President-elect Biden has asked the nation to mark a national COVID victims memorial on the eve of the Inauguration. See here for more about the memorial. WISDOM and EXPO leaders will lead Memorial Services in front of seven of the 14 Wisconsin prisons in which men and women have died of the virus. Prisons at which vigils will be held are listed below.
Details for all locations are the same:
Tuesday, January 19
5:30 pm
Masks are required and social distancing will be honored.
Please bring your own candle.
Please try to arrive by 5:15.
The memorial services will be brief and prayerful.
“Living an Abolitionist Life: Resistance, Creativity, Hip Hop Civics Ed, Intersectionality, & Black Joy”
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bettina Love
Dr. Love will discuss how intersectionality and Abolitionist teaching creates a space where Black lives matter and sensibilities are nurtured to engage communities in the work of fighting for visibility, inclusion, and justice. Her talk will end by calling all of us to engage in critical dialogues about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in our communities. She will challenge us to envision a world built on Black joy, creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and the rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists.
Featured Musical Performance: “Agitate: A Story Through Song,” performed by Griot B
Sponsored by African Heritage, Inc., Lawrence University Diversity and Intercultural Center, and Fox Cities Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee
Everyone welcome. No charge.
Advance registration required for this
online event.
ESTHER encourages an African American to apply for appointment to the Grand Chute Police and Fire Commission
Background of racist social-media posts by police officer
Last summer ESTHER Organizer Bill Van Lopik was informed that Grand Chute Police Officer Laluzerne had posted racist comments on social media. Most of the posts were from high school, but a more recent one referred to Boogaloo, a white supremacist movement.
After connecting with a Black Lives Matter group, Bill and others from ESTHER joined a protest, at which Grand Chute Police Chief Greg Peterson agreed to meet with ESTHER President Gary Crevier. News surfaced that the department was conducting a thorough investigation of Laluzerne. Some wondered if an outside, unbiased individual or group should conduct such investigations. The officer was thoroughly questioned and “put on notice,” but was not disciplined or fired.1
There is a big problem in Burlington, and it is getting worse.
There has been a rash of bullying and harassment of children of color in the Burlington schools. The Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism, a member of the Racine Interfaith Coalition and WISDOM, has been working to get authorities to take concrete action to protect black and brown children. They have received promises, but little more. In the meantime, the attacks have grown worse, and some Coalition members have even received death threats.
Please join affiliates from the WISDOM network THIS THURSDAY to let the people working to dismantle racism in Burlington know that we stand with them.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please join us if you can. This is a real opportunity to show support for our brothers and sisters who are striving for racial equity in a very difficult situation.
We will pray together
We will learn what is happening on the ground right now in Burlington
We will hear words of support from WISDOM and Gamaliel members from around the state and nation.
We will talk about what comes next and how we can all help.
Are you ready to take a hard, honest look at yourself, your church, and our community in terms of racism? The First Congo Anti-Racism Task Force believes that God is calling us to do the hard work necessary to educate ourselves about the systemic racism present in ourselves, our churches, and our community.
Interested members of ESTHER are invited to participate in this group, which is focussed on learning to dismantle racism and be the change that needs to happen.
Appleton Memorial Park, 1620 E Witzke Blvd, Appleton
The Native Justice Coalition, Menīkānaehkem, and ESTHER regret to announce we will be canceling our talking circles in Appleton due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the Menominee Nation, Fox Valley, and the surrounding area. We will not be rescheduling these events in 2020, but plan on doing work in the Menominee Nation and Fox Valley in 2021.
Join members of Menīkānaehkem, the Native Justice Coalition and ESTHER in talking together about racial justice.
Update: Both events will be held at Memorial Park in Appleton.
(The similar event planned for Menīkānaehkem in Gresham on October 2 has been moved to the Appleton location due to COVID-19 restrictions on the Menominee Reservation.)
This event will be held outside, and community agreements will be in place that follow the CDC and State of Wisconsin COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Travel assistance is available. Gift cards and lunch are provided.
Please see attached agenda for more information about the event.
This statement from ESTHER President Gary Crevier in regard to the shooting of Jacob Blake was issued on Tuesday, August 25.
ESTHER cries out again over the senseless shooting of another black man, a result of systemic racism in policing--this time in Kenosha, WI. Jacob Blake, another human being, is the latest victim of this insidious racist plague infecting our nation. How can we guarantee that this will not happen in the Fox Valley? We cannot, until we have that difficult but necessary conversation addressing how our implicit biases are impacting how we write and then implement our policing procedures.
ESTHER has adopted the goal of becoming an anti-racist organization, but we have never defined very clearly what that means. This post is intended to start a discussion on that topic, and for that purpose, I suggest that we should explore the implications of the definitions proposed by Ibram X. Kendi in his book How to be an Antiracist.[i]
Racism Grows from Racist Policies
Kendi begins with the idea that racist policies are adopted out of financial self-interest and not because of racist ideas and prejudices. The racist ideas and prejudices are created later to justify the policies (p. 42). For example, the Atlantic Slave Trade did not develop because Europeans hated Africans or believed them to be inferior. The trade developed because plantation owners in the American colonies were willing to pay for slaves to work in their sugar cane, rice and tobacco plantations. The racist claims that Africans were inferior to Europeans grew up later as justifications for the slave trade and for the practice of slavery in the colonies. The sequence also works in reverse. Reductions in racist ideas and prejudices follow policy changes rather than preceding them. For example, the integration of the schools in the South was followed by a reduction in racist prejudices in that region.
Thus, for Kendi, the focus in fighting racism must be on changing racist policies, not racist attitudes. Changes in attitudes will follow when the policies are changed. This is the basis of his definitions of “racist” and “antiracist,” which are (p. 13):
The Coalition for More Responsible Transportation hosts a webinar on July 9, “Transportation and Racial Justice.” This webinar examines the impact that our transportation system has on racial justice in Wisconsin.
If you are unable to use this form or would prefer to call in your RSVP, please contact the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired at (608) 255-1166 from 8 AM to 3 PM on weekdays and we will register you by phone.
Speakers include:
Dr. Kirk Harris, a faculty member in the Department of Urban Planning, in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Dr. Harris' academic interests are focused on racial and economic equity, the pedagogy of social justice, constitutional issues in planning law and mediation and negotiation. Dr. Harris will speak about the history and present of transportation in Wisconsin and how it impacts racial justice in the state.
Barbara Little, a transit rider and advocate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She will be sharing her personal story as a transit-rider.
Lester Williams, a member of the transportation task force for Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH). He was a rider of the now discontinued JobLines in Milwaukee to reach job opportunities in the surrounding suburbs, and will share his story of job access and transit.
Ashley Moncrief, the YWCA Madison Employment Services and Transit Director. The YWCA provides supplemental transportation for riders who cannot reach their destinations due to lack of transit access and personal vehicles.
President-elect Biden has asked the nation to mark a national COVID victims memorial on the eve of the Inauguration. See 
“Living an Abolitionist Life: Resistance, Creativity, Hip Hop Civics Ed, Intersectionality, & Black Joy”
matter and sensibilities are nurtured to engage communities in the work of fighting for visibility, inclusion, and justice. Her talk will end by calling all of us to engage in critical dialogues about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in our communities. She will challenge us to envision a world built on Black joy, creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and the rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists.
Join members of Menīkānaehkem, the Native Justice Coalition and ESTHER in talking together about racial justice.
The Coalition for More Responsible Transportation hosts a webinar on July 9, “Transportation and Racial Justice.” This webinar examines the impact that our transportation system has on racial justice in Wisconsin. 
