NEWS

Rose Daitsman, a pioneering educator and human rights activist, passed away in late July in Milwaukee WI. Described as a “force of nature,” Ms. Daitsman’s indefatigable energy and strong sense of justice and equity led her to advocate for, and create, social change in an array of fields throughout her long and accomplished life.  Rose mentored the establishment of WILPF US’s Advancing Human Rights Subcommittee on Human Trafficking.  She was the rudder for the Milwaukee Branch.  As a wise and generous leader, Rose provided counsel, mentoring and discernment for several generations of WILPF US leaders.  We extend our condolences to her three children, extended family, and all the people whose lives were richer because Rose touched them.  Her passing is a great loss for WILPF. 

Arriving in Milwaukee in 1972 with a background in Engineering (BE, Cooper Union, 1949) and Education (MA, Xavier University, 1966), Ms. Daitsman earned a position at the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She quickly realized the dearth of minority students in the school and set out to change it. University administrators soon approved a pre-college program, the Gateway to Engineering, Science, and Technology, which recruited minority students from high schools in Milwaukee to learn about the field in weekend and summer programs. As a result of the program, the College experienced a 20% increase in minority admissions. She led the program until her retirement from the university in the 1990s.

A committed anti war activist, Ms. Daitsman protested against the possible use of nuclear weapons in the Korean Conflict. Later, during the Vietnam War, she was selected to serve on a citizens’ delegation to the Paris Peace Talks in an effort to jump start the stalled negotiations between the United States and North Vietnam. Throughout her life, she continued to work with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom on the many causes that organization has championed.

Ms. Daitsman was a founding member of the Society of Women Engineers, an international organization that today celebrates its seventieth year and has over 40,000 members, and she worked through the 1950s in private industry. She took an early interest in pollution control and proposed air quality regulations as early as 1960. She was an active member of the American Society for Engineering Education and would travel to annual conferences sharing her knowledge and expertise with colleagues from around the country.

Over the course of her long life, she has received many awards and honors, including the Frank P. Zeidler Public Service Award by the City of Milwaukee in 2016 and West End Mother of the Year in 1966 for her community work with children in the inner city of Cincinnati.

Among her many activities in Milwaukee, in 2006 Ms. Daitsman founded the Greater Milwaukee Human Rights Campaign, a coalition of 10 organizations which produced a report on the severe racial discrimination in Milwaukee that was subsequently submitted to the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This work contributed to the resurrection of Milwaukee’ Equal Rights Commission in 2009.

Ms. Daitsman is survived by her daughter Judith, sons William and Andrew, and grandchildren Linda, Jeffrey, and Samuel. A memorial service will be held in Milwaukee in October. Donations in her memory can be addressed to Doctors Without Borders, the Daitsman Scholarship Fund of the Wisconsin Labor History Society, or Circle Pines Center in Delton, MI.

Balcony banners at the Poor People’s Moral Action Congress in Washington, DC, held June 17-19, 2019. Photo: Rowan Fairgrove.

By Rowan Fairgrove
WILPF San Jose

Poverty in the United States is no small issue. 140 million people—more than 43 percent of the population—are poor or low-income, meaning one emergency away from poverty. That figure includes 9 million children, 74 million women, 26 million black people, 38 million Latinx people, 8 million Asian people, 2.14 million Native and Indigenous peoples, and 66 million white people. (See Explaining the 140 Million: Breaking Down the Numbers Behind the Moral Budget).

Building on the work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in the 60s, the Poor People's Campaign (PPC) is stepping up to lift up the poor that our system isn’t serving. The PPC is building a moral fusion movement to bring forward the concerns of those most impacted by systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and the distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism. The PPC calls upon our society to see the predicaments of the most vulnerable among us and to halt the destruction of America’s moral vision.

The Poor People’s Moral Action Congress was held at Trinity Washington University in Washington, DC, on June 17-19, 2019. Nearly 1,000 activists – faith leaders, veterans, single parents, homeless advocates, indigenous activists, immigrant rights advocates, and pretty much everyone who cares about the state of the world – came together to question and listen to presidential candidates, attend workshops, and launch a Moral Budget before the Congressional Budget Committee.

On the first day there was a Presidential Candidates Forum, moderated by Joy Reid of MSNBC. PPC founders William Barber and Liz Theoharis questioned each of the candidates with set questions, along with an additional prepared question by a member of the audience. The set questions were about voting rights and what the candidate would do to restore them, whether they would call for a national televised debate on issues of poverty and cuts to military spending. Rev. Barber was also concerned that Democrats organize in the South and not just concede it to the Republicans. He says if you can control the thirteen southern states you can control Congress since they control 26 seats in the Senate, 31 percent of the House, and 170 electoral votes, and represent about one-third of all poor people. We just need to get rid of the “stacking, packing, and bleaching of districts by gerrymandering.”

Photo: Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks during Presidential Candidates Forum. Photo: Rowan Fairgrove.

All the candidates on both sides were invited, but only nine Democrats came: Former
Vice President Joe Biden, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bennet, Representative Eric Swalwell, Mayor Wayne Messam, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator Kamala Harris. It was livestreamed by MSNBC and had many watchers around the world in addition to those of us at the Congress.

Greg Kaufman writing in The Nation summed it up, “As for policy, there was quite a bit that the candidates agreed on: a restoration and expansion of the Voting Rights Act; universal pre-K and affordable childcare; a $15 minimum wage; health care as a right; repealing the Trump tax cut for the wealthy; bringing the troops home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and reallocating those billions of dollars domestically; making college affordable or free. There was also a shared sense that scarcity of resources is a myth—the United States has plenty of money to do big things. Candidates also seemed to agree broadly that Democrats must respond to the right’s attempts to use race to pit poor people against one another by investing time and energy in building a multiracial coalition.” (Read Kaufman’s full Nation article Finally, Presidential Candidates are Talking About Poverty).

The second day began with a plenary titled “Organizing: Why We Need Moral Fusion Movement in this Moment” and there was a plenary later in the day called “The Attack on Voting Rights, Building Power Among the Poor: Electoral Strategy in Movement Strategy.”

You could choose among five tracks (all-day, in-depth topics) and 12 workshops (morning and afternoon shorter dives). I was fascinated by the all-day option “Theomusicology & Movement Cultural Arts,” but instead I attended two workshops, a morning one on Multi-Faith and Religious Organizing (“Spirit of Struggle: Organizing a Moral Movement”) and an afternoon one on Militarism and the War Economy. I have requested the excellent slides from Brittany from About Face Veterans and hope to be able to share her statistics with WILPF.

Launching a “Moral Budget”

On the third day a group of delegates that included Rev. Barber, Rev. Theoharis, and a variety of people directly affected by current policies were sent off with prayer to testify before the Congressional Budget Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. They presented the PPC Moral Budget document.

The hearing was live-streamed at Trinity Washington University so we all could watch (and cheer or heckle which we wouldn’t have been able to do in the hearing room). The video of the hearing can be viewed here (hearing starts 8:40 minutes in). The Budget document can be found here.

I am so grateful that I was able to attend. Folks came from at least 40 state organizing committees, and everyone I talked to had an amazing story to tell. The level of discourse with any random person I talked with was really high and I learned so much from fellow attendees, as well as from the workshops and plenaries. I absolutely want to go next year to the June 20, 2020 Moral March on Washington.

For more information, contact me at rowanf@gmail.com.

Photo Credit: Robin Loznak / Our Children's Trust. Used with permission

By Nancy Price
Earth Democracy

The catastrophic and unprecedented heat wave in Europe in late June is leading climate scientists to stress that we are, as they say, at the beginning of a “new normal”—by which they mean a phase of extreme weather events and different climate conditions and challenges. But as some of these scientists also stress, we don’t really know what the characteristics of this “new normal” will be, how people and the planet will or can adapt, and what will mark the end of this phase or what the following phase will bring

This is why Earth Democracy and WILPF US have agreed to join the Amicus Brief for Our Children’s Trust’s landmark youth climate justice lawsuit. Juliana v United States aims to secure the legal right to a safe climate and a healthy atmosphere for present and future generations, and their constitutional right to life, liberty, and property.

For some years, I have followed Our Children's Trust. Just recently, Randa Solick, Earth Democracy’s co-leader, suggested we learn about signing on to the Amicus Brief in support of their landmark Juliana v United States lawsuit. So, in early May, I called Julia Olson, Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel of Our Children’s Trust, and Corinne Fletcher, assisting with outreach, immediately returned my call.

Corinne was thrilled to know that Earth Democracy and WILPF US might consider signing on to this Amicus Brief if, and when, it goes before the Supreme Court. While one brief will certainly focus on the environment and climate that we could sign on to, Corinne mentioned they may write another brief on the impact of climate on women and seek signatures from national and international women’s groups.

There is, however, one hurdle to jump before this case can go to the Supreme Court. On June 4, in Portland, Oregon, the Ninth Circuit Court heard arguments from both sides and will rule on two issues: Is the case constitutional, and, if so, should the case be heard by the Supreme Court? We should know some time in the late fall how the Court rules and then there are 90 days to prepare and submit briefs with signatures. Additionally, there is the question of whether the plaintiff’s injunction will be upheld that all new fossil fuel expansion operations in the US will stop until the end of the Supreme Court decision.

In an earlier trial, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken said: "Exercising my ‘reasoned judgment,’ I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.”

Here’s more:

Meet the 21 youth plaintiffs who are determined to assert their rights;

Watch these short films about the case;

Read an outline of the history of the Juliana v. United States Youth Climate Lawsuit; and

Learn about the growing YouCAN youth-led campaign that advocates for legally-binding, science-based climate recovery community ordinances, and join or start a YouCAN Chapter in your own community. In these chapters, youth advocate for local climate recovery ordinances for lasting legal protection for the atmosphere, oceans, and the Earth’s natural resources in the form of binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and climate recovery planning in line with the best available science. Youth participate directly in local government decision-making and petition City Councils for adoption of locally-tailored climate recovery laws, testify in public meetings of the City Council, and advocate at work sessions with local government leaders.

YouCAN youth first successfully worked with the Eugene City Council in 2014 to pass the first ever climate recovery ordinance in the U.S. that incorporates a scientific prescription for viable climate recovery. Youth participate directly in local government decision-making and petition City Councils for adoption of locally-tailored climate recovery laws, testify in public meetings of the City Council, and advocate at work sessions with local government leaders.

Every community is unique; no two YouCAN campaigns will be the same. But all YouCAN chapters have the same goal: to protect the fundamental rights of youth and future generations to a stable climate and healthy atmosphere.

Additionally…

Sign up for updates to hear about upcoming actions and opportunities to get involved.

Let your young children, grandchildren and friends know about Earth Guardians, an organization of young leaders who are fighting for our future worldwide, and tell them how they can work locally in a YouCAN chapter.

Follow Our Children’s Trust on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share their posts with your followers. Let’s bring much more attention to this important landmark case through social media!

From left: Sylvia Metzler, Tina Shelton, Genie Silver, Michael Silver, and Dan Silver. Photo by Ana Santoyo, used with permission.

By Tina Shelton
Co-Chair, Greater Philadelphia Branch

The Greater Philadelphia Branch presented Genie Silver, a WILPF member since 1973, with its 2019 Peace and Justice Dove Award at a reception on June 9, 2019.

Genie is a member of WILPF’s National Middle East Committee and has also served on WILPF’s Board and as a Vice President of the US Section. An activist for 55 years, Genie chaired WILPF’s Eurostrategic Committee in the 1980s to stop US cruise and Pershing-2 missiles from being deployed across Europe. Genie and her WILPF colleagues in the US and Europe organized a demonstration of 10,000 women held in Brussels on March 8, 1983. Genie addressed the demonstration and was part of a WILPF delegation that met in Brussels with the US ambassador to NATO to discuss the dangers of deploying new nuclear medium range missiles in Europe. She also testified before Congress speaking against these missiles.

Genie was on the STAR Committee (Stop The Arms Race) that met its goal of gathering a million signatures, delivered to the UN Secretary-General on March 8, 1984. She gave papers on nuclear disarmament at local, national and international WILPF conferences as well as speaking to other organizations on behalf of WILPF. She was a member of a delegation of six WILPF women who traveled to the Soviet Union to meet with the Soviet Women’s Committee. Genie, with four WILPF colleagues, committed civil disobedience at the White House in May, 1983, to bring attention to the extreme dangers of new US nuclear weapons being deployed in Europe.

Photo. From left, Dan Silver, Genie Silver, and Libby Frank. Libby, a member of the Greater Philadelphia Branch, founded WILPF’s Middle East Committee and served as the US Section’s Executive Director in the 1980s. In 1983, Genie, Libby, and four WILPF colleagues traveled to the USSR to meet with members of the Soviet Women’s Committee to discuss and take action on detente and nuclear disarmament. Photo by Michael Silver.

In the last 20 years, Genie has turned her attention to the plight of the Palestinian people. For the Middle East Committee, Genie has written many articles about the need to protect Palestinian children from being detained and tortured at the hands of Israel’s security and defense forces, in violation of International Humanitarian Laws. She also wrote about Israel’s codification of apartheid laws in July 2018. She’s written letters calling for the protection of Palestinian prisoners of conscience.

Genie’s work goes beyond WILPF—she’s a member of Jewish Voice for Peace and was an elected commissioner of her local township, Lower Merion, where she also co-chaired the township’s Open Space Preservation Commission. Genie wrote her PhD dissertation on Jane Addams’ political and peace work. As a professor of women’s and peace and conflict studies, Genie taught classes at Bryn Mawr College and in the Honors Program at Villanova University.

Marta Guttenburg, from the Philadelphia Jewish Voice for Peace, spoke at the reception, noting how the work of WILPF and JVP share common goals.

Libby Frank, longtime WILPFer and also a recipient of the Peace & Justice Dove Award, attended the event. Genie was joined at the reception by her husband, Mike, and son, Dan.