The Appleton, WI, Common Council hesitated this past Wednesday (April 21) when asked to pass a resolution condemning xenophobia, racism and anti-Asian violence and encouraging Appleton to become a more welcoming, inclusive community. ESTHER president Gary Crevier has issued this statement in response. For more background, please see this article from the Appleton Post-Crescent, published the day after the Council’s deliberations and decision. Click Read More below for the full text of the proposed resolution.
Dear ESTHER Folks,
As ESTHER president I spoke to Appleton’s common council this past week to support the resolution condemning xenophobia specifically related to our Asian & Pacific Islander community. We as ESTHER stand in solidarity with this beloved community. We are collectively disappointed in the Appleton Common Council’s action to push back the resolution to condemn xenophobia, racism, anti-Asian violence, and we are disturbed by their desire to change the AAPI narrative and lived experiences.
Thank you to Council Member Maiyoua Thao and all the sponsors of this resolution. We stand with you in calling out xenophobia, racism, sexism, and all forms of hate. We hope this resolution is not gutted from its original intent and that when it comes back to Council, the City will make a stand to support the AAPI community fully.
In these times of crisis, let’s come together and build strong communities of trust, where we all feel safe, where all workers are treated with dignity and respect, where all children feel comfortable going to school, where our elders are not shrouded in fear, and where all our loved ones have the freedom to thrive.
Please contact your Common Council representative to share your thoughts on this issue.
Gary Crevier
ESTHER President
Join Voces de la Frontera Essential Workers Rights Network in Green Bay for a press conference and rally to demand citizenship for all in the forthcoming COVID-19 reconciliation budget bill! Now is the time to make noise and demand that our congressional representatibes vote to legalize essential workers - because they are essential, not deportable.
But the people, led by indigenous groups, are fighting back. In this event, Our Wisconsin Revolution is joining with Building Unity’s Sustainable Saturday Night series to present a town hall on Indigenous-Led Resistance to Extraction Industries.
Rev. Dennis Jacobsen, one of the founders of MICAH and WISDOM, and long-time pastor of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, has written a wonderful new book, called A Spirituality for Doing Justice: Reflections for Congregation-based Organizers (Fortress Press, 2021). In just a few pages, Dennis Jacobsen draws us into a world of graceful art, of brutal inner-city realities and the Children of God who battle them, of majestic nature, of family, Church, politics, and the inscrutable God who calls us deeper into mystery through all of it. Jacobsen enters each of these realms with humility and a sense of awe, and he models a deep spirituality that is transcendent, incarnational, and deeply authentic.
ESTHER and 
The League of Women Voters of Appleton invites you to join them in their John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Action Day “Votercade” on Saturday, May 8 at 1pm! This event is one of over 100 events across the nation to pass the For the People Act (H.R. 1), the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4), D.C. Statehood and address the filibuster to do so.
The League of Women Voters of Appleton is proud to host a special screening of Can You Hear Us Now?, a new film that shows the personal impact of gerrymandering in the state of Wisconsin.
A Special Invitation for ESTHER Faith Communities & Individual Members from
WISDOM, MICAH, the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice are collaborating to host an event titled “Taking a Faithful Stance for Equity.” The virtual event will take place on July 19th at 6:30 pm on Zoom.
