Protest against Scott Lively goes national: join us Wednesday!

In December of 2010, WMA Jobs with Justice coordinator Jon Weissman sent an email to the Arise list-- did we know that the person who had opened a storefront church only a few doors from Arise was the notorious homophobe and hatemonger Scott Lively?  he has never been far from our minds since then, and we continue to organize against his messages of hate. 

“Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition” Organizes Nationwide Protest Calling for an End to Scott Lively’s Promotion of Hate against the Gay Community Worldwide

What:     Action/Rally

When:    March 14, 2012pm at 1:30pm

Where:   In front of the Federal Building, 300 State Street, Springfield

In early February 2012 the Ugandan government reintroduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB), a.k.a the ‘Kill the Gays’ bill, legislating draconian measures against its gay community, which continues to include the death penalty for homosexual acts.  One week following the reintroduction of this legislation the Ugandan government raided a peaceful gay rights conference causing the sponsor’s leader to go into hiding.  The LGBT community of Uganda is under increasing threats of violence, imprisonment and stigma.  American evangelical Christians played a role in stirring the anti-homosexual sentiment that culminated in the initial AHB legislation in Uganda and continues to heightened homophobia in that country today.

Scott Lively was one of three evangelical leaders who presented at a 2009 conference in Kampala, Uganda which resulted in the original Anti-Homosexuality Bill’s introduction just one month later.  Scott Lively likened his appearance to “a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.”  From his home base at the Abiding Truth Ministries housed in the Holy Grounds Coffee Shop at 455 State Street in Springfield MA, Scott Lively’s anti-gay message filled with lies, propaganda and pray-away-the-gay quack science fuels anti-homosexual sentiment worldwide.

The Stop The Hate & Homophobia Coalition had an action against Scott Lively on November 18, 2011 to help educate the people of Springfield, MA about just who Scott lively is.  The protest on March 14^th is a continuation of that action.  National solidarity actions also are scheduled for Kansas City, Washington DC, and Sacramento.  We will continue to advocate against the hate and homophobia Scott Lively and others promote until they stop.

The Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition was formed in January 2011 upon learning that Scott Lively was living and ministering in Springfield.  Lively is president of the Abiding Truth Ministries, which has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and he has been running the Holy Grounds Coffee House on State Street, right near Commerce High School.  The coalition deplores hateful messages and actions, and calls for community education about the impact of homophobia on our communities, as well as calling for community leaders, neighbors, co-workers, family members, etc. to speak out against homophobia whenever it is perpetrated.  The coalition involves a number of community-based organizations, local college professors and students, members of the faith community and individual community members. 

Court sends message to Springfield police: You CAN be found guilty of abuse!

It's not like the criminal injustice system is ever off-duty in Springfield, but sometimes it runs in the background; people don't say much and organizing falls off   But former police officer Jeffrey Asher kicked us into high gear in December of 2009, when he beat Melvin Jones to a pulp.  On Wednesday, Asher was found guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery.  Sentencing will take place on March 28.  Here's a link to an excellent summary of the case by Buffy Spencer at the Republican.   The article reminded me that former DA Bill Bennett refused to convene a grand jury to investigate the conduct of officers in the Jones beating; victim Melvin Jones had to file an application for a criminal complaint himself.

It seems necessary to say here that most Springfield police don't go around assaulting members of the public with flashlights-- but also that no officers seem willing to speak out against misconduct by a fellow officer.  We saw that in play yesterday when Michael Ververis' lawyer, Luke Ryan, called officers to the stand to ask if it was unusual for a cellphone that might be a critical piece of evidence in the criminal case against Michael-- which very well might have exonerated Michael-- was released to the cellphone's owner without a sign-off by the DA.  Nothing to see here, move along.  I haven't heard a report back yet from Arise and Out Now members who were in court with Michael yesterday as to whether the judge agrees that this destruction of evidence-- a video of Michael's arrest which disappeared from the cellphone, apparently while in the evidence room -- is sufficient to dismiss charges against Michael.

Momentum is increasing in the case of Charles Wilhite.  From his website:

On September 17th, 2009, Charles Wilhite was arrested and interrogated as a murder suspect in the shooting death of Alberto Rodriguez that occurred on October 14th 2008. On December 6th, 2010, a jury delivered a guilty verdict against Charles Wilhite, for murder in the first degree, sentencing him to life imprisonment without parole.
As a community, we have significant concerns about the way the case was prosecuted and the way the verdict was reached:

• There is no physical evidence linking Charles Wilhite to to the shooting.
• The testimonies presented at trial were contradictory, including the initial testimony linking Charles to the shooting.
• During the trial, one of the Commonwealth’s key witnesses recanted her testimony.
• After the trial, another key witness, immunized for his testimony, recanted his statement, including his identification of Charles. He cites police intimidation as one reason for his falsehood.
• Jury deliberation lasted only three hours, despite the need to examine over fifty exhibits.

Charles has not known freedom since September 2009. Charles pleaded his innocence then, as he does today, and will continue to do until he is freed.

The campaign to free Charles will kick off on March 3, noon, at Spring of Hope Church, 35 Alden St., Springfield.  The concerned community is urged to attend.  On Thursday, March 8,  Judge Peter Velis will hear the motion to discharge after jury to set aside Charles' guilty verdict.

Last but not least, we've simply got to mobilize against the proposed Three Strikes legislation.  Not only is the bill unnecessary (we already have a Habitual Offender law), not only will it cost the state a fortune, we have to remember that innocent people are convicted every day.  Tell the Governor, NO!

Occupy Springfield - Monday, October 24th * 3 PM - 6 PM * Court Square

 *********************** Please Forward Widely! ******************************

The Occupy Wall Street  movement has spread to Springfield MA and it is building momentum.   This past Monday, October 17th, from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm - several dozen  people converged on Court Square in downtown Springfield.  With signs  such as "We are the 99%" "64 Million in Poverty," "Hey Bank of America: Suck my Debt," and "No More Displacement," among others - students, toddlers, nurses, mothers and fathers, teachers, and community activists joined together to proclaim: 

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH! NO MORE CORPORATE GREED!  WE ARE TAKING OUR COUNTRY and OUR DEMOCRACY BACK!

Please  join us this Monday to grow the Occupy Springfield movement!  Tell your  friends, your relatives, your co-workers, your classmates!  Bring your  bodies, your signs, your outrage and your love!  

Monday, October 24th * 3 PM - 6 PM * Court Square 

We will gather for both a rally and a general assembly.   General assemblies are the decision-making bodies of the Occupy Wall  Street movement.  Based on a model of non-hierarchy, consensus, and  mutual respect, the general assemblies have become a source of strength  and empowerment for our burgeoning movement.  To learn more about the  Occupy Wall Street movement in general, check out www.occupywallst.org.  To find out the latest about Occupy Springfield, check out our facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Springfield-MA/126281187474760?ref=ts 

With respect,,

Dan Keefe

Resource Developer, Out Now! 

617-460-5238 

P.S.  Just to be clear: I in no way speak on behalf of the Occupy Springfield  participants.  It just so happened that Holly (also of Out Now!) and I  decided to circulate a contact list this past Monday.  Hopefully at this  week's General Assembly, we can develop a real outreach committee  tasked with mobilizing for the next event.  In the meantime, however, a  disorganized handful of folks have been doing what must be done to get  the word out - using emails, fliers, personal outreach, facebook, etc. 

Ferrera's prostitution proposal defeated 12-1

Jesse Lederman just called me to let me know that Councilor Ferrera's proposal to send prostitutes and johns to jail for a mandatory one year sentence was defeated by the Springfield City Council-- twelve to one!

About thirty people came down to the council speak-out tonight to show opposition to Ferrera's proposal.  A half dozen of us had signed up to speak, including Arise members, Out Now members and the members of the Prison Birth Project.  Jimmy Ferrera spent most of his time during the speak-out chatting with Kateri Walsh, listening with only half an ear, if that, as his later remarks showed.

Jesse tells me that at one point during the presentation of his proposal, Ferrera said, "As you can tell from tonight's speak-out, there are some people in this city who actually support prostitution."   Councilors Keith Wright and Melvin Edwards challenged his interpretation, saying that they hadn't heard that from the speakers at all-- that we understood drugs are a problem in our community, that prostitution follows the drugs, not the other way around, that we all have a right to live in a safe  neighborhood..

In fact I hear that Melvin Edwards, councilor from Ward Three, just shot down every one of Jimmy's fallacious arguments in favor of incarceration. He echoed the speakers tonight who said that studies have shown mandatory minimums don't prevent the offenses for which they are designed.  He spoke at least three different times.  Thank you, Councilor Edwards.

  I do believe prostitution should be decriminalized, and I do believe that nine out of ten women, men and youth who are doing street level sex work-- survival sex, as they call it-- would be off the streets in a year if they had access to drug treatment on demand, a network of understanding supporters, and a decent job and housing they can afford.  Let's take the approximately $38,000 cost of incarcerating someone in the county jail system in Massachusetts and use it to help open doors.

Problem is, there's always money to lock more people up, even as jobs and drug treatment-- and so much more!-- are cut from the state budget.  That $38,000 would not come from the city's coffers, but from the pockets of Springfield's residents, whose taxes are the bulk of  the state's revenue.  And someone-- I think from the Prison Birth Project--  pointed out the immense cost of law enforcement, especially sting operations,  in Springfield, and the diversion of needed police resources from serious crimes.

I don't think Councilor Ferrera has given much time to understanding what street level sex work is all about..  I wonder how much money he is willing to propose be added to next year's city budget to attack the root cause of the issue.  How about designating a municipal building as a drug treatment on demand center?  Sure, when pigs fly.

As Arise's Ellen Graves said tonight, no one intends to be a prostitute when she or he grows up.How can we help people reclaim their faith in the future, instead of stomping on their lives?

Photo from luckyfish's photostream at Flickr.

Queer youth coordinator weighs in on "psychopathic army killers"

yes...thank you liz...and michaelann for your remarks. i, too, feel a sense of sadness and outrage at your remarks, david. i spend many hours each week with queer youth....queer youth from springfield (springfield, documented as a poor city according to the last census). queer youth who are trying to make it in springfield public schools (where in 2003 and 2004 only 33% of entering freshmen graduated...so, what of the 67% who didn't make it?). queer youth who are mainly from poor families, and who aren't seeing a whole lot of choices out there for their futures. queer youth of color, who are prime targets for the military recruiters, who are promising them everything 'and the kitchen sink' to sign up (and, are told by recruiters not to worry about "Don' Ask, Don't Tell" ...because recruiters are pulling out all stops).

i can tell you, that these young people are not psychopaths or murders. they are our brothers/sisters, neighbors, they are sensitive and reflective and insightful...they are our future....and, i'll tell you right now...i will fight like hell to tell them the truth about the military, send them to trainings on counter-recruitment, show them films, etc to help them not join...because i know for sure they will be damaged in ways we DO have some idea about. but, david, we are up against a huge and powerful institutional oppressive machine (and, that is where i will target my rage, my work). because, when/if these young people sign up, join, get sent to iraq, or wherever...i will not stop loving them and showing them respect for their incredible struggle. and, i will not call them names that will only do further damage to them, their families, and will ultimately damage all of us. i will walk with them through it all, understanding and holding the complexities at the same time.

holly richardson,

arise member

and co-director of Out Now (springfield's queer youth organization)

Springfield starts planning how to implement ward representation

Should city and school committee councilors from wards be paid the same as at-large councilors? How much more will it cost to print eight ballots, one for each ward, instead of just one for the whole city? How much more support staff will be needed in various city departments? And how will thirteen councilors fit into a space designed for nine?

Tonight the City Council's Civil Rights and Race Relations Committee started laying out these and other questions that have to be answered before the city's new, mixed ward and at-large system, can be put into place for the November, 2009 elections. It won't be easy but it won't be difficult, and in any case, the voters mandated it in the 2007 elections.

As City Attorney Ed Pakula said, "It's not many issues that win 75% of the vote."

A few community people were at the meeting to see what the city had in mind for moving ahead., including five of us from Arise and OutNow! It was an odd feeling to hear ward representation talked about as a reality, not something still to be won. Thirteen years of work! Winning ward representation in this city has certainly followed the "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, etc." path. I have a lot more gray hairs now than I did in 1995.

Relevant department heads talked logistics and budgets, and most agreed to get preliminary plans back to Committee Chair Jose Tosado in six to eight weeks.

The two most interesting questions concerned the School Committee and the potentially changing relationship between neighborhood councils and civic associations and the City Council.

Under the old at-large system, six School Committee members were elected for four years in staggered terms. The new system calls for two committee members at-large and four representing two wards each. The three School Committee members elected last fall, Antoinette Pepe, Chris Collins and Thomas Ashe expected to serve four years, but there doesn't seem to be any way to implement ward representation for the School Committee in 2009 except by bringing an end to the staggered system and electing all six members at the same time-- everyone starting off on the same foot. I know Antoinette, Thomas and Chris don't want it that way, but no one's been able to think of any way around it. I certainly hope they wouldn't try to hold up ward representation so they can serve their full terms.

Near the end of the meeting (as always!), we citizens had a chance to speak. Walter Gould of the Outer Belt Civic Association asked, What will the relationship of neighborhood councils and civic associations be to the city council once there are councilors representing each ward? The councils and associations are used to having the ear of the entire council; it's a system they've gotten used to and don't necessarily want to see changed, and, in many neighborhoods, it's a system that has provided those neighborhoods with a vehicle to be heard. Will councils and associations now have to go through their councilor to reach the city? What if they don't like their councilor?

There are no legal ways to answer Mr. Gould's questions; new relationships and alliances will have to be formed. Some fear they will lose power and influence with the city. But having been elected to the McKnight Neighborhood Council twice, I can tell you that not all councils have ever had the ear of the city. Well, as the people said in the last election, More Democracy, please!

I'm just remembering political consultant Tony Cignoli being interviewed on television the night before last November's historic ward representation election. It really doesn't have much chance of passing, he said. Ha! Remind me not to recommend him to any friend considering a run for public office.

Photo: Urban Compass