General News | Jesuit Social Research Institute

Advent Reflection: Week 2

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The second of four solidarity based Advent reflections for use in catechetical settings or at home with family by Catholic Relief Services.

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Date

Thu, 12/01/2016 - 19:00

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Undervalued and underpaid in America

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The deck is stacked against millions of working women

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The gender segregation of the workforce (in the US and globally) has meant, in general, that women are concentrated in jobs that pay lower wages. The bad news is that it’s getting worse for women. In the next decade, low-wage women’s jobs will increase at one and a half times the rate of all other jobs. Even more women will be faced with the need to take jobs that undervalue their education and skills, undercompensate their contributions, and exact heavy physical and emotional costs.
This study explores the millions of low-wage jobs where women are concentrated. These “low-wage women’s” jobs meet four criteria: most workers are women; the median wage is under $15 an hour; at least 100,000 women do the job; and the number of jobs will grow in the next 20 years.
We found 22 low-wage women’s work jobs; of the 23.5 million workers doing these jobs, 81 percent are women (19 million). And they are a big segment of the larger workforce: they account for over a quarter of all women’s employment, and 64 percent of women’s low-wage employment.
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Date

Thu, 12/01/2016 - 19:00

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Statement of AJCU Presidents on Undocumented Students

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November 30, 2016

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November 30, 2016
Contact: Deanna I. Howes, Director of Communications, AJCU
dhowes@ajcunet.edu | (202) 862-9893
As Presidents of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities we feel spiritually and morally compelled to raise a collective voice confirming our values and commitments as Americans and educators. We represent colleges and universities from across our nation with more than 215,000 students and 21,000 faculty, and over 2 million living alumni.
Grounded in our Catholic and Jesuit mission, we are guided by our commitment to uphold the dignity of every person, to work for the common good of our nation, and to promote a living faith that works for justice. We see our work of teaching, scholarship and the formation of minds and spirits as a sacred trust.
That trust prompts us to labor for solidarity among all people, and especially with and for the poor and marginalized of our society. That trust calls us to embrace the entire human family, regardless of their immigration status (1) or religious allegiance. And experience has shown us that our communities are immeasurably enriched by the presence, intelligence, and committed contributions of undocumented students, as well as of faculty and staff of every color and from every faith tradition.
    Therefore, we will continue working:
•    To protect to the fullest extent of the law undocumented students on our campuses;
•    To promote retention of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA);
•    To support and stand with our students, faculty and staff regardless of their faith traditions;
•    To preserve the religious freedoms on which our nation was founded.
As we conclude this Year of Mercy, we make our own the aims enunciated by Pope Francis:
"Every human being is a child of God! He or she bears the image of Christ! We ourselves need to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and refugees do not only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved." (2)
We hope that this statement will inspire members of our University communities, as well as the larger national community, to promote efforts at welcome, dialogue, and reconciliation among all that share our land.  We welcome further conversation and commit ourselves to modeling the kind of discourse and debate that are at the heart of our nation’s ideals. And we promise to bring the best resources of our institutions – of intellect, reflection, and service – to bear in the task of fostering understanding in the United States at this particular time in our history.
Signed,
John J. Hurley
Canisius College
 
Daniel S. Hendrickson, S.J.
Creighton University
 
Joseph M. McShane, S.J.
Fordham University
 
Thayne M. McCulloh
Gonzaga University
 
Linda M. LeMura
Le Moyne College
 
Jo Ann Rooney
Loyola University Chicago
 
Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J.
Loyola University New Orleans
 
John P. Fitzgibbons, S.J.
Regis University
 
Mark C. Reed
Saint Joseph's University
 
Eugene J. Cornacchia
Saint Peter's University
 
Stephen Sundborg, S.J.
Seattle University
 
Antoine M. Garibaldi
University of Detroit Mercy
 
Kevin P. Quinn, S.J.
University of Scranton
 
Michael J. Graham, S.J.
Xavier University
 
Philip L. Boroughs, S.J.
College of the Holy Cross
 
Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J.
Fairfield University
 
John J. DeGioia
Georgetown University
 
Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.
John Carroll University
 
Timothy Law Snyder
Loyola Marymount University
 
Brian F. Linnane, S.J.
Loyola University Maryland
 
Michael Lovell
Marquette University
 
Thomas Curran, S.J.
Rockhurst University
 
Fred P. Pestello
Saint Louis University
 
Michael E. Engh, S.J.
Santa Clara University
 
Christopher P. Puto
Spring Hill College
 
Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J.
University of San Francisco
 
James Fleming, S.J.
Wheeling Jesuit University
 
Michael J. Sheeran, S.J.
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
 
(1) AJCU Presidents Statement in Support of Undocumented Individuals, January 2013 (http://bit.ly/2fNj9V6) 
(2) Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for The World Day Of Migrants And Refugees (5 August 2014).
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Date

Tue, 11/29/2016 - 19:00

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Louisiana shouldn't be known for locking people away

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The Editorial Board, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

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By  <a class="bl p-author vcard" href="http://connect.nola.com/user/nolatpedit/posts.html" id="vCard" style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(68, 68, 68); padding-bottom: 1px; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">The Editorial Board, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune</a>
Louisiana is infamous for <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison.html" style="color: rgb(0, 136, 238); border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(185, 225, 255);">locking up more people </a>per capita than any other place in the world. The state's devotion to long sentences for even nonviolent offenders has divided families unnecessarily and cost Louisiana valuable resources that could go to education, health care or other services.
Our state has the highest percentage of inmates serving life sentences without a chance of parole. Some of those inmates have never been convicted of a violent crime. That approach essentially discards people who might be rehabilitated, impoverishes families and drains the state budget. An offender who begins a life sentence in his 20s who lives to be at least 70 will cost the state roughly $1 million to incarcerate.
Of course, criminals who commit violent acts deserve serious punishment. But Louisiana routinely imprisons people who've committed minor nonviolent crimes. Many of them are held in local jails, where they get little or no rehabilitation. These inmates return to their communities with no skills and a criminal record and have little chance of getting a job. That makes it far more likely they will end up back in jail.
Despite this bleak situation, state leaders have shown little interest in comprehensive reform. Thankfully, that seems to be changing.
Gov. John Bel Edwards is making <a href="http://topics.nola.com/tag/louisiana%20prison%20system/" style="color: rgb(0, 136, 238); border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(185, 225, 255);">prison </a>reform a priority. He persuaded legislators this year to "ban the box" on state job applications for unclassified positions. Under the new law, applicants no longer have to disclose felony convictions on their employment application. Checking that criminal history box can eliminate an otherwise qualified candidate without even a chance of competing for the job.
As the world leader in incarceration, Louisiana has thousands of ex-inmates who need to find jobs to support themselves and their families. Making it easier for them to find employment could help keep them from returning to prison.
Gov. Edwards has set a goal of reducing the state prison population by 5,000 inmates during this four-year term. And he seems to be gaining ground with some important supporters.
His Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc is crisscrossing the state to talk about ways to lower the state prison population. Last week, he made his pitch to the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. LABI in the past had opposed "ban the box" legislation but didn't fight it this year.
John Finan, LABI's board chairman for 2016, is interested in reforms such as reducing the length of sentences and finding alternatives to prison for nonviolent drug offenders. He is president and CEO of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, a religious organization, which he said has influenced his priorities.
The conservative Family Forum could be another important ally on prison reforms. The group helped push the "ban the box" legislation through the Legislature.
"We know that our prison population is too high," said Republican state Rep. Rick Edmunds, a minister from Baton Rouge who is allied with Family Forum. "I think we have some common ground here."
Gov. Edwards is planning to release his reform package in March, and the details will determine how much support he is able to pull together. Sheriffs who make money holding state inmates in their jails aren't likely to favor anything that reduces their share of prisoners. But that shouldn't drive sentencing policy.
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Date

Sun, 11/27/2016 - 19:00

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Advent Reflection: Week 1

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The first of four solidarity based Advent reflections for use in catechetical settings or at home with family by Catholic Relief Services.

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Date

Mon, 11/28/2016 - 19:00

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A Dream Deferred

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DREAMERS' Reactions to the Trump Election

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by Sue Weishar, Ph.D. 
If Donald Trump keeps his campaign promises, perhaps no group of people will be more immediately and negatively impacted when he assumes office than recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Launched by President Obama in 2012, DACA provides young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children temporary work authorization and protection from deportation.
Last week I asked two young women, both DACA recipients, about their thoughts and concerns on the election of Donald Trump.
Sofia* was nine years old when her family left Mexico for a chance at a better life in the U.S. Since July 2015, she has worked as a youth minister at a Catholic church. Her response evidences the shock and dismay many immigrants are feeling:
"I am devastated, overwhelmed with fear and hopelessness. As an undocumented person, on DACA… my entire life is at stake here. My school, my job, my ministry and even my teens and their families…What scares me is that many people threw under the bus their brothers and sisters in Christ that are immigrants, Black, Latinos, Muslim, women, disabled, and LGBTQ. We’re supposed to care for each other, respect and protect the ones who are voiceless… How can I look at my teens, [who are] ninety-nine percent Hispanic/Latino and remind them that God has not abandoned us in the middle of this storm? How do I respond to teens or adults that say, 'Trump is Making America Great Again by getting rid of you' or when they make comments such as 'are you ready to go back to Mexico?'"
Miranda*, a recent graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, was only six years old when she was brought to the U.S. from Mexico. She currently works in a law office, but hopes to teach school one day. After the election she felt a combination of numbness and shock that left her “incapable of thinking.” Yet, she also felt she had to “keep it together” for those around her who were even more upset. Additionally, she has found tremendous solace and support from friends:
"It’s been very reassuring. The day after the election I woke up and I had a ton of text messages and Facebook messages and phone calls from friends—'Hey will you marry me?'... 'Are you going to be deported?' ...'Are you going to be OK?'... 'If you need anything, I am going to be there for you.' Being reminded …there are still plenty of good people around that care about you, [regardless of] your legal status… So that is what really keeps me going and feeling optimistic, being surrounded by people that care."
Despite running a nativist campaign that inflamed anti-immigrant sentiments across the nation, I was awed by the compassion these two young women expressed for the president-elect and the American electorate:
Miranda said, “I am trying to understand what the other side was thinking, what fears they were facing, and what was motivating them… I really believe that there are not bad persons, but that people do bad things when they are placed in bad situations.” Sofia said that she “will continue to pray for Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence, in the hopes that God will enlighten them to see and follow Christ’s greatest commandment…to love one another as I have loved you.”
It is unfathomable that a country would want to deport people like Miranda and Sofia. Please, stand in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers. Join JSRI’s Action Alert network. Pray. Hope. Organize. 
* Pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of the women I interviewed.
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Date

Thu, 11/17/2016 - 19:00

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In Defiance of Hidden Deaths

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Black Lives Matter as a living philosophy.

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By: Nicholas E. Mitchell, Ph.D. 
Noted political philosopher Charles Mills argues, in order to understand the current state of race relations, one must first accept the following premise: White Supremacy is one of the most consequential ideologies in human history and the modern world is a direct consequence of it.[1] It belongs in the pantheon of ideologies that changed how humans frame their very existence and has claimed the lives of untold millions. This premise is not an indictment of individuals or their morality; but rather it reflects world history and how we arrived at the current status quo, which can be accurately described as what Mills calls “the racial contract”: a racial, caste system in the United States where people of color are scheduled castes and denied a life free from the machinations of racists.[2] In this context, Black Lives Matter has emerged as not only a political movement, but also as a living philosophy dedicated to nonviolence that seeks to emancipate human bodies—of all race —from the racial contract.
In its intersectional form and as a living philosophy, Black Lives Matter is the current incarnation of the centurieslong Black resistance against White Supremacy across multiple fronts. As a movement, it was catalyzed and given form as a response to the extrajudicial murders of Black men like Michael Brown, Walter Scott, and Alton Sterling; Black women like Sandra Bland, Islan Nettles, and Tanisha
Anderson; and Black children like Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Aiyana Jones. Black Lives Matter is continuing the work of the Maroon communities, Tubman, Douglass, Wells, Randolph, Rustin, and King; it is the intellectual and spiritual successor of all of the men and women who struggled so that their children would not have to know what oppression looked like, smelled like, or felt like. As a political movement, most recently enunciated in the platform of the Movement for Black Lives, Black Lives Matter is dedicated to emancipatory transformation and has given rise to a number of organizations. Black Lives Matter’s holding of politicians, presidential candidates, and the various police departments around the nation accountable for the murders of Black men, women, and children is an echo of the early twentieth century NAACP’s anti-lynching efforts. They force Americans to see what is happening around them, which makes many people, of all races, uncomfortable. This is intentional and rooted in the Black prophetic tradition and politic which holds that change only happens with tension and the only way to achieve tension is through peaceful agitation.
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Date

Sun, 11/20/2016 - 19:00

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No Place to Call Home

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The Affordable Housing Crisis in the Gulf South

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BY JEANIE DONOVAN, M.P.A., M.P.H.
“A house is much more than roof over one’s head. [It is] a place where a person creates and lives out his or her life,” said Saint Pope John Paul II.1 Having a stable home to establish our daily routines and relationships is something many of us may take for granted. The benefits of secure, affordable housing are numerous and well-documented, especially for children and other vulnerable populations.[2,3] Unfortunately, millions of working families in the United States and thousands in the Gulf South struggle to find affordable, safe housing where they can create and live out their lives.
The root of the problem is two-fold: household incomes have not kept up with inflation and funding for housing assistance programs has not kept pace with the growing need. The results include: homelessness; families forced to forgo other necessities such as food and medical care; and
an increase in the number of low-income households living in substandard or overcrowded housing. Leaving families to live in such situations violates a basic premise of Catholic social teaching—the right to life is fundamental and includes a right to food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and essential social services.[4] Fortunately, the affordable housing crisis is not a problem without solutions; with appropriate policy changes and public investments we can and must increase housing security for families and children.
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WAGES NOT KEEPING UP WITH HOUSING COSTS
A recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that the average fair market rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom rental unit in the U.S. is $1,056 per month.[5] The annual income needed to afford that rental unit is $42,240, or $20.30 per hour. A full-time worker earning
the federal minimum wage would need to work 112 hours per week, or 2.8 minimum wage jobs to pay for that unit and still be able to afford other household expenses. The average hourly wage of the 41.8 million renters in the U.S. is $15.42—nearly $5 per hour below what is needed to afford
the average two-bedroom apartment.[6]
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Date

Wed, 11/16/2016 - 19:00

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College students around New Orleans, nation challenge Trump immigration policies, call for 'sanctuary campus'

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[The New Orleans Advocate, November 16, 2016]

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CAROLYN THOMPSON The Associated Press
College students at campuses around the United States marched and rallied Wednesday, urging administrators to protect students and employees against immigration action under a Donald Trump presidency.
Rallying supporters on social media with the hashtag #SanctuaryCampus, organizers said actions were planned at more than 80 schools, including Loyola University where over 100 people gathered, and Yale University, where demonstrators numbered about 600.
Students sought assurances that their schools would not share their personal information with immigration officials or allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on campus.
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"Can you imagine the fear that it would inflict on college campuses if having ICE agents walk into a campus becomes the status quo?" organizer Carlos Rojas of the group Movimiento Cosecha, said by phone from New Jersey. "It would be terrifying."
The actions continue days of demonstrations that have broken out in cities and high school campuses following Trump's election victory last week. The Republican's campaign promises included a vow to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally.
"I'm very fearful," said Miriam Zamudio, whose parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was six or seven. She worries that the family information she provided on her application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Status will endanger her parents, who are living in the country without legal permission.
"We don't know what Trump is going to do," Zamudio said by phone as she prepared to join a protest at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "We don't know if he is going to demand this information and we want our administration and our school to stand with us."
Since last Tuesday's election, demonstrations occurred for several nights at Lee Circle, one night resulting in vandalism and broken windows. 
 
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Date

Wed, 11/16/2016 - 19:00

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JSRI TO SHARE SOCIAL JUSTICE MESSAGE AT IGNATIAN FAMILY TEACH-IN FOR JUSTICE

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Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ will offer a breakout session titled Rooted and Grounded in Love: Grounding Action for Justice in the Social Teachings of the Church at the 19th Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice from November 12-14 in Washington, D.C.

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WASHINGTON, DC – Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ of the Jesuit Social Research Institute will offer a breakout session titled Rooted and Grounded in Love: Grounding Action for Justice in the Social Teachings of the Church at the <a href="http://ignatiansolidarity.net/iftj/about/">19th Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice</a> from November 12-14 in Washington, D.C.
 
The annual gathering, drawing over 1,800 participants, provides opportunities for attendees to learn, reflect, pray, network, and advocate in the context of the Catholic faith tradition. A significant portion of attendees are young people, ages 16-22, representing Jesuit and other Catholic institutions from across the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and El Salvador.
 
The 2016 Teach-In theme, “Mercy in Action,” will mark the closing days of Pope Francis’s Year of Mercy, inviting participants to “grow in a love which is courageous, generous and real.” [Pope Francis] The program is sponsored by the <a href="http://ignatiansolidarity.net/">Ignatian Solidarity Network</a>.
Initiated in 1997 in Columbus, Georgia, the Teach-In commences yearly in mid-November to commemorate the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador. The six Jesuit priests and their two companions were murdered on November 16, 1989 for speaking out against the country’s tumultuous civil war. The Teach-In relocated from Georgia to Washington, D.C. in 2010 in response to the growing interest in legislative advocacy and accompanying educational opportunities.
On the morning of Monday, November 14, attendees will gather at Columbus Circle for a public witness, gathering with signs, banners, and voices to pray, listen to active advocates, and recommit to work for justice. The Teach-In then culminates with what is estimated to be the largest Catholic advocacy day of the year. Nearly 1,400 individuals will proceed to legislative advocacy meetings with members of Congress and their staffs on Capitol Hill to urge Congress to enact immigration and criminal justice reform.
Keynote speakers include Sr. Norma Pimentel, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and nationally-recognized advocate for immigrants; Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., bestselling author and founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries; and Lisa Sharon Harper, author and Chief Church Engagement Officer at Sojourners.
 
The Teach-In also offers more than 50 breakout sessions, presented by national and international speakers, including Fr. James Martin, S.J., bestselling author and editor-at-large at America Magazine; and Sr. Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.
 
The celebrant for the Teach-In liturgy on Sunday, November 13 is Fr. Gregory Chisholm, S.J., pastor in Harlem, NY, at St. Charles Borromeo Church and the Chapel of the Resurrection. 
 
“The Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice represents the future of our Church,” said Christopher Kerr, executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network. “Attendees, particularly young people, will be inspired to respond to Pope Francis’s call as people of mercy, striving to build a more justice and sustainable world.”
Livestream coverage of the Teach-In is available at:<a href="http://igsol.net/livestream"> http://igsol.net/livestream</a>
 
The full schedule can be found at: <a href="http://igsol.net/iftj-schedule">http://igsol.net/iftj-schedule</a>
 
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Date

Wed, 11/09/2016 - 19:00

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