Social Justice Conference - Charlotte
The 4th Annual Social Justice Conference - Charlotte was held Saturday, March 15, 2003 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte. The keynote speaker was Rev. William Sinkford.
The themes were Anti-Racism, Peace, Civil Liberties, Death Penalty.[1]
Sponsors
- The Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte
- The Social Justice Committee of St. Peter's Catholic Church
- The Charlotte Chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation
- The Charlotte Coalition for a Moratorium Now
- The Charlotte Coalition for Peace and Justice
- North Carolina Socialist Party
- Charlotte Area Greens
- Charlotte NOW
Session Award Recipients
The Stephen J. Dear Anti-Death Penalty Award
Ted Frazer is the convener of Charlotte Coalition for a Moratorium Now. He is also co-chair of the Social Justice Committee at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Charlotte.
The Peace Award
Patrick O'Neill and Mary Rider are long-time nonviolent peace activists. "He and his wife, Mary Rider, are co-founders of St. Martin House, a Catholic community that provides hospitality to women and children in crisis and works in numerous peace and justice arenas. He has spent more than two years in jail and federal prison for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience in opposition to U.S. militarism. Mary Rider is on the Board of Advisors of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty."
The Martin Luther King Jr. Award
Rev. Claude Alexander is the senior paster of University Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, where the regional office for H.E.L.P (Helping Empower Local People) is located. Rev. Alexander has also served on the NAACP Educational Committee and is on the board of directors of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Urban League, the United Way and the Arts and Science Council.
The Henry David Thoreau Award
Ahmad Daniels M.Ed, has "championed the cause of African liberation both continental and Diasporan, for over a quarter of a century. He is an educator and facilitator with Creative Interchange, an organization whose purpose is to encourage and facilitate non-blaming experiential workshops for persons of different ethnicities on matters relating to race."
Speakers and Panelists
- Rev. Andy Baxter graduated from West Charlotte High School, before completing an undergraduate degree in public policy and a master?s degree in divinity from Duke University. After serving as an associate pastor at Davidson United Methodist Church, Andy came to Mecklenburg Ministries in Jan. 2001 as its executive director. He attends Seigle Avenue Presbyterian Church.
- Dale Brook a.k.a the Magikal Minstrel is a multi-talented musician and all-around entertainer whose creative professional performances actively involve his enthusiastic audiences. He is the music director of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte.
- Rev. Amy Brooks is the Community Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte and works at RAIN, Regional AIDS Interfaith Network.
- Maggie Davis is a Charlotte peace activist and member of the Charlotte Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Coalition for Peace and Justice.
- Chuck Fager is a peace activist and Director of the Quaker House in Fayetteville which has been a front-line Friends peace witness project there since 1969. He worked on the staff of the SCLC, led by Martin Luther King Jr. for two years in the 1960's and has written two books about King including "Selma 1965: The March that Changed the South." In 1965 he applied for classification as a Conscientious Objector to the draft. He is also author of a published book "Without Apology: The Heroes, the Heritage and the Hope of Liberal Quakerism".
- Donna Fisher is the director of the UUCC Children's Choir.
- Julie Fosbinder is a Charlotte attorney specializing in labor and employment law, employment discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination. She is a member of the New York and the North Carolina State Bar Associations,The Association of Trial Lawyers of America and NC Academy of Trial Lawyers.
- Ted Frazer is a member of the Charlotte Coalition for a Moratorium Now, an organization which meets twice a month working for a statewide moratorium on executions. He is also co-chair of St. Peter's (Catholic) Social Justice Committee.
- Jim Gronquist is a Charlotte defense attorney and a member of the ACLU.
- J. Charles Jones is a civil rights leader of the Charlotte sit-down demonstrations in the '60s.
- Rose Hamid grew up a Catholic in Cleveland, Ohio with her father, a Palestinian, and her mother, a South American. She graduated from Cleveland State. In 1987 she moved to Charlotte and converted to the Muslim faith the same year. She is a flight attendant instructor with a local airline.
- Henderson Hill joined the law firm of Ferguson, Stein, Wallas, Adkins Gresham & Sumpter in 1996 and received the Paul Green Award from the North Carolina Civil Liberties Union in 1999, the Lawyer of the Year Award from the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers in 1999, and was named Lawyer of the Year by the George W. White Bar Association, Durham in 1996.
- Wally Kleucker, Chair of the Social Action Committee, a founding member of the Charlotte Coalition for Peace and Justice, coordinator of the Social Justice Conference, webmaster of the conference website and for the past ten years church organist at UUCC.
- Jeannette Manning is the president of the board of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte and director of Financial Affairs at Queens University.
- Janet Newman is the interim minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte.
- Mark Ortiz is the treasurer of the Charlotte Area Green Party.
- Qiyamah Rahman is the Executive Director of the Thomas Jefferson District of the UUA.
- Rev. Dr. Doug Reisner is Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte. His interest in social action concerns in Arizona led him to seminary in mid-life. Social action was a continuing theme of his ministry in Texas and North Carolina. He has worked actively among migrant farm workers and participated in organized labor efforts. His work has included environmental protection, women's rights, prison reform, minority civil rights, and struggles for lesbian and gay equality.
- Marty Rosenbluth is an independent videographer based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. His company, Insightment Video Productions, focuses on producing videos for non-profit groups. He directs, shoots and edits these documentaries and educational videos. Marty has also worked for PBS Frontline as senior researcher for "Journey to the Occupied Lands", a 90-minute Frontline special. Winner of the Lindheim Award for his documentary "Jerusalem" at the Judah L. Magnes Museum's Jewish Video Festival, he has also won Honarable Mention at the Columbus Film and Video Festival in Ohio.
- Doug Sea is a social activist Charlotte attorney and the president-elect of the board of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte.
- Rev. Stephen Shoemaker is the senior pastor at Myers Park Baptist Church.
- Catherine Treadway lives in New York and is a member of the national Quaker organization Friends Committed to National Legislation.
- Barbara Wade is a California native and 2nd language instructor at CPCC. She received her master’s in education from Antioch and is the author of an unpublished novel "Reaching for Grace" about the Underground Railroad.
- Congressman Mel Watt, 12th Congressional District of North Carolina, is the recipient of the Social Justice Conference's 2002 Henry David Thoreau Award for taking courageous stands on important issues throughout his career in the House of Representatives.
- Anne Wolfley is a social activist and the chair of the Animal Rights Commission of Socialist Party USA.