Poets and Immigrants Share Stories and Call for Action

Urging people to take a stand on immigration reform, JCUA hosted an evening with poet Kevin Coval, titled “Immigration and Its Discontents: Stories and Schtick,” Thursday, June 13, 2013.

Kevin Coval

Throughout the evening, Jews and non-Jews alike shared their immigration stories, describing both their family’s arrival to the United States and the life that followed.

The event was headlined by author, spoken word artist and slam poet Kevin Coval, founder of “Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival” and Artistic Director at the non-profit organization “Young Chicago Authors.”

Kevin read excerpts from his newest book Schtick, which explores Jewish assimilation in America and the consequences of Jews shedding their minority status. By reflecting on the Jewish American story, one grounded in immigration and diaspora, JCUA hoped to remind others of the Jewish responsibility to take action for immigrant justice.

Contesting the assertion that homogeneity will lead to peace, Kevin described his point-of-view by quoting and explaining the lyric “going to war with the melting pot” from Wu-Tang Clan’s “Protect Ya Neck.”

“I believe we should maintain specificity,” Kevin said “I contest this idea that we have to become very boring and wonder bread. It’s better when there’s flavor, or any maintenance of culture. Like I said, I love Jewish noses! Or that joke, ‘there are two Jews, and three opinions.’ I love that we debate everything. What constitutes as a deli is a hot-button issue in my family.”

Kalman Resnick

Other participants included Kalman, an immigration lawyer, who told the story of his great-grandparents, grandparents and mother’s long and winding journey to America; Stephanie, an undocumented citizen from the Philippines and Jorge, an undocumented citizen from Mexico.

Stephanie

“I have always believed in global human rights, I have always volunteered, and yet still people think that something is wrong with me,” Stephanie said, elaborating on her experiences being undocumented.

Jorge

Stephanie’s message rang clear, illustrating the struggle of the millions of undocumented citizens throughout the nation. “These are mothers, and these are fathers, looking for work, without criminal records, yet our government spends money detaining then. We should have the rights other people have, especially when we are giving back to this country so much.”

JCUA Honors Social Justice Champion Sylvia Neil

by Jessica Cohen
JCUA Intern, Communications

Nearly 350 people gathered on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, for JCUA’s annual Acts of Change event, where Sylvia Neil was presented with the Rabbi Robert J. Marx Social Justice Award for her commitment to social justice and human rights.

JCUA honoree Sylvia Neil with Dr. Steven Nasatir, President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

Martha C. Nussbaum, scholar of law, philosophy, gender and social justice, gave the keynote speech, which discussed the need for compassionate concern when working for social change, while not losing sight of the challenges posed by oppressive social institutions.

Rabbi Capers Funnye, event chair and vice president of the JCUA board, remembered Sylvia Neil’s steadfast support of his predominantly African-American synagogue years ago. “It was difficult to find leaders of the Jewish community who would support me and my congregation. Sylvia Neil stepped forward in support, delivering a powerful message of inclusion,” said Rabbi Funnye in his remarks.

Rabbi Capers Funnye speaking about Sylvia Neil

“At the time, it was a gutsy move on her part, a bold step,” he continued. “She spoke out. She took action. That’s the same way JCUA has operated from day one. Recognizing the need to say something, to take bold action, to fight unceasingly for justice.”

The message of speaking out against injustice resounded throughout the evening.

During the cocktail reception, JCUA staff set up a “Voices for Change” stage, where attendees raised their voices in support of four different causes JCUA has been focusing on: immigrant justice, housing, combating hate and bigotry and teen leadership.

Postcards placed on dinner tables also encouraged attendees to call Sen. Mark Kirk, asking him to vote for SB744, the comprehensive immigration reform bill.

While many may feel overwhelmed by the immensity of social justice issues, Sylvia’s children, David and Deanna Neil, illustrated the change that one person can make in his or her lifetime, and what it was like to grow up with a social justice champion.

Speaking to Sylvia’s work fighting for religious liberties, such as her opposition to prayer in public schools, David emphasized the way his mother has influenced many of our lives today. “Thanks to Mom, we are now freer to practice the religion of our choosing. But tonight is about you, not us.”

After these moving remarks, Sylvia was presented with the award.

Interfaith Prayer Day for Immigration Reform with the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition

Showing their support for the passage of a Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, participants from across the Chicago area gathered on Tuesday, May 28 2013 for a prayer session, press conference and meetings with staff members from Senator Durbin and Senator Kirk’s offices. Participants included religious leaders, members of various faith-based organizations and families fighting deportation.

Called to prayer, the “ask” from participants was for a “holy boldness” to address the inherent indignities of our current immigration system.  This need was personified in the testimony of Lourdes, a mother of four, who is facing deportation this week.  While three of her children have qualified to stay here in the United States, they would have to choose to do so without their mother or choose to return with her, leaving behind the only life they have known.  Lourdes broke into tears as she tried to tell her story.

If deportations continue at the current rate, there is the potential for 2 million people to have been deported during the Obama administration alone – Lourdes is just one of too many .

Following the prayer session and press conference, participants walked to the Federal building. While seven speakers met with Senator Durbin’s staff, the remaining group waited outside the building, as instructed by security.  The delegation asked that Durbin make a call to President Obama to put a stop to deportations as we get nearer to the possibility of immigration reform.

After the delegation with Senator Durbin, participants reconvened in the lobby, where they waited for a representative from Senator Kirk’s office.  Participants observed the symbolism between the extended amount of time that they waited to speak to a representative and the overall pace of the legal immigration system.  Also noteworthy was the number of steps (and, often obstacles) that the group had to move through in order to eventually speak with an elected official’s staff.

The group asked that Kirk take a stance in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, demonstrating the broad-based support for such reform in faith-based communities.  Rabbi Ali Abrams of JCUA delivered a letter with the signatures of nearly 20 Illinois rabbis urging Senator Kirk to support immigration reform.

The next couple of weeks are a crucial time for the Senate bill on immigration reform and JCUA will continue to push our Senators for the most compassionate, just, and comprehensive bill possible.

For more information on getting involved, please contact Rabbi Ali Abrams at alison@jcua.org.

Meet Saleha Jabeen: A Muslim Student at a Catholic Seminary, Building Relationships Between Jews and Muslims in Chicago

Meet Saleha Jabeen – an Indian-born Muslim student at the Catholic Theological Union, who is part of the leadership team organizing the annual “Iftar in the Synagogue” event, as part of JCUA’s Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative.

by Jessica Cohen
JCUA Intern, Communications

Saleha Jabeen

In an event encouraging the Jewish and Muslim communities to come together, JCUA is partnering with other Jewish and Muslim organizations to hold its ninth annual “Iftar in the Synagogue.”

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and break their fast each evening with an “Iftar” meal. In celebration of this, Iftar in the Synagogue includes prayers, speakers and a kosher/halal dinner. One of the major events of the JCUA summer, it will take place Thursday, July 25 at Anshe Emet Synagogue.

27-year-old Saleha Jabeen, a student pursuing an MA at the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, is volunteering as a leader on the event planning committee (find out how you can volunteer as well).

“I always try to volunteer with different organizations, so I was excited to hear about JCUA. I love finding organizations that hold onto the core beliefs of a religion, rather than the traditional religious aspects,” Saleha said.

[Action Alert] Jewish Community Immigration Reform Call-In Day

Join us in a Jewish Community Immigration Reform Call-In Day on Tuesday, May 21st. Please call Senators Kirk and Durbin letting them know you support a just, humane bill.

For the past few weeks, senators have been hearing and voting on amendments to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act S. 744- the Senate proposal for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Senators reconvened today and they are expected to begin considering amendments related to refugees, asylees, and other vulnerable populations. We are also hearing that they might consider amendments related to family and the pathway to citizenship today or tomorrow.

Currently, 11 million people live in fear of separation and arrest because our immigration system is broken and there is no way for them to earn citizenship.  At JCUA, we want to make sure this bill creates a clear path to citizenship without obstacles.  We want our legislators to prioritize keeping families together, and want the bill to include protections for the families of LGBT persons.

American Jews are a community deeply connected to the immigrant story. That history guides us and we will not shut the door on those who came after us. Providing a roadmap to citizenship fundamentally reflects our Jewish values and communal experience in America.

It is critical that our senators hear from us now! Join us in a Jewish Community Immigration Reform Call-In Day tomorrow May 21st. Please call Senators Kirk and Durbin letting them know you support a just, humane bill.

[Urgent Action Alert] Stop Housing Discrimination in Cook County

Call your Cook County Commissioners Today! The County Board is taking an important vote tomorrow morning. Details:

In suburban Cook County, a person can be discriminated against by a property owner or landlord if they happen to pay their rent with a Housing Choice Voucher (formerly known as Section 8).  This is codified discrimination happening in our very backyards.

As a partner in the Source of Income Campaign, JCUA supports an amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance of Cook County which would make such discrimination illegal.  The Source of Income protection amendment to include Housing Choice Vouchers as a protected class under the county’s fair housing ordinance is included in the Human Relations Committee Report from July 24, 2012.  This protection already exists in Chicago and we want to mirror that protection for the suburbs.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners are voting on the report TOMORROW, Wednesday, May 8th at 11:00 AM.  We need your help to stop housing discrimination!  Please call your Commissioner (find your commissioner here, contact info below) and tell them:

In the vote tomorrow, please vote YES in support of The Human Relations Committee Report from July 24, 2012

JCUA will be at the vote and we invite you to join us:

Wednesday, May 8th at 11:00am in the County Board Chambers (118 N. Clark Chicago, IL; 5th Floor).

Please get there early to secure a seat or standing space.

Commissioners Contact Information:

1ST Earlean Collins 312-603-4566

2ND Robert Steele 312-603-0319

3RD Jerry Butler 312-603-6391

4TH Stanley Moore (Formerly Williams Beavers district) 312-603-2065

5th Deborah Sims 312-603-6381(if you can make only one call please call Commissioner Sims Office)

6th Joan Murphy 312-603-4216

7th Jesus Garia 312-603-5443

8th Edwin Reyes 312-603-6386

9th Peter Silvestri 312-603-4393

10th Bridget Gainer 312-603-4210

11th John Daley 312-603-4400

12th John Fritchey 312-603-6380

13th Larry Suffredin 312-603-6383

14th Gregg Goslin 312-603-4932

15th Tim Schneider 312-603-6388

16th Jeff Tobolski 312-603-6384

17th Elizabeth Gorman 312-603-4215

[Video] JCUA Marches for Immigration Reform: May Day 2013

by Lauren Goldstein
JCUA Intern, Advocacy and Community Organizing

On Wednesday, May 1, JCUA joined thousands of families, individuals, activists, advocates, and organizations to march for just and compassionate immigration reform.

In photo: Rabbi Alison Abrams, JCUA’s director of organizing, at the march.

It was a beautiful spring day (finally!) – perfect for coming together for social change. We arrived at Union Park at 2:30 to the sound of drums beating, people chanting, and flags waving. We then joined the march, which was just getting underway. We marched alongside allies from the Erie Neighborhood House, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (of which JCUA is a member), Unite Here, Rabbi Joshua Salter from the South West Organizing Project, Community Renewal Society, and many, many more.

The energy was high and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as the march converged with another march for immigration reform that started at a different location, so that we could all march together as one large group into the Loop to Federal Plaza.

As we weaved through the afternoon rush amidst businessmen and women, bicycles, taxis, and buses, the group continued to sing and shout chants such as “What do we want? Immigration Reform! When do we want it? NOW!” and we soon closed in on Federal Plaza. The rally continued at the plaza with the goal of sparking excitement and change for the future.

The need for comprehensive immigration reform, the necessity that we stop deportations, that we stop tearing families apart, is growing ever more important with each passing day. The time has long been here to change our current system so that we may be a more humane, compassionate people. On May Day, JCUA marched united with the many people in our city who work tirelessly for change, and we are honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of this vital change.

See footage from JCUA’s march on May Day:

For more on JCUA’s work for immigrant rights, visit:

http://www.jcua.org/immigration

Meet JCUA’s 2013 Summer Interns

JCUA hosts interns year-round. The best and brightest who are looking to change the world come to us from schools across the country, and get trained in promoting social change through a Jewish lens (find out more about Fall 2013 internship opportunities). As summer nears, meet our 2013 summer internship cohort…

Leiah Moser

Internship Focus: Rabbinical Fellow, Or Tzedek
School/Program: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Leiah just finished her second year at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. As a rabbi in training, she has a deep interest in finding new ways to build spiritually engaged, inclusive communities of prayer. In addition to blogging about issues of identity and gender diversity within Judaism, she is active in service leading at a number of local congregations, particularly at Dorshei Derech, the Reconstructionist minyan at Germantown Jewish Centre, and has been involved this year in Mitzvah Mensches, a service program for adults with special needs at Mishkan Shalom. She’s looking forward to spending the summer in her former hometown of Chicago, and can’t wait to get to know and work with this year’s Or Tzedek participants!

Beth Filipiak

Internship Focus: Community Development, Organizing and Advocacy
School/Program: Loyola University Chicago, MSW and MA in Social Justice

Having received her BA in Sociology, Beth spent the next several years in direct services and as an Assistant Director for a Low-Income Senior Housing Management Company.  During this time, she also volunteered twice with a holistic development organization in the Philippines, living, working and learning with this organization for almost a year a half total.  Currently, she is in her final year of a dual master degree program at Loyola University Chicago where she is working toward her MSW and MA in Social Justice and Community Development, with a potential for a certification in Non-profit management and philanthropy. Beth will be with JCUA through December, 2013.

Rachel Aaronson

Internship Focus: Or Tzedek
School/Program: Grinnell College (incoming)

Rachel is currently finishing up her gap year of service with the Americorps program City Year, an education based non profit dedicated to solving our nation’s high school drop out crisis. She’s spent the year working full time as a tutor and mentor in a 6th grade language arts classroom in Orlando, making sure all of her students are given the tools necessary to succeed both in and out of the classroom. She graduated from Chicagoland Jewish High School in 2012, and will be attending Grinnell College in the fall. As an Or Tzedek alumna and an avid advocate for social change, Rachel cannot wait to return to JCUA for this summer!

Jessica Cohen

Internship Focus: Communications
School/Program: Johns Hopkins University, English/Sociology

Having grown up in Chicago, Jessica is now a student at Johns Hopkins University (Class of 2016). In high school she volunteered with kindergarten and nursery school children, primarily as an assistant teacher at K.A.M. Isaiah Israel’s Sunday School program. Jessica has a strong interest in communications, and has pursued journalism and graphic design as an editor for her high school yearbook. She is currently a staff writer for her college newspaper, the Johns Hopkins News-Letter, and is a Layout Editor for the undergraduate public health research journal, Epidemic Proportions. Jessica also volunteers once a week at a soup kitchen in Baltimore that supports battered women, and is a member of the Johns Hopkins’ Sexual Assault Resource Unit.

Eliana Fisher

Internship Focus: Or Tzedek
School/Program: Barnard College

Eliana is a student in the double degree program with Barnard College and Columbia University and List College at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Eliana was a participant in Or Tzedek’s 2011 summer program, and a JCUA volunteer in summer of 2012. She feels that these experiences with JCUA and Or Tzedek were truly life-changing and she is really looking forward to working with Or Tzedek and JCUA again this summer.

Margaret Port

Internship Focus: Jewish-Muslim Initiative
School/Program: Vassar College

An Evanston Township High School graduate, Margaret just completed her freshman year at Vassar College.  She plans on pursuing a double major in psychology and political science.  Her other interests include playing violin, swimming, and volunteering at the Pediatric Development Center in Chicago.

Ione Barrows

Internship Focus: Community Organizing and Advocacy
School/Program: University of Chicago

A Massachusetts native, Ione is an undergraduate at the University of Chicago majoring in History and Gender Studies. She has previously worked as an English tutor at a public school in Woodlawn and is currently an intern at jU Chicago, a campus organization dedicated to redesigning Jewish traditions and engaging Jewish students on campus through innovative programming. She lives in Hyde Park.

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Find out more about internship opportunities at JCUA by visiting:
www.jcua.org/internships

Questions about internships at JCUA? Contact:
Asaf Bar-Tura
Director of Programs
asaf@jcua.org

[Action Alert – 5/3] Interfaith Vigil for Detained Immigrant Rights / Postville Remembrance Day

On May 3, 2013, the JCUA will participate in an interfaith vigil at the Broadview Detention Center. We will offer our support and prayers to those held at Broadview and subsequently deported. JCUA members will represent a larger Jewish voice demanding comprehensive immigration reform in the United States. The vigil will also serve to remember the tragic events in Postville, IA 5 years ago, as we seek to turn tragedy into a victory for justice.

We ask that you join us in standing with those held at Broadview and their families by participating in the vigil with us.

Click here to RSVP.

When:

7:15 AM – Vigil begins at Broadview Detention Center.

Where:

Broadview Detention Center
1930 Beach Street, Broadview, IL

Transportation:

• Once we know who wants to come, we will plan for transportation for those not driving.
• When you RSVP , please indicate if you need transportation.

Contact person:

Rabbi Ali Abrams
JCUA Director of Organizing
Alison@jcua.org

[Action Alert – 5/1] Act for Immigration Reform

On May 1, 2013, JCUA supporters will participate in the 2013 May Day March for immigration reform and immigrant rights. This movement calls for legislation to stop deportations and keep families together. It calls for legalization for all. The JCUA strongly believes that IMMIGRANT RIGHTS are HUMAN RIGHTS and we hope you will join us in marching for immigration reform.

RSVP here.

Date:

• Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Schedule:

• 2:00 PM – Gathering at Union Park
• 3:00 PM – March Begins
• 4:00 PM – Rally at Federal Plaza (Jackson St. and Dearborn St.)

JCUA Meeting Area:

Option 1: Meet us at 2:30 PM (Union Park)

• You can arrive at Union Park via Ashland-Lake CTA train (Green and Pink lines)
• JCUA members will be at the northeast corner of Ashland and Washington (see photo of meeting area). Look for the JCUA sign!

Option 2: Meet us at 4:00 PM (approximately) at the rally (Federal Plaza):

• When the march arrives at Federal Plaza, JCUA members will gather between the Calder sculpture and the federal building. (see photo of the meeting area). Look for the JCUA sign!

RSVP:

• Let us know if you plan on coming. It will make coordinating much easier!
• RSVP here.

With any questions, please contact:

Rabbi Ali Abrams
JCUA Director of Organizing
Alison@jcua.org