Living in coronavirusworld 167: A living wage

 

9/14

A bird house on 115th Street 

Our International Sanctuary work group gathers. After an assault by 4 Blackhawk helicopters, an armored personnel carrier and 50-60 agents rushing in, 30 asylum seekers detained and expelled and 7 pacifist medical volunteers taken into custody at the No Mas Muertos emergency  medical facility just north of the US-Mexico border, the volunteers are back at work, the work of saving lives continues.  These days, anyone crossing the border is immediately deported. Returned to Mexico only to cross back again.  A deadly game cat and moue continues. Never allowed to apply for the internationally recognized right to asylum. A “civil initiative” has begun recording testimonies of asylum seekers at the Holocaust Museum and the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The aim is “safe asylum”, an international right , on both sides of the border. 

On our northern border, Canada still has no interest in opening  up to crossing from the US. Attempted border crossings slow to a trickle. 

This is the  month for the US to set its annual immigration caps. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, so valuable for its work in Juarez, and so many other places, has filed suit to open doors.

German protestants  have succeeded in getting four boats onto the Mediterranean but are still blocked on the EU borders like Italy. Our German  colleagues are working to gain welcome for the stranded refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, but still without success.

Trinidad, a short 40 miles  from Venezuela, has become a new locos of refugee seekers. The Pope has honored the Catholic workers in Trinidad. Rohinga refugees from Myanmar have begun arriving there as well as Myanamar soldiers defect and report orders to kill all, women and children included.

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation has testified in Geneva before the Inernational Human Rights Commission regarding systematic violation of Black Americans’ rights in the US. 

It’s easy to get so caught up in our daily madness in the US and miss what’s going on in the the world around  us, a world in crisis. 

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Tonight we are studying Matthew 20: 1-16, the parable of the  laborers in the field. You know the one where the manager keeps going back and hiring  people all day long and everybody gets paid the same regardless what time they started and some workers who worked all day  are upset at the  perceived unfairness  of it all and the message ends with the  last shall be first. It follows the story of the rich young ruler. (Master, what  must I do…..?) Leila reacts to the unfairness, Marsha hears echoes of “from each according to their ability to each according to their need…” We discover that the denarius paid as a wage was equivalent to what it would take to feed a peasant family for one day, in other words, a living wage. For everyone. None left out one street. There is simply no denying the social policy implications of Jesus’ parable. He is ultimately proclaiming for his  kindom, a relational ethic, not a transactional ethic. 

The parable has a sense of familiarity to me. I saw in Santiago, Chile the  Venezuelans gathering in the plaza early in the morning for day labor jobs. In Tulsa, I  remember the Mexican farm laborers gathering downtown hiring for a day’s work, waiting for the farm trucks to stop by to pick workers. Prior  to the virus, our Micah Faith Table had been  working  in building support for a real living wage, as in $20 an hour instead of $15. It strikes me that we can pay a football player, Patrick Mahomes,  $50 million dollars per year for 10 years and complain that $20 an  hour will somehow wreck the economy. Money has no  meaning and means everything. (Mahomes hourly wage? Approximately $26000.)

It seems we are called on to create community that practice relational ethics within the community, an as if kindom community, while working for public polices that allow people to simply live. And with dignity.

Its the first football game for my hem town Steelers. I go to the grocery store fully prepared. A guy passes, Stops. Says "I like  your hat. And shirt, Oh, and shopping bag. Damn, even socks! Good luck tonight!”

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The Spirit of the City 2018: the view from New York City

2/16

On Tuesday, February 13th in Brooklyn, Mayor William Di Blasio delivered his "State of the City" address for 2018.  On Thursday morning in the august setting of Christ Chapel at Riverside Church, the Micah Faith Leaders Table delivered its 'Spirit of the City" 2018 address. Not so much as a response to the mayor as these faith leaders sharing their own faith based critical analysis of where we are now and equally important, where we need to go. Much to Micah's credit, the leaders gave detailed policy proposals in each of their work areas: economic justice, housing, immigrants, police community relations and education.  (The full text of the presentation can be found at www.micahspirit.weebly.com  and full video will  soon be  available.  Videos can be found at https://www.facebook.com/robert.l.brashear/videos/10156010323563361/ )

According to older faith activists on hand for the event, this was an unprecedented, even historic moment. It is a major element of Micah's strength that it is the most diverse alliance of leaders in the city, one of the first to go beyond the Abrahamic tradition and be  inclusive of Buddhists and Hindus as well. Equally important, Micah has accomplished the seemingly impossible task of bringing evangelical and progressive Christians together in the faith rooted struggle for justice. This diversity was clearly present in Thursday's presentation.

The MICAH panel

After an introduction by Joel Gibson, Rabbi Michael Feinberg of the New York Labor-Religion Coalition addressed economic justice. Citing the mayor's goal of making New York City the "fairest city in the US," Rabbi Feinberg outlined the current crisis in affordability and outline a proposal to address the issue of a real living wage with a broad based commission to establish what that is and bring it to implementation.

Bishop Raymond Blanchette of the Clergy Campaign for Social and Economic Justice spoke about the current "schools to prison pipeline" and how to close it. He also examined carefully the current controversy around charter schools, differentiating between community based and directed creative projects and what are essentially private schools using public resources. He challenged the mayor, if he wants to control the schools, to bring the community and parents into their governance. 

Sunita Viswanath of Afghan Women and the Coalition of Progressive Hindus helped us understand the importance of our interconnectedness and social justice for Hindus before presenting the the proposals for housing. (In a day when there are a record 68,000 homeless people in New York City, the mayor's not mentioning the issue in his address was astounding.) A detailed...and achievable.. plan to produce and build new affordable housing followed.

Dr. Chloe Breyer, executive director of the Interfaith Center of New York, Micah's new "home," delivered the Police and Community Relations report. While appreciative of efforts at increasing community based policing, there is still a long way to go. Specific ways to bring the police closer to...and more accountable to...the community were outlined. (It's worth noting that Rev. Dr. Breyer was one of those physically abused by police during the protests around  the efforts to deport New Sanctuary leaders.) The fact that nearly 4 years later, the officer responsible for Garner's death, Daniel Pantaleo remains on the NYPD speaks louder  than any proclamations. 

Franciscan Brother Anthony Zuba spoke passionately about issues regarding Immigration, very immediately important. While appreciating the mayor's proclamation of New York City as a sanctuary city, the cooperation, even physically rough tactics of the NYPD in support of ICE deportation efforts would seem to contradict that commitment. The case of Muhammad Bah is another clear example of the vulnerability of immigrants. Had he not been an immigrant, a Muslim and suffering from bipolar he might well still be alive. Meanwhile ICE continues to target people for deportation for what would appear to be political motivation. 

Dr. Raymond  Rivera of the Latino Pastoral Action Council brought it all home  with his concluding remarks. (https://www.facebook.com/peter.heltzel/videos/10156066377062068/)

Perhaps there was no one better for the final prayer than Dr. Debra Almontaser of the Muslim Community Network. Dr. Almontaser was the victim of a vicious Islamophobic campaign that led to her dismissal as principal of New York City's first Arabic Culture focused public school, the Khalil Gibran school. With her usual grace and inclusive spirit, Dr. Almontaser invoked a unified stand for justice in the one city we share. 

The Micah Faith Table is to be commended for bringing not only critique but creativity. A challenge, an agenda with definable, achievable and measurable goals has been delivered. Now the work begins.