What To Do This Week

Welcome to a fresh new week! In addition to everything else you have planned, here’s what you can do to change the world this week:

What to do this week of December 4, 2016

As always, thanks to Jennifer Hofmann for her hard work in putting this together for us. Last week this document was shared over 1,600 times on Facebook, and we encourage you to forward it to anyone you know who might be interested. Also, if you would rather have this delivered to your personal e-mail address each week, you can sign up on Jen’s website.

I won’t be in Salem this coming weekend, but if you are, you might consider participating in Salem Speaks Up! for Human Rights, at 4:00 pm on Saturday December 10 at the MICAH Building.

It’s dark and cold out there, but you are a light that shines in the darkness. Shine on!

 

This Week in Coffee

Here’s what’s happening this week:

Link to Jen’s Activism for the Week of November 27.

Our next meeting is this Sunday, December 4 at 3:00 pm in the Upstairs Classroom at the IKE Box in downtown Salem. We’ll gather to brainstorm and strategize as we move forward. Bring your friends!

In case you missed the news, the Salem City Council voted to censure Councilman Daniel Benjamin in the wake of last week’s incident. The councilman resigned last Wednesday. I am pleased that our City Council is taking the matter seriously, because it seems like this is just the beginning.

We are working to come up with a name for our little group. If you have a suggestion, please include it in the comments on this post. I will put out a poll here and on the Facebook page before Sunday’s meeting to help narrow down the options.

Onward and upward!

Here in Salem, Oregon…

KATU News reports that Salem City Councilor Daniel Benjamin posted a racially charged video to his personal Facebook page last week:

http://katu.com/news/local/salem-city-councilor-shares-violent-racially-charged-video-activist-demands-he-resign

If you believe that this behavior is unacceptable from anyone, least of all our elected representatives, I encourage you to write to Mr. Benjamin, the mayor, the mayor-elect, and your city councilor to demand an apology and/or Mr. Benjamin’s resignation. There is also a local group that’s planning to attend Monday’s meeting of the City Council to demand Mr. Benjamin’s resignation — more information here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/139916339820060/

Here’s what I wrote in my message to Mr. Benjamin:

I was very saddened to see the news reports about your posting a violent and racially offensive video to your personal Facebook page. As an adult in the 21st century you should be well aware that what you post to the Internet gains a life of its own. You are now personally tied to that video for the rest of your professional and public life.

You say that it’s “actually racist” to call you a racist for posting that video. Mr. Benjamin, in case you aren’t aware, this is what racism is: creating and sharing a video containing violent images of African American people getting hit and run over by cars. Even if you don’t consider yourself a racist, at the very least you should have been smart enough to recognize that your video is antagonistic and destructive to the fabric of our community.

As a public representative, you are held to a higher standard of behavior. You should have known better. If you can’t bring yourself to apologize publicly for the video then you should resign from the Salem City Council. Your behavior does not represent me or my neighbors, the people of Salem, the city of peace.

Mayor Anna Peterson: ampeterson@cityofsalem.net

Mayor-elect Chuck Bennett: crbennett@cityofsalem.net

City Councilor Daniel Benjamin: dbenjamin@cityofsalem.net

Contact information for the entire City Council can be found here:

http://www.cityofsalem.net/CityCouncil/Pages/CityCouncilors.aspx

This is where we speak up, friends!

 

Welcome to the Site!

Welcome! I have created this blog as an alternative for our friends who don’t use Facebook and are interested in keeping up with the events and activities of our group.

As promised, Jen has already come through with a document listing ways we can take action this week: November 20, 2016. Thanks, Jen! We will post a similar document at the beginning of each week.

Several members of our group attended the rally at the courthouse last night. There was no coverage of this event in today’s Statesman-Journal, so I think it’s important to report that a couple of hundred people gathered peacefully and stood together on behalf of racial and religious minorities, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and everyone else who will suffer the loss of rights under the new administration.