ESTHER

Join ESTHER’s Equity and Racial Justice Committee for a public conversation (on Zoom) with David J. O’Connor, American Indian Studies Consultant at the Wisconsin DPI. He consults with and supports school districts in providing instruction on the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of Wisconsin’s American Indian nations and tribal communities, and about the education of Native American students under Wisconsin’s Act 31.

The conversation will occur on Zoom, and advance registration is required.  The Zoom link will be sent to registrants before the meeting.

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David is originally from and is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) in northern Wisconsin. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, he join the DPI staff in 2012. In October 2021, O’Connor received the National Indian Education Association’s (NIEA) Educator of the Year award at the organization’s 52nd Annual Convention and Trade Show in Omaha, Nebraska. The organization presented the award to O’Connor for his work in changing the landscape for all students, with an emphasis on Native American studies and education, in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.

Please join us to view and discuss Sisters Rising. This documentary is an urgent call to action, a stunning portrait of women acting in solidarity, and a demand for tribal sovereignty and self-determination as the necessary step towards ending violence against Indigenous women in the United States.

The film follows six women who refuse to let this pattern of violence continue in the shadows: a tribal cop in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom, an attorney fighting to overturn restrictions on tribal sovereignty, a teacher of Indigenous women’s self-defense, grassroots advocates working to influence legislative change, and the author of the first anti-sex trafficking code to be introduced to a reservation’s tribal court. Their stories shine an unflinching light on righting injustice on both individual and systemic levels.

Discussion will follow, led by Cecilia LaPointe of the Native Justice Coalition.

No charge. All are welcome. This is an indoor, in-person event. Participants are asked to follow COVID-safe protocols, including masking and maintaining social distance. Donations will be accepted at the event for the work of the Native Justice Coalition.

Please register in advance:

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Sponsored by ESTHER, Native Justice Coalition, and First Congregational UCC, Appleton

From accessibility of public lands to health impacts of burning fossil fuels, examples of environmental injustice are deeply woven into each of the issues that we organize around. To examine these connections, many parts of the Sierra Club in Wisconsin are coming together to organize an Environmental Justice Event Series beginning in the fall of 2021. 

We hope that these events can provide an opportunity to explore the inequities rooted within these issues and help shine a light on the critical environmental justice components that exist in our work. Register to receive the link to the Zoom event.

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Sponsored by Grass Roots North Shore, Sierra Club Great Waters Group, Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, Fox Valley Sierra Group, First Unitarian Society of Madison, 350 Madison Climate Action Team, Wisconsin Interfaith Power and Light, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, ESTHER, Peace Action of Wisconsin, Nearby Nature Milwaukee, Sierra Club Wisconsin

Rescheduled to
Sunday evening, February 6, 2022

ESTHER’s 18th Annual Banquet

“Bridging Our Differences”

Keynote Speaker: Pardeep Kaleka, Executive Director, Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and the Zeidler Group. Founder of Serve 2 Unite. Co-author (with Arno Michaelis) of The Gift of Our Wounds.

A native of Punjab, India, Kaleka grew up in Milwaukee and received his B.A. at Marquette University, and M.S. at Alverno College.  He is a former police officer and educator in the inner city of Milwaukee. As a clinician, he uses a trauma-informed approach to treat survivors and perpetrators of assault, abuse, and acts of violence.

After evaluating the current state of the pandemic and its projected trajectory, we have made the decision to reschedule our 18th Annual Banquet from its original date to February 6, 2022. The event venue remains Liberty Hall in Kimberly.