had very little data or focus so far on discriminatory practices in our court system. We hope our report will be the beginning of such a conversation.

I was privileged to serve on this committee which was co-chaired by former state Senator Alma Wheeler Smith and Linda Rexer, who for 30 years was the Executive Director of the Michigan State Bar Foundation.

The report has just been released. The data shows clear patterns of the kinds of racial disparities that we find in our criminal justice system throughout our country. Our report is not an easy or quick read though there is an executive summary at the beginning with our key conclusions and recommendations.

My hope is that those of you who want to overcome these forms of discrimination in Washtenaw County will take the time to read through it so that we can come together as a community to determine how to transform our local justice system so that it might be more equitable and restorative in its practices.

Thank you,
Rev. Joe Summers

p.s. As I was writing this I learned that Chief Judge Carol Kuhnke, of the Washtenaw County Trial Court and Eli Savit–who is running unopposed for Washtenaw County Prosecutor–released a joint statement expressing “appreciation for the CREW report, and broad support for its recommendations.” Their joint statement can be found on Eli Savit’s twitter here.

Email, Call, Message Washtenaw elected officials

For years elected leaders have shrugged and claimed they lacked the data to do anything about the racial bias we know exists in the criminal legal system here in Washtenaw County. We don’t lack the data anymore.

Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw (CREW) spent months documenting felony case records from the Washtenaw County Court website. They analyzed thousands of charging decisions by prosecutors and sentencing decisions by judges and found harmful racial disparities. The data is discussed in CREW’s just-issued report, “Race to Justice: Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw’s Report on Racial Disparities in the Washtenaw County Criminal Legal System”. Download here.

ICPJ is supporting CREW’s call to action. Please contact elected Washtenaw County officials and urge them to act immediately on the recommendations in “Race to Justice”.

To easily send letters to elected officials in the legal system, go to the letter campaign page here, where we provide sample text (that you can modify as you see fit).

JOIN US: TOWN HALL on Prop C
Thursday, October 15 ~ 6-7:30pm
Registration Required: https://bit.ly/36iZzea
Flyer here

ICPJ joined the Partners for Affordable Housing and we strongly advocate for passing Proposal C on November’s ballot — the millage would support construction, rehab, maintenance, and acquisition of affordable housing units, and provide funding for related supportive services, for the lowest-income households in Ann Arbor – those earning between 0-60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).

• At 1-mill for 20-years, approximately $6.5 million would be raised per year for a period of 20 years.
• It would support the development of approximately 1,500 units of affordable housing, housing up to 3700 people.
• For every $250,000 in market value and $125,000 in taxable value, the millage proposal would increase taxes for homeowners by $125 per year.

The Supreme Court has ruled, against the Trump administration, that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) must be vacated. SCOTUS ruled that the administration’s rescission of DACA was arbitrary and capricious. For now, DACA will remain in place and more than 700,000 DACA recipients have temporary relief from deportation.

This is a very important victory! And there is more organizing to do!

DACA is only temporary relief, and it does not protect more than 11 million other immigrants that do not have documentation.

Since 2012, more than 825,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children have obtained protection from deportation and work authorization through DACA. Nationwide, 1.5 million individuals live with a DACA recipient, including more than a quarter-million U.S.-born children who have a DACA recipient parent.

This administration will continue to threaten immigrants and their families through policy, stoking anti-immigrant hatred, continued detention and deportations, and by continuing to deny asylum seekers entry.

This country’s policies and inhumane treatment of immigrants are rooted in our racist systems. We must defend immigrants’ rights by changing policies, policing, and deportations now. And we must also dismantle the deeper culture and systems that enable administrations to walk back gains and renew anti-immigrant policies.

ICPJ supports permanent status and a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants. We urge the community to speak up and continue to organize for safety, justice, and citizenship for all immigrants. #FAITH4DACA

TAKE ACTION AFTER SCOTUS RULING:

On June 18, 2020:

• Sign up for United We Dream webinars, including HomeIsHere Digital Rally, Community Webinar for Undocumented & DACA Individuals, Webinar for Educators. Exact webinar times and instructions will be sent to participants.
• 7 pm:  United We Dream will tentatively conduct a community call for DACA individuals. Text “dacadecision” to 877-877.

On June 22, 2020, congregations, organizations, and individuals in the ICPJ network tentatively will join at:

• 1 pm:  A national HomeIsHere digital rally for all DACA individuals and supporters. Text “dacadecision” to 877-877.

Post-SCOTUS’ decision:

• Call/write your Senators to support H.R. 6 American Dream & Promise Act of 2019, and to bring H.R. 6 to a vote. Demand the administration to:
  • Extend DACA renewals.
  • Reject any proposal that used DACA recipients as bargaining chips to militarize border communities, expand the deportation agencies, build a racist wall, and create additional barriers to immigrants and refugees.
  • Include in COVID-19 relief packages benefits for all immigrants, documented or undocumented, such as free COVID-10 testing and treatment, extension of employment authorization for DACA and TPS recipients, and financial benefits, etc.
  • Helpful facts here.

• Social media campaign:
  • Tweet and post on Facebook to support DACA. @interfaithimm, and use #HomeIsHere, #Faith4DACA, #DACA, #HR6
  • Record a video of support, and upload to Twitter with hashtag #Faith4DACA and tag Interfaith Immigration Coalition (@interfaithimm) and tweet to members of Congress.
  • Post video also Facebook and Instagram with #Faith4DACA.

• Write a letter to the editor/statement of solidarity/press release. Talking points can be found at: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Faith4DACA-Pre-Decision-Toolkit.pdf
• Create virtual space for gathering of DACA individuals and families for prayers and story-sharing.
• Hold a virtual law webinar with DACA individuals and families.
• DACA families to finalize a preparedness plan. See: https://www.ilrc.org/family-preparedness-plan

Dear ICPJ Community,

We hope you and your loved ones are doing well and have the support you need during these uncertain times.

Staying isolated can cause loneliness, anxiety, and grief ~ this can also be a time for reflection and closer connection. We would like to continue to share opportunities to remain connected, to practice radical compassion, and lead from our hearts toward a more just future where more peace allows us to be our best selves. (Please scroll down to find calls for action.)

In the spirit of ICPJ’s Principles and Practices, we must focus on the most vulnerable. We will address the most urgent needs and also advocate for systemic change. Now is an important time to connect across differences, whether generational, socio-economic, or faith-based. It is an important time to organize to prevent crises like we are experiencing now – when communities of color are again hardest hit and decision-makers are prioritizing profit and politics over people.

Communities have formed more mutual aid networks. Nurses are striking. Activists are demanding shelter for the houseless and an end to evictions. People not active in organizing are seeing the humanity in demanding housing, food, shelter, and water for all. Communities are fighting for the release of immigrant detainees and prisoners living in institutions that cannot possibly keep them safe from such a contagion. And we are also preparing for even deeper threats to democracy and civil liberties in the months to come.

This is a very difficult, terribly sad time for so many. It’s also the time – for those of us with the capacity – to breath, dig deep, and lead with our values of compassion and love toward change.

ICPJ will continue to mobilize to take critical action, build community capacity to organize, help members navigate technology tools, and expand our network’s relational organizing. We will continue to strengthen the organization’s sustainability by building our base, improving communications, and deepening our partnerships.

We also want you to know that, as with most organizations now, ICPJ is facing significant fundraising challenges. We have needed to cancel or postpone our two spring fundraising events and seven fee-for-service engagements. We have also seen at least one grant that we rely on cancelled. In addition, our strongest fundraising month is typically May; we know that this will be a very challenging time for many of our annual contributors.

ICPJ is responding to the fundraising challenges by reducing the Co-Directors’ hours and compensation by 25% and also intensively looking for other funding sources.

ICPJ’s financial sustainability depends upon our generous members who are able to donate. We are grateful for all of your contributions and are working hard to adjust to new organizing needs as well as prioritize the long-term sustainability of ICPJ.

Thank You,
Desiraé and Eleanore