Voter Education & Get- Out-The-Vote (GOTV) Activities - Brown Chapel AME Church Site, 1043 W. Michigan Avenue, Ypsilanti

• Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. Election Day Planning Meeting (Coalition Members & Volunteers)
• Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. Ballot Issues & Voter Empowerment
  Mary Bejian, Deputy Director, ACLU-MI Mark Francher, Staff Attorney, ACLU-MI
• Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. “Navigating the Election Process at the Polls” Derrick Jackson, Chief Deputy Clerk; James Price, MOTV Program Coordinator Washtenaw County Elections Division
• Saturday, November 1, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. Phone Bank Canvassing
• Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 7:00 A.M. On-Site & Off-Site Election Day Activities

The Community is Invited to Attend and Participate in the Voter Empowerment Activities of the Coalition.

For further information, please contact: Pastor Jerry Hatter/Church Office at (734) 482-7050, Pastor Mark Lyons at (734) 663-9369 Ext. 4, or Carmelita Mullins at (734) 434-8726 / karma44@ comcast.net.

What is the Faith & Community Voter Mobilization Coalition?

In March 2008, leaders of Second Baptist Church in Ann Arbor, Brown Chapel AME Church and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan came together to discuss cooperative efforts to: 1) educate voters on candidate positions, the issues and voting rights; 2) ensure that the greatest number of eligible voters are properly registered to vote by the October 6, 2008 deadline; and 3) provide transportation and other assistance to get voters to the polls on November 4th. The Coalition is a non-partisan group. No candidates are endorsed or opposed.

Who is part of the Faith & Community Voter Mobilization Coalition?

The official chairs of the coalition are Pastor Jerry Hatter of Brown Chapel AME Church in Ypsilanti and Pastor Mark J. Lyons of Second Baptist. Representatives of the following non-partisan groups make up the membership of the Coalition:

• American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU-MI)
• Holy Faith Church
• Huron Valley Association of Black Social Workers
• NAACP Ypsilanti-Willow Run Branch
• Brown Chapel AME Church
• Bethel AME Church
• Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice (ICPJ) New Creed Baptist Church
• Community Church of God
• Metropolitan Organizing Strategies Enabling Strength (MOSES)
• New Testament Baptist Church
• Dispute Resolution Center
• Mt. Herman Baptist Church
• People of Diversity United for Equality (PODUE)
• Ekklesia Fellowship Ministries
• Mt. Olive Baptist Church
• Second Baptist Church of Ann Arbor
• Fountain Church of God in Christ
• NAACP Ann Arbor Branch
• Strong Tower Ministries
• 4-H Partnerships for Activism & Social Justice (4-H PASJ)
• The Village Initiative
• Ypsilanti Housing Commission

Get on the bus! Join ICPJ as we attend the vigil to close the SOA/WHINSEC and promote human rights in Latin America, Nov 21-23, 2008

Come to the vigil to close the SOA/WHINSEC

The School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001) has trained some of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America. Join ICPJ as we take a delegation to the annual vigil to say no to militarism in Latin America and Yes to human rights and justice. On November 21 to 23, ICPJ will join with School of the Americas Watch at the annual vigil to close the SOA/WHINSEC. We will be taking a bus, and we have scholarships available.

Visit our Latin America Task Force page for more information about this event.

2 Ways to Register

1. Download the registration form (Word or PDF) and mail it in to ICPJ with your deposit
2. Register online now (below)

Logistics

The trip will leave at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 21 from the south side of Ann Arbor, MI (details to come). We will return in the early morning of Monday, November 24. Housing in in hotels in Phenix City, AL. We do our best to accommodate room preferences but may not always be able to do so.

Scholarships

To apply for a scholarship please answer the questions below. Scholarships are limited. All scholarship recipients are asked to pay the $50 deposit.

1. How much of a scholarship do you need?
2. What contribution can you make to the cost of the trip?
3. How do you plan to continue to work for justice in Latin America after you return?
4. Are there other factors we should consider in your application?

Send scholarship applications to Jennifer Mills at millsjen@umich.edu

Costs

We require a $50 deposit from all applicants to reserve a seat (including those on scholarship).

Bus fare is $135 if paid by October 17, $165 after October 17. Room fees are listed on the reservation form.

Come hear of the damage caused by cluster bombs by those who have had to live through them.

Meet two cluster bomb survivors, one from Lebanon and one from Afghanistan, as well as the mother of a Marine who was killed by U.S. cluster munitions.

Friday, October 10, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Memorial Christian Church, 730 Tappan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Coffee and Bagles provided.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Mills at millsjen@umich.edu or download the poster.

See "On the Line" on Thursday, October 23, 6:30 p.m. at 730 Tappan, Ann Arbor

What happens when a group of activists, priests, celebrities, and students risk arrest to protest U.S. foreign policy in Latin America?

ON THE LINE is an inside look at the people behind one of the largest nonviolent movements in America today: the movement to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC, a U.S. Army school that trains Latin American soldiers. In a world where politics, passion, and Constitutional rights collide, protesters discuss their activism, the dark side of U.S. foreign policy, and the challenges of protesting since 9/11.

Join community members for an engaging film, insightful discussion, and opportunities for action on this important issue.

FREE and open to the public. All are welcome to RSVP and bring a dish to pass, but this is not required.

Thursday, October 23. Dinner will begin at 6:30PM, and the movie will be at 7PM. Located at Memorial Christian Church, 730 Tappan, Ann Arbor. Questions? Want to RSVP? Contact Jaimie Philip at 734.663.1870 or jaimie@umich.edu

You can also download the flier to print, pass out, and share with friends.

Patricia Isasa, torture survivor, speak on October 13, 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary Student Parish, Ann Arbor

You are invited to spend an evening with a extraordinary woman of great courage. Patricia Isasa, from Argentina, was abducted by the military and police in her country when she was only 16 years old. She was tortured and held for over 2 years. Unlike so many others of “the disappeared”, Patricia survived and was released. She has dedicated the last many years to bringing her torturers to justice, hoping to bring accountability and therefore healing to her country.

Please join us on Monday night, October 13 at St. Mary’s Student Parish (corner of Thompson and William) at 7:30 to hear Patricia tell her story in person.

Patricia is speaking in several places in the U.S. to bring to light the reality and horror of torture and to connect what happened in her country with our foreign policy and our training of Latin American military and police at the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC).

Please join! Please print the flyer and post it and/or send it out to others who may be interested.

Recently we asked you and others in the ICPJ community to share your thoughts about where you’d like to see ICPJ in 5 years. Here is what you told us.

The themes I see in this are that, whatever the issue, how we approach our work is important. We must work to be a diverse, inclusive community. Our interfaith approach is important, and there we can continue to improve as an organization.

Thank you to everyone who participated! This helps us as we consider where and how we should move forward.

From Steering Committee Community Building Retreat

(remember, these were quick, top of the head thoughts)

in 5 years

-         Reflective of a wider range of social and economic groups

-         Young, old middle class, working, poor, etc.

-         Very capable of providing principled leadership in the two areas mentioned in this title: Peace and justice.

-         Regional (if not national) in scope

in 5 years

-         Attract younger activists

-         Be more flexible in areas of activists

-         Be more visible in community

in 5 years

-         Keep increasing own connection with influence on congregations from a range of traditions

-         Organized people to be affective voice for peace and justice

-         Keep loading our own understanding of how to resolve conflict where people differ from us are coming from.

in 5 years

-         I am showing a blank

-         I like ICPJ’s work currently

-         Now I’m getting some ideas…

-         In 5 years, I hope we have more partnerships with local businesses, and that the Dinner and movie nights could be even well-attended.

-         Engagement, somehow with people (in or out of congregations) who are not yet peace and justice minded.

in 5 years

-         ICPJ’s reach extends to people who don’t already agree with us.

-         Everything we do is really and truly focused on making a difference; we don’t have boring lectures or tasks that are only attended by our members.

-         We know when to say “no” to in effective things so we can say “yes!” to effective things.

in 5 years

-         That ICPJ be more broadly interfaith, and that it’s moderating conversations on issues that engage more members of the larger community.

in 5 years

-         More student aged people on a regular basis

in 5 years

-         Congregational connections and support on peace and justice issues identified by congregations themselves. ICPJ as a local resource.

in 5 years

-         I like the multi-disciplinary, interfaith/ non faith many subjects part of ICPJ. In 5 years I’d like to see us mostly the same, only maybe with 4 stay people (double in size) and bringing more fun (arts, laughter, humor) to all of our activities, even the serious ones.

in 5 years

-         I hope in 5 years ICPJ will have a greater ability to work with more religious congregations on a two way relationship of learning and serving.

-         ICPJ will be able to involve more people in dealing with more of the pressing problems - locally and globally

in 5 years

-         I would like to see ICPJ in 5 years from now 08-2013

-         Every year growing the news letter by 35% each year.

-         New folks supporting our work by 30% each year.

-         Having a working fundraising committee

-         Good finances - extra money to be able to do more

in 5 years

-         3 full or 2 full staff people ( 2 part time)

-         A better data base

-         1000 dues paying members (50 Muslims!)

-         Quarterly, regularly scheduled lobbying trips to the capital

-         25 or more active members on every task force

-         $50,000 a year in incoming grants

-         50% local congregations participating in congregational organizing meetings

in 5 years

-         I would be: More diverse (racially, ethnically, by age, by spirituality or faith tradition)

-         More focused on specific, high impact campaigns

-         A big larger (more rooms, more staff)

-         More collaborative with organizations and congregations throughout SE Michigan

-         But still have the passion of those currently involved.

in 5 years

-         A place where people (from all different places) come to work together to solve a problem, on conflicts

-         ICPJ, a place where people from very different places come and work together to solve conflict

in 5 years

-         Focused on a few (5?) current issues that we feel ICPJ and our greater community can make a measurable impact on.

From Web Form

• I would like to see ICPJ doing what it is now, pointing out big problems with justice all over the world.  I would also like to see more instruction on how war is inconsistent with the essential teachings of all religious/spiritual traditions, and trying to develop a worldview based on this which can be a strong influence on all cultures and governments.
• Vision: I would like to see a more spiritual faith base, less secular. This is very nice in the newsletter. Can  ministers/priests/rabbis/imams lead more, even if this requires changing input mechanisms? I would like to see great good will among the ICPJ members.Less the “aginners” - I would like to see more “pro,” what we are for, and less communications emphasis on “con.”  I think outsiders pick up a “feel” of an organization and new people and high school students are less attracted by people always protesting.
• I’d like to see the ICPJ deeply networked throughout SE MI; and doing collaborative work.
• Follow the International Criminal Court and call for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestine, the destruction of the apartheid wall, and a two-state solution according to the 1973 border agreement.
• Hello and thank you for the invite.  ICPJ is productive,motivated and wonderful. ” I am a fringe or periphery member: involvement is hit or miss.  Please continue to keep the open and validating nature of this organization. Accommodating, welcoming and inclusive, whether the individual or group is well known or unknown. How refreshing to enter into an activity and be warmly received and welcomed like family.  Trust and faith can be challenging, however saving humans, the environment, the planet and making our life lesson a more meaningful experience is accomplished by those greetings when I or anyone comes through the door looking to give and help in their own way.”
• ICPJ should go where no one else goes!  While taking a part of the community with it, it should be left of center.  It should check out the facts and tell us the truth!  It is doing that already, but it needs to be told every once in a while.  Keep up the good work.
• In five years I would like ICPJ to be an unneeded organization because world wide peace and justice have been achieved!Realistically, I would like to see more student involvement.  So many of the groups on campus start over every year because long term goals aren’t made.  I’m not expecting students to leave their organizations, but if they know more about ICPJ, there could be more collaboration between groups.

  This would probably be carried out by word of mouth.  Last month I had invited a friend to the dinner and movie, and he immediately asked what ICPJ is, and if they would be willing to work with his group, Children of Abraham.

  Just in the past two years student involvement has risen, so we’re already well on our way to achieving this goal.  The interested students are out there; it’s just a matter of finding them.

• I would like to see ICPJ freely and unapologetically employ faith language from across the spectrum — not simply legitimating or justifying actions of justice-&-peace social advocacy, but also and especially weaving these actions into tapestries of communal prayer and meditation. I would also like to see ICPJ frame its advocacy in both bread-breaking celebrations across the faith mosaic and tangible and constructive projects of sustainable community outreach (w/, e.g., Avalon, Ozone House).
• I would like to see ICPJ:
  • -Have 50% more active members
  • -Taking on more great local campaigns like Health Care for MI -Developing a youth program, like how Peaceworks reaches out to high schoolers, couldn’t we reach out to youth groups?
  • -Keeping up the weekly newsletter
  • -Finding more funding and resources that can save time organizing so we can have more time hanging out : )
  • In 5 years I would like to see ICPJ be a strong reflection of the faith basis of such topics as the Israel-Palestine scriptural peace discussion listed. Maybe a new Administration will follow King Abdullah’s advice and put full force into peace between these countries. - then the ICPJ can work on getting believers to help make it a reality. I am trying to make my contribution to this goal - ”Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”Also, Russ Fuller showed us that meetings can be a blessing. I understand that the author of the last piece is exaggerating for humor. Russ always started by asking each person how they were, and listening so beautifully, and caring for the answer! By then the joint energy was flowing positively. I also like the way he diplomatically gets all important tasks onto someone’s to-do list, so priorities are set, even if something stays undone.

    I probably like political campaigns because we know they are urgent. One can’t hold action over till the next year.

    Grace’s and my Catholic faith counts by milennia, which is in God’s path but beyond us.

    I respect ICPJ as the best source of moral authority in Ann Arbor! (many secular groups shy away from this)

    The Democrats intend a lot of good things, but they do not have reverence for a supreme being and the universal kindness which is brought with this.

    I am guessing it is hard to get people to go to a physical meeting, but maybe you could expand the collection of thoughts by email. I’m on the Obama campaign’s Faith Community e-list, and every week they send us all a question (example: how much sacrifice should the U.S. do to save energy?).

    There are many complicated consumer issues such as:
    *Fair Trade tea and spices;
    *lead we did not realize existed in toys on the shelf;
    *Walmart as it changes by adding some healthcare and advertising that they promote women and minorities;
    *what farmers are raising beef and pork,
    *how much free range do these animals have, and humane slaughter practices.

    I wonder if you could unite the small number of people who have facts on some of these issues and get them to be a resource, maybe by email rather than in-person meetings.

Scriptural Reasoning II unites Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others in discussion about “This World and the World to Come”
Over 80 local community members of different faiths and backgrounds joined together on August 28th, 2008 for a shared meal and a shared discussion on their faith traditions and the afterlife. Participants heard from three established scholars from the three Abrahamic traditions with perspectives on “This World and the World to Come” using scriptural interpretation. Following these introductions, participants spoke with one another about their own questions, interpretations, and understandings. This event, one in a series of Scriptural Reasoning events, uniquely allows people of difference to discover mutual respect for one another. This process ultimately leads to the establishment of common understanding and common ground on which to move forward for peace in our community and in the world.

Thank you to our insightful speakers:
Heather Laird, M.A. in Political Science and Arabic & Islamic Studies, President of Muslim Social Services of Washtenaw Cty., Fellow for the Institute of Social Policy & Understanding
Rev. Paul Duke, First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor, adjunct professor at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit
Rabbi Robert Dobrusin, Beth Israel Congregation of Ann Arbor
And thank you to all who participated!

Download the event TEXTS and DISCUSSION QUESTIONS here.

An online video of the event will be available soon!

And please plan to join us for the next Scriptural Reasoning event to take place on Sunday, October 26th, 2008. More information to follow!

Why should you attend the vigil to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC? Watch this video by Jennifer Mills and find out.

Visit our Latin America Task Force page to find out how you can sign up, get on the bus, and go to this amazing event.

ICPJ is delighted to be the recipient of the 2008 Peace Action of Michigan organizational PeaceBuilder Award.

Please join us for the Celebration
Sunday, September 21, 2008
4 p.m.~Reception & Silent Auction
5 p.m.~Dinner (Catering donated by Thomas Zerafa)
6 p.m.~Program

For more info: 248-548-3920, visit peaceactionmich.org
Email: peaceactmich@sbcglobal.net

Download the registration form for additional details and to learn how you can register.

Location: UFCW Local 876 Union Hall, 876 Horace Brown Drive, Madison Heights, Michigan (map)

Join ICPJ for an interfaith prayer for peace on October 15

Join ICPJ for an interfaith gathering to lament wars and provide spiritual nourishment and support for all people working towards peace.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

First Congregational Church
608 E. William St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (map)

Includes reflections from a variety of faith traditions, song, and time for fellowship.

Details: Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, info@ipcj.net, 734-663-1870

Download and print the black and white flier or the color flier to help spread the word.

We’ve got a great lineup of speakers for the event, including:

• Heather Laird (Muslim)
• Renu Malhotra (Hindu)
• Rabbi Nathan Martin (Jewish)
• Rev. Paul Versluis (Christian)
• Kathleen Peabody (Quaker)
• Nancy Shaffer (Unitarian Universalist)