Building community, sharing hope, and standing for justice since 2004

ESTHER Gives Away Books and Bikes to Celebrate Juneteenth 2023

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ESTHER celebrated Appleton Juneteenth 2023 on Sunday, June 11, with African Heritage, Inc. and many other community organizations supporting diverse groups, causes and community challenges. ESTHER gave away over 100 books for all ages. Members had contributed books by and about Black history, heroes, strengths and struggles.

ESTHER also raffled off four bikes, including one donated by Chain Reaction Cyclery in Appleton (Thank you, Nikki!), and another purchased by ESTHER to give away.  The four free raffle winners were thrilled with their bike wins.

More photographs of the event can be found on the Facebook page of ESTHER and of African Heritage, Inc.

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Community Living Room

Date: 
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Date: 
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Date: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: 
First Congregational U.C.C., 724 E South River St, Appleton

Presented in cooperation with Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative and First Congregational United Church of Christ of Appleton.

The Community Living Room is a non-clinical, person-centered environment for people seeking social connection and emotional support. Everyone is welcome. Refreshments provided. Feel free to drop in any time between 5:00 and 8:00.

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Film Screening: The Invisible Class

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Date: 
Wednesday, July 19, 2023 - 6:00pm
Location: 
First Congregational Church, 137 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh

Casa Esther Catholic Worker, ESTHER, Trinity Episcopal Church Oshkosh, and
First Congregational Church Oshkosh present
a screening of The Invisible Class.

The Invisible Class - Documentary FilmThis powerful film is about homelessness all across America, its criminalization and the devastating impacts of the loss of affordable housing. Mass homelessness in the United States didn’t always exist, so how did we get to where we are today?

The screening is free and open to the public. Cash and material donations will be collected (see more below).

Doors open at 5:30.

Talkback and refreshments to follow.

ESTHER Leader Featured in Indian Civil Rights Documentary

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has just re-released (in HD video) its 2008 documentary on efforts of Native nations and the denomination’s National Indian Lutheran Board to secure sovereignty, justice, and civil rights for American Indians. Much of this collaboration and struggle took place in Wisconsin, involving—among others—the Lutheran Church of the Wilderness on the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Reservation in Bowler. Rev. Joel Schlatenhaufer (d. 2019), pastor of that congregation at the time, and later a founding member of ESTHER and its first president, is interviewed.


The history the video recounts is very interesting, and it would be useful for all of our members to know about the things that the video talks about.

—David Haas, ESTHER Board member

Outdoor Movie Night: Wakanda Forever

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Date: 
Friday, June 9, 2023 - 7:45pm
Location: 
Houdini Plaza, 111 W College Ave, Appleton

Join People of Progression, STAR, Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Fox City Flix and the Appleton Public Library to celebrate the end of the school year.

Free Event

  • Friday, June 9, Houdini Plaza, Appleton
  • 7:45-8:30 pm - Community Activities
    • Fox Cities PAC Listening Session
    • Public Library Summer Programs
  • 8:45 pm - Outdoor Movie: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
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Reflections on the May 13 Blanket Exercise: Remembering (unforgetting) 450 years+ of Indigeneous History

Submitted by ckan516 on Thu, 06/01/2023 - 10:49am
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Indigenous Peoples’ Blanket Exercise

The Blanket Exercise acknowledges what has been buried by honoring the truth.

Blanket Exercise Participants“Opening our eyes and unforgetting the past” was the theme of the recent Blanket Exercise, designed to help participants understand how colonization of the land has impacted the people who lived here before Columbus and other settlers arrived.

On May 13 at First English Lutheran Church on Ballard Road, nearly 70 participants gathered for the Blanket Exercise to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Blankets arranged on the floor represented the land before the arrival of Europeans.  Everyone stepped onto blankets that represent the land, and took the role of the Indigenous peoples. As I listened to the history from pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance, I could see the people and the land disappear. At the end of the exercise only a few people remained on the blankets. Going through this visible history of eliminating people and stealing land was an intellectual and emotional experience.

13th Annual Appleton Juneteenth

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Date: 
Sunday, June 11, 2023 - 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: 
Jones Park, 301 W Lawrence St, Appleton

Be sure to stop by the ESTHER booth when you come!

African Heritage, Inc., Presents 13th Annual Appleton Juneteenth. Free Admission. Boost your digital skills.<br /> Covid 19 shots. $$$. Black health & wealth is dope! Destiny Child Experience. MC Keith L. Brown Mr. I'm Possible.<br /> Poet 22. Milwaukee African Drum and Dance. Afro Pop Music with Mimi. Comedian Kelly Kelly. 2023 Black Excellence Graduation.<br /> Children's Activies. Food. Music. Community Organizations, Retail Vendors, Black Greek-Letter Organizations. Stone of Hope.<br /> Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark, United Way, Wisconsin Public Radio, Sargento, Walmart, Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region,<br /> Get Boosted, Community First Credit Union.

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You Belong Block Party

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Date: 
Saturday, June 17, 2023 - 11:00am - 3:00pm
Location: 
Jefferson Park, 989 Kargus Dr, Menasha

Celebrating Volunteers & Diversity in Our Community

A community event by Volunteer Fox Cities & Celebrate Diversity Fox Cities

  • Live Entertainment
  • On-Site Volunteering
  • Food Trucks
  • Carnival Games
  • Communty Cookout
  • Family-Friendly Fun!

 

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Soliltary Confinement Cell Tour

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Date: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023 - 10:00am - 6:00pm
Date: 
Friday, May 12, 2023 - 10:00am - 6:00pm
Location: 
St. Joseph Catholic Church, 404 W Lawrence St, Appleton

This event is on both Thursday, May 11 from 10 am - 6 pm and Friday, May 12 from 10 am - 6 pm
To schedule a group or class to experience the cell, contact us at 920-843-8083 or office@esther-foxvalley.org

Indigenous Peoples Blanket Exercise

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Date: 
Saturday, May 13, 2023 - 9:00am - 2:00pm
Location: 
First English Lutheran Church, 6331 N. Ballard Road, Appleton

First English Lutheran Church’s Racial Equity Team, The Green Sanctuary Justice Action Team of the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Indigenous Peoples’ Allies Committee (IPAC) of the First Congregational United Church of Christ and ESTHER are proud to sponsor: 


Indigenous People’s Blanket Exercise

 

May 13, 9 am - 2 pm

First English Lutheran Church, 6331 N. Ballard Road, Appleton

The blanket exercise is a kind of simulation designed to help participants understand how colonization of the land we now know as the United States of America has impacted the people who lived here long before Columbus and other settlers arrived.

A traditional Talking Circle is included in the exercise to allow participants to debrief.

In addition to the exercise, a traditional indigenous meal will be served.

Register Here

Cost per person is $30, which includes the meal.
A no-cost registration option is also available thanks to the generosity of several sponsors.

See more on the Facebook event page.