Advocacy & Social Justice

President gets failing grade from African American clergy

African American clergy gathered in Washington, D.C. today saying they are concerned about the political, racial, ethnic, economic and academic climate in America. The group held a news conference outside of the United Methodist Building, urging the new administration to take a second look at its policies and actions towards African Americans and other minority groups.

North Carolina woman leaves $2 million bequest to PDA and SDOP

While sorting through the papers of her late cousin Matilda Cartledge, Rebecca McClure found a couple of sentences in her recently-deceased relative’s handwriting that she says reflect Cartledge’s values. The unattributed sentences, which are a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt’s second inaugural address, read: ‘The test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those who have much. It is whether we provide for those who have too little.’

Presbyterian fair-trade delegation in Nicaragua

A group of Presbyterians got some hands on experience in coffee farming during a recent trip to Nicaragua. The eleven-member delegation, which included staff from the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), World Mission and Equal Exchange, spent a week learning about fair trade and how the coffee is grown, processed and shipped to other countries.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days rallies churches to become more active

Every spring, you can count on two things happening in Washington, D.C., the blooming of cherry blossoms and the gathering of denominations for Ecumenical Advocacy Weekend. More than 200 members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) joined other denominations for a weekend of worship, workshops and activism, a few short blocks from the Pentagon.

CPJ Training Day addresses racism, materialism and militarism

Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech that provided the foundation for this year’s theme at Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day. Speaking at the Riverside Church in New York, King provided a connection between the war in Vietnam with the civil rights movement.

Record turnout for CPJ Training Day in Washington, D.C.

An estimated crowd of more than 260 Presbyterians have gathered today at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. for CPJ Training Day, the annual kickoff to Ecumenical Advocacy Weekend. Planners say the record turnout, a 38 percent increase over last year, can be attributed to this year’s topic, “Confronting Chaos, Forging Community — and Battling Racism, Materialism and Militarism.”

A fight to end genocide and injustice

Released in movie theaters in April, ‘The Promise’ is no mere period love story but a ‘fight to end genocide and injustice,’ promoters say. Actor Christian Bale plays an American journalist trying to expose the Ottoman plot to exterminate millions of Armenians.