The Eco-Justice Collaborative of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting issues this monthly bulletin in the hope that it will provide Friends with time-sensitive information and resources to help in their ongoing work for social and environmental justice. Please share as you think appropriate. If you have events or resources to share, please send them to Ruth Darlington at rdarlington49@gmail.com.
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“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” ~Martin Luther King~
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REQUEST FOR ACTION
Public Banking Advocates: Let’s Tell City Council: We Want a Public Bank!
After years of hard work, the Philadelphia Public Banking Coalition is proud to announce that on Jan 28th Councilman Derek Green will introduce legislation to create a Philadelphia Public Bank!
We need your help to push this bill over the finish line. Our first job is to get all the other Council Members to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill. So, we are going to use a Social Media Storm to get the attention of the other members of City Council, and to tell them why they should lend their names to this great legislation. We need their signatures by Jan 26th, so we have about a week to get them on board.
Please plan to spend an hour or two sometime between 1/20 and 1/26 to be part of our Social Media Storm. To get the toolkit with all the information you need, go to the website or contact Pamela Haines at pamelahaines1@gmail.com.
If the City owned its own bank to hold and invest its own money, it would be a game changer: the City and School District could borrow infrastructure funds at low rates, underserved black and brown communities could get out from under the plague of redlining, every aspect of the Green New Deal could get financing, and many other public interests could get a major boost.
UPCOMING WEBINAR
Why the Crises We Face Make Financial Reform Essential, February 23, 2021 at 7:00 PM
How can we possibly pay for all the social and physical infrastructure that will be needed to deal with the multitude of social and ecological crises we face, and to create an equitable, inclusive, and create an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable economy and society?
Three reform bills were introduced in the out-going Congress that would go a long way toward financing the kind of transformation that’s needed. We think it’s really important for Friends to know about them to anticipate a time when these kinds of reforms can be achieved with our support.
Our guests will be Ellen Brown, founder and current chair of the Public Banking Institute, and Walt McRee, her long-time colleague and the Institute’s Chair Emeritus. They will explain and answer questions about how these bills would help finance public investments that are needed and describe another essential reform for creating an economy in which we can survive and thrive on Planet Earth.
Register to receive a Zoom link prior to the webinar.
RESOURCES
Op-Ed: “We Must Cut Carbon Emissions from Fossil Fuels to Zero by 2050.” In his recent piece in the Pennsylvania Environment Digest, Richard Whiteford wrote, “Given the visible evidence of a warming planet from record-breaking wildfire seasons, hurricane seasons, droughts, heatwaves, and given that climate-related events have cost the US over $500 billion one would think we would be in a hurry to save our life support system. The fact that the fossil industry plans to increase fossil fuel production despite this evidence is like refusing to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Read the full article.
Finding Your Role in this Moment of Social Change. In the description of her online course, Eileen Flanagan writes, “Change can seem slow – until one day everything is in motion. How do we keep up the momentum and have a lasting impact? This course will teach you how. By understanding the strategic thinking that drives successful change movements, you will be able to find the place where your energy and skills are most needed – and build your own power in the process… Whether you’re inspired by the Black Live Matters Movement, the urgent need for climate action, or another fight against injustice, learn how to plug into the rising tide for change.” Learn more and enroll in the online course.
Green Investing Webinar. On Nov 16th, the Eco Justice Collaborative hosted a webinar on Green Investing. Panelists, including Jeff Perkins from Friends Fiduciary Corporation, Peter Krasja from the National Investment Fund, and Ethan Birchard from Prentiss Smith and Company, addressed opportunities for both organizations and individuals to align their financial investments more closely to their concerns for climate and social justice. Watch the recording.
QEW Mini Grants. Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a network of Quakers seeking to live in right relationship with Earth and in unity with nature. The QEW MiniGrants Committee provides small matching grants to help fund Friends’ projects that put this principle into practice. We are looking for projects to support, especially those that help with providing food, or involve youth, or help with challenging racial/ethnic barriers.
We are set up so that we can only fund through Quaker Meetings, Churches, Camps, Schools etc. If your Quaker organization is doing a project that meets our criteria, we invite you to apply. If you are an individual Quaker, involved with a project that meets our criteria, perhaps your Meeting could adopt the project. This would enable us to fund you. Our maximum matching grant is $500.
More details are on the application form. Go to www.quakerearthcare.org and click on Apply for a MiniGrant. To see the application itself, scroll to the bottom of the page and click again as indicated.
Subscribe to PYM Peace and Social Justice News. Early in 2021, our newsletter will be distributed from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting through the Peace and Social Justice Network. If you haven’t already subscribed, please go to the PYM Email Sign-up Page, enter your email, name, and monthly meeting or organization. Then select the Peace and Social Justice Network.
To subscribe to the Eco-Justice Newsletter, contact Patricia Finley at finleyp2932@gmail.com or Ruth Darlington at rdarlington49@gmail.com.
