Prayer
February 1 begins Black History Month. This year, the theme is Black Resistance. It is a celebration of the ways Black America has protested and resisted racism and oppression. Xavier University has several prayers online for Black History Month. I hope you will find time for this in your prayer.
Advocacy and Action
- Twenty years ago the bishops of the US and Mexico published the pastoral letter Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope. This letter addressed the need to manage migration between the two countries more humanely and emphasized the importance of providing pastoral care to newcomers. Twenty years and we still have no comprehensive immigration policy. It will take more than faith voices alone to make a difference. Did you know that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling on Congress to take immediate action to help address the nation's worker shortage? One of their calls is to enact policies such as employment-based immigration and temporary work visas as part of comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrants have always helped fuel the American economy. Legal pathways will protect immigrant workers from exploitation. You can send your elected officials a message and urge them to increase employment-based immigration through the Chamber of Commerce website. Read the whole Chamber of Commerce America Works Agenda.
- This past November, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed an updated draft rule to cut methane and other harmful pollutants from oil and gas operations across the country. From now through February 13, is the public engagement process known as a comment period. This allows people the opportunity to voice their support for cutting methane and to urge EPA to finalize and implement the rule quickly.
- Interfaith Power and Light has developed an easy-to-use tool for sending comments. It is very important to add a sentence or two of your own to the provided text so it counts as a separate comment. Simply click in the box to edit and leave your comment.
Education
- This Black History month the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center is celebrating women of the Civil Rights Movement. Each week this month they will highlight the work of an important Black woman activist. I will post the name in the JPCC Weekly Update, but to get all the information, you can take part in this series by signing up for weekly emails, or by following IJPC on Instagram or Facebook. We are encouraged to share something we learn with a family member or friend. This week meet the “Mother of the Movement,” Septima Poinsette Clark.
- Read also the Black History Month calendar from the Racial Justice Working Group of St. Joseph Brentwood. “Each day offers an opportunity to bear witness, learn, and reflect. Let us all take each day of every year as an invitation to further commit ourselves to "fostering right and just relationships". The work towards radical and inclusive love goes far beyond one month but we come together this month to remember the impact of the individuals within the calendar and to work towards personal and communal transformation.”
- Don’t Forget! On February 7, the USCCB will host a webinar titled St. Josephine Bakhita – A Saint for Victims and Survivors of Human Trafficking.
- February 2, at 2:00 p.m. (ET), join Loyola Marymount University for 10 Years of DACA: Where Are We Now? The panel will review the past 10 years of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act in the United States. We will get updated on current and future legal challenges, hear personal experiences from various DACA recipients and learn more about the ongoing political battle to protect the future of our vulnerable yet resilient Brothers and Sisters. Click here to register.