In gratitude for the seven-year run of the Justice Not Jails newsletter
Today we would like to express our deepest thanks and gratitude to Dick Price and Sharon Kyle, who have passionately published and edited this JNJ weekly newsletter for the past seven years, as they are now moving out of that role.
As a dynamic social justice duo, they have been key partners with us in Justice Not Jails since its establishment over seven years ago. Sharon developed and maintained the website, and Dick diligently put together the newsletter every week, curating important news on race and incarceration.
Sharon remembers that she was moved to get involved because she saw the hijacking of Christianity by the Christian Right. She came searching for a progressive Christian voice that would represent what Jesus would be doing and saying in these present times. Dick, a longtime publisher, became passionate about the issue of ending mass incarceration through his personal involvement with the community of people with former drug and alcohol addictions, many of whom had intersected with the prison system.
Sharon and Dick are well known as the founding editors of the LA Progressive, a daily social justice publication that focuses on progressive solutions to social issues. Newsletters are their trademark, and they brought that talent into the Justice Not Jails community effort.
We honor Dick and Sharon for their tremendous contributions to the Justice Not Jails program, which we welcomed into the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity four years ago. When asked, Dick says that he is most proud of “being consistent with the newsletter for seven years, and moving the needle of the conversation forward by bringing faith communities and activist communities together.”
Though this weekly newsletter in your inbox will be ending, we continue their commitment to move the needle forward. We will bring people of faith and justice together through our monthly Faith and Race gathering, an in-person community gathering hosted by Justice Not Jails coordinator Rev. Dr. Larry Foy on the first Thursdays of every month. These meetings will focus on how you and your congregations can get involved as faith-rooted spokespersons, advocates and leaders to advocate for humane alternatives to incarceration. The June meeting will be held on June 6th at 6 pm at Lincoln Memorial United Church of Christ, 4126 Arlington Ave. Los Angeles. The topic for that Faith and Race Gathering will be: Crunch Time in Sacramento: How Our Voices Right Now Can Advance Criminal Justice Reform. You will be getting updates and announcements about Justice Not Jails work directly from Dr. Foy’s email from now on.
Dick and Sharon will of course continue to publish the LA Progressive, and you will be able to get their characteristic excellent coverage of news articles on that daily site.
It has been a privilege to work with Dick and Sharon. Their enthusiasm for justice, their optimism for change, and their example of loving service and partnership has been a gift to us all.
Please join me in thanking Dick and Sharon for all they have done and continue to do. We look forward to continuing in community with them, and working together in many different ways toward a more just, fair, and compassionate world.
Sincerely,
Rev. Deborah Lee
Executive Director, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity