Tag Archives: Women

March 16, 2021 · 11:20 pm

Words fail and tears flow

A prayer poem in the aftermath of the killing of 8 people of whom 7 were were women and 6 were women of Asian descent
Words fail and tears flow.
They squeeze out of the corners of my eyes,
roll down to tangle in the underbrush of beard
until they break free and splatter on the keyboard.
Words fail and tears flow
for Asian and Asian American women
killed in Atlanta; lives violently taken;
your beloved children too soon gone.
Words fail and tears flow
for mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers
partners, lovers, children,
family and friend
who bear this unspeakable horror tonight
and who carry this unbearable pain into the future.
Words fail and tears flow
for communities terrorized and intimidated
by this and countless other violent acts of hate.
Words fail and tears flow
tears of grief; tears of rage.
As words fail, tears
become prayers for
those who were killed,
those who bear wounds,
those who mourn,
those who know fear,
those who would honor your image in all your precious people
and who would work for a better world.
In the name of the one whose tears flowed
at the death of a friend and for the people of Jerusalem. Amen.

With thanks to the Rev. Dr. Christine Hong for the reminder to pray for the families of the women who were killed.

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January 5, 2021 · 12:59 pm

Pray for Delia Leal

The Rev. Delia Leal is the regional coordinator for the Women’s Ministry program in Mexico and Central America with the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA). Delia has exercised the role of educator, has provided pastoral accompaniment, and has promoted women’s rights, primarily in Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Through her work, she has shown a genuine interest in the entire well-being of girls, teenage girls, young and adult women in Guatemala.

Her colleagues report that Delia is detained by the police in a private hospital in Coban. Prayers are requested for her release and vindication. Thanks are extended to all who have written. Her colleagues also report that Delia is encouraged by all the support she is receiving from people around the world. Please add your prayers.

Thanks to Karla Ann Koll for sharing this story of Delia’s visit to the United States in the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s International Peacemaker Program in 2017.

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August 13, 2014 · 12:24 pm

Walk for Congo with CongoSwim

CongoSwim FLYER 8.5 x 11 JPEGIn conjunction with Orange Days to end violence against women and girls, CongoSwim brings together Presbyterians and people of good will to witness and raise funds to

In solidarity with the Walk for Congo in Oakland, CA, I will walk 5k (a little over 3 miles) with family members in Cleveland Heights August 23rd. If you are in town and would like to walk with us, let me know. In support of my participation, please consider the below ways to support groups working for lasting peace and an end to violence against women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  1. Pray.  Lift up all families and leaders in Congo.
  2. Advocate. One of the top requests from community leaders in Congo is for the full implementation of an existing US law regarding how the US extends military aid within the region. Click HERE to order a postcard to mail to Secretary of State Kerry.  The postcards have already helped create a change in the way the U.S. officials have chosen recent policy for Congo. Details about the US law are in the 30 minute documentary Crisis in the Congo which you can watch on the VIDEOS page.
  3. Donate. Click the ‘Donate’ button below to give what you can.  You may specify my name as the participant you are supporting.  Details about the groups we are raising funds for are on the Who We Support page.  Thank you!

DONATE

If you prefer to give by check, make it payable to Friends of the Congo and put CongoSwim and my name in the memo line.  Mail your check  to:

Friends of the Congo
1629 K St., NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
 
See you along the Trail
 

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May 29, 2013 · 8:48 pm

2013 Move And Shake Women Work-Life Balance Retreat

This originally was posted by my friend Grace Ji-Sun Kim. It is posted here with her permission and at her request.

MOVE AND SHAKE WORK-LIFE BALANCE RETREAT

move-and-shake-logo-copy

at the University of Chicago,

Chicago, IL August 30 – September 1, 2013

This will be a gathering of high performing women, who want to explore the ways in which they can develop a well-rounded lifestyle. We realize that there is a need for a women’s retreat for women of color to explore the intersection of their professional, personal, and social experiences.
The Move and Shake Women’s Retreat is an event during which facilitators will expose women to solutions on how to navigate their multiple identities such as motherhood or being a first generation academic. This guided retreat will help women to attain their highest and best professional and academic performance.

Move and Shake Retreat Information:

Move and Shake Women are proud recipients of the Innovation Grant from the University of Chicago’s Graduate Student Affairs Office (GSA)! Because of this generous grant we will launch the 2013 Move and Shake Work – Life Balance Retreat. It will be held in Ida Noyes Hall and the Logan Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, August 30 — September 1 2013.
To register or for more information, please visit MoveAndShake.info.

Call For WORKSHOP

FACILITATORS Proposal Due: May 30, 2013

Proposal Acceptance: June 15, 2013

This guided retreat will help women to attain their highest and best professional and academic performance. If you would like to be a presenter, at the MOVE AND SHAKE WORK-LIFE BALANCE RETREAT, fill out this form. Applicants may attach a 1 minute video clip URL, to provide a sample of what participants can expect during their workshop.

[read also:  Living in Full Empowerment]

_________________________________________________________________________

alisha-lola-jones-from-cd-cover-revisedAlisha Lola Jones (@Move_And_Shake) is a PhD candidate in the ethnomusicology program of the Music Department at the University of Chicago. An alumna of Yale Divinity School (M.Div.), Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and Oberlin Conservatory (B.M.), she is the awardee of the 2013 Mellon Dissertation, Tave Teaching, and Martin Marty Junior Fellowships. She is a social entrepreneur with her firm InSight Initiative, Inc. whose ventures are arts based production and empowerment events for high minority and low income communities.

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March 15, 2012 · 9:56 pm

I say a prayer

I toured the United Nations yesterday. They have a display of quilts.

This one comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part of a larger quilt, it commemorates the Srebrenica massacre when between 7,000 and 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed.

Each square remembers one of the men or boys killed.

I noticed how many times last names repeat. Notice the top row – where all the names are the same; or the bottom row – four names the same.  Even in the middle rows, the names repeat.

Fathers and sons? Brothers? Cousins? My heart aches as I wonder and say a prayer for all victims. I say a prayer for the women and all who grieve. I say a prayer that the human race may find the grace to put an end to such atrocities.

And after a moment, a moment that hangs like an eternity, I say a prayer for those who commit atrocities.

See you along the Trail.

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February 26, 2012 · 7:15 am

If the women around the world were paid for their work . . .

My life revolves around the Commission on the Status of Women for the next two weeks. The Commission meets to recommend policies that seek to increase equality between women and men and enhance women’s rights. Nongovernmental organizations come to the meeting of the Commission to advocate for positions and ideas from their particular perspective. The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations hosts the Presbyterian participants – more than 40 people this year! We work in partnership with Ecumenical Women. Yesterday, Ecumenical Women held an orientation for about 180 women and men from the various member organizations.

I caught a few quotes worth sharing:

It’s some times easier to stay at home than to enter the struggle. Easier, but not better.

  • Ana Chã, Brazil

You know what, I am that statistic. When we talk about statistics, we are talking about people.

  • Michelle Deshong, Australia

I wish I could find that teacher who told me I would never amount to anything and tell him where I am speaking.

  • Michelle Deshong, Australia

If women around the world were paid for the work they do, they would be millionaires

  • I didn’t catch the name of the person

Grace Bickers, a Columbia University student who volunteers with us, took the picture at the orientation.

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January 21, 2012 · 1:44 pm

Two weeks in January 2012

I had the privilege to spend the last two weeks with a January Term Doctor of Ministry class that met at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations – my employer. Mark Douglas of Columbia Theological Seminary led the class as it considered the Environment and Ecumene.

Class participants included Elizabeth Adams, Katie Preston, Carol Underwood, and John Weems. My colleague, Ryan Smith, helped coordinate and lead the class. Ricky Velez-Negron, our office manager, provided wonderful hospitality and organizational support; she also took the picture of the class beside the Isaiah Wall. Volunteers Peng Leong, from First Chinese Presbyterian Church, and Grace Bickers, Columbia University student, joined us for a number of the sessions.

Speakers came from ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), UN programs and our colleagues and friends from the UN NGO community.

The content included the UN and environmental concerns to climate change, land and water, women and the environment, children and the environment, indigenous peoples and the environment, food and hunger and the environment, conflict and the environment, and more.

The class attended a policy lunch on climate change and agriculture sponsored by the NGO Working Group on Food and Hunger. The class also attended a meeting of the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Conference of NGOs.

On Thursday, January 12, class members led worship at the Church Center for the United Nations.

Representatives of First Chinese Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Huguenot Memorial Church, Old Bergen Church, and the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain joined the class on Thursday, January 19 for conversations about how congregations can care for creation. Rebecca Barnes-Davies, PC(USA) associate for Environmental Ministries helped facilitate the discussion.

Worship ended the class. We gathered in the Tillman Chapel of the Church Center for the United Nations and walked to the Isaiah Wall for closing prayers. After quick goodbyes, class members returned to their homes with new visions for ministry.

Gifts to the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations make possible the class.

I look forward to 2014 when another group will gather for another class on another topic.

See you along the Trail.

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December 11, 2011 · 8:49 pm

Nine years of resistance

Today’s letter in the Amnesty International’s Write for Rights Global Write-a-thon went to President Calderón of Mexico on behalf of Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo.

For more than nine years, these two courageous women have taken on the military and authorities to demand justice after soldiers raped them in 2002. Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo are Indigenous Me’phaa (Tlapaneca) women. Amnesty International notes that:

Indigenous women in Mexico who are raped rarely file a complaint due to cultural, economic and social barriers. Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo have shown courage in reporting their ordeals and have followed up their cases in national and international courts. The women and their families have faced threats as their battle for justice continues.

Guided by Amnesty International’s sample letter, I urge President Calderón to ensure a swift, full and impartial investigation into the rape Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú. This investigation should take place in civilian courts as should all cases of human rights violations by military personnel.

Sign up to participate in the Write-a-thon.

Find resources for the Write-a-thon, including sample letters to adapt.

Learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international human rights framework.

See you along the Trail.

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