Category Archives: Human Rights

October 10, 2013 · 11:37 pm

Stand with Jagjeet Singh against religious discrimination

Sign a petition to the Mississippi Department of Transportation officials calling for an investigation into their treatment of Jagjeet Singh.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports that officers of the Mississippi Department of Transportation harassed Jagjeet, an observant Sikh, calling him a “terrorist” and then arresting him when he refused to remove his turban.

The judge who heard the case compounded the discrimination. According to the ACLU, ” he ordered that Jagjeet be removed from the courtroom and said he wouldn’t let Jagjeet return until he removed ‘that rag’ from his head.”

The United Sikhs have filed a complaint on Jagjeet’s behalf about Judge Rimes with the Department of Justice, the ACLU notes.

Concerned for the actions of the transportation officers, the ACLU has created a petition to Commissioner King and Director McGrath of the Mississippi DOT.

The petition asks: “Investigate and discipline the MDOT officers for their unacceptable treatment of Jagjeet Singh, and train officers on religious diversity so violations like this don’t happen again.”

I believe that all people and religions should receive respect and be treated with dignity. I signed the petition. You can too.

See you along the Trail.

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October 10, 2013 · 11:14 pm

Standing and sitting in the rain for justice

My friend Tim Luttermoser wrote this. He granted permission to post his words and photo.

TimHey Francis,

The past few days on campus, a conservative preacher (Tom the Preacher, you can google him) has been on campus doing… well, the typical conservative preacher things. But with larger displays and more professionally, unfortunately. Over the last two days I designed a poster (you can see it, sort of, in my profile picture) of welcoming congregations in the area, including Episcopals, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians (I’m happy to say), UUs, and a Reform Judaism temple, and today I stood across the way from their display for several hours, providing people with an alternative perspective and reminding them that this wasn’t the only face of Christianity or religion in general. I’m happy to say that, for the most part, Tom and Grace Campus Ministry (which invited him to campus) left me alone when I made it clear I was not interested in engaging.

I’m telling you all this because, if you have a minute on Sunday, I’d like you to pass along my thanks to Noble Road Presbyterian Church for me. I can say with confidence that being raised in that particular community has shaped me into who I am today, and I am grateful for the influence. Even as I’ve personally moved on to other religious and spiritual traditions, I always remember the loving and welcoming community of Noble Road, and when faced with hatred and bigotry, I can always draw on my history there and be reminded that there are wonderful religious communities with better approaches. Noble Road did a fantastic job modeling not only acceptance of LGBTQ people, but actively fighting for them, particularly within the religious community, a fight I still consider absolutely essential. While I’m fairly confident I would be supportive of LGBTQ people regardless of where I grew up, I know that growing up in NRPC specifically was what gave me the energy and the passion to contact these congregations, create this display, and stand through the two brief rainstorms to keep making my point all afternoon.

Thank you for all you have done and continue to do, both you in particular and NRPC as a whole.

Mark Koenig and Tricia Dykers Koenig – this thanks LARGELY goes to you as well, don’t forget.

Francis Miller, to whom Tim wrote, is currently the pastor at Noble Road Presbyterian Church. Tim lived in South Euclid and attended the church before he went to school. Tricia and I were co-pastors there at the time.

See you along the Trail.

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September 25, 2013 · 1:03 am

It’s not fluff

It started with a post by my colleague Christine Hong who does interfaith work for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She wrote a profound reflection on how important that work is following a hate crime attack on Dr. Prabjhot Singh in New York. I reprint her post with her permission.

Interfaith work is not fluffy. It is advocacy on the deepest level. The more authentically we engage in conversation and life with our neighbors of different faith traditions the more we become aware that interfaith work saves lives. Interfaith education and service not only bridges communities but it also prevents hate crimes and tackles the felt needs of humankind. The interfaith community works to seek justice, not selectively, but holistically. It is a community holding onto one another in order to thrive and survive in a world that often seems to be quickly unraveling.

This past weekend the PC(USA) brought together 60 Presbyterians along with panels of ecumenical and interfaith guests to think through the writing of an interfaith stance for the church. One of our panelists was Simran Jeet Singh, a doctoral student at Columbia University, a peacemaker, and an advocate for the Sikh community. Singh encouraged Presbyterians to build love into the foundation of our interfaith stance. The love Singh spoke of champions justice and lives courageously and hopefully into the future.

I received an email from Simran yesterday. After he had spent the day offering Presbyterians encouragement and affirmation for our interfaith efforts he came home to find that his friend and colleague at Columbia University, Dr. Prabhjot Singh, had been the victim of a hate crime. On Saturday night Dr. Singh was attacked in Manhattan. His attackers yelled “Get Osama” and “terrorist” as they beat him.

Reading Simran’s note and his Huffington Post blog on the incident broke my heart. It reaffirmed for me that what we are doing is of the utmost importance. Not only because we are working at understanding the dynamics of interfaith engagement as Presbyterians, but because our friends like Simran and Dr. Prabhjot Singh are hurting. Our encouragers, those who challenge us to be bold, dynamic, and cultivate peace are living in a world, our mutual world, where they fear physical harm because of the color of their skin and articles of faith. This should matter to us. It should hurt us because they are hurting.

Interfaith work is advocacy on the deepest level. It is advocacy not only for faith communities at large but also for the people we share our lives with on the daily: our neighbors, friends, and families. In a very real sense interfaith work is also advocacy for ourselves, for our shared world and future. Interfaith work is the accompaniment of faith communities who, like us, want to raise their children in a world where violence is not the way human differences are handled. Interfaith work will break your heart, but if we can move past the fluff and remember that what we do saves lives, it will also start to mend it.

I give thanks for Christine and Simran and Dr. Singh and all who engage in interfaith work. I pray for healing for Dr. Singh. I pray that the hurts endured by my brothers and sisters because of their articles of faith or the color of their skin will hurt me enough that I will find ways to engage more deeply in heart-breaking, heart-mending interfaith work.

See you along the Trail.

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August 25, 2013 · 7:53 pm

Walking while wearing orange

Koenig 22KI celebrated this Orange Day by walking 22,000 steps in support of the CongoSwim initiative to funds to address sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign proclaimed every 25th of the month as Orange Day to highlight issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls, not only once a year, on 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women), but every month.

At the heart of the CongoSwim was a 22-mile swim across Lake Tahoe – hence 22,000 steps.

It is not too late for you to: wear orange today, act to end violence against women and girls, and to give to CongoSwim.

See you along the Trail.

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August 15, 2013 · 7:28 pm

Walking to end violence against women and girls

I have posted before about my upcoming participation in CongoSwim, a unique and inspiring collective action which will culminate on August 25th to send a WAVE of LOVE to women and youth groups working for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  With apologies to my father (he taught me to swim), I will not swim. But I will walk – 1,000 steps for each mile across Lake Tahoe for a total of 22,000 steps – and I will pray.

You can support me by making a tax-deductible donation in my name.

CongoSwim FLYER 8.5 x 11 JPEGMost of us directly benefit daily from the minerals mined in Congo as they are essential to the functioning of our laptops, phones, cars and many other products.  CongoSwim is one way we can support work to end the suffering millions of families are enduring in the international scramble for Congo’s minerals.  CongoSwim takes place on an Orange Day, a call to action from the United Nations campaign to end violence against women and girls.  The specific focus for August 25 is sexual violence in conflict.

If the fundraising effort goes well, up to sixty different Congolese community groups doing vital work, often with extremely limited resources, will be able to receive a grant from Global Fund for Women and Friends of the Congo.  The benefiting groups focus on initiatives to end violence against women and girls, human rights education and advocacy, support to women run businesses, increased girls’ education, youth leadership development and services for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Some of the funds raised also will also benefit the USA Swimming Foundation’s mission of saving lives and building champions-in the pool and in life.

One of the main requests from Congolese youth and women leaders is that we urge our government to demonstrate the political will to support peace and sustainable development in Congo.  Millions of people have died, endured tremendous violence and/or been displaced from their homes as a result of the conflict in eastern Congo. UNHCR reported 13,000 people arriving in one day alone to a single refugee camp after attacks in July.  CongoSwim has developed a simple Advocacy Action for peace.

In support of my participation, please

  • Donate generously.  Every amount matters!  Be sure to specify my name as the participant you are supporting.  You may also mail a check payable to Friends of the Congo with CongoSwim and my name in the memo line.  Every amount matters!  Mail to:
    Friends of the Congo-CongoSwim
    1629 K St., NW Suite 300
    Washington, DC 20006
  • Send a quick, yet critical message to Secretary of State Kerry
  • Ask at least 3 other people you know to donate and advocate through CongoSwim

I am proud take part in CongoSwim because it provides us all the opportunity to address the violation of women’s rights.  I am honored to take part with an amazing community, the youngest is age 3 and the oldest is 92.  Participants include Coco Ramazani, a Congolese survivor of extreme violence who now lives in the US and is speaking out with CongoSwim.

Thank you in advance for supporting this effort.

See you along the Trail.

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August 10, 2013 · 10:10 pm

End violence against women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo

CongoSwim FLYER 8.5 x 11 JPEGWomen face violence in many forms and in many places – domestic violence in the home, sexual abuse of girls in schools, sexual harassment at work, structural violence that demeans and limits and excludes, rape by partners or strangers, economic violence that values and rewards men at higher levels than women, assault in refugee camps or focused violence, physical and sexual, as a tactic of war.

Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo know violence well. Conflict and war has ripped parts of the country since 1996. During the conflict, hundreds of thousands of women and children in the eastern DRC have endured sexual violence.  In some instances, the sexual violence is a byproduct of the war. At the same time, the violation of women and girls is systematically and strategically used as a weapon.

Such an atrocity, in the DRC or in other places, is an affront to decency and an abuse of human rights. Around the world people organize and work to end violence against women.

Here’s a way you can help end sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Support the CongoSwim on August 25.

Organized by the Congo Team of the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church in California, CongoSwim provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in terms of sexual violence against women and girls. August 25 is an Orange Day – a day to witness and work for an end to violence against women and girls. CongoSwim participants are encouraged to raise funds for the Congolese grassroots groups receiving grants from Global Fund for Women and Friends of the Congo. Some of the funds raised will also benefit the USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative, to prevent children from drowning in the US. Swimming is not the only way to take part.

Presbyterians are participating in several ways. Zephyr Point Conference Center will offer free lodging for the participants who swim Lake Tahoe. White Plains Presbyterian Church will mark the day with a slip and slide on their lawn. I will engage in prayer and walk to support this effort.

Learn more and register your participation.

Make a donation.

Find your own way to work for an end to violence against women and girls! It is past time – well past time.

See you along the Trail.

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July 25, 2013 · 9:59 am

Orange Day – 25 July 2013

Koenig July Orange DayUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign invites us to celebrate the 25th of every month as an Orange Day – a day to witness and work for an end to violence against women and girls.

This month the focus is on making cyberspace safe space for women and girls.

A tweetup will take place at 11:00 AM Eastern time with the hashtag #orangeday.

I am in – spreading the word and wearing my orange tie.

How about you?

See you along the Trail.

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July 24, 2013 · 8:31 am

Make cyber space a safe space for women and girls

from the UNiTE Web page with additional material

orange_day_fb_profile_image_medium300Last July the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign proclaimed every 25th of the month as Orange Day. Initiated and led by the UNiTE campaign Global Youth Network, worldwide activities implemented on this day by UN country offices and civil society organizations strive to highlight issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls, not only once a year, on 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women), but every month.

Under the heading ‘Safe spaces for women and girls’, this year the UNiTE campaign is focusing its Orange Day activities on highlighting recommendations of the agreed conclusions of the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW57) which took place in March this year. In April, UNiTE focused on ‘Safe Work Place for Women and Girls’, in May it highlighted ‘Safe Homes for Women and Girls’ while in June, UNiTE’s Orange Day coincided with the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (June 26th) and the campaign focused on ‘State Custody and State Care as Safe Spaces for Women and Girls’’. This month, the campaign highlights ‘Cyber Space as Safe Space for Women and Girls’ and it is also the first birthday of Orange day.

ORANGE DAY ACTIVITIES (25th July)

This Orange Day, the UNiTE campaign will highlight both the need to end violenceagainst women and girls which take place in cyber space, and the positive role that information and communications technologies and programs can play in preventing and ending violence against women and girls.

What can you do?

  • Say no to violence against women and girls in cyber space.
  • Turn cyber space orange for Orange day.
  • Change your Facebook profile picture to the UNiTE campaign’s July 25 ribbon image.
    Post pictures of yourself wearing orange.
  • Use & share the photo of the UNiTE Ribbon.
  • On Thursday July 25, the UNiTE campaign will host a Twitter discussion, along with other partners, around how information and communication technologies can be used to prevent and end violence against women. Join us. Share information about initiatives you know about. Invite others to do the same. Learn about innovative projects. Follow @SayNO_UNiTE and #orangeday on Twitter.

SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES

Twitter

  • Happy #OrangeDay!This month #UNiTE focuses on safe cyber space 4women&girls.Check out initiatives using tech2 #endVAW http://owl.li/mlJkgToday is #OrangeDay! Wear orange and #UNiTE to end #violenceagainstwomen and girls in cyber space. http://o wl.li/mlJkg
  • Say NO to #VAW & girls in cyberspace.This #orangeday,turn cyber space orange 2show ur support for #UNiTE campaign! http://owl.li/mlJkg
  • After #CSW57, #UNiTE campaign says harness technology as a tool to #endVAW and make cyber space safe for women&girls! http://owl.li/mlJkg

Sample Facebook messages

  1. Today is #OrangeDay and the UNiTE campaign is calling for cyber space to be safe and violence-free for women and girls. At CSW57 on ending violence against women and girls, governments committed to: “Support the development and use of information and communication technologies and social media as a resource for the empowerment of women and girls, including access to information on the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls; and develop mechanisms to combat the use of information and communication technologies and social media to perpetrate violence against women and girls, including the criminal misuse of information and communication technologies for sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, child pornography and trafficking in women and girls, and emerging forms of violence, such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying and privacy violations that compromise women’s and girls’ safety” Pg. 12 (WW).
  2. The UNiTE campaign has declared the 25th of each month #OrangeDay and today calls for cyber space to be a safe space for women and girls. Show your support by wearing orange and turning cyber space orange! Post pictures of yourself wearing orange, turn your profile picture orange and find out more about what you can do.http://owl.li/mlJkg
  3. Today is #OrangeDay, a day to take action to end violence against women and girls. The UNiTE campaign is focusing on making cyber space safe for women and girls. Join UNiTE’s Twitter discussion on using information and communication technologies to prevent and end violence against women and girls! http://owl.li/mlJkg
  4. Today – 25 July– is one year since the UNiTE campaign declared the 25th of each month as #OrangeDay. Since then, people all over the world have come together to take part in activities to prevent and end violence against women. See the photos.

Resources

See you along the Trail.

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July 24, 2013 · 8:25 am

Free Marissa Alexander Part 2

Here is some more information about Marissa Alexander, the woman serving 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot as a way of defending herself from her abusive husband:

Anderson Cooper and some others offer coverage of her story.

Like the Free Marissa Now Facebook page.

Sign the petition to Florida Governor Rick Scott.

If you are being abused, or know someone in an abusive situation, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE.

Learn more about the work of Presbyterians Against Domestic Violence. There are lots of other good groups out there working to end domestic violence. Support their work.

See you along the Trail.

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July 23, 2013 · 11:19 pm

Free Marissa Alexander

I signed a petition asking Florida Governor Rick Scott to free Marissa Alexander. Marissa acted to defend herself from her abusive estranged husband … she fired a warning shot … she hurt no one … and now she is in prison. Here is how the organizers of the petition describe the situation:

In August 2010, Marissa Alexander defended herself from further violence by her abusive estranged husband in their home by firing a warning shot toward the ceiling. No one was injured by the shot fired to save her life. Without bond to care for her premature nursing daughter, in May 2012, Marissa was wrongly convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Under Florida’s mandatory minimum sentencing law, Marissa was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison. Marissa had a restraining order against the serial abuser, a legally licensed gun and permit, and no criminal history. Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law did not work for her in the way it worked for Trayvon Martin’s killer which raises serious concerns of discrimination against Marissa. It appears that stereotypes about Black women project them as aggressors even when defending their lives upon deadly attack. Something has to be done regarding all women who defend themselves against their abusers. Too often they receive little understanding and sympathy from the systems charged with demonstrating justice.

I signed. Will you?

See you along the Trail.

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