CKCPJ PEACE Leaders

Raising the Minimum Wage - what are the facts?

WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
(a handout from the Lexington Working Families Campaign)

• The current Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator for Fayette County indicates that a single mother (with just one child) working full-time must earn at least $17.60 per hour to adequately support her family (http://livingwage.mit.edu/).
• Women are more likely than men to be in a minimum-wage job, and women are also much more likely to be raising a family on their own. (See "Who Stands to Benefit from a Minimum Increase in Lexington," KY Center for Economic Policy.)
• A 2014 local housing study (Lexington's Affordable Housing Challenge and Potential Strategy, February 2014) stated that Lexington's housing costs have been rising much faster than wages for decades. The study noted that 87% of all rental housing units in Lexington were affordable to households working at the minimum wage in 1990 but that only 17% were affordable to such families by 2012.
• As the purchasing power of the current minimum wage slips further and further below the real costs of living, more and more low-wage workers are relying on public assistance programs just to survive. Enrollment in these programs, such as SNAPS (formerly called Food Stamps) is steadily rising. Employers paying less than living wages are actually advising their employees to apply for these programs. These employers are increasing their profits by shifting costs to taxpayer funded programs. Raising the minimum wage lowers government safety-net costs, increases tax revenues, and gives people more money to spend, which in turn boosts the local economy.
• People who are determined to keep wages low (and profits high) adamantly state that raising the minimum wage results in the loss of low-wage jobs. But more and more research shows that this is simply not true. A 2010 UC Berkeley study (http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/12/01/minimumwagejobs/) found that, “Increasing the minimum wage does not lead to the short- or long-term loss of low-paying jobs.”
• A 2014 research study (http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/local-minimum-wage-laws-impacts-on-workers-families-and-businesses/) indicated that "minimum wage mandates raise the incomes of low-wage workers and their families, and the costs to businesses are absorbed largely by reduced turnover costs and by small price increases among restaurants".
• Polls confirm that Americans from across the political and ideological spectrum are overwhelmingly in favor of a substantial increase in the minimum wage. (See for example, the Pew Research Center poll in 2014).
• Perhaps the most compelling reason to increase the minimum wage is the moral imperative of economic justice. The benefits of our economic system are increasingly going to the top of the income ladder while most workers are struggling to survive on less and less. If a person is working full-time they should not be forced to live in poverty. In 1933, after signing the National Industrial Recovery Act into law, FDR said, "..... no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level - I mean the wages of decent living".

 

More on Lexington-Fayette NAACP and the Push for Equity in Fayette County Public Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - FROM LEXINGTON-FAYETTE NAACP

LEXINGTON, KY (May 22, 2015) – The Fayette County Public School (FCPS) Board Members appear to be at a crossroads of effectively overseeing district resources to improve schools for all children. Recently, they have shown that they are incapable of (1) researching and choosing a reputable search firm for the new Superintendent, (2) ensuring equity in the redrawing of school boundaries, (3) efficiently hiring and retaining minority teachers, and (4) managing the budget to ensure that Section 7 money is more available to the lowest performing schools.  The Lexington-Fayette County NAACP says it’s time to expose the failing practices of FCPS administrators, more than ever, as the search for a new leader of this school system is underway.  FCPS say that it is “All About Kids” but  for the last 5 years, it appears that the adults (central office staff members and school board members) do what is best for “certain” kids.

The NAACP will be holding a news conference on Tuesday, May 26 at 5:30 pm at the Fayette County School Board offices prior to their next school board meeting. 

Leaders will be discussing:

• FCPS efforts to hide information and not adequately answer Open Records Requests
• Lack of focus on hiring and excessive “pink slipping” of minorities in key positions (teachers, administrators) in the district
• The continued inequitable distribution of Section 7 funding to high poverty schools

There is a lot of work to do be done in the Fayette County Public Schools to ensure all our children get the best possible education. The Lexington NAACP wants to make sure all voices are heard and are at the table to ensure equitable distribution of wealth, education and opportunities are given to everyone across the board.

Please contact the local branch President, Mr. William Saunders at phone (859) 420-1095 or email ([email protected]). 

In Community,
Submitted by:
JoJuana Greene
Community Outreach Liaison
859-608-9735

#RaiseTheWage - Lexington Working Families Campaign - May 15th

Janet Tucker, CKCPJ Co-Chair, Photo by Steve Pavey

On May 15th, CKCPJ's Lexington Working Families Campaign joined up with several other organizations to raise awareness about the LFUCG Council's deliberations on raising minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 over three years, starting July 1, 2016. Gathering at Triangle Park in downtown Lexington during the afternoon rush hour, the allies together with CKCPJ included the Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC), the Lexington Workers League, the Teamsters Local, and Community Action Council. Many offered to share signs they had already made and they brought sign making supplies for those who wanted to make their own. A good crowd showed up for the rally, and several passers-by honked their horns in support.

On Tuesday before the rally, the Urban County Council began the formal process for hearing the minimum wage proposal led by Council member Jennifer Mossoti (see more in the Herald-Leader article on this). The delay in considering the proposal had come in March, when the Urban County Council's Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee voted 9-1 to postpone the full testimony from community members and the Council's debate until this summer.

David Christiansen, CKCPJ Co-Chair, Photo by Steve Pavey

According to a Herald Leader article describing the session in March, Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP), had told the council that nationally, of those who earn less that $10.10 an hour, 90% are adults over the age of 20. 57% of those low-wage workers are women, many of whom are in retail, restaurant or food services. See more information on this on the KCEP website: "Who Stands to Benefit from a Minimum Wage Increase in Lexington" (March 16, 2015).

 

David Christiansen - Photo by Steve Pavey

On April 22nd, the Lexington Working Families Campaign hosted an information session at the Lexington Friends Meeting House. There David Christiansen, CKCPJ Co-Chair, presented important facts and the main ideas behind what happened in Louisville as well as other cities when they raised the minimum wages for workers in their local areas. This meeting helped to prepare everyone for the rally in May.

On June 8th, the LFUCG Council will be taking testimony from the community on the issue of raising the minimum wage. Every voice - and every body who attends - matters. Remember, your civic action is what keeps our government accountable to the citizens. If you aren't there, then our elected officials might imagine you don't care. The Facebook Event page is located here - if you have a Facebook account, please join up. This will help you in getting reminders and key information as the day gets closer.

On June 23rd from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., join CKCPJ at the Phoenix Park rally downtown. See more on the flyer (right) - please download it and share with others.

Follow along on all that's happening with the CKCPJ Facebook Community Page or follow CKCPJ on Twitter. See more information about the CKCPJ Twitter feed on the right nav bar (of this website).

CKCPJ Joins in Student Protest at University of Kentucky

 

Richard Mitchell and Janet Tucker of CKCPJ in front of UK President Patterson's statue

A group of University of Kentucky students from several different activist organizations along with local peace and justice organizations (including CKCPJ) joined together last Friday to protest UK's connection with VF Corporation.

Led by the UK Students Against Sweatshops, the group was protesting that UK had not yet broken ties with the VF Corporation, the largest branded apparel manufacturer in the world. VF Corporation has not signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza factory collapse of April 24th 2013. This tragedy two years ago killed over 1,134 garment workers -- mostly women and children -- due to poor working conditions.  VF Corporation produces highly popular brands such as JanSport. Company officials insist they are supporting safety for workers who create their products, and they insist the corporation has signed with Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety instead of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

The rally on the two year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse was held in solidarity with the Bangladeshi garment workers who organized a global day of action to hold brands accountable for the safety of their workers. Two other companies, Children’s Place and Walmart, were producing at Rana Plaza the day of the collapse.

Students at the University of Louisville also supported the two-year anniversary with a protest at the Grawemeyer Building on their campus. See more at their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cardsunitedagainstsweatshops

The protest at UK on Friday afternoon was cosponsored by: Ignite Lutheran Campus Ministry, UK Greenthumb, Central Kentucky Chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Workers League, the Bluegrass Central Labor Council, Teamsters Local Union 651, UK Young Democrats, Cards United Against Sweatshops, Lexington Working Families Campaign.

(l-r) Nathan Hewitt, Sai Yalla, Michael Frazier (all at UK) with Ben Vivona (UofL)

 

 

Isabel Cochran

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more pictures of the UK protest, see Steve Pavey's Facebook photo album.

Minimum Wage Op-Ed by Jordan E. Mazurek

Check out the terrific Op-Ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader yesterday by  community activist, Jordan E. Mazurek.

Raising Minimum Wage Would Also Help Our Economy

The Greatest Tools for Change

Book Review: Waking Up White: And Finding Myself In the Story of Race by Debby Irving (Elephant Room Press) 2014, Cambridge MA. 273 pages.

“We have a choice to make: resist change and keep alive antiquated beliefs about skin color, or outgrow those beliefs and make real the equality we envision. Self-examination and the courage to admit to bias and unhelpful inherited behaviors may be our greatest tools for change.  I believe the most loving thing a person, or a group of people, can do for another is to examine the ways in which their own insecurities and assumptions interfere with others’ ability to thrive.” —Debby Irving (page 249)

In this book that is more than memoir, Debby Irving uses the example of her own life and its specific context as a lens to examine culture-wide beliefs that remain invisible to too many of us. As an adult, she spent 25 years doing “diversity” work, coordinating outreach efforts from her Boston suburbs, and later, teaching in diverse schools. She was haunted, however, at the lack of success of these efforts and her continued feeling she may be doing more harm that good. Her own waking up occurred as she took a graduate course on Racial and Cultural Identities. However, the reader needs no specialized knowledge to follow her as she negotiates her learning; Irving weaves the story of her growing awareness with a good serving of specific examples, reference to research, data, history and verifiable facts, all of which are readily available to anyone willing to spend a little time digging past the time-worn assumptions that lie hidden until we apply the kind of intentional attention she invites us to.

Structurally, the book’s chapters each end with a query that prompts readers to examine their own assumptions and the origin of the beliefs they may have been carrying around all their lives.  These queries invite reflection, journaling—and when possible, sharing.

A group of us in Lexington are reading the book together, which provides us with companionship through surprises and astonishments, chagrin and the facing up to sometimes painful truths. In our group, the interaction of our individual stories helps us see the depth of racism’s malignant corrosiveness. One participant in our group, an immigrant from Africa, tells us “I was not black until I came to the United States.” I’ve read anti-racist analysis that says America is uniquely obsessed by classifying people racially, but having a friend relate his own experience brings that truth sharply into focus. Reading this book in a group of friends makes startlingly clear the truth of Irving’s statement: “Racism is, and always has been, the way America has sorted and ranked its people in a bitterly divisive, humanity-robbing system.”

As she comes to terms with the way this system has robbed people of their humanity, Irving does not stint on examples of her own emotional struggles. For example, the night she learned about the unfair hand racism dealt generations of African Americans through real estate and lending practices of redlining and blockbusting, she needed to drive around for a while in an attempt to process the information. When she returns home and her husband asks her “what’s up?” she describes the process of systematic discrimination that shut out potential African American home buyers from “good” homes in neighborhoods where their investments would increase dramatically in value, resulting in huge gains in personal wealth. At first, he doesn’t believe her: but ten minutes into an internet search has converted him into a believer. “How could we not know this?” is a refrain through this part of the book: she says she feels “duped” that the results of these policies are not far better known. When she sets down the results of those policies in summary, the facts almost take my breath away:

“Between 1934 and 1962 the federal government underwrote $120 billion in new housing, less than 2 percent of which went to people of color. America’s largest single investment in its people, through an intertwined structure of housing and banking systems, gave whites a lifestyle and financial boost that would accrue in the decades to come while driving blacks and other minority populations into a downward spiral. ... From the perspective of Americans excluded from this massive leg-up policy, the GI Bill is one of the best examples of affirmative action for white people.” (page 35)

Later chapters in the book take readers through strategies to begin changing themselves and negotiating ways to connect with others on the journey to both understanding racism and working towards healing its harms. She has sections on inner work and outer work, for example, acknowledging that tackling racism is not a one-time accomplishment, but instead a commitment to growth and change in often surprising ways.

The work is essential, however. I was chilled by her story of the deep depression and regret that seemed to come over her father at the end of his life, which happened at a time when she lacked the skill to invite a deeper understanding between them. Though she grew up in a family committed to being good people and doing the right things, she recalls childhood vignettes that hint at times when he may have been in a position to stand up against the racist practices he found around him, and yet could not bring himself to do so. She writes:

“My guess is that in the world of corporate law, country clubs, and Boston institutions, going against the status quo must have felt to threatening to a man providing for a wife and five children living a high-class white life, especially when his own mother had invested so much in his social climb. His love for his fellow human beings he may have wanted to use his privilege to reach out to was outweighed by his his fear of losing his privilege by doing so.”

Irving ends this book with a section called “Tell Me What To Do!” in which she gives us both good news and bad news: “The good news is that everyone can do something to loosen racism’s hold on America. The bad news is that unless you set yourself up for success, trying to do something helpful can actually perpetuate racism. Take time to learn and engage with the problem in order to lower the chances of making the same mistakes I did.”  

 

(contributor note:  Gail M. Koehler is a trainer with Lexington United: Building Community Cooperatively www.lexingtoncommunitybuilding.org)

Convocation celebrating Isaac Murphy - CKCPJ donating biography to local school libraries

At the request of Billie Mallory, former CKCPJ Board member, the CKCPJ Board has recently agreed to donate $200 to purchase books/print memorial bookmarks for an upcoming Convocation honoring Isaac Murphy, the best known black jockey from Lexington's East End.

Murphy raced at the original Kentucky Association racetrack and rode several Kentucky Derby winners. 

Keeneland, William Wells Brown Neighborhood Association, the Lyric Theatre and other community partners are hosting the author, Pellom McDaniels, author of the biography, Prince of Jockeys:  Isaac Burns Murphy. Professor McDaniels will be visiting Lexington in the last week of April. 

The Convocation will host 6-8 local schools to learn about Murphy's legend and contributions to the thoroughbred industry. The event will also promote of the soon-to-be-completed Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden and its valued place in the East End.  Mallory is coordinating the Convocation event that is being sponsored by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.  The CKCPJ will donate a copy of the Prince of Jockeys to the library of each school that attends. Bookmarks will be given to each student.  

The Convocation will take place on April 29, 2015.

Peacemaker of the Year 2015 - April Taylor

Remarks by Janet Tucker for April Taylor:
CKCPJ Peacemaker of the Year 2015

April Taylor was born and raised here in Lexington. She is a mother of three. She is a leader of Stop Mass Incarceration Network, KY­­ our local Black Lives Matter movement. SHE MADE IT HAPPEN HERE IN LEXINGTON!

She as made two trips to Ferguson protesting the August murder of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Here in Lexington she has led a number of very successful marches, rallies and events protesting police brutality and police murders of young people of color which nationally which occurs at the rate one every 28 hours.

As a leader in Stop Mass incarceration Network KY she works to expose this system that disproportionately affects people of color. This is a huge problem as we see our prison population grow to the largest in the world. More blacks are imprisoned in the U.S. than were enslaved here before the Civil War. More blacks are imprisoned here than were imprisoned in South Africa during apartheid. April takes this head on.

April was also active in our local occupy movement in 2011 and is an activist in the local food justice movement.

April is not only a local activist, she is an activist on the national stage as well. She is a successful blogger, social justice activist, and motivational speaker for Your Black World. She is also a frequent speaker on radio programs around the county. So April inspires not only those of us here in Central Kentucky but many around the country as well.

Youth Peacemaker Award 2015 - Bereans for Michael Brown

Youth Peacemaker Award 2015
Bereans for Michael Brown

Bereans for Michael Brown is a group founded by two Berea College students, Anna Loveless and Quentin Savage, in early fall 2014 in response to and solidarity with demonstrations in Ferguson Missouri protesting Michael Brown’s shooting death by police officer, Darren Wilson.  After an initial trip to Ferguson in early September, Savage returned to Berea and began organizing a student caravan to St. Louis for the Weekend of Resistance (October 10-13).  Eight Bereans -- Erin Gibbons, Molefi Hopkin-Peters, Ms. Monica Jones, Anna Loveless, Quentin Savage, Logan Smith, Dr. Alicestyne Turley, and Olivia Welch -- made the trip.  Hopkin-Peters, Savage, and Smith were arrested for engaging in a sit-in at a Quik Trip gas station on October 12.  

After returning from St. Louis, they continued to raise awareness and recruit additional students on campus by canvassing and sponsoring classroom walk-outs organized by different students (Candice King, Azizi Morris, Whitney Owens).  The group also traveled to Lexington on several occasions to participate in rallies, marches, and die-ins organized by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network – KY group. 

In early December Anna Loveless organized a 4.5-minute street blockade in front of Boone Tavern and Quentin Savage set up a 4.5-minute Die-In in the lobby of Boone Tavern to broaden the awareness that Black Lives Matter with wealthy Tavern patrons.  (These 4.5-minute periods commemorate the 4.5 hours that Mike Brown’s body lay in the street after he was killed.)  This semester they “Died-In” at the Black Lives Matter convocation (complete with compliments from the convocation speaker).  

Bereans for Michael Brown is currently unofficially recognized by Berea College, but the group is in the process of becoming an official campus organization to continue its work when core members graduate. Plans are developing for a month-long campus campaign called “March Against Mass Incarceration” designed to inform and empower those at the college about the devastating joint-impact of the War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and the Prison-Industrial Complex.  The group hopes this program will be soon be adopted by EKU and UK to become a regional initiative.

Other members and entities who have worked with the group in different ways include: The Black Cultural Center at Berea, The Carter G Woodson Center at Berea, Professor Andrew Baskin, our College Dean, Chad Berry, Dr. Steve Gowler, Steven Hall, Becca Halpryn, Faith Jones, Dr. Meta Mendel-Reyes, and Will Mendoza.

Here is a video of the Berea College Convocation Die-In. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJELnvS-n7c

Berea College #BlackLivesMatter Convocation Pause

Lifetime Peacemaker Award 2015 - Freddy Peralta

Presentation by Dr. Kerby Neill at The CKCPJ Annual Dinner
2015 Lifetime Peacemaker Award

Freddy Peralta was born and educated in the Dominican Republic.  He and his wife, Maria, came to the United States in 1985 and Freddy enrolled in graduate school at the University of Kentucky.  Freddy began his computer sales and repair business in 1989 which currently thrives as Kentucky Trade on Virginia Avenue. I assumed his UK degree was in computer science, but recently discovered his masters degree is in economics and his computer skills are self-taught.  This hints at Freddy’s enthusiasm, energy, and intelligence, but it doesn’t capture the trait that most defines him, and which his other skills serve so well—his compassion.   Kentucky has been the fortunate recipient of Freddy’s compassion, especially our Latino community.

Through the 1980s, Latino refugees fled murderous oppression in El Salvador and Guatemala to our Southern border.  Central Kentucky was not a destination for many of these refugees.  That was not the case with the wave of migration triggered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994.  The importation of cheap American corn and the end of traditional communal land ownership deprived thousands of Mexican subsistence farmers of their livelihoods. As NAFTA continued to play out, factories that initially flourished in Northern Mexico proved unable to compete with cheaper Asian labor.  They closed in bunches and more displaced Mexican workers gathered up their families to migrate to the U.S.

As early migrants found work and opportunity in Lexington, other Latinos began to join them. By 2000, Lexington had a significant Latino community.  Many of us were proud of Lexington’s welcoming response to these new members of our community. Mayor Pam Miller even sent a number of Lexington police and firemen to Mexico for intensive Spanish training.  Still, like our own immigrant forbearers, Kentucky’s new Latino community faced many adjustment problems, problems seriously compounded by their undocumented status.  Living in fear of deportation, they were often victims of exploitation, and tended to avoid authorities and what limited services were available in Spanish.  They sorely needed advocates and Lexington provided a number of them, but few like Freddy Peralta. 

We lack time and space to recount all Freddy’s efforts, but we must mention several.  Freddy founded the Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (KCIRR) bringing together concerned citizens of Central Kentucky and members of the immigrant community.  Through KCIRR, he labored to educate service providers, to organize and educate the immigrant community, and to confront the backlash that saw the Latino community only as a threat and to be denied and deported.  Freddy wisely cast the problems of the immigrant community in broader terms than only Latinos. He organized rallies, picnics and conferences to advance the cause of the immigrant community.  In collaboration with the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice, KCIRR produced a policy paper detailing the problems of Latino immigrants and providing data to debunk rumors and negative stereotypes alive in the anti-immigrant movement.  The paper was presented to a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that was considering an extreme deportation bill. 

When a young Latino woman committed suicide while languishing without counsel or support in a Franklin County jail, Freddy organized challenges to our jail and deportation practices.  When new opportunities became available for Latino youth who entered the United States as children, Freddy helped organize Lexington’s OISI office on Alexandria Drive.  Here members of the Latino community learned of changes in immigration regulations and what procedures and forms were necessary to allow youth to pursue their lives and educational goals free s of the threatening cloud of deportation. 

For this work and more, and for the promise of his continuing passion for justice, the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice is honored to award Freddy Peralta our 2015, Lifetime Peacemaker Award.  While there might be a small voice inside Freddy’s wife, Maria, that says, “Don’t encourage him!”  We also know that, in fact, she has been his ally, co-worker, and partner throughout this endeavor. We cannot honor Freddy without also saluting Maria.