Personal Reflections on Lest We Forget, Part 1

https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2021/03/10/lest-we-forget/ 

          Recent reflections for Lent got my mind remembering history and my own encounters with social justice. My Inspiration came from Sister Barbara Ginter, who invited me to go with her to New York City to visit Drug rehab centers. My most memorable one was Teen Challenge. If you have not read The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, this is an easy read about a journey of faith and courage to help teens face their drug demons and end gang violence. I felt privileged to see the actual house and wheat on the fireplace which was the inspiration and confirmation for David Wilkerson that he was to begin his journey. There is a Teen Challenge chapter in Syracuse. Plan to learn more and perhaps volunteer.

          Of course, Barb wanted to complete our visit to New York City with a Protest at the Cathedral. It was my first journey to speaking out about social justice. I was fearful and got the courage to hand Cardinal Cook a copy of a letter on Pro-Life that he wrote and was rewritten to protest the war in Vietnam. What are your views on war, the death penalty, violence?  This issue does not have just one leg.

          My next inspiration came from Fred Ross and Caesar Chavez. I was encouraged by my friend Lee Connolly to go to California and help the Farmworkers during my summer of nothing to do. That was a journey! I was asking people to boycott grapes, lettuce, and Gallo Wine. Of course, each day we encountered resistance and people calling us Communist. (Socialism and Communism have been thrown around as words to put fear into everyone, when someone speaks out against social injustice.) We “human billboarded” (something Caesar learned on a visit to Boston), and walked in marches across California. Fred would teach us the art of organizing and conducting house meetings. He took us to the fields that inspired the Grapes of Wrath. He told many stories of Will Geer and Woody Guthrie singing and trying to organize Migrant Workers. These workers worked in the hot sun, child labor was everywhere (not just in CA), extremely low wages, lodging sometimes was your car or filthy housing, and there were no breaks. These workers were not entitled to the benefits we all enjoyed with the passing of the Fair Labor Act. The Reason? The Southern Democrats did not want the Blacks to organize. It took New York State 25 years before Legislation was passed almost 2 years ago to protect Migrant Workers. At Boycott headquarters, we were harassed by police and Federal Agents daily. I was arrested two times for doing “GOOD TROUBLE.” (John Lewis)

          Migrants will be arriving in our area soon. What will you do to learn more about them? Will you donate items of need while they are here? Will you be welcoming?   Attend a service (if COVID allows)?  Watch the bulletin for more Information? Barb, Fred, Lee, and Caesar inspired me to speak out and stand with those suffering from social injustice, fight for the rights of those marginalized in our society. VOTE!  Are you registered?

          Stay tuned for Part 2, Social Injustice. I do not want to forget from first-hand experience.

 

Lucretia H.