Category Archives: Human Rights

December 7, 2021 · 7:28 pm

A prayer for Ozzy

God who loves us each,
on this night when snow is forecast for Louisville,
I pray for your beloved child Ozzy.
I am sure you know him, but just in case …
he has his name tattooed on the fingers of his left hand
and he is wearing the Steelers hat that Eric knit for me.
I pray for Ozzy.
May he have a warm and safe place
to spend this night.
May he make the connections he needs
for warmth and safety on the days ahead.
I pray for all the Ozzys –
each of your precious children
wherever they may be.
May they find safe, warm places
to stay this night and
to call home every night.
I pray for myself.
May I act in ways beyond
conversation, fist bumps, and giving a hat
to ensure safe homes for Ozzy and all your children.
In the name of Jesus, who had no place to lay his head.
Amen.

– based on a conversation today with John, “Call me Ozzy,” he said several times as he showed me his tattooed hand

Leave a comment

Filed under Advent, Human Rights, Louisville

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

December 1, 2021 · 9:11 pm

1 December 2021

Mrs. Rosa Parks anniversary. World AIDS Day.
Walking. Apartment.
Rosa Parks – Outkast
Rosa Sat – Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir
Sister Rosa – The Neville Brothers
Waterfalls – TLC
Together Again – Janet Jackson
Danny Boy – Black 47
Free Me – Sia
Jesus to a Child – George Michael
The Last Song – Elton John
Boy Blue – Cyndi Lauper
Sing – Annie Lennox
For a Friend – The Communards
Come Faithful Ones – Red Nativity
O Come Emmanuel – Little Windows
Christmastime 2 Creation – Warren Cooper

Leave a comment

Filed under Advent, Antiracism, Current Events, Exercise, Human Rights, Louisville, Music, playlist, United Nations

Tagged as , , ,

November 21, 2021 · 7:56 pm

He’s in Hospice – Stop the Execution of Gerald Pizzuto Jr. in Idaho

The state of Idaho prepares to execute a man in hospice.

The crimes of which Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. was convicted are horrible. I grieve for the families of Berta Herndon and her nephew Del Herndon.

But the execution of Pizzuto will not bring the Herndons back. There are many reasons to oppose executions. Executions lower us to the level of those who kill. The violence of an execution feeds violence. Executions negate any possibility of repentance and restoration. Executions do not deter crime. In this case, there is the additional reality that Pizzuto is terminally ill. Killing Pizzuto would be cruel and unnecessary. Sign this petition to Idaho’s governor and the state Pardons and Parole Commission to grant clemency, call off the execution, and allow Pizzuto to die a natural death.

Gerald Pizzuto’s attorney notes: “At 64, Mr. Pizzuto is a frail shell of the man he once was. He has stage 4 cancer and is approaching natural death. The idea that such a sick, feeble man presents enough of a danger to society that he must be executed is far-fetched.” For more than a year, Pizzuto has been in hospice care on Idaho’s death row, suffering from advanced bladder tumors, along with type 2 diabetes, and a variety of heart and lung diseases. According to his defense team, he’s been prescribed 42 different drugs in the last year, and his medical records say he has “begun experiencing memory loss and mild disorientation associated with the death process”.

Pizzuto does not deny his responsibility for the murders of Berta Herndon and Del Herndon. His clemency petition notes that he “is not making excuses for the 1986 deaths of Berta and Delbert Herndon.
He accepts responsibility for his role in their murders and is remorseful for their deaths. He has
carried those regrets for 34 years on death row.” You can read the clemency petition here (including horrific details about abuse he endured in his childhood that left him with brain damage).

Killing Pizzuto would be unnecessary and cruel. That cruelty could extend to the state workers asked to carry out the execution of a prisoner in such a debilitated condition. This might well leave them with lifelong burdens known to exist with other former executioners. Please sign this petition urging that the execution of Pizzuto be cancelled. Please pray for those who love Berta Herndon and Del Herndon.

Leave a comment

Filed under Capital Punishment, Current Events, Death Penalty, Human Rights

Tagged as , , , , , ,

September 30, 2021 · 9:16 pm

30 September 2021

Today, September 30, the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS), along with other Native American individuals, groups, and marks a National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools. This aligns with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation that is observed in Canada for residential school survivors. It is also called Orange Shirt Day to honor the story of one girl whose treasured orange shirt given to her by her grandmother was taken away from her at residential school. The orange shirt has come to symbolize awareness for the children who died or went missing at these institutions. NABS has orange t-shirts available to purchase. Time for education and action.
Walking. Germantown.
Stretching. Gym in the apartment.
Lost Souls – Tom Jackson
Residential School Song – Cheryl Bear
Child of the Government – Jayli Wolf
My Country ’tis of Thy People You’re Dying – Buffy Sainte-Marie
BEFORE – A Tribe Called Red, feat. Joseph Boyden
Warrior Heart – Shawnee
Apatapasiq – Mike Bern
Battlefields – Twin Flames
Save Mob – Snotty Nose Rez Kids, feat. Nooky & Birdz
open window – nehiyawak
Drums – John Densmore & Floyd Westerman
How I Feel – A Tribe Called Red, feat. Leonard Sumner, Shad & Northern Voice
Took the Children Away – Archie Roach
Take Me Home – Indian City
Spirit Horses – Annie Humphrey
He Can Fancy Dance – Cindy Paul
The Land of the Blind – Ira Provost
Why Us – N’we Jinan Artists

Leave a comment

Filed under Antiracism, Current Events, Exercise, Human Rights, Louisville, Music, playlist

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

September 29, 2021 · 9:19 pm

National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools

Today, September 30, the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS), along with other Native American individuals, groups, and allies will honor a National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools. This aligns with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation that is honored in Canada for residential school survivors. It is also called Orange Shirt Day to honor the story of one girl whose treasured orange shirt given to her by her grandmother was taken away from her at residential school. The orange shirt has now come to symbolize awareness for the children who died or went missing at these institutions. We encourage everyone to wear orange shirts, raise awareness on that day to educate others, and attend or host community healing events. NABS has orange t-shirts available to purchase.

Leave a comment

Filed under Antiracism, Current Events, Human Rights

Tagged as , , , , ,

September 1, 2021 · 3:51 pm

Demand Justice for Kaysera Stops Pretty Places


Two years ago, 18-year-old Kaysera Stops Pretty Places (Crow) was murdered in Big Horn County, Montana. Since her murder, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office, and the Montana Department of Justice have done nothing to undertake a criminal investigation. We will not stand for this – law enforcement must be held accountable. Kaysera’s family, in collaboration with National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Sovereign Bodies Institute, Rising Hearts, Elite Feats, and Bethany Yellowtail, are advocating for justice in Kaysera’s name. Help demand #JusticeforKaysera by learning more and take action through the Kaysera website. Join NIWRC’s Twitter Storm on 9/9 and the Justice for Kaysera 5K/10K Virtual Walk/Run. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Antiracism, Current Events, Human Rights

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

August 24, 2021 · 7:29 pm

PC(USA) Week of Action – August 25

On Wednesday, Aug. 25, the PC(USA) Week of Action will turn its attention to the LGBTQIA+ community with events including a children’s story time and a poetry and story slam. The Week of Action is designed to bring attention and action to people and communities living under different forms of oppression.

Check out the schedule and watch the events at the Week of Action home page.

Leave a comment

Filed under Current Events, Human Rights, Louisville, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Tagged as , , , ,

August 14, 2021 · 11:02 am

Resistance

“Resistance is the secret of joy,” writes Alice Walker (Possessing the Secret of Joy)

Perhaps, in a manner akin to a mathematical equation, the words could be reversed.
Perhaps, joy is a secret of resistance.

Joy is, at one and the same time, personal and communal.
Joy comes when communities and individuals are strengthened, nourished, sustained.
Joy comes when individuals and communities welcome and embrace one another in love.
Joy comes when communities and communities affirm all God’s children.
Joy comes when individuals and communities (including God’s whole creation) thrive.
Joy comes when communities and individuals experience well-being and wholeness.
Joy comes when individuals and communities love and practice kindness.
Joy comes when communities and individuals acknowledge evil and sin, repent, and seek repair, reparation, and justice.

To work for such joy is to reject the lies that we are made for enmity … the lies that we are made to “other” and fear and hate people from whom we differ … the lies that creation is ours to exploit … the lies of white supremacy and patriarchy and homophobia and all systems and structures of oppression.

To work for such joy is to resist.

“Resistance is the secret of joy.”

Joy is a secret of resistance.

Leave a comment

Filed under Books, Human Rights

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

July 17, 2021 · 2:31 pm

17 July 2021

Walking. Germantown.
Stretching. Gym in the Apartment.

I Can’t Breath – Garner Family
Jarama Valley – Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger
En la Plaza de Mi Pueblo – Michele Greene
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade – John McCutcheon
Asturias – Guardabarranco
El Quinto Regimiento – Lila Downs
The Bantry Girls’ Lament – Aoife Clancy
Garcia e Galan – Uxia
Los Quatro Generales – Joel Rafael & Jamaica Rafael
Llego Con Tres Heridas – Eliseo Parra
Viva la Quinte Brigada – Shay Black & Aoife Clancy
Los Marineros – Uxia
Taste of Ashes – Laurie Lewis
Viva la Quince Brigada – Quetzel
Viva La Quinta Brigada – Christie Moore
God Bless the Child – Billie Holiday

Leave a comment

Filed under Exercise, Human Rights, Louisville, Music, playlist

Tagged as , , , , , ,

June 20, 2021 · 8:12 pm

20 June 2021

Walking. Bernheim Forest.
Some stretching. Gym in the apartment.
Wandering – Peter Kater & R. Carlos Nakai
Refugee – Eric Bogle
Gourma – Etran Fintawa
Running – Keyon Harrold, Andrea Pizziconi & Jasson Harrold (feat. Common & Gregory Porter)
Take Me to Cleveland – Robert Neustadt
Song to A Refugee – Diana Jones
Look in Their Eyes – David Crosby
A Safe Place to Land – Sara Bareilles (feat. John Legend)
The Refugee – U2
Follow Me – Moxie Raia (feat. Wyclef Jean)
In Harm’s Way – Amanda Palmer
Prayer of the Refugee – Rise Against
Coming to America – K’naan
Is This Called Home – Lucy Rose
Refugee – Skip Marley
Lady of the Harbor – Si Kahn
No Human Is Illegal – The Wakes

Leave a comment

Filed under Antiracism, Current Events, Human Rights, Music, playlist, United Nations

Tagged as , , , , , ,