Check out the PDF Version
The Fresno Center for Nonviolence has been RE-Opened.
Since Monday, June 15 for Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays from 11 am to 3 pm until the end of June.
——————————— (Continue to check to see if any changes in July that is made)
But with precautions: WE ARE ALL REQUIRED TO WEAR MASK to protect all form of any viral harm. We shall be sanitizing as we go.
The Fresno Center’s 28th Anniversary
We are going to Madera to use the backyard of Angela and Merlyn Price which is located in County, not far from Children’s Hospital. The address is 11248 Mountain View Drive, Madera, CA 93636. We’ve also changed the time of day (since it’s in July) from 10 a.m. – 12 noon to avoid, as best as possible, contracting Covid-19. In regard to an abundance of caution, there will be NO potluck; instead it will be catered with some finger food and as promised, we will have a raffle. We will introduce our 2020 Way of Peace awardees. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Kathleen Schock. She is the host of Valley Edition where she and the Valley Public Radio news team explore issues that matter to the residents of Central California through engaging conversations and in-depth reporting.
For those people who would like to attend, please email Angela Price at angela.price41@comcast.net by July 8 – this partly because we are going to have some appetizers from Binh’s Tower Tea Shop. Some vegetarian, some
not, he’ll deliver them to us by 9:30 a.m. We could get some cookies as well for the sweet toothed.
Have we gone too far or not enough? Martin L. King has been dead for over 50 years and what have we to show for it? Very little. The trashing and removal of statues of Civil War Generals were first to go, now even Jefferson and Washington are being shelved in museums, who’s next? We have been here before. I remember a humorous once saying maybe we should replace Tom Jefferson monument to that of George Jefferson of “The Jeffersons,” still not funny. The true calling of America should not be colonizing the oppressor. The true definition is to allow the oppressor to realize that what they are doing is continuing their suffering to others. It’s not about hate or anger as it is ignorance.
Way of Peace Awardees.
Rachel Bowman
Rachel has helped run the Fresno Pride Parade and Festival for the past 16 years. She has helped with Community Link, the “Pink Pages”, “Speaking Out” speakers’ bureau, the “News Link” newspaper as well as the “Community Alliance”, and the C.C.A. “Connections” newsletters. Rachel has volunteered at the Reel Pride Film Festival and Fresno World Aids Day. She has participated in the “Fresbians” meet-up group, P.F.L.A.G., the LGBT Social Group of Fresno, Community Link Grey Alliance and S.A.F.E. She has participated in the California Lobby Day at the State Capitol in Sacramento next to Equality California and the Transgender Law Center. Rachel actively supports the Transgender and Intersex movements providing a safe space for individuals who have been marginalized; providing housing, counseling, education, and friendly networking. She is a member of the Community Media Access Collaborative and has developed, designed, started, and currently manage several media sites, web sites, e-mail accounts, and blogs.. When she can, she participates and supports the Fresno Center for Nonviolence.
Tim Kutzmark
AKA as Rev. Tim to his church members, came to the UU Church of Fresno in 2015. Since then he has been a strong voice for social justice in the Fresno area. In 2017 he and his church placed two large Black Lives Matter signs in front of the church on Alluvial Avenue, sparking some resistance and blowback. The signs were vandalized at first, but the church outlasted the vandalism and the signs are still there. In 2018 the church lost its contract with the County to be a polling place for the November elections because of people’s objections to the signs. Still, the signs remain, and they have become an assembly point for Black Lives Matter protests and vigils, particularly those related to the killing of George Floyd. Standing up for social justice involves risks, but Rev. Tim and his church will not be intimidated. We honor Rev. Tim with the Way of Peace award for his devotion to social justice and to racial equity.
Our Youth Award winners:
Denise Rogers-Heydt (L) is a 24-year-old, Fresno State student, pursuing a dual baccalaureate in Sociology and Music as a Liberal Art; she is the Fresno State NAACP Political Action Chair and a Humanism Scholar. The Humanics program at Fresno State allows Denise to pursue a minor in Philanthropic and Community-based Leadership. Denise works as a Research Assistant for the Central Valley Health Policy Institute in Fresno and for the Black Child Legacy Campaign through First 5 Fresno; she has also worked on and off with the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, this position involved canvassing for the Mayoral race and phone banking for the Census.
D’Aungillique Jackson (M) is a current Psychology student at Fresno State. She has been a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 2017 and currently services as the president for the Fresno State chapter. She’s hopeful her work will create sustainable change for the city of Fresno Stare and the greater community.
Joshua Slack (R) graduated in 2018 and served as president of Fresno State Black Students United where he studied theatre arts as part of the school’s Black Theater Contingent and got involved with activism as a student. After living in Los Angeles he went home to stay with family in Lemoore when the coronavirus shelter-in-place orders were announced. Then, the video of George Floyd’s killing came out. “The next day, the riots start to happen,” said Slack. “I just felt this urge that like something in Fresno or something in the Central Valley just needed to be organized.” at California State University, Fresno. He reached out to his close friend, D’Aungillique Jackson and while they were strategizing, they came across social media postings for planned protests. They started reaching out to the organizers to see how they could help.
Our Organizational Award:
Democratic Socialist of America
The Fresno Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is a political organization of multiracial, intergenerational working class individuals of all abilities who strive for a world without oppressive or exploitative forces established in 2017. We believe that restructuring society at all sectors into being more democratic will ensure dignity and resiliency in our communities and will lead to a more sustainable environment. Our strategy includes electoral, legislative, community building, and educational methods of organizing into a world that will give power back to the people. We are building a mass movement in the Central Valley in coordination with a network of other chapters across this stolen land to fight for a better world. Join us—we believe a better world is possible. To receive more information contact David Paredes, Co-Chair, DSA Fresno at davidfromfresno@gmail.com (559)289-7285.
Our Special Guest Speaker: Dr. Kathleen Schock is the host of Valley Edition where she and the Valley Public Radio news team explore issues that matter to the residents of Central California through engaging conversations and in-depth reporting. Her speech is titled “Police Violence Against Journalists.” A Fresno native, Kathleen has a bachelor’s in International Relations from the University of Southern California, a Master’s Degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Fresno State. Kathleen has more than 20 years of experience in journalism and communications. Her background includes working as a News Associate for NBC News in New York and as a general assignment reporter for KGPE in Fresno. In addition to her work at Valley Public Radio, Kathleen teaches journalism at Fresno City College and serves as the advisor of The Rampage, the college’s student-run newspaper. In her free time, Kathleen likes to cook, read and explore our local national parks. She lives in Fresno with her husband Carey and step-daughter Sydney.
Check out the PDF Version
