Monday's Brass Tacks

After the slower pace of this past weekend and the wanderings of my poetic side, I've decided to act like it's Monday and do some work here. First off, I'm including two articles, one on how Walker's sweeping move to defund so many of Wisconsin's support systems will affect Latino workers; the other two on upcoming events in Wisconsin for the next several weeks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hector-e-sanchez/warning-if-they-take-wisc_b_837757.html

http://www.wisaflcio.org/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=2c28b9a1-cd6a-4080-9fb5-e9fd81314a77

http://wisconsinwave.org/event-list for events upcoming

There are events taking place around the country as well. Wisconsin neighbor and senatorial hideout Illinois, is hosting numerous gatherings. Check local AFL-CIO websites or progressive friends for updates in your area. Today, teachers are gathering in Madison at the noon hour. I know this is becoming a cliche, but this is not a simple protest, it's a movement. And by the way, for people in Beloit, WI, the League of Women Voters is holding a candidates forum tomorrow, Tuesday the 22nd, at 6:30 pm at City Hall. This is where the people who decide issues that often become the issues that face voters statewide and then nationally are challenged on their viewpoints and plans. This is what is meant by grassroots, the seeds of our democracy are planted here in our own communities in these city hall meetings.

I want to write a little story here because it affected me in a large way. Last Friday at work I had a conversation with a co-worker about her grandson's school. He goes to a grade school in a district (outside Wisconsin) where a startling number of students do not eat before they come to school. (let me say that the reasons behind this are varied and complicated but range from single over-worked mothers to poverty and many variations)I am familiar with this little known, shocking reality. It was also the case in the grade school my son attended. His teachers were telling me that their students were unable to concentrate, complaining of hunger and often ill. The teachers were bringing cereal and milk to school to feed their students. Andy and I felt the need to respond so we approached friends at our church with a proposal: a breakfast program operating five days a week serving two or three rotating menus an hour before the last bell rang. The church we attended at the time was a few short blocks from the grade school. The doors were locked all day, open only on Sundays when the vast majority of parishioners drove in from the suburbs.

The group that formed to set up the Breakfast Club pushed hard on the congregation to fund, supply and operate the program. It was a tough fight to convince many conservative members in the congregation that this program would not only benefit the kids but help the church fulfill its mission to be a good neighbor. Ultimately the Breakfast Club became a stable influence in the neighborhood and, according to the teachers, a godsend for their students. On any given day, the church fellowship hall was packed with upwards of 30-40 grade school kids eating pancakes or eggs and chattering away. They made new friends and watched out for each other. Their grades improved. The most recalcitrant folks in the congregation became frequent volunteers and even came out from behind the counter to play board games and talk with the kids.

I told my co-worker about the effort to call this neighborhood church to an awareness of faith in practice. It was obvious from her story that the kids in her grandson's school needed something like the Breakfast Club. She told me there were many churches in the immediate neighborhood. When I suggested she gather a group together to visit the churches and approach the idea with them, her response was "I don't have the energy to do that." Further exploration discovered that there might be a possibility of the school finding funding for a program but that, too, seemed like a hurdle she was not willing to scale.

So often we can identify needs and are willing to complain over the lack of programs or organizations to address our concerns but we cannot go the next step and put effort in to doing something ourselves. The short walk to the church simply to ask takes only the effort required to make a phone call, set up a time to meet and lay out the issue before someone. What is the worst that could happen? You will be turned away. Then you dust off and head in another direction.

This is what we will be called on to do more and more in a time when the forces of conservatism seek to take away programs and strip organizations of funding to support our children, our elders, workers, and without fail, all of us. We are the ones who must pluck up our energy and courage and knock on those closed doors for help and support. It doesn't have to be the churches only but they are a good place to begin. Share with them what is happening in their own neighborhoods. Call them out to the streets to help. Assure them that the mission of their faith is pretty clear on who they must stand with in solidarity. A sign I saw the other day spoke this truth to the church: Christ would never steal from the developmentally disabled.

I know everyone is interested especially because it is Spring Equinox today. The lawn around the Capitol in Madison is in great shape! There is an area where the grass will need some assistance but the overall projected monetary outlay in lawn care put out there by the Walkerites will not end up being accurate. What a relief! (your response: I know, right?!) Reminds me of a wonderful jacket I saw in a coffee shop: This jacket cost $7.5 million to clean. So droll.

The vote is coming up on the 5th of April - JoAnne Kloppenburg for Justice. This woman is running against David Prosser. Please ask your friends, family and neighbors to get out and vote or take them there if they can't get there by themselves.

Happy Spring & Power To All The People!