THOMAS MERTON CENTER PITTSBURGHS PEACE USTICE NEWSPAPER THE VOL. 47 No.NEW 11 February 2018 PEOPLE Capturing the State ……………….................................................Page 3 REFLECTIONS FROM TMC Clueless Privilege…………………................................................. Page 5 By Gabriel McMorland Reflections on Race……………….................................................Page 9 DIRECTOR Immoral Possession………………................................................Page 11 The Thomas Merton Center started out the new year with a spirited protest against wage theft in high winds and single digit temperatures. As I write this, BY EMILY DEFERRARI we’re preparing to head back out into Pittsburgh’s SOME SORT OF JUSTICE icy streets for a rally against the criminalization of January 7, 2010 the muezzin was calling the Muslim to prayer, loud and near. And then the sun came up as if Orthodox our public transit riders and for yet another picket At midnight the bells began. line demanding PNC Bank stop financing nuclear Christmas were any other day in Jerusalem. A cacophony of Chinese wind chimes, and hand weapons. Works for peace and justice don’t stop After that first night, I visited Jerusalem often in the held bells, and sleigh bells, Sunday morning church just for the weather, but these dark, frozen months winter of 2010 and though it is held dear by all the bells, the sound of Eastern gongs, large bells and do still call many of us to quiet contemplation and “People of the Book,” Jews, Muslims and Christians, small bells; every bell imaginable was ringing in a reflection. I find my own mind returning frequently and though it is home to the ancient history of great explosion of jubilant madness through the cold to the question of unity in movements for justice. these people, it was a divided, divisive and tense darkness. city. Differences (bells and ancient history alike) We know we can only reach peace through justice, Slowly the bells ebbed, the barks of the dogs aside, much of Jerusalem echoed familiar themes. and justice remains the only path towards unity in emerged, and the roosters crowed, and before light The division between the haves and have nots, the our personal relationships, our organizations, and Continues on page 5..... broader movements. We want the the vibrant peace of freedom and justice, not the violent pacification of law and order. Similarly, I hope we can imagine unity as resulting from trust and honest conversation. EQT CAN’T BUY For generations, people have raised issues of patriarchy, white domination, homophobia, and other patterns of oppression within social movements. BY RON READ Too often, these concerns are labeled as hostile OUR COMMUNITY or divisive and met with urgent calls for unity. If you walk on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pitts- burgh at night, you can see amongst the many sky- Let’s welcome critiques from within our own scrapers the sign for EQT Corporation glowing in communities and across movements for peace the distance. On the same night, you might also see and justice. We can examine how the injustices on the side of Pittsburgh’s buses advertisements for of society repeat themselves in our own minds, a reading program that EQT is now funding. If you relationships, and organizations. Many thinkers, attended the annual Pride March or Regatta this including Thomas Merton, have observed that the past summer, you might have also seen EQT’s name way we engage in peace and justice work matters at advertised as their main sponsor. And if you are a least as much as achieving any temporary political high schooler hoping to attend college next year, you goals. I believe we can start to unravel the cycle of might be receiving an EQT ASPIRE grant to fund weaponizing calls for unity and polite respectability. your higher education. While this conversation has played out for These examples of EQT’s infiltration into various fea- more than one hundred years, I recently found tures of Pittsburgh are just some of the many ways it inspiration in the words of racial justice writer is gaining control over the region. Founded in 1888, Robert Jones Jr., who posted on Twitter: EQT Corporation (formerly Equitable Resources) be- “We can disagree and still love each other, unless came the largest natural gas producer in the United your disagreement is rooted in my oppression States in 2017, with its acquisition of Rice Energy for and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” 3.2 billion dollars. They own over 13,000 gross pro- ductive wells for oil and gas development and plan on I welcome responses to this letter, either in your Top: Activists gather across from the Courtyard Marriott Hotel adding 139 new Marcellus Shale wells in 2018. They own writing for the NewPeople or as a dialogue at on Campbells Run Road in Robinson to protest against wage theft also own hundreds of miles of pipeline in the United [email protected]. I look forward to from immigrants. (Photo: Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette) States, and are currently working on the 303 mile Bottom: Monica Ruiz of Casa San Jose speaks next to a “wall” of joining so many of you in this work throughout 2018. Continues on page 3..... $300 bills, representing fines that would be levied against transit riders who could not show a proof of fare payment, under a plan being considered by the Port Authority of Allegheny County. The The Thomas Merton Center works to build a event was emceed by Jordan Malloy, Merton Center board mem- consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions ber, who is standing behind Ms. Ruiz. (Photo: Neil Cosgrove) involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice. TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. PERMIT NO. 458 NO. PERMIT PITTSBURGH, PA PITTSBURGH, PAID www.thomasmertoncenter.org U.S. POSTAGE U.S. Pittsburgh, PA 15224 PA Pittsburgh, NON-PROFIT ORG. 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