Join us on Feb 12th, for our interfaith vigil, Reparations as a Spiritual Practice. We will reflect on the Japanese American experience of seeking and achieving reparations. Together we will uplift the call for reparations for other communities, including Indigenous and African Americans. Our monthly interfaith vigil honors the Japanese American Day of Remembrance. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the forced removal and incarceration of some 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast. Thirty years after the closing of the camps, Japanese Americans launched a campaign calling for the redress for restitution, which resulted in a financial compensation of $20,000 per person, an apology by Congress acknowledging the wrong, and funds to establish an educational trust fund. Join us in honoring Japanese American Day of Remembrance and the larger call for reparations for other communities!
Speakers include: Reverend Deborah Lee, Reverend Grace Suzuki, Jeff Matsuoka, Coke Tani. Satsuki Ina, Riki Eijima, Chizu Omori, Joyce Nakamura, Julie Yumi Hatta, Margo Okazawa-Rey, Reverend Myrna Bernadel-Huey. Music provided by: Francis Wong
Co-hosted by: Buena Vista United Methodist Church, Pine United Methodist Church, Berkeley Buddhist Temple, San Francisco Bay Area Day of Remembrance Committee, Sycamore Congregational Church, Tsuru for Solidarity.
Interfaith Vigil on Japanese American Day of Remembrance, last February, 2020
On February 4, 2021 IM4HI organized a faith discussion on “the Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This piece was specifically written to the religious community who were criticizing his efforts during the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. We invite you to use this study guide to uncover the ways this piece can shape our organizing today and empower us in this political moment. Within the study guide is a video link to listen to our event speakers like Rev. Larry Foy, faith organizer Hilda Cruz, Rev. Phillip Lawson, and a prayer from Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. Also enclosed in the study guide are discussion prompts, links to the text, and access to our power point slides.
by Cecilia Vasquez, Communications Manager, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
“I do not think of political power as an end. Neither do I think of economic power as an end. They are ingredients in the objective that we seek in life. And I think that the end of that objective is a truly brotherly (and sisterly) society, the creation of the beloved community.”
—Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1966
This month we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy of achieving racial and social justice through faith-rooted organizing. Often his faith and spiritual nonviolent campaigns and organizing are lost in textbooks and secular accounts. In our event, “Radical King, and Prophetic Voice” we brought to the forefront that his faith beliefs were at the core of his organizing and radical vision.
At Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, faith and spirituality are at the foundation of our organizing. Faith-rooted organizing is more than engaging individuals and congregations as a base but centers spiritual values in every step of community organizing. It means centering and practicing our spiritual values as we create systemic social change. It comes from a place of love and is centered in the sacred. It reminds us to honor the humanity in everyone, Yes, everyone! Faith-rooted organizing demands that we have integrity between our means and our end goals, because process matters. Simply winning a campaign is insufficient transformation, and beloved community is what we truly desire. Faith-rooted organizing utilizes the unique gifts and liberating traditions of faith communities as a part of larger movements. We see and put to use the gifts that everyone has to offer in social movements. Faith-rooted organizing taps into ancient symbols, moral teachings, and spiritual practices that come from a place of love that replenishes the spirit to continue in the movement.
We believe that all people are sacred across bars and borders. This means centering the experiences of those most impacted by policies of incarceration and immigration. We honor their pain, care for their spirit, and support their leadership. We achieve this by offering programming that walks alongside people on their journey from arriving to the United States, living incarcerated or in detention, and post-release support. We value programming that fosters leadership to those closest to the problem and people of faith. Together we are guided by values of solidarity and compassion, advocating for new and just solutions. Together we realize community transformation as we dismantle the ways people of color are criminalized through our carceral and immigration systems.
We create ongoing spaces to learn about structural racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness in the United States. We engage in the difficult and necessary conversations to assure we are practicing integrity in our journey towards beloved community.
Be part of our Faith-Rooted Organizing on the ground today or sign up for an upcoming Faith-Rooted Organizing Training, as we hold them annually! To learn more about current campaigns and how to get involved, click here.
